Ever been pulled off your feet by a dog with an eye for the horizon? We've got the rundown on why your furry friend might be more interested in chasing squirrels than chilling at your feet. Join us as we unpack the mysteries of canine behavior, diving into the psychology behind a dog's deep-seated urge to chase. You'll come to understand not only the 'why' but also the 'how' of managing this instinctual habit.
Our conversation takes you through the nuanced world of dog training, with a focus on the importance of a solid human-canine bond. Discover practical tips, tailored training methods, and the irreplaceable value of positive reinforcement. We lay out the fundamentals, from recognizing triggers to mastering obedience commands, that can turn precarious situations into opportunities for bonding and behavioral triumphs. With these insights, even the most tenacious of chasers can learn to keep their paws on the pavement.
The session wraps up with a step-by-step Dog Training guide to teaching dogs the art of impulse control. You'll hear personal success stories and get access to comprehensive resources that take you through exercises like "leave it" and "wait." And for those moments when Fido forgets his manners, you'll learn emergency recall techniques that could be life-savers. If you're looking to transform your walk in the park to just that—a walk in the park—this is the episode for you. Remember to support the show with a five-star review; it's a great way to keep these conversations coming and show your appreciation for our four-legged friends!
In addition, I have a 19 page guide on my website on How to Train a Dog to Stop Chasing
If you need professional help please visit my Dog Behaviorist website.
Go here for Free Dog Training Articles
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The allure of moving objects, whether it's a squirrel
darting across the lawn, a carzooming down the street or even
a leaf blown by the wind, cantrigger a dog's instinct to
chase.
This instinctual response bythe dog is often harmless and it
can be a healthy outlet for thedog's energy.
However, when this behaviorcrosses the line into obsessive
(00:22):
chasing of cars, bicyclists,scooters, skateboards, other
animals or even people, itbecomes a huge problem.
Not only does it pose asignificant risk to the safety
of your dog, but also the targetof your dog's chase and
bystanders.
Addressing chasing behavior iscritical for the safety and
(00:45):
well-being of both your dog andyour community.
Uncheck this behavior can leadto accidents, injuries,
heightened stress levels anddogs which also may exacerbate
other behavior issues.
The key to managing andmodifying chasing behavior lies
in a comprehensive understandingof dog psychology and behavior.
(01:09):
By recognizing what triggersthis instinct in each individual
dog, pet guardians can tailortheir training approach to
mitigate risks and encouragealternative, acceptable
behaviors.
Today we're talking about howto train your dog to stop
(01:29):
chasing that in 60 seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA and his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000vets helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, WillBangura.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Would you like to go on Walkies?
Good day, dog lovers.
It's Will Bangura and you arelistening to another episode of
dog training today.
Hey, if you're brand new to dogtraining today, check out the
rest of our podcast.
We've got a almost 150 podcast.
(02:25):
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(02:46):
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Share this with your friends,share this with your family and
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Just take a quick second rightnow to pause this podcast,
(03:09):
wherever you're listening, andplease give us a five star
review.
Your reviews are the best thingthat you can do to say thank
you to me.
This is a labor of love for me.
I don't get any money.
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(03:30):
That can be expensive sometimes.
So this is my way of givingback to the community and if you
love what we do, please give usa five star review.
Ok, enough of the selfpromotion.
Let's talk about a significantproblem that many pet guardians
have with their dogs, and that'sa dog that loves to chase.
(03:54):
Earlier, when I started theshow you know I talked about,
they could be chasing after cars.
They could be chasing afterbicyclists.
They could be chasing afterskateboards, after scooters.
They could chase after anotherdog.
They could chase after a personthat might be jogging.
They could be chasing after aleaf blowing on the ground.
(04:18):
Well, that can be dangerous.
So we're going to talk aboutthat today.
We're going to explain why dogschase and we're going to
explain what you can do about itto keep your dog safe and
everybody else safe.
For example, if your dog likesto chase after joggers, well,
(04:40):
that might not be safe for themas well.
What about kids on bikes?
Yeah, imagine that you'reriding your bike, your kid just
having fun, and here comes thisbig 50 pound dog running after
you.
Let's talk a little bit firstabout why or what causes dogs to
(05:02):
chase.
First of all, one of thereasons that dogs chase is prey
drive.
One of the most fundamentalreasons that they chase is
because of that.
There's this instinctualbehavior that is kind of left
behind from their ancestral needto hunt for food.
So the site, the sound ormovement of potential prey can
(05:26):
trigger an immediate chaseresponse in dogs.
This prey drive is not justabout the capture and the kill
getting the prize, it's alsoabout the thrill of the chase
itself.
So it doesn't matter.
You know, we talk aboutpositive reinforcement and
typically when a dog is chasingafter, like a squirrel or rabbit
(05:49):
, they rarely, if ever, get it.
Now if that was the reinforcerand they rarely or never got the
object of their chase, thatbehavior should extinguish, if
that's the reinforcer.
But yet it doesn't.
Dogs continue to do that.
(06:11):
So that tells us that thethrill of the chase is the
biggest part of the reward andthe fact that this is a innate
instinctual reflex for the dogand there are certain herding
(06:33):
instincts in certain herdingbreeds that were bred for
herding livestock and they alsohave this innate tendency to
chase as part of their strategyto control and move animals.
And you know, I see this a lotwhen I get called from parents
(06:54):
and perhaps they've got a bordercollie or a German shepherd or
another herding breed andthey're chasing after the kids.
Now it's not necessarily justthe prey drive or herding
instincts of specific breedslike border collies or
Australian shepherds or corgis,but even play, you know, chasing
(07:19):
can also be a form of play.
Dogs often chase each other,run after toys, maybe that you
throw, maybe you play with yourdog and you're running around as
well.
Now, that form of chase isgenerally harmless and it's a
way for dogs to engage socially.
It's a way for dogs to engagewith you and stimulate their
(07:45):
minds.
However, without properboundaries, playful chasing can
escalate or transfer toinappropriate items, things that
they would chase Now.
The other reason is predatorybehavior.
Now, that's similar to preydrive, but predatory behavior
(08:08):
encompasses the entire sequenceof stalking, chasing, capturing
and killing the prey.
Now, some dogs may exhibitaspects of this behavior
sequence when they chase,especially if their focus is
intense and they seem to blockout all other stimuli.
(08:33):
Now, one of the things that'simportant is that we understand
what specifically triggers yourdog to chase.
Now, that's crucial formanaging the behavior and the
first thing that we need to dois manage the behavior.
But we need to identifytriggers.
Now there can be visualtriggers, like moving objects,
(08:56):
like cars, bikes, animalsrunning, joggers we talked about
that kids on skateboard,scooters floating leaves,
floating leaves on a lake, thatcan trigger a chase response.
A leaf blowing on the sidewalkso visual stimuli, moving
objects that's one type oftrigger.
(09:18):
There can also be auditorytriggers, sounds, if you've got
a dog that has high prey drive,if you've got a dog that likes
to chase, have you ever been ona walk and maybe went by a bush
and there was the rustling ofwildlife like a rabbit in the
(09:40):
bushes, and all of a sudden,boom, your dog's chase instinct,
prey drive, kicks in.
Other sound triggers that caninitiate chasing behavior could
be the sound of a car engine.
If your dog is one that likesto chase after cars In play, it
(10:02):
might be a squeak of a toy.
Now, the other thing that couldbe a trigger are environmental
factors.
Open spaces, certain terrainsor the presence of specific
scents they smell Can stimulatea dog's desire to chase.
