A problem that i hope someone may have the answer to

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welshcobnewbie

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So Hunter is now nearly 12 months old. He is to a certain extent a good dog , We still have a couple of issues.

But by far the biggest one we have is him chasing/snapping/lunging at anything that moves,Be it cars,people,bikes. If its moving he will have a go at it.

In the case of cars he will here it coming then fix himself into a spot and wait for it to come into view,He will then rush at it air snapping,then fix him self in place again to watch it go away. People when they walk past him he will air snap at as they go past Him,the same with bikes,He will also stare after them.

If people stop to talk to me/him he will just sit and ignore them. I have tried diversion tactics, With food/toys/ noises and nothing seems to get through to him. Even the command to find his ball falls on deaf ears,when usually he will charge round the house/garden/fields to find it. I have also tried the clicker and treats .

At the moment he is walked in a half chain collar and a gentle leader (not because he pulls but to try and control the chase it problem)

So any ideas on what else i could try? I need a way to get through to the numb skull :)

And another question when should he stop growing? Being shep x malinois ?
 
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Before he gets any older and the behaviour becomes entrenched get a good behaviourist in to work with you one to one. In the meantime dont let him sit when cars approach but keep him on the move the same with people, cyclists, keep changing direction so he has to concentrate on you. If you have a squeeky toy use that while you are walking away from and use a high voice in saying come on this way. This all may help but to try and fix this problem over the internet is almost impossible as we cant see what you are doing or the dog.

That is some dog you have there and I cannot stress enough the importance of professional help.
 
id use a water pistol- shoot him right in the face to snap him out of it when he does it , my dogs breeder told me to do this to my dog as he used to spin and it worked brilliantly -its not cruel and it doesnt hurt them it just snaps them out of the zone they get in when they wont listen.:D:D
 
Dobie,i never let him sit and do try my best to go in the opposite direction so he isn't following them.

Regards proffesional help, The last trainer Refused to work with him,as she swore down he had a metal problem, This was after her insisting he would work with her Off lead whlie i watched(Silly woman)

The closest more specialist people that CC put me in touch with are 30+ miles away and without a car at the minute it's a long way to go.

Thanks for the suggestion archie.
 
Sorry Archie I wouldnt advise using a water pistol with this type of dog as he is very sharp and could come back at you.

It is so important that this behaviour is nipped in the bud and its good CC has recommended someone perhaps they could recommend someone nearer to you or they could come to you though I realise it will be costly.

Perhaps your vet could recommend someone and one more thing what are you feeding him.?
 
I'm having a similar problem with my puppy. Cars especially :/
My trainer told me to make her sit somewhere it was busy with cars and use treats to reward her when she paid attention to me and not to the cars.
So she is usually fine now if she sits, she just ignores them. It's when we are moving she stalks then lunges at them, ignores me, ignores treats, so I'm interested to see what is suggested on here.
 
My vet has mentioned all the pet dog trainers in the area, Who tend to run away screaming when i mention his breeding

He is fed james wellbeloved.

If i can stop it once or twice we will have cracked it and it won't be a problem anymore, We had a problem with him grabing feet my as we walked, once i had stopped it two or three times it wasn't fun to do anymore.
 
what breed of dog is this ? mine is an english bull terrier ,very large dominant dog which you have to be the boss of ! you have to be more dominant with this type of dog and it sounds like your dog is the same, the water pistol worked for me . if this is a gsd and your having probs maybe you should give it to the police as its instincts seem very strong. dont keep a dangerous dog its too stressful.hope you find someone to help.x:D
 
I had major problems with a previous Dobermann and I found a trainer who owned them, it made all the difference because he was familar with the mindset and it worked for my dog but he was never perfect.

As you know Mals are very high drive and dont seem to have an off switch like other breeds so although its going to be difficult to get to the trainers that CC recommended I dont see any other way that you can overcome this without professional help.

You dont want to get to the point where you are getting out of your depth and it escalates because I know how frightening that can be.

Did you buy him as a puppy or was he a rescue?.
 
welshcobnewbie said:
My vet has mentioned all the pet dog trainers in the area, Who tend to run away screaming when i mention his breeding

He is fed james wellbeloved.

If i can stop it once or twice we will have cracked it and it won't be a problem anymore, We had a problem with him grabing feet my as we walked, once i had stopped it two or three times it wasn't fun to do anymore.
Click to expand...

