Hello. I'm new to the board but have been reading Ed's articles, etc. for some months now in preparation for this newest addition to our family.

I have a problem that I'm not sure I'm finding the answer to elsewhere on the site.

My dog's prey drive is so INTENSE that we have huge issues just walking her for exercise.

If I use a gentle leader http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?cm_ven=goo&cm_cat=adwords&cm_pla=unknown&cm_ite=sku&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026165&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441777905&bmUID=1166636773041 on her she doesn't pull as much (dragging me down the sidewalk). However, anytime a car comes from either direction when I walk her in the neighborhood she stalks it.

By that I mean that she starts walking slowly, slinking along the sidewalk watching it approach. Her ears change position, her head is thrust forward and she watches the car very intently. As it comes near where we are on the sidewalk she tries to LUNGE over the curb at it. EVERY TIME a car comes...

She's a good girl, even rambunctios as she is. She really wants to please but I'm unsure how to work with this particular issue. I've never had a dog do this before!

She's also still very mouthy and from what I've read about the differences between chase drive and prey drive I would say she's very prey driven, and that the mouthiness may be part of that. If one of the kids comes walking into a room she's fine. However, if there is any bounce to their step or they 'run' into a room she is all over them.

I try to watch every second when the kids and dog are in the room together, since our last dog became aggressive with the baby when she was big enough to start trying to crawl and is no longer with us.

This dog isn't being trained as a working dog, she's a member of our family. What is the best way to address the mouthiness and car-chasing? The mouthiness is getting better. She usually responds right away to 'no chew' these days. But the car thing is dangerous and it's important to me that we address it right away.

Thanks for any help!
Angela

Hi Angela, get a prong collar for walking and use it everytime you leave the house. I can't stand them gentle leaders, you can't correct with them,
Good luck,
AL

Everything AL said plus correct her firmly about the kids. Leave a drag line on her if necessary. Sounds like you have your hands full! Remember, lots and lots of exercise and keep reading this site, you still have quite a way to go with your training.

If you don't have a crate I urge you to get one. Basic obedience is an absolute must with your girl, and the kids!!LOL. They need to know their boundries around the dog.

Debbie

Everything that's been said is correct. Ed says that a tired puppy is a good puppy, in the sense that they will listen better. Very true. I have a 1 yr old female GSD and we didn't find the Leerburg website until she was 8 months old. Within one month and 2 of the first videos we got, our girl did a complete 360 in behavior-started to obey our commands, etc. Try having more than one collar on her at a time so she doesn't make the connection with one collar and the correction you give, the more collars the less likely she'll be to avoid having them on(i.e. 1 1/2" flat collar-i have a 2" flat- a prong collar and if you need one(you might with this intense drive pup)an E-collar. Ed has a E-collar training video, very helpful, and some articles on it on the website. I would invest some $$ into a couple videos and the E-Collar. My picks, for starting out, would have to be: Basic Obedience, E-Collar training, Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months(if I would have had the 8wk-8mo, I would have done a few things differently). These will help even if you're not training for sport. Trust me on having multiple collars on her. Also, always have a leash or long lead on her when she's outside, with one or more of the collars on, so you have a chance to correct her for going after the cars. And as far as the kids, you need to make sure that the dog knows that you are the pack leader and that the kids are next on the totem pole and she is at the bottom and that she needs to listen to you, the pack leader when it comes to how she acts around the kids. Hope this helps you out.

A dog with intense prey drive, you usually owe it to them to work them even if not 'formally'...you should get the Bernhard Flinks Drive, Focus, and Grip video which will help teach you to channel your dog's prey drive to a toy item, which you can then use to transfer it to obedience. Then the obedience itself will be 'work'. Usually tiring the dog's physical body is not enough, and if you give them a lot of mental exercise they'll be pooped before you know it.