(10:25):
Identifying these triggersinvolves very careful
observation and understanding ofyour dog's body language that's
critical and what your dog'sspecific response patterns are
in different situations.
(10:45):
Now we talked a little bit aboutbreed, and breed, as well as a
dog's individual temperament,can affect whether or not they
chase.
I mentioned certain breeds.
They're more predisposed tochasing due to their historical
roles and their genetic makeuphunting breeds, herding breeds,
(11:08):
terriers they often have ahigher propensity to chase due
to their ingrained instincts, sounderstanding the breed
specific tendencies can helpprovide insights into managing
this behavior.
Now a dog's individualtemperament can be a factor
Beyond breed.
(11:28):
Individual temperament plays asignificant role in chasing
behavior.
Some dogs may have a higherinnate drive to chase, while
others may be more laid back.
Factors such as age,socialization, history, past
experiences and training can allinfluence a dog's propensity to
(11:52):
chase.
Recognizing the complexinterplay between a dog's
genetic predispositions,individual temperament and
environmental triggers isabsolutely essential in
developing effective strategiesto manage this chasing behavior.
This understanding allows you,the pet guardian, to tailor your
(12:13):
approach to each dog's specificneeds, creating a foundation
for successful behaviormodification and management.
Now let's talk about preparingourselves for the training that
we need to do Now.
The first thing is that youneed to establish a strong
(12:33):
foundation, and there's animportance of a solid pet-parent
dog relationship.
The cornerstone of effectivetraining is a solid relationship
between you and your dog.
Now that relationship is builton trust, mutual respect,
understanding the dog that feelssecure and connected with you
(12:58):
is going to be much more likelyto be receptive to training and
a lot more eager to want toplease you.
Okay, so here are key aspects tofoster a strong bond with your
dog.
The first thing is consistentcommunication.
(13:18):
Clear and consistent signalshelp dogs understand what's
expected of them, reducingconfusion and building trust
with you.
Secondly, using positivereinforcement.
Using positive reinforcementtechniques strengthens the bond
between your dog and you byassociating the work that you're
(13:42):
asking it to do, that it getsthe rewards for, rather than
punishment, with you and yourrelationship and the dog's
experience being very positiveand enjoyable experience.
And then quality time spendingquality time together with your
(14:03):
dog through play, exercise, love, praise, affection all of that
helps deepen the emotionalconnection, making your training
sessions more effective.
So, if you don't have a goodbond, if you don't have a good
relationship with your dog,that's the first thing that you
(14:27):
need to begin to work on.
I can tell you one thing if youare more interesting, if you
are more fun than what's goingon in the environment, your dog
is going to stay focused on youand your dog's not going to
chase.
Now, I realize that's not easy.
That's not easy.
(14:49):
So let's talk about, first ofall, for training.
We need some essential tools inorder to do this.
The first thing we're going toneed is a long line, and I'm not
talking about a retractableleash.
You can get a long line andsometimes they're called cotton
training leads.
I know when I go on Amazon,that's what I do a search for.
(15:10):
I can get those in 10 feet, 15,20, 30, 50 feet, 100 feet.
When I'm working with a dogthat has high chase instinct, I
tend to like to have a longerlong line.
Now, this is just like a regularleash, guys.
This has a handle on it like aregular leash.
(15:32):
It's got the leash clasp, themetal leash clasp that gets
attached to the harness orcollar on the other end, and
it's just very long.
I like to use a minimum of a 20foot long line when I'm dealing
with a dog that likes to chase.
Second equipment I need I needa really good fitting harness.
(15:53):
I don't want the dog slippingout of that harness.
The other thing is hey, guys,if you're used to using a collar
and hooking your leash to thatversus a harness, the harness is
going to provide a lot morecomfort and a lot more control
during your training sessionsand that's going to ensure the
(16:14):
safety of your dog, especiallyif they like to pull if they
like to lunge.
Now we also want to have a treatpouch and we want to have super
high value food rewards.
Hey, listen, the big reward ofthe chase is huge for your dog.
(16:35):
What do you have to balancethat out?
Do you have huge positivereinforcers, having your dog's
favorite toy maybe it's asqueaky toy, because that can
kick in prey drive too and ifyou can redirect that to the
squeaky toy, if you can get yourdog chasing after the toy after
(16:56):
the ball, fulfilling that need,we can often just redirect that
chasing behavior.
So that's another piece ofequipment that you're going to
want to have and that's going tobe your dog's favorite toy.
And we talked about high valuefood rewards.
(17:16):
Listen, I'm not talking aboutsome cheap treats.
I'm talking about little, tinypieces of cut up hot dog, cut up
cheese, cooked chicken, cookedbeef something really, really
good.
All right.
Now I like to use clickers.
So that's another tool.
If you don't know what aclicker is, if you don't know
(17:38):
how to use a clicker or why weuse a clicker, know that the
clicker is a precise way to markdesired behaviors and it
signals to your dog exactly whenthey've done something right.
Initially the clicker meansnothing to the dog, it's just a
(17:58):
neutral sound.
But we take time to what wecall charge the clicker and
basically what that means iswe're going to associate, we're
going to pair the sound of thatclick with that clicker to a
high value, positive reinforcer.
In this case we're going to dofood.
So I would get like 30 piecesof little about the size of a
(18:22):
pea.
The reward should be small, 30of them, maybe chicken, 30
little pieces of chicken.
And I'm going to go click givea treat, click give a treat.
Click give a treat.
Click give a treat.
Very robotic, I'm not going todo anything else Click give a
treat.
Dog finishes that, click, giveanother treat.
Dog finishes that.
Click, give another treat.
I'm going to do that 30 timesin a row and I'm going to do
(18:45):
that for like three days andthen on day four, when the dog's
just hanging out with me andthe dog not when it's asleep and
not when it's in the other room, in the same general area where
you are, the dog's hanging outbut not expecting the click, not
expecting the treat.
You're not doing another 30repetitions of click and treat,
(19:09):
but on day four you're going totest it by just clicking the
clicker and observing whathappens with your dog.
Does your dog come running toyou because it understands that
click means treat?
Now, if your dog comes runningto you looking for that food
reward right after you click,you know that you did your job
(19:31):
correctly.
The dog has been conditionedthat click means treat.
Now we can use that clicker tohave precise timing to signal to
the dog hey, that behavior isgetting reward, and timing is
critical when we're talkingabout training dogs.
(19:52):
Now, the next thing that we needto do is create a controlled
environment for training.
What do I mean by that?
Well, we need to minimizedistractions.
We need to start training in avery quiet, very familiar
environment where your dog canconcentrate on you and what
(20:12):
you're asking your dog to do,without being overwhelmed by
triggers, without beingoverwhelmed by environmental
distractions, external stimuli.
Gradually, as we're workingwith the dog, gradually we're
going to increase thedistractions, but initially, our
(20:37):
environment needs to bedistraction free and our
training is going to start withvery basic foundational training
exercises.
Now, when you begin the processof training any dog for anything
(20:59):
, there's a couple things thatyou absolutely need.
One is to be extremelyconsistent with your dog, and
you need to be patient.
You can only work as fast asyour dog and sometimes the
learner.
In this case, your dog can getconfused and we need to make
(21:21):
adjustments, perhaps on howwe're communicating with your
dog, how we're training.
The other thing that you needis the understanding and a
long-term commitment to thisprocess.
Listen, there are no quick fixesthat last.
There are no quick fixes thatcreate conditioning.
(21:46):
See, you need a conditionedresponse from your dog.
If you don't have a conditionedresponse from your dog and
you're in a situation wherethere's insane distractions your
dog maybe loves to chase aftercars or bikes you you're going
to lose.
