Walkies!

[Jude]

Originally Posted by Fi1805

I'm a bit worried now that she's got such a high drive that she's going to run after cars, joggers, cyclists, not to mention animals large and small!

Am I blowing things out of proportion? I really don't want this to become an established behaviour.

Is she from working lines? It is quite normal for young pups to try and chase things that move be they other animals or things with wheels. The important thing at this stage in her training is to make sure that she never gets the opportunity to chase anything - keep her on the lead or on a long line so that you have control all the time and use a strong leave command and change direction if she attempts to chase. With a dog with a high prey drive stopping this behaviour can take some time and will not happen overnight but the most important thing is to be consistent and reward her for the right response i.e. ignoring or not attempting to chase. Teaching her to watch you on command will also distract her from tempting objects. It will only become an established behaviour if you allow it.

[claire_88]

Originally Posted by Jude

Is she from working lines? It is quite normal for young pups to try and chase things that move be they other animals or things with wheels. The important thing at this stage in her training is to make sure that she never gets the opportunity to chase anything - keep her on the lead or on a long line so that you have control all the time and use a strong leave command and change direction if she attempts to chase. With a dog with a high prey drive stopping this behaviour can take some time and will not happen overnight but the most important thing is to be consistent and reward her for the right response i.e. ignoring or not attempting to chase. Teaching her to watch you on command will also distract her from tempting objects. It will only become an established behaviour if you allow it.

Prey Drives are one of the hardest things to over rule, the dog cannot help the urge because it is so hard-wired into them.
The above post is spot on.

Originally Posted by Broxi Bear

If you have a local Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, etc you could try taking her there and if they have seats outside, just sit down and watch the world go by . This way she will get used to lots of people (who will come up and make a fuss of her ) but it will also get her used to lots of different sounds, as well as traffic but in a safe and controlled environment.

BB

This method is a very good suggestion, as she is still so young now is the time to correct this behaviour.
Like stuart stated consistency is the key, sometimes having an intelligent dog is fantastic because they learn things like commands and obedience so easily.........but they also learn bad behaviours and their boundaries just as well. If they think they can get away with it they will do it.
Cheeky monkeys

[wildmoor]

I dont think she is frightened, i believe she is chasing the movement in paticular the lights, she doesnt have to be work line to have a high prey drive a lot of the WG showline have very high prey drive - just distract whilst she is thinking of it before she commits to chase, learn her body language that way you will learn to predict what she is thinking and stop/distract her that way she wont learn to chase objects that are none prey

[Fi1805]

She isn't from working lines, I got her from a show breeder.

I have been working hard on anticipating what she is going to do based on her body language as Wildmoor suggested and she is getting much better, in fact, last night she didnt react to any cars and we managed a short and very slow walk to heel.

Stuart was dead right in saying that I hadn't been as consistent as I should have been. I have now upped my game!

BB - great suggestion I have been taking her to the supermarket since she was 9 weeks old, my back was killing me after weeks of carrying her around! I didnt concentrate on cars though - I didnt anticipate that one. Wonder what else I should be ready for!