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I have a 3-1/2 yr old JRT/Brittany mix (female) who hates skateboarders and motorcyclists. Whenever we see one on a walk she goes crazy, barking and lunging. I'm worried about this because we walk on sidewalks by busy streets, and she could lunge into the street after one. I'm not sure if it's a prey-drive thing (she also chases squirrels, birds, cats, and any other assorted small mammals we see) or if she's scared of them. Also, as the target of her barking is traveling away from us, her tail starts to wag like it's a big game. Any suggestions? I have tried distracting her with treats but it only works if the target is pretty far away. Otherwise, she is not that food- or toy-motivated. Any suggestions?

Oh, I forgot to mention that she reacts the same way to people on roller skates, scooters, and (strangely) to trucks that have noisy cargoes - things that clank and make noise as they go by. She is also scared of loud noises like thunder and fireworks.

We have only had her for about 6 months (since December). Could something have happened in her former life that would leave her scared of these radically different (at least to me) things? If it helps, her shelter papers said she was an outside dog, and not housetrained (but thankfully the foster family started her on that).

Anybody there? I posted this almost a month ago, and no one has responded! Could we please liven up this forum? I'm sure there are many people out there who would like to ask questions about their dog's behavior - so ask away! The rest of us need to wake up and ANSWER!!

I'm working on similar problems with my own dog, though we have made a great deal of progress and I'm sure it will eventually be solved. It can take a lot of time. In the link with my signature, I have written many behavior articles and they are alphabetized by title. Start with the one on Attention.

By combining movement and eye contact with the treats and doing the timing just right, you make them much more powerful in directing the dog's attention.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Hello Llama.

If her tail is wagging, it's possible she's highly driven by moving objects, but a dog's wagging tail is not always a sure fire bet that they are happy or enjoying themselves. Look at the rest of her body language as she is wagging; is she tense? Is her tail wagging at a medium speed (excitement), high speed (anxiety/fear) or low speed (calm)? Are her hackles raised and her eyes bulging? Lips peeled slightly back?

Here is a simple solution to her lunging and barking if she's a very prey driven dog; each time she goes, make a distraction noise of your choice and walk in the other direction, away from the stimulus. Walk as far as you need to -- but as soon as she is calm, praise her profusely (with treats if you wish) and go back. You may need to walk away fifty thousand times until she understands, but eventually it will sink in and you'll be able to approach the skateboarders/rollerbladers/etc without a problem.

If she has anxiety about a certain object, you can begin by treating/praising her near the object, but far enough away that she isn't freaked out by it, gradually moving closer until she is okay with it.

Hope this helps -- if you need help with anything else, contact me at canine.einstein@gmail.com or visit my link below. Thanks!
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Susan S.
Canine Einstein www.canine-einstein.org

Hi, just thought I'd post back with an update. After taking a training class at our local Humane Society (called The Great Outdoors, especially for dogs who have problems outside) and talking with a trainer, we are doing a modified loose-leash walking method to teach attention. It is basically the stop-and-go method, where whenever the dog pulls you stop until they let up. Our modification is that instead of just loosening the leash to get to keep walking, Pepper has to turn around and give us eye contact. It is working very well, and she continues to improve. The man-made distractions (skateboards, motorcycles) are now pretty much ignored, except for the occasional very loud or very close one. The natural ones (squirrels, birds, assorted small mammals) are not quite there yet, but we are working on "leave it" as well as focus.

~Alyssa

That is excellent!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47