| Britster | 08-04-2009 02:13 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gisele
(Post 2739795)
My yorkie is almost 6 mths. old and he barks everytime he sees a vehicle go by or ATV's, sometimes people on the road also. He's always tied up on a leash and he starts running at whatever's going by; I'm always afraid he's going to break his neck when he gets to the end of the leash. The other day we were out camping and he was sitting at the door of our RV; the owner of the park has an ATV when he heard it start he pushed the door open and ran after it; he almost got run over. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. He needs to stop barking and running at these things.
| First, if he's pulling like that... make sure he's wearing a harness. How much does he weigh? Yorkies can easily get collapsed tracheas and should not wear a collar if pulling like you describe.
My mom had a cockapoo who just passed away less than a week ago because my step-dad ran her over. She was also a car/atv chaser and it was something we always worried so much about and tried so hard to prevent, and it led her to her early death at 4 years of age. They never took the time to train her not to do it, they just tried to avoid it, and they also waited too long. By 4 years of age, she was so accustomed to doing it, it didn't phase her. Although she was "smart" about it and always stayed far away from whatever vehcile she was chasing... this time, we're not exactly sure what happened.
But anyways... your pup is still very young! I'm sure someone can give you better tips but it's going to take some practice. Get him de-sensitised to the ATV's in a way. Practice holding him on a leash and whenever one drives by, get get into a sit, stay position. Make him calm down. Whenever he doesn't chase or lunge on the leash, etc, Reward him and treat him with something really good! Moving things and objects often bring out the prey drive in dogs.
Tune in to the "Dog Whisperer" on National Geographic channel. New shows on Friday nights, and everyday around 2pm. He has had a few car chasers in his episodes and give you great training methods to control them. Also, Victoria Stillwell has a show on Animal Planet called "It's Me or the Dog" that's great too. I would seriously try to watch these shows, they taught me A LOT. | 