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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

I made my dog hate cars

When were first moved into our neighborhood, I tested out several walking routes until I found one that had the fewest loose dogs.  Unfortunately, one part of that route had a blind curve. Sometimes cars would turn the corner quickly, frightening me. And this made me involuntarily yank on my dogs' leashes.



I didn't realize it at the time, but this action caused Lupe to start lunging at moving cars. Then Lupe eventually taught it Matt-Matt.

I decided to start walking the dogs separately. Matt-Matt got over his car hatred quickly (since he stopped taking cues from Lupe).
I decided to try jolly talking Lupe to help her feel better about cars. First, I looked for her "tell" and determined that she would flick her ear right before lunging at cars. So I started jolly talking her right after the ear flick but before lunging and barking.  She eventually got better.

Although Lupe's problem wasn't very severe, I probably could have used some methods that would have been a bit less stressful. Additionally, for dogs who are much worse that Lupe, simply jolly talking isn't the answer.

More to come on car chasing.

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2 comments:

  1. Interesting, thank you for the post. What makes some dogs lunge, some dogs chase, and others run the other way when a car/motorcycle goes by?

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  2. Good question @Not
    I answered at "Vehicle Chasers. Part III": http://www.stubbypuddin.com/2013/10/vehicle-chasers-part-iii.html

    Also see "Vehicle Chasers. Part II: http://www.stubbypuddin.com/2013/10/vehicle-chasers-part-ii.html

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