April 12, 2011
Our dog chases children on bikes and is overly protective of myself and my husband. Is this a concern?
Full Question:
Hello. I was wondering if you may be able to help with a few questions. My husband and I have had a German Shepherd for the past two years. His name is Sargent. We picked him out when he was six months old. He has gone to puppy training and adult training and passed very well. My husband was the one who took him, so he is much better behaved for him then myself. He is very good and listens most of the time, except when it comes to children. When he sees them running and riding the bikes, he likes to chase them. Is there anything or anyway he will grow out of doing it? The second thing is that he is very, very protective of my husband and me sometimes almost too much!!! Could that be worth worrying about? Do you have any suggestions or any information you can send me?Thank you for your time,
Stephanie
Ed's Answer:
Realizing that you and your husband are probably very, very attached to this dog, I offer my opinions as a word of warning. You sound like you have the beginning of a real problem here. Unless you recognize it for what it is and deal with it, you may have an accident waiting to happen.
The dog chases the children on bikes because they stimulate his prey drive. He sees them going and he goes. The problem is going to come when he combines the protective aspect with the prey drive problem. It could easily result in a dog bite. If you have questions about the drives a dog uses in bite work, I suggest that you refer to my article called The Drives of Protection Training.
Correcting the dog for chasing kids on bikes goes right along with normal obedience training. The fact is that this dog needs to learn to come under distraction. This means that he needs to come every time you call him and even when he sees a kid on a bike. If he will not respond then his “come” training is lacking. You have not done your job properly and you need to back up your obedience training and he should be on a long line and preferably with a prong collar. If you have questions on obedience training you should refer to my tape titled Basic Dog Obedience.
The dog also needs to learn that chasing kids on bikes is the worst thing that can happen to him. This can either be done with very strong leash corrections (probably with a prong collar) or with a long line and an electric collar. If an electric collar is used it is critical (in my opinion) that the dog be attached to a long line in the initial stages of training. A situation could develop where the dog would think that the stimulation (shocking) from the collar actually came from the child and this could trigger aggression. So you have to have him under control so that if this happens he cannot get to the child.
The bottom line is that most dogs will respond to strong leash corrections, or long line corrections if they are strong enough. Remember that one good correction is worth 1000 nagging mid-level corrections on a deal like this.
If the dog does not respond to obedience training and corrections you need to consider putting the dog down. No dog is worth taking a chance on a child being hurt.
The dog chases the children on bikes because they stimulate his prey drive. He sees them going and he goes. The problem is going to come when he combines the protective aspect with the prey drive problem. It could easily result in a dog bite. If you have questions about the drives a dog uses in bite work, I suggest that you refer to my article called The Drives of Protection Training.
Correcting the dog for chasing kids on bikes goes right along with normal obedience training. The fact is that this dog needs to learn to come under distraction. This means that he needs to come every time you call him and even when he sees a kid on a bike. If he will not respond then his “come” training is lacking. You have not done your job properly and you need to back up your obedience training and he should be on a long line and preferably with a prong collar. If you have questions on obedience training you should refer to my tape titled Basic Dog Obedience.
The dog also needs to learn that chasing kids on bikes is the worst thing that can happen to him. This can either be done with very strong leash corrections (probably with a prong collar) or with a long line and an electric collar. If an electric collar is used it is critical (in my opinion) that the dog be attached to a long line in the initial stages of training. A situation could develop where the dog would think that the stimulation (shocking) from the collar actually came from the child and this could trigger aggression. So you have to have him under control so that if this happens he cannot get to the child.
The bottom line is that most dogs will respond to strong leash corrections, or long line corrections if they are strong enough. Remember that one good correction is worth 1000 nagging mid-level corrections on a deal like this.
If the dog does not respond to obedience training and corrections you need to consider putting the dog down. No dog is worth taking a chance on a child being hurt.
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