Discover how to #stopdogschasing everything - in this real-life case history for Kennel Club approved dog trainer Jane Hanshaw. She meets Jess the Border Collie who is risking her own life and those of motorists by constantly chasing cars. Owner Anita is desperate - as her husband's threatened to get rid of the troublesome pet if her behaviour can't be controlled. Will Jane bring Jess's dangerous #dogchasing behaviour under control? Jess is a Border Collie - she’s 8 ½ months old and going for a walk has become a nightmare for her owner Anita. Jess is obsessed with chasing cars, bikes and even joggers. Dogs that chase can be a very serious problem and has the potential to be extremely dangerous.
. Looking at her there, I would say that she’s more of a working sheepdog.
Rather than a border collie as such. She is a border collie, don’t get me wrong, but she’s the working strain. So you’ve got the supercharged version. She’s hard-wired to chase. That’s what shepherds use. They need them to herd the sheep. So in her - part of her makeup is to chase. So she’s doing what comes naturally to her. So in the absence of sheep she’s choosing cars.
Jane has taken Jess away from busy roads and other distractions to teach a basic command - ‘Leave It’. If Jess masters this the plan is that she’ll eventually learn to leave cars, bikes and the other things she chases.
So basically you put a really tasty treat in the palm of your hand. As the dog’s nose goes for it, just close your fist like that. You’re not shouting, you’re asking it to leave it. When she goes, uh? Good girl. Take it. And then you give to her with a take it. Teach it on food initially, and then once she knows it well, what I’d like to do is go, ‘leave that car, leave that jogger, leave that bike.’
A head collar can be a really useful tool for controlling a dog that lunges, because basically It can’t get the power from its shoulders into that lunge. You’ve got control of the head. What’s really important on the head collar is that you spend some time getting your dog to accept it. Even if you’re only just putting it on for a few seconds and rewarding that acceptance. Don’t rush it, spend the time and then that will help you later on the training.
Jane’s already spent some time with Jess ensuring that she’s comfortable wearing the head collar in the house, before moving to an outside environment.
Walk with me? Come on, let’s go. What we’re looking for - good girl, super - is some really nice relaxed walking. Oh, that’s much better. And I’d like to turn that way, so that I’ve always got the dog on the inside. Good girl. Lovely. Super. A lot of praise when she gets it right. We’re not going to tell her off. What I’m looking to do is I want to be really relaxed. I want you to be relaxed and I want her to be relaxed. I’m not looking for a tight lead. The point of it is if this head collar’s on she can’t get the power behind that lunging that she’s doing. So we have to get her to accept that first. Which is what we’re doing now.