Curing Car Chasing

[jellybean]

I cured a Jack Russel Terrier, Rosie, of barking and chasing after cars, cyclists, and joggers in just 2 days - but then Rosie is a very smart dog. I did exactly what I saw Victoria do in IMOTD. Here it is:

When a car, cyclist, or jogger approached, before Rosie could react, I distracted her with a treat. I held her attention with the treat but gave it to her, along with praise, only after the car, cyclist, jogger passed and only if she didn't react negatively. This was my way of desensitizing her to these events. I also asked a few cyclists and joggers to do me the favor of cycling or jogging back and forth in front of her a few times and repeated the process. After a few repetitions, when Rosie saw a car, cyclist, or jogger, she would look at me, waiting for the treat to emerge. With all those cars, cyclists and joggers passing her without triggering a reaction, the behavior atrophied. Rosie started to ignore them completely. She still ignores them to this day. I did this while walking around a local lake with lots of joggers and cyclists and on a street with light traffic, then on a street with heavy traffic. Boy, was I proud of us!

[Fundog]

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