Now we're going to start withhaving you and your dog begin to
(22:08):
do some very basic obediencecommands and then do some
impulse control exercises.
So some of the basic trainingthat you can do with your dog is
teaching your dog, and even ifyour dog knows these things, we
want to practice them again,practice them more, practice
(22:31):
them in a controlled setting,and this is about engagement
with your dog too.
It's not just about respondingto the commands or cues.
It's about you and your doghaving a lot of fun, your dog
being engaged with you andfocused on you, and this be a
fun experience for your dog.
So, in a controlled environmentwhere there are little to no
(22:53):
distractions, start working onsit and stay.
All right, start working on thecome command, your recall
Getting your dog to stay andgetting your dog to come to you
on cue or command are absolutelycritical.
(23:14):
Those two, those two exercisesthe sit, stay and the recall can
potentially, if it's trainedwell, if there's permanence and
reliability in that training, ifyour dog is highly conditioned,
one of those two cues orcommands could actually save
(23:35):
your dog's life.
Imagine your dog chasing aftera car and you being able to call
your dog back to you.
Your dog stops on a dime, turnsaround, comes running to you.
Well, if your dog ran into thestreet chasing a car, that's
extremely dangerous.
Maybe your dog gets hit by acar.
We pray it doesn't.
But again, these are thingsthat can save your dog's life.
(23:58):
How about your dog's runningand chasing?
And at a distance, you can tellyour dog to sit and stay and
your dog stops.
Again, that can save your dog'slife.
So, working on a strong sit-stayand very gradually, very
(24:19):
systematically, addingdistractions and at any point
your dog loses its focus, can'tstay engaged with you doesn't
respond to you saying sit andstay, you probably are working
too fast, too soon.
(24:39):
You're moving into distractionsthat are too heavy for your dog
.
You need to dial them down alittle bit.
You wanna make it challengingfor your dog, but not so much
that your dog fails most of thetime.
You want your dog to win mostof the time and you wanna
(25:01):
condition that, meaning that youwanna do repetition after
repetition, after repetition,after repetition, so that it's
highly conditioned.
Listen, when I'm doing atraining session with the dog
and I'm asking the dog to do acertain behavior, I try to get
about 30 repetitions of thatbehavior in my training session.
(25:21):
Now, until my dog understandseach exercise, I don't like to
combine them too much.
So what do I mean by that?
So I may have a trainingsession where I'm doing 30
repetitions of sit-stay and thenI'm done after that, and then
(25:42):
another time in the day or thenext day I might be doing 30
repetitions of recall, having mydog come when called.
I don't care how good you thinkyour dog is on sit-stay or
coming when called.
It needs to have morerepetition, it needs to be
conditioned and it needs to beable to stand up to heavy
(26:06):
distractions.
But first we've gotta do thisin a controlled environment
where there's no distractions,as we've created some
conditioning, as, let's say, wedid the sit-stay for five days
in a low to no distractingenvironment.
Now I'm gonna go into anenvironment that has a little
(26:27):
bit of distraction and I'm gonnabe working on my sit-stay there
.
When my dog can consistentlyperform that in that environment
where I've got the distraction.
What does consistently performthat?
Well, nine out of 10 times whenI ask for it, the dog does it
(26:47):
immediately.
I think that's a pretty good,consistent, reliable behavior.
Look, it's an animal.
They might make a mistake.
I make a mistake every day,whether I want to or not.
So we're not looking forperfection.
Practice doesn't make perfect.
(27:07):
I'm sorry, but practice canmake for permanence of behavior,
reliability of behavior, so itcan become more permanent, more
reliable.
Now, as your dog starts to bevery reliable in this mildly
distracting environment, youwanna go to a little bit more
(27:31):
distractions.
And again, if your dog is notable to sit and stay most of the
time, you need to go into anenvironment or you need to
create less distraction andspend more time working there
and then gradually,systematically, over time, with
(27:51):
patience and understanding, youbegin to little by little
increase the distractions untilyou can get your dog reliably
doing a sit, stay, reliablycoming when called, when all
heck is breaking loose, whenthere's crazy distractions and
listen, the things that your doglikes to chase, those right now
(28:15):
for this purpose are theultimate distraction.
We're not gonna start there.
You see, what a lot of peoplethink they're gonna do is set
the dog up to trigger, like witha bicycle going by or a
skateboard going by or a cargoing by, and then they wanna
punish the dog.
Give the dog a huge correctionwith the prong collar, give the
(28:39):
dog a huge correction with ashock collar, and that's going
to destroy the relationship withyour dog.
We do not need to usepunishment, we do not need to do
anything that causes fear, painor intimidation in order to get
this job done.
Matter of fact, scientificstudy after study after study
(29:03):
have told us that positivereinforcement actually works
better than punishment.
Positive reinforcement worksbetter than punishment and
punishment.
Not only can it destroy therelationship with you and your
dog, but there can bepsychological fallout, physical
(29:28):
fallout for your dog.
Again, we can train in and wecan train out any behavior using
positive reinforcement.
And if you doubt that, becauseyou maybe haven't been able to
do that, if you doubt thatbecause there might be balanced
trainers that use rewards andcorrections, rewards and
punishment, and they might besaying, hey, you need to use
(29:49):
punishment in certain situations, no, you don't.
All that means is that you andno disrespect and the other
trainer and no disrespect to theother trainer are not highly
skilled using positivereinforcement to get the job
done.
It's not that positivereinforcement doesn't work.
It's that you don't know how touse it correctly or you might
(30:12):
be trying to move too quickly.
You see, a lot of people wantthat quick fix and there's no
permanence and reliability inquick fixes.
It's going to come back.
So if you want to get the jobdone right, you take the time
and you use positivereinforcement.
If you have not been to mywebsite at dogbehavioristcom
(30:37):
again, that's dogbehavioristcomyou need to go there.
I've got about 85 or morearticles on training and
behavior and there's two inparticular that well, actually
three in particular that aregoing to help you with this One.
I've got a 37 page impulsecontrol training guide that has
(31:01):
step by step instructions as towhat to do for impulse control,
and that's the other thing thatwe need to work on.
Impulse control is huge fordogs that chase.
They need to learn leave it.
They need to learn wait, ifnothing else, and so that huge
(31:26):
impulse control guide that Ihave at dogbehavioristcom is
very comprehensive.
It's going to teach you, stepby step, how to do many not just
those two, but many impulsecontrol exercises, and you need
this.
Oh, by the way, there's alsothe full guide on how to teach
(31:47):
your dog to stop chasing on thesame website at
dogbehavioristcom.
Now I want to point you also totwo more training guides that
are on my website atdogbehavioristcom, and that is
one, the emergency recall, andtwo, the restrained recall.
(32:10):
So working on getting your dogto come when called is going to
be such a critical trainingexercise that we need your dog
to respond to.
It's critical that youunderstand how to teach that and
(32:30):
teaching an emergency recall Ifyou don't know what that is,
that's a special word.
You hope that you never have tosay it to get your dog to come
to you, but you train it almostevery day.
I had a client that the wordthey use for their emergency
recall with their dogs wasPekipsi.
And let me tell you a story.
So every day they worked onPekipsi, getting the dog to come
(32:53):
.
When called, the dog got highlyrewarded.
One weekend they went out oftown.
They've got two dogs and bothwere trained with the same
emergency recall word.
There's a dog sitter at thehouse and the dog slip out the
(33:13):
door and start running down thestreet just having a blast,
having fun, and the pet sitteris absolutely freaking out.
