Problem

hi,,

most dogs love the thrill of the chase. All canines are hardwired to chase prey..

keep her on leash when in public.

at home, make sure your yard is securely fenced with no opportunity for digging under or jumping over.

establish a strong foundation of obedience trainingl..

training not only creates a respectful pet, it hones impulse control and reinforces her tendency to look to you for guidance.

teach her “come” and “off” from the beginning, and make sure she’s well mannered both on and off leash.

provide plenty of mental and physical exercise so it can reduce the need for your dog to find her own outlet.

for more information on how to treat the problem:

http://dogtime.com/chasing.html

You will probably never break a dog with a prey drive in overdrive. To even begin, you need to catch them when you first see them perk up on something. Because once they’re “locked and loaded” they’ve tuned out on everything else including you. So, yes, it is possible to get a dog to leave critters unmolested on leash if you break their attention in time and are consistent with it. Just a tug on the collar, a verbal correction, a treat, whatever. Just something to redirect their attention back to you. But if you let the dog run around your yard, lots of luck. Again, if you could catch the dog in time, you could call it off. But unless you are willing to keep your dog on leash at all times even in your own fenced yard, well, you can’t stop what you can’t see. Ask me how I know this. My Sophie (a border collie) is like a heat seeking missle when it comes to varmints. On a prey drive scale of 1 to 10, she’s about a 15. I can now walk her where there are squirrels and such and tell her to leave it . She reluctantly does. But woe be to any critter that wanders into the yard. My first indication that she’s “on it” is when I hear the crashing through the bushes. By then it’s a little late to do anything but let Nature take its course.

Look on the bright side. If you can redirect that drive, you could have a champion in a variety of activities because the dog maintains such intense focus. But don’t expect the prey drive to ever totally go away.

Hiya Swink.

The critter chasing is a tough one, and has been answered..but I have a question about the other dogs. Do you know if her reaction to dogs is a fear reaction or not? Many dogs are leash reactive and fine off leash with other dogs…more details would be handy.

How old is she?

Was she properly socialized as a pup?

Is she spayed?

Any bad experiences with other dogs that may have triggered this behaviour?

Have you done a lot of obedience training?

What sort of signals does she give off? How she holds her mouth, her ears, her eyes and her body can all tell us a LOT about how she feels about the other dog. Without knowing what the trigger is it ishard to manage or modify the behaviour.