Can you not just lie about his breeding, tell them he's a 'designer' breed!!!
 
Need more info really and in all likelihood only someone seeing the dog and being able to read his body language will be able to give you any clues. However, with those caveats in place the thing that struck me about your posting was your description of how he eyeballs approaching cars/bikes, he lunges and then.....they go away! In his eyes, he has achieved his objective and made the nasty things disappear. He sort of does this too with people with his air snapping, but if they stand still and talk to you he sits nicely. In his eyes, he has failed and the people aren't going so not worth trying anymore.

It would be interesting to set him up with a friend driving a car by you on a quiet lane, dog lunges, car stops. Repeat, repeat, repeat and then move it on if successful to somewhere like a car park where the majority of the vehicles will be stationery.

Is he a herding breed/sighthound/guarding??
 
"However, with those caveats in place the thing that struck me about your posting was your description of how he eyeballs approaching cars/bikes, he lunges and then.....they go away! In his eyes, he has achieved his objective and made the nasty things disappear."

Ditto this!

One of mine had similar problems in that he lunged and howled at strange dogs, with the result that their owners would pull them away and move on. He wasn't aggressive, just under-socialised and anxious, but the yowling and lunging achieved his aim of making the dog, this thing that he couldn't understand, go away and leave him alone.

The solution for us was similar to GGD's description, creating a controlled situation where we could practice focus work around other dogs, praising hugely for focusing on me instead of the other dogs and gradually going from one to multiple dogs and other reactive ones.

A few people have asked, the OP says he's mali x GSD, so not an unusual fixation for this kind of dog.
 
I think gunnergundogs suggestion sounds like a good one, although I add I have no experience of that type of dog.
 
There are 2 commands that I think would help here.

1) Watch me
2) Leave it

For the first one you need to first practice this A LOT at home and on walks away from cars, bikes and people. Have a treat (or clicker and treat if prefered). Try to get their attention and as soon as you get it give the 'Watch me! Good girl!" command. Repeat until you just say "watch me" and they look straight at you.

For the second one, I would use a shake bottle (or you can get special spray cans that let out a loud hiss which distracts them). Start simple by walking around a toy or treat on the floor. If they go to reach out to it rattle the bottle very sharply with a "Leave it!!" command. If they leave it, follow up with "Watch me" and lots of praise.

Then eventually move on to getting somebody you know with a bike to cycle up and down in front at you. Ask the dog to sit and use the "watch me" command. If their attention drifts and focuses on the bike, use the "leave it!" command with the rattle. Then return to "watch me".

I have 2 obsessive border collies so I can appreciate how hard it can be. We had a nightmare with one of them who would obsess about bikes and actually nipped a cyclist! The shake bottle worked absolute wonders! Unfortunately its a very dangerous problem as if they get away from you they could bite cyclists or get run over by a car so i'd take it very seriously.

look on the kennel club website for a local trainer. Even if you can get somebody by email or phone it would be a good start.

best of luck with it

xx
 
FFS can't believe someone said he had a mental problem, he is a mix of two high-drive working breeds, it's completely normal.
Good advice re leave it and simulating the situation.
I hate to repeat myself but you really do need to get to some sort of class with a trainer who knows these breeds, you can't treat a mali like a lot of pet type breeds.
In a bit of a rush at the mo but PM me again with a bit more detail and I will get back to you.
 
Just had a bit more time to read - a dog like this, a rattle bottle or water pistol might send into orbit, I hate to repeat myself but breeds like malinois and working line GSDs are not like other breeds - we would use a rattle bottle in training to increase agitation, would you believe - it riles some dogs rather than snaps them out of it, these are not collies or spaniels, no offence :o

Isn't his other half malamute rather than GSD or did I make that up?

The long and the short of it is that you need to redirect the fixation into a ball or food - being the mix of breeds he is and being how he is showing fixation on moving objects I would say he is looking for occupation and looking for work, you need to get something very high value (I can give you website for breed-appropriate balls, tugs, toys if you want) to focus on. Once he is focused on these, and focused on the fact that you are the person who provides them, and the game that comes with them, you will find things much easier.
You seem to have been doing very well with him so far, a dog like this, you will be in it for the long haul and you could have an excellent dog at the other end.
 
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