She does everything she can totry to get the dogs to come back
to her and she just can't getthem to come.
They're not wanting her,they're playing games, they want
to run, they want to chase.
So she ends up calling theowner, the pet guardian, and is
(33:41):
crying and she says your dogsran away.
I can see them, but I can't getthem to come back.
Well, that pet guardian becausethey worked on the emergency
recall a lot and they had astrong emergency recall the
thing that he told her to do was, in a firm but not yelling
(34:04):
voice say Pekipsi, and they maycome back to you and, if they do
, get them in the house andreward them.
So she doesn't hang up thephone.
She's got her cell phone, sheputs it in her pocket, she goes
outside, she goes Pekipsi, andthe dogs come running back to
(34:25):
her like a bat out of you knowwhat super fast, reliable,
doesn't matter what's going on.
They come racing in like arocket, she gets them in the
house, she gives them a reward,she pulls the phone out of her
pocket and she lets the petparent know the dogs are safe
and sound.
Now that's because they workedon an emergency recall.
(34:46):
If you go to my website atdogbehavioristcom, you can find
the guide on teaching theemergency recall as well as the
restrained recall, which buildsdrive and really gets them
wanting to come in.
I highly recommend that you goto those articles.
I highly recommend that youwork on both of those exercises
(35:09):
with your dog when it comes toteaching the recall, the
restrained recall as well as theemergency recall.
I want to take a quick second totalk to you about calm dogs.
Calm dogs is a natural calmingaid that I spent five years
researching and developing.
That's right.
Calm dogs is my creation.
I developed calm dogs for dogswith anxiety, fears, phobias,
(35:31):
reactivity and even aggression.
I created calm dogs to helpdogs that have noise
sensitivities, like a fear ofthunderstorms or fireworks.
Calm dogs also works great fordogs with separation anxiety, a
fear of car rides and travel.
Calm dogs even helps those dogswith a fear of vet visits or
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(35:54):
that I make it absolutelyrisk-free.
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(36:15):
at calmdogscom or doganxietycom.
All right, let's get back to howwe teach a dog not to chase
after things.
We need to really know what thetriggers are and initially you
need to avoid those triggersthat cause your dog to chase.
(36:37):
You need to do everything youcan to manage this in the
beginning.
Not that that's the answeravoiding all triggers.
We want your dog to not chaseafter things in their presence,
but in the beginning you can'thave your dog continue to
rehearse those behaviors overand over because they get
(36:58):
reinforced.
Remember the chase the thrillof the chase is the reward.
So every time your dog doesthat, it is countering
everything that you do,everything that you do working
towards teaching your dog not tochase.
Okay.
So, whatever it takes, youavoid those triggers in the
(37:21):
beginning and you start trainingin controlled environments and
little by little you startadding distractions and little
by little you start addingdistance.
So, distance and distractions,but you've got to do that
(37:42):
gradually.
Again, if you're trying to callyour dog in from a great
distance and your dog won't doit, you've got to ask yourself
do I need to back up a littlebit and work on my recall from a
shorter distance?
Do I have my dog in anenvironment that's too
distracting and I didn't spendenough time training and
(38:02):
conditioning and putting inenough repetition with these
behavior exercises, like therecall in lower level
distractions, before I movedinto something so big.
Remember, this is gradual andsystematic and you've got to
have patience when it comes tothis.
You can't work faster than thedog can get it.
(38:22):
How many times should you dothe recall?
Well, when I'm working on aregular recall, I may do 30
repetitions of that Then we'redone.
If I'm working on therestrained recall, if I'm
working on an emergency recall,I'm going to do much less
(38:45):
repetitions.
I might do five to sevenrepetitions daily and that's it.
Because I want those two to bemore interesting to the dog and
because I'm going to be usinghigh value, positive reinforcers
.
Like my dog's absolute favoritetoy or food.
(39:08):
It depends.
Does my dog like the toy morethan the food?
My wife and I joke because I'vegot one dog that loves toys
more than food.
I've got another dog that lovesfood more than toys.
We say the dog that loves thetoy.
Well, the toys, or the dog'slove language Food for the other
dog is its love language, so tospeak.
(39:30):
You've got to use thereinforcer that is the strongest
for your dog.
It's got to be a lot of funwhen you're working on the
emergency recall, when you'reworking on a restrained recall.
And again, details for thatyou're going to find on my
website, dogbehavorscom.
Go to the menu, click onarticles and look for the
(39:55):
restrained recall, look for theemergency recall.
Also, look for this article onhow to teach a dog to stop
chasing.
And on the same website there'sa 37-page guide on step-by-step
detailed instructions on how toteach impulse control.
(40:16):
You definitely want to checkthat out, All right, little by
little, like I said, we need togo into more and more
distracting environments.
Now, if you're doing all of that, you're doing everything right
and you're working with your dogand you just, seemingly, are
(40:40):
not getting any progress done,you're not having success or the
progress and the success you'rehaving is really minimal and
you've put in a bunch of time.
I'm not talking about a week ortwo, I'm talking about, hey,
I've worked with my dog for twomonths and I can't get my dog to
do this in even moderate leveldistractions.
(41:03):
Well, maybe you need to getsome professional help.
Now you can hire a dog trainer.
You can hire a behaviorconsultant.
Behavior consultants are dogtrainers but they've got more
experience, more time trainingdogs and they specialize.
A behavior consultantspecializes in the more
(41:25):
difficult behaviors.
Now, I'm not saying that aregular dog trainer can't manage
this problem, but a behaviorconsultant probably can help you
with this better.
And you want to make sure thatwhoever you're working with a
professional, that they'recertified.
And there's only oneorganization, I don't care, you
(41:49):
know every trainer out there ontheir website says I'm certified
, I'm certified, I'm certified,I'm certified.
Most of them are certifyingthemselves.
It's insane.
There's no guidelines, nooversight, no regulation in this
industry.
However, no requirement forcertification.
By the way.
However, the certificationcouncil for professional dog
(42:13):
trainers is the only independentcertifying body out there.
They are not biased, they'reindependent, they're accredited.
The same way doctors, nurses,have accredited certification
(42:34):
that they need to do Again, thecertification council for
professional dog traders.
And you can go to their websiteat ccpdt.
That's C like cat C, like cat P, like Paul D, like David T,
like Tomorg.
(42:55):
Iforg doesn't work.
Put incom.
I'm not sure if it'sorg orcom,but you can do a search for
trainers or behavior consultantsin your area If you need help,
get somebody that knows whatthey're doing and make sure that
they're they don't usepunishment.
Make sure that they are usingpositive reinforcement.
(43:18):
Again, it can be done withpositive reinforcement.
You don't need to punish yourdog to make this happen, all
right, but there are times whenyou may need help from a
professional when it comes todoing this.
So the importance of everythingtoday is to understand that you
(43:44):
can have a huge impact andchange the behavior of your dog
chasing things If you just putin the time, if you put in the
effort.
Okay, now, after you listen tothis podcast, if you're just
(44:05):
listening to this podcast,please do yourself a favor Get
to my website, dogbehavioristcom.
Check out the guide.
My guide for teaching a dog notto chase things is 19 pages
long.
The guide that I have on mywebsite, dogbehavioristcom, that
has the impulse controltraining guide that's 37 pages
(44:28):
long.
And then, like I said, there'sanother article on the
restrained recall exactly how todo it and the emergency recall
exactly how to do it.
And in that impulse controlexercise, in that impulse
control guide, we've got, stepby step, very detailed, very
(44:56):
specific instructions on manydifferent impulse control
exercises, like leave it, likewait, and there's more.
