I'd like to describe a psd in my k-9 program and I would appreciate possible solutions. This is a male German shepherd who has tons of prey and hunt drive. He sailed through all the typical tests that I put prospects through. However, he has an obsession with shadows. I discovered this shortly after he was purchased a year and half ago. I was hopeful that over time the dog would become less preoccupied and the behavior would eventually go away. At times he has not been as "taken" with shadows. This is a dog that would go nuts over a lazer pointer (BTW THIS IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA). It is easy to see how this could be a real problem particularly on night shift where shadows and reflections are everywhere. The handler has tried to overcome this behavior. He has used his flashlight very sparingly which from a tactical standpoint is a good thing. However shadows are cast all the time.

I don't want to give the impression that this is a completely disfunctional dog. He has several successful nightime tracks and building searches. He is certified in patrol and narcotics with two associations.

I have been considering trying some form of crittering with an e-collar. I'd welcome any suggestions on how to overcome this obstacle.

My dept. had a shadow chaser some time ago. Frustrating for the handler but sometimes entertaining for the rest of us on a slow night!

The handler dealt with it by simply letting the dog be a dog during his own time, by enforcing the task at hand if the dog had to break a command in order to chase a shadow, and by setting up favorable contrasts.

By favorable contrast I mean doing something to provoke the undesirable response and when the dog takes the bait, have something more favorable for the dog to do. For example you might send the dog into a bldg search so that shadows will be moving everywhere but the second the dog reacts to the shadows, a suspect bolts. If the dog responds quickly, he wins, if he's not fast enough, the suspect goes out the door.

If you do this often enough, the dog might take the distraction as a queue to pay attention.

The most important thing is that this quirk doesn't debilitate the dog so only give it the attention that it deserves.

Jon the strategy that you described regarding the shadow chaser that you had in your department is pretty close to the way we have handled it. When the dog is focused or working in drive he does not have this bizarre affliction.

The other night I had a decoy lay a series of three relatively short tracks. The decoy was at the end of each track. No bite took place at the end of the track. The decoy agitated and ran away while the handler tried to convince the dog that the greatest thing in the world just got away. BTW this also helps the dogs that like to mark everything. They don't have time to chase shadows or mark bushes because the prey is getting away.

The times that I'm more concerned about are when the dog looses focus and begins to look for shadows or reflections. I like your idea for the building search and will certainly give it a try. It is the same school of thought that we have applied with tracking.

I am wondering though if I can use some type of critering with an e-collar.