Our Jack Russell was just about run over the other day. He has always had a thing for cars and runs the fence every time they pass. Which does keep him quite busy since we are on a busy road. But the other day the gate was left open and he went tearing out after a truck. I thought he was a goner and though I thought it was cute behind the fence I see now that this is a real problem. How do I make him lose interest in his favorite past time?

Meagan

ANSWER:

Hi Meagan,

Thank goodness, he was not hit! Miracles do happen each and every day!

Getting control over your Jack is a two fold training program. First part is to get him to respond to your commands perfectly and the second is to desensitize him to traffic with a little aversion training to add to the mix.

If you have not already had him in obedience class, I would do that now. As well as general obedience, I would contact a trainer for one on one session to specifically address a ‘leave it’ or ‘stop’ command. A useful type of command to have with any dog, it can be used for all sorts of things including leaving the neighbor’s cat alone, dropping the shoe that does not belong to him or whatever it is that smells so good to him on the morning walk.

The second part of the program would be to desensitize him to the vehicles. I would walk him with a Halti or Gentle Leader so you have good control of his head and body movement. Walk him around the neighborhood and every time he reacts to a vehicle, give him a sharp correction and a firm ‘no!’. If you can, I would try a body block – something in the dog world that says ‘bug off’. The concept is to get between your dog and whatever it is that has their attention whether it is another dog, a car or a cat. It also works well for things like jumping up – not a big deal with a JR but with a bigger dog, jumping on people can be dangerous. When your dog goes to jump up on you, just walk into them like you did not even see them there. With a sensitive dog like the Toller I work with, one block and she gets the hint. With a less sensitive dog or a puppy, it may take several times to get it through their head that jumping up is not appropriate.

In the case of chasing cars, as one passes and he tries to pursue, get in front of him and say his name then a firm ‘no’. The body block will give greater emphasis to the ‘no’ and he will learn much faster then without.

After all of this extra training and work does not solve the problem, I have one other solution that I only use under life and death situations – a shock collar. I hate using them and I hate to see them misused by people that have no idea how they work but they are effective. Jacks are intelligent but stubborn dogs and your training might not be enough. If that is the case, work with your trainer and a shock collar as aversion training.

As I said, I do not believe in shock collars for regular training but when it is a life or death situation and no other training methods seem to be working, it is the last resort. In the southern States where poisonous snakes are a problem, there are trainers that use shock collars to teach dogs to avoid all snakes – again, a life or death situation. Always use a shock collar under the direction of a trainer who has experience with them and always at the lowest setting that is effective with your dog.

I wonder if you can answer a question for me. My 2 year old male Pomeranian Stanlee has a mind of his own. When friends and family drive in the yard, he runs towards them and barks along side their vehicle and then at the person when he/she gets out. Then when they leave he barks and chases after their vehicle way up the road. If I try yelling for him to come back he just runs faster. We’ve tried tying him up quite a few times when we know people are coming, but the very next day he does it all again when he’s off the leash (doesn’t get the message). We have two other dogs that never chase after vehicles. I’m scared that eventually he is going to get ran over. Any advice for my Pom Stanlee not chasing vehicles?
Thanks!!!
Kesia Walker

ANSWER:

Hi there Kesia,

You’re right, eventually he will get hit if he continues with this behavior. Thankfully, it is possible to retrain and teach him what the appropriate behavior is although it will take some diligence on your part.

First off, you have your hands full as all Spitz breeds tend to be highly independent and do not really care what their owners are trying to teach them. ‘Stubborn’ is a good word to describe a Spitz and even though Pomeranians are the smallest of the Spitz breeds, no one has told them that and they have more attitude then body weight.

For Stanlee, he has learned that chasing cars is fun and his reward is that the car eventually stops or, even better, he actually scares it off. This is very exciting stuff for a dog!

How to get him to stop? Teach him appropriate behavior and give him an even bigger reward.

To begin with, grab a handful of his ultimate favorite food and his leash. Let him know you have the food in your pocket and walk out the door with him on leash. Although you haven’t mentioned whether he chases cars that are on the street, we are going to start you practicing on these cars as they still work as a distraction without making him go out of his mind when he sees them.

While traffic zooms by, work him through his obedience routine – sit, stand, down, stay, shake a paw – whatever he knows, make him do it for a treat right now. As a car goes by, make sure his attention stays on you and the treat. When he ignores the car, tell him ‘good boy’ and give him a treat. Hold the treat by your eyes or in the middle of your forehead so he really has his full attention on connecting with you, not just the treat or your hand. If his attention wanders, give him an ‘ah ah ah’ noise and direct his attention back to you. With a small dog like a Pom, it might help to do this all on your knees so you do not tower over him – just a thought.

Do this for a week or two until the passing cars really do not mean anything to him. If he gets bored of doing it in front of the house, move him up the block to a busier corner or to a busier road altogether. Keep upping the ante on him with more exciting cars or motorcycles or kids on skateboards.

Next, arrange for a friend to come over and explain to her what you have been doing with Stanlee. Get her to drive the car into the driveway while you work with him on lead beside the driveway. As she gets out of the car, keep working him until she is a few feet away. Ask her to stop, put Stanlee into a sit/stay and make him wait for a minute. Then release him from the sit/stay and tell him to ‘go see’ in a calm voice. If he starts to jump and bark, give him the ‘ah ah ah’ noise and bring his attention back to you and the treat. Have him sit again. Repeat this until he greets her in a friendly but calm and quiet manner.

Then get her to leave while you keep him under control and then return a few minutes later. Repeat it all again. Do it until he has it figured out. The next day have a different friend come for a visit and yet another friend the day after. Continue doing this until he has learned how is supposed to behave when friends arrive.

What are you doing with all of this? You are actually making him mature. His initial behavior is what a youngster would do and since he was never taught how he should behave, he never grew out of the bad habit. Putting him on a leash was a start but that only restricted his car chasing behavior, it did not actually teach him anything.

This type of training works for all inappropriate behaviors and you can substitute the car with anything that may send your dog into a tizzy. It is a combination of retraining and desensitizing – simple strategy but takes some time, consistency and an owner that is willing to make themselves the boss!