So when you get that guide andyou follow those guidelines, you
can't help but have success.
It's just going to happen.
If you do the work, if youpractice, you can teach your dog
(45:20):
to stop chasing things.
Have a great day.
Everybody Appreciate it.
Please give us a five-starreview If you love what we do.
I'm out of here.
The allure of moving objects, whether it's a squirrel
darting across the lawn, a carzooming down the street or even
a leaf blown by the wind, cantrigger a dog's instinct to
chase.
This instinctual response bythe dog is often harmless and it
can be a healthy outlet for thedog's energy.
However, when this behaviorcrosses the line into obsessive
(00:22):
chasing of cars, bicyclists,scooters, skateboards, other
animals or even people, itbecomes a huge problem.
Not only does it pose asignificant risk to the safety
of your dog, but also the targetof your dog's chase and
bystanders.
Addressing chasing behavior iscritical for the safety and
(00:45):
well-being of both your dog andyour community.
Uncheck this behavior can leadto accidents, injuries,
heightened stress levels anddogs which also may exacerbate
other behavior issues.
The key to managing andmodifying chasing behavior lies
in a comprehensive understandingof dog psychology and behavior.
(01:09):
By recognizing what triggersthis instinct in each individual
dog, pet guardians can tailortheir training approach to
mitigate risks and encouragealternative, acceptable
behaviors.
Today we're talking about howto train your dog to stop
(01:29):
chasing that in 60 seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA and his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000vets helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, WillBangura.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Would you like to go on Walkies?
Good day, dog lovers.
It's Will Bangura and you arelistening to another episode of
dog training today.
Hey, if you're brand new to dogtraining today, check out the
rest of our podcast.
We've got a almost 150 podcast.
(02:25):
You can go to any of thepodcast hosting platforms like
Spotify, apple podcast, googlepodcast, buzzsprout, where we
host our podcast, but any ofthem.
Do a search for dog trainingtoday with Will Bangura and make
(02:46):
sure that you subscribe so thatyou never miss an episode of
dog training today.
Share this with your friends,share this with your family and
do me a favor.
If you love what I do here, ifyou like this podcast, do me a
huge favor.
Just take a quick second rightnow to pause this podcast,
(03:09):
wherever you're listening, andplease give us a five star
review.
Your reviews are the best thingthat you can do to say thank
you to me.
This is a labor of love for me.
I don't get any money.
I don't monetize this podcastlike a lot of people do, but not
everybody can afford privatetraining.
(03:30):
That can be expensive sometimes.
So this is my way of givingback to the community and if you
love what we do, please give usa five star review.
Ok, enough of the selfpromotion.
Let's talk about a significantproblem that many pet guardians
have with their dogs, and that'sa dog that loves to chase.
(03:54):
Earlier, when I started theshow you know I talked about,
they could be chasing after cars.
They could be chasing afterbicyclists.
They could be chasing afterskateboards, after scooters.
They could chase after anotherdog.
They could chase after a personthat might be jogging.
They could be chasing after aleaf blowing on the ground.
(04:18):
Well, that can be dangerous.
So we're going to talk aboutthat today.
We're going to explain why dogschase and we're going to
explain what you can do about itto keep your dog safe and
everybody else safe.
For example, if your dog likesto chase after joggers, well,
(04:40):
that might not be safe for themas well.
What about kids on bikes?
Yeah, imagine that you'reriding your bike, your kid just
having fun, and here comes thisbig 50 pound dog running after
you.
Let's talk a little bit firstabout why or what causes dogs to
(05:02):
chase.
First of all, one of thereasons that dogs chase is prey
drive.
One of the most fundamentalreasons that they chase is
because of that.
There's this instinctualbehavior that is kind of left
behind from their ancestral needto hunt for food.
So the site, the sound ormovement of potential prey can
(05:26):
trigger an immediate chaseresponse in dogs.
This prey drive is not justabout the capture and the kill
getting the prize, it's alsoabout the thrill of the chase
itself.
So it doesn't matter.
You know, we talk aboutpositive reinforcement and
typically when a dog is chasingafter, like a squirrel or rabbit
(05:49):
, they rarely, if ever, get it.
Now if that was the reinforcerand they rarely or never got the
object of their chase, thatbehavior should extinguish, if
that's the reinforcer.
But yet it doesn't.
Dogs continue to do that.
(06:11):
So that tells us that thethrill of the chase is the
biggest part of the reward andthe fact that this is a innate
instinctual reflex for the dogand there are certain herding
(06:33):
instincts in certain herdingbreeds that were bred for
herding livestock and they alsohave this innate tendency to
chase as part of their strategyto control and move animals.
And you know, I see this a lotwhen I get called from parents
(06:54):
and perhaps they've got a bordercollie or a German shepherd or
another herding breed andthey're chasing after the kids.
Now it's not necessarily justthe prey drive or herding
instincts of specific breedslike border collies or
Australian shepherds or corgis,but even play, you know, chasing
(07:19):
can also be a form of play.
Dogs often chase each other,run after toys, maybe that you
throw, maybe you play with yourdog and you're running around as
well.
Now, that form of chase isgenerally harmless and it's a
way for dogs to engage socially.
It's a way for dogs to engagewith you and stimulate their
(07:45):
minds.
However, without properboundaries, playful chasing can
escalate or transfer toinappropriate items, things that
they would chase Now.
The other reason is predatorybehavior.
Now, that's similar to preydrive, but predatory behavior
(08:08):
encompasses the entire sequenceof stalking, chasing, capturing
and killing the prey.
Now, some dogs may exhibitaspects of this behavior
sequence when they chase,especially if their focus is
intense and they seem to blockout all other stimuli.
(08:33):
Now, one of the things that'simportant is that we understand
what specifically triggers yourdog to chase.
Now, that's crucial formanaging the behavior and the
first thing that we need to dois manage the behavior.
But we need to identifytriggers.
Now there can be visualtriggers, like moving objects,
(08:56):
like cars, bikes, animalsrunning, joggers we talked about
that kids on skateboard,scooters floating leaves,
floating leaves on a lake, thatcan trigger a chase response.
A leaf blowing on the sidewalkso visual stimuli, moving
objects that's one type oftrigger.
(09:18):
There can also be auditorytriggers, sounds, if you've got
a dog that has high prey drive,if you've got a dog that likes
to chase, have you ever been ona walk and maybe went by a bush
and there was the rustling ofwildlife like a rabbit in the
(09:40):
bushes, and all of a sudden,boom, your dog's chase instinct,
prey drive, kicks in.
Other sound triggers that caninitiate chasing behavior could
be the sound of a car engine.
If your dog is one that likesto chase after cars In play, it
(10:02):
might be a squeak of a toy.
Now, the other thing that couldbe a trigger are environmental
factors.
Open spaces, certain terrainsor the presence of specific
scents they smell Can stimulatea dog's desire to chase.
(10:25):
Identifying these triggersinvolves very careful
observation and understanding ofyour dog's body language that's
critical and what your dog'sspecific response patterns are
in different situations.
(10:45):
Now we talked a little bit aboutbreed, and breed, as well as a
dog's individual temperament,can affect whether or not they
chase.
I mentioned certain breeds.
They're more predisposed tochasing due to their historical
roles and their genetic makeuphunting breeds, herding breeds,
(11:08):
terriers they often have ahigher propensity to chase due
to their ingrained instincts, sounderstanding the breed
specific tendencies can helpprovide insights into managing
this behavior.
Now a dog's individualtemperament can be a factor
Beyond breed.
(11:28):
Individual temperament plays asignificant role in chasing
behavior.
Some dogs may have a higherinnate drive to chase, while
others may be more laid back.
Factors such as age,socialization, history, past
experiences and training can allinfluence a dog's propensity to
(11:52):
chase.
Recognizing the complexinterplay between a dog's
genetic predispositions,individual temperament and
environmental triggers isabsolutely essential in
developing effective strategiesto manage this chasing behavior.
This understanding allows you,the pet guardian, to tailor your
(12:13):
approach to each dog's specificneeds, creating a foundation
for successful behaviormodification and management.
Now let's talk about preparingourselves for the training that
we need to do Now.
The first thing is that youneed to establish a strong
(12:33):
foundation, and there's animportance of a solid pet-parent
dog relationship.
The cornerstone of effectivetraining is a solid relationship
between you and your dog.
Now that relationship is builton trust, mutual respect,
understanding the dog that feelssecure and connected with you
(12:58):
is going to be much more likelyto be receptive to training and
a lot more eager to want toplease you.
Okay, so here are key aspects tofoster a strong bond with your
dog.
The first thing is consistentcommunication.
(13:18):
Clear and consistent signalshelp dogs understand what's
expected of them, reducingconfusion and building trust
with you.
Secondly, using positivereinforcement.
Using positive reinforcementtechniques strengthens the bond
between your dog and you byassociating the work that you're
(13:42):
asking it to do, that it getsthe rewards for, rather than
punishment, with you and yourrelationship and the dog's
experience being very positiveand enjoyable experience.
And then quality time spendingquality time together with your
(14:03):
dog through play, exercise, love, praise, affection all of that
helps deepen the emotionalconnection, making your training
sessions more effective.
So, if you don't have a goodbond, if you don't have a good
relationship with your dog,that's the first thing that you
(14:27):
need to begin to work on.
I can tell you one thing if youare more interesting, if you
are more fun than what's goingon in the environment, your dog
is going to stay focused on youand your dog's not going to
chase.
Now, I realize that's not easy.
That's not easy.
(14:49):
So let's talk about, first ofall, for training.
We need some essential tools inorder to do this.
The first thing we're going toneed is a long line, and I'm not
talking about a retractableleash.
You can get a long line andsometimes they're called cotton
training leads.
I know when I go on Amazon,that's what I do a search for.
(15:10):
I can get those in 10 feet, 15,20, 30, 50 feet, 100 feet.
When I'm working with a dogthat has high chase instinct, I
tend to like to have a longerlong line.
Now, this is just like a regularleash, guys.
This has a handle on it like aregular leash.
(15:32):
It's got the leash clasp, themetal leash clasp that gets
attached to the harness orcollar on the other end, and
it's just very long.
I like to use a minimum of a 20foot long line when I'm dealing
with a dog that likes to chase.
Second equipment I need I needa really good fitting harness.
(15:53):
I don't want the dog slippingout of that harness.
The other thing is hey, guys,if you're used to using a collar
and hooking your leash to thatversus a harness, the harness is
going to provide a lot morecomfort and a lot more control
during your training sessionsand that's going to ensure the
(16:14):
safety of your dog, especiallyif they like to pull if they
like to lunge.
Now we also want to have a treatpouch and we want to have super
high value food rewards.
Hey, listen, the big reward ofthe chase is huge for your dog.
(16:35):
What do you have to balancethat out?
Do you have huge positivereinforcers, having your dog's
favorite toy maybe it's asqueaky toy, because that can
kick in prey drive too and ifyou can redirect that to the
squeaky toy, if you can get yourdog chasing after the toy after
(16:56):
the ball, fulfilling that need,we can often just redirect that
chasing behavior.
So that's another piece ofequipment that you're going to
want to have and that's going tobe your dog's favorite toy.
And we talked about high valuefood rewards.
(17:16):
Listen, I'm not talking aboutsome cheap treats.
I'm talking about little, tinypieces of cut up hot dog, cut up
cheese, cooked chicken, cookedbeef something really, really
good.
All right.
Now I like to use clickers.
So that's another tool.
If you don't know what aclicker is, if you don't know
(17:38):
how to use a clicker or why weuse a clicker, know that the
clicker is a precise way to markdesired behaviors and it
signals to your dog exactly whenthey've done something right.
Initially the clicker meansnothing to the dog, it's just a
(17:58):
neutral sound.
But we take time to what wecall charge the clicker and
basically what that means iswe're going to associate, we're
going to pair the sound of thatclick with that clicker to a
high value, positive reinforcer.
In this case we're going to dofood.
So I would get like 30 piecesof little about the size of a
(18:22):
pea.
The reward should be small, 30of them, maybe chicken, 30
little pieces of chicken.
And I'm going to go click givea treat, click give a treat.
Click give a treat.
Click give a treat.
Very robotic, I'm not going todo anything else Click give a
treat.
Dog finishes that, click, giveanother treat.
Dog finishes that.
Click, give another treat.
I'm going to do that 30 timesin a row and I'm going to do
(18:45):
that for like three days andthen on day four, when the dog's
just hanging out with me andthe dog not when it's asleep and
not when it's in the other room, in the same general area where
you are, the dog's hanging outbut not expecting the click, not
expecting the treat.
You're not doing another 30repetitions of click and treat,
(19:09):
but on day four you're going totest it by just clicking the
clicker and observing whathappens with your dog.
Does your dog come running toyou because it understands that
click means treat?
Now, if your dog comes runningto you looking for that food
reward right after you click,you know that you did your job
(19:31):
correctly.
The dog has been conditionedthat click means treat.
Now we can use that clicker tohave precise timing to signal to
the dog hey, that behavior isgetting reward, and timing is
critical when we're talkingabout training dogs.
(19:52):
Now, the next thing that we needto do is create a controlled
environment for training.
What do I mean by that?
Well, we need to minimizedistractions.
We need to start training in avery quiet, very familiar
environment where your dog canconcentrate on you and what
(20:12):
you're asking your dog to do,without being overwhelmed by
triggers, without beingoverwhelmed by environmental
distractions, external stimuli.
Gradually, as we're workingwith the dog, gradually we're
going to increase thedistractions, but initially, our
(20:37):
environment needs to bedistraction free and our
training is going to start withvery basic foundational training
exercises.
Now, when you begin the processof training any dog for anything
(20:59):
, there's a couple things thatyou absolutely need.
One is to be extremelyconsistent with your dog, and
you need to be patient.
You can only work as fast asyour dog and sometimes the
learner.
In this case, your dog can getconfused and we need to make
(21:21):
adjustments, perhaps on howwe're communicating with your
dog, how we're training.
The other thing that you needis the understanding and a
long-term commitment to thisprocess.
Listen, there are no quick fixesthat last.
There are no quick fixes thatcreate conditioning.
(21:46):
See, you need a conditionedresponse from your dog.
If you don't have a conditionedresponse from your dog and
you're in a situation wherethere's insane distractions your
dog maybe loves to chase aftercars or bikes you you're going
to lose.
Now we're going to start withhaving you and your dog begin to
(22:08):
do some very basic obediencecommands and then do some
impulse control exercises.
So some of the basic trainingthat you can do with your dog is
teaching your dog, and even ifyour dog knows these things, we
want to practice them again,practice them more, practice
(22:31):
them in a controlled setting,and this is about engagement
with your dog too.
It's not just about respondingto the commands or cues.
It's about you and your doghaving a lot of fun, your dog
being engaged with you andfocused on you, and this be a
fun experience for your dog.
So, in a controlled environmentwhere there are little to no
(22:53):
distractions, start working onsit and stay.
All right, start working on thecome command, your recall
Getting your dog to stay andgetting your dog to come to you
on cue or command are absolutelycritical.
(23:14):
Those two, those two exercisesthe sit, stay and the recall can
potentially, if it's trainedwell, if there's permanence and
reliability in that training, ifyour dog is highly conditioned,
one of those two cues orcommands could actually save
(23:35):
your dog's life.
Imagine your dog chasing aftera car and you being able to call
your dog back to you.
Your dog stops on a dime, turnsaround, comes running to you.
Well, if your dog ran into thestreet chasing a car, that's
extremely dangerous.
Maybe your dog gets hit by acar.
We pray it doesn't.
But again, these are thingsthat can save your dog's life.
(23:58):
How about your dog's runningand chasing?
And at a distance, you can tellyour dog to sit and stay and
your dog stops.
Again, that can save your dog'slife.
So, working on a strong sit-stayand very gradually, very
(24:19):
systematically, addingdistractions and at any point
your dog loses its focus, can'tstay engaged with you doesn't
respond to you saying sit andstay, you probably are working
too fast, too soon.
(24:39):
You're moving into distractionsthat are too heavy for your dog
.
You need to dial them down alittle bit.
You wanna make it challengingfor your dog, but not so much
that your dog fails most of thetime.
You want your dog to win mostof the time and you wanna
(25:01):
condition that, meaning that youwanna do repetition after
repetition, after repetition,after repetition, so that it's
highly conditioned.
Listen, when I'm doing atraining session with the dog
and I'm asking the dog to do acertain behavior, I try to get
about 30 repetitions of thatbehavior in my training session.
(25:21):
Now, until my dog understandseach exercise, I don't like to
combine them too much.
So what do I mean by that?
So I may have a trainingsession where I'm doing 30
repetitions of sit-stay and thenI'm done after that, and then
(25:42):
another time in the day or thenext day I might be doing 30
repetitions of recall, having mydog come when called.
I don't care how good you thinkyour dog is on sit-stay or
coming when called.
It needs to have morerepetition, it needs to be
conditioned and it needs to beable to stand up to heavy
(26:06):
distractions.
But first we've gotta do thisin a controlled environment
where there's no distractions,as we've created some
conditioning, as, let's say, wedid the sit-stay for five days
in a low to no distractingenvironment.
Now I'm gonna go into anenvironment that has a little
(26:27):
bit of distraction and I'm gonnabe working on my sit-stay there
.
When my dog can consistentlyperform that in that environment
where I've got the distraction.
What does consistently performthat?
Well, nine out of 10 times whenI ask for it, the dog does it
(26:47):
immediately.
I think that's a pretty good,consistent, reliable behavior.
Look, it's an animal.
They might make a mistake.
I make a mistake every day,whether I want to or not.
So we're not looking forperfection.
Practice doesn't make perfect.
(27:07):
I'm sorry, but practice canmake for permanence of behavior,
reliability of behavior, so itcan become more permanent, more
reliable.
Now, as your dog starts to bevery reliable in this mildly
distracting environment, youwanna go to a little bit more
(27:31):
distractions.
And again, if your dog is notable to sit and stay most of the
time, you need to go into anenvironment or you need to
create less distraction andspend more time working there
and then gradually,systematically, over time, with
(27:51):
patience and understanding, youbegin to little by little
increase the distractions untilyou can get your dog reliably
doing a sit, stay, reliablycoming when called, when all
heck is breaking loose, whenthere's crazy distractions and
listen, the things that your doglikes to chase, those right now
(28:15):
for this purpose are theultimate distraction.
We're not gonna start there.
You see, what a lot of peoplethink they're gonna do is set
the dog up to trigger, like witha bicycle going by or a
skateboard going by or a cargoing by, and then they wanna
punish the dog.
Give the dog a huge correctionwith the prong collar, give the
(28:39):
dog a huge correction with ashock collar, and that's going
to destroy the relationship withyour dog.
We do not need to usepunishment, we do not need to do
anything that causes fear, painor intimidation in order to get
this job done.
Matter of fact, scientificstudy after study after study
(29:03):
have told us that positivereinforcement actually works
better than punishment.
Positive reinforcement worksbetter than punishment and
punishment.
Not only can it destroy therelationship with you and your
dog, but there can bepsychological fallout, physical
(29:28):
fallout for your dog.
Again, we can train in and wecan train out any behavior using
positive reinforcement.
And if you doubt that, becauseyou maybe haven't been able to
do that, if you doubt thatbecause there might be balanced
trainers that use rewards andcorrections, rewards and
punishment, and they might besaying, hey, you need to use
(29:49):
punishment in certain situations, no, you don't.
All that means is that you andno disrespect and the other
trainer and no disrespect to theother trainer are not highly
skilled using positivereinforcement to get the job
done.
It's not that positivereinforcement doesn't work.
It's that you don't know how touse it correctly or you might
(30:12):
be trying to move too quickly.
You see, a lot of people wantthat quick fix and there's no
permanence and reliability inquick fixes.
It's going to come back.
So if you want to get the jobdone right, you take the time
and you use positivereinforcement.
If you have not been to mywebsite at dogbehavioristcom
(30:37):
again, that's dogbehavioristcomyou need to go there.
I've got about 85 or morearticles on training and
behavior and there's two inparticular that well, actually
three in particular that aregoing to help you with this One.
I've got a 37 page impulsecontrol training guide that has
(31:01):
step by step instructions as towhat to do for impulse control,
and that's the other thing thatwe need to work on.
Impulse control is huge fordogs that chase.
They need to learn leave it.
They need to learn wait, ifnothing else, and so that huge
(31:26):
impulse control guide that Ihave at dogbehavioristcom is
very comprehensive.
It's going to teach you, stepby step, how to do many not just
those two, but many impulsecontrol exercises, and you need
this.
Oh, by the way, there's alsothe full guide on how to teach
(31:47):
your dog to stop chasing on thesame website at
dogbehavioristcom.
Now I want to point you also totwo more training guides that
are on my website atdogbehavioristcom, and that is
one, the emergency recall, andtwo, the restrained recall.
(32:10):
So working on getting your dogto come when called is going to
be such a critical trainingexercise that we need your dog
to respond to.
It's critical that youunderstand how to teach that and
(32:30):
teaching an emergency recall Ifyou don't know what that is,
that's a special word.
You hope that you never have tosay it to get your dog to come
to you, but you train it almostevery day.
I had a client that the wordthey use for their emergency
recall with their dogs wasPekipsi.
And let me tell you a story.
So every day they worked onPekipsi, getting the dog to come
(32:53):
.
When called, the dog got highlyrewarded.
One weekend they went out oftown.
They've got two dogs and bothwere trained with the same
emergency recall word.
There's a dog sitter at thehouse and the dog slip out the
(33:13):
door and start running down thestreet just having a blast,
having fun, and the pet sitteris absolutely freaking out.
She does everything she can totry to get the dogs to come back
to her and she just can't getthem to come.
They're not wanting her,they're playing games, they want
to run, they want to chase.
So she ends up calling theowner, the pet guardian, and is
(33:41):
crying and she says your dogsran away.
I can see them, but I can't getthem to come back.
Well, that pet guardian becausethey worked on the emergency
recall a lot and they had astrong emergency recall the
thing that he told her to do was, in a firm but not yelling
(34:04):
voice say Pekipsi, and they maycome back to you and, if they do
, get them in the house andreward them.
So she doesn't hang up thephone.
She's got her cell phone, sheputs it in her pocket, she goes
outside, she goes Pekipsi, andthe dogs come running back to
(34:25):
her like a bat out of you knowwhat super fast, reliable,
doesn't matter what's going on.
They come racing in like arocket, she gets them in the
house, she gives them a reward,she pulls the phone out of her
pocket and she lets the petparent know the dogs are safe
and sound.
Now that's because they workedon an emergency recall.
(34:46):
If you go to my website atdogbehavioristcom, you can find
the guide on teaching theemergency recall as well as the
restrained recall, which buildsdrive and really gets them
wanting to come in.
I highly recommend that you goto those articles.
I highly recommend that youwork on both of those exercises
(35:09):
with your dog when it comes toteaching the recall, the
restrained recall as well as theemergency recall.
I want to take a quick second totalk to you about calm dogs.
Calm dogs is a natural calmingaid that I spent five years
researching and developing.
That's right.
Calm dogs is my creation.
I developed calm dogs for dogswith anxiety, fears, phobias,
(35:31):
reactivity and even aggression.
I created calm dogs to helpdogs that have noise
sensitivities, like a fear ofthunderstorms or fireworks.
Calm dogs also works great fordogs with separation anxiety, a
fear of car rides and travel.
Calm dogs even helps those dogswith a fear of vet visits or
grooming.
In fact, I'm so confident thatcalm dogs will help your dog
(35:54):
that I make it absolutelyrisk-free.
Calm dogs comes with 100% moneyback guarantee.
My promise to you is verysimple Calm dogs works for your
dog or it's free.
Take the 45 day calm dogchallenge.
Go to calmdogscom ordoganxietycom to learn more
about calm dogs and how it canhelp your dog today, risk-free,
(36:15):
at calmdogscom or doganxietycom.
All right, let's get back to howwe teach a dog not to chase
after things.
We need to really know what thetriggers are and initially you
need to avoid those triggersthat cause your dog to chase.
(36:37):
You need to do everything youcan to manage this in the
beginning.
Not that that's the answeravoiding all triggers.
We want your dog to not chaseafter things in their presence,
but in the beginning you can'thave your dog continue to
rehearse those behaviors overand over because they get
(36:58):
reinforced.
Remember the chase the thrillof the chase is the reward.
So every time your dog doesthat, it is countering
everything that you do,everything that you do working
towards teaching your dog not tochase.
Okay.
So, whatever it takes, youavoid those triggers in the
(37:21):
beginning and you start trainingin controlled environments and
little by little you startadding distractions and little
by little you start addingdistance.
So, distance and distractions,but you've got to do that
(37:42):
gradually.
Again, if you're trying to callyour dog in from a great
distance and your dog won't doit, you've got to ask yourself
do I need to back up a littlebit and work on my recall from a
shorter distance?
Do I have my dog in anenvironment that's too
distracting and I didn't spendenough time training and
(38:02):
conditioning and putting inenough repetition with these
behavior exercises, like therecall in lower level
distractions, before I movedinto something so big.
Remember, this is gradual andsystematic and you've got to
have patience when it comes tothis.
You can't work faster than thedog can get it.
(38:22):
How many times should you dothe recall?
Well, when I'm working on aregular recall, I may do 30
repetitions of that Then we'redone.
If I'm working on therestrained recall, if I'm
working on an emergency recall,I'm going to do much less
(38:45):
repetitions.
I might do five to sevenrepetitions daily and that's it.
Because I want those two to bemore interesting to the dog and
because I'm going to be usinghigh value, positive reinforcers
.
Like my dog's absolute favoritetoy or food.
(39:08):
It depends.
Does my dog like the toy morethan the food?
My wife and I joke because I'vegot one dog that loves toys
more than food.
I've got another dog that lovesfood more than toys.
We say the dog that loves thetoy.
Well, the toys, or the dog'slove language Food for the other
dog is its love language, so tospeak.
(39:30):
You've got to use thereinforcer that is the strongest
for your dog.
It's got to be a lot of funwhen you're working on the
emergency recall, when you'reworking on a restrained recall.
And again, details for thatyou're going to find on my
website, dogbehavorscom.
Go to the menu, click onarticles and look for the
(39:55):
restrained recall, look for theemergency recall.
Also, look for this article onhow to teach a dog to stop
chasing.
And on the same website there'sa 37-page guide on step-by-step
detailed instructions on how toteach impulse control.
(40:16):
You definitely want to checkthat out, All right, little by
little, like I said, we need togo into more and more
distracting environments.
Now, if you're doing all of that, you're doing everything right
and you're working with your dogand you just, seemingly, are
(40:40):
not getting any progress done,you're not having success or the
progress and the success you'rehaving is really minimal and
you've put in a bunch of time.
I'm not talking about a week ortwo, I'm talking about, hey,
I've worked with my dog for twomonths and I can't get my dog to
do this in even moderate leveldistractions.
(41:03):
Well, maybe you need to getsome professional help.
Now you can hire a dog trainer.
You can hire a behaviorconsultant.
Behavior consultants are dogtrainers but they've got more
experience, more time trainingdogs and they specialize.
A behavior consultantspecializes in the more
(41:25):
difficult behaviors.
Now, I'm not saying that aregular dog trainer can't manage
this problem, but a behaviorconsultant probably can help you
with this better.
And you want to make sure thatwhoever you're working with a
professional, that they'recertified.
And there's only oneorganization, I don't care, you
(41:49):
know every trainer out there ontheir website says I'm certified
, I'm certified, I'm certified,I'm certified.
Most of them are certifyingthemselves.
It's insane.
There's no guidelines, nooversight, no regulation in this
industry.
However, no requirement forcertification.
By the way.
However, the certificationcouncil for professional dog
(42:13):
trainers is the only independentcertifying body out there.
They are not biased, they'reindependent, they're accredited.
The same way doctors, nurses,have accredited certification
(42:34):
that they need to do Again, thecertification council for
professional dog traders.
And you can go to their websiteat ccpdt.
That's C like cat C, like cat P, like Paul D, like David T,
like Tomorg.
(42:55):
Iforg doesn't work.
Put incom.
I'm not sure if it'sorg orcom,but you can do a search for
trainers or behavior consultantsin your area If you need help,
get somebody that knows whatthey're doing and make sure that
they're they don't usepunishment.
Make sure that they are usingpositive reinforcement.
(43:18):
Again, it can be done withpositive reinforcement.
You don't need to punish yourdog to make this happen, all
right, but there are times whenyou may need help from a
professional when it comes todoing this.
So the importance of everythingtoday is to understand that you
(43:44):
can have a huge impact andchange the behavior of your dog
chasing things If you just putin the time, if you put in the
effort.
Okay, now, after you listen tothis podcast, if you're just
(44:05):
listening to this podcast,please do yourself a favor Get
to my website, dogbehavioristcom.
Check out the guide.
My guide for teaching a dog notto chase things is 19 pages
long.
The guide that I have on mywebsite, dogbehavioristcom, that
has the impulse controltraining guide that's 37 pages
(44:28):
long.
And then, like I said, there'sanother article on the
restrained recall exactly how todo it and the emergency recall
exactly how to do it.
And in that impulse controlexercise, in that impulse
control guide, we've got, stepby step, very detailed, very
(44:56):
specific instructions on manydifferent impulse control
exercises, like leave it, likewait, and there's more.
So when you get that guide andyou follow those guidelines, you
can't help but have success.
It's just going to happen.
If you do the work, if youpractice, you can teach your dog
(45:20):
to stop chasing things.
Have a great day.
Everybody Appreciate it.
Please give us a five-starreview If you love what we do.
I'm out of here.
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