Agrression over motorbikes, tractors, buses and lorries!!

[felicity]

ok where do i start. i suppose my dog has an unhealthy obsession for motorbikes mainly but it then carries onto tractors buses lorries and sometimes even joggers!

we can be walking down the road nicely until we get to the main road and as soon as we get there everything changes he is no longer focused on me he is more interested in looking for motorbikes and as soon as he hears one thats it as far as he is concerned i dont exist! when the bike finally comes into view he lunges at it barking and wagging his tail (he obviously thinks its great fun!) but the main problem is if you get in his way while he is throwing himself at the bike you WILL get bitten! if it is me, you, or your dog he really doesnt care it has got that bad that the only place he gets walked now is the local park because you dont get any motorbikes round there but he is not allowed loose just in case one day one does come round and i have tried everything to get him out of his behaviour and now im all out of ideas so was wondering if anyone else had the same sort of problem and what they had done to solve or at least manage the problem.

its not something that has started because he has had a bad experience with them it just happened over night we were sat on a bench up town having our lunch one came past and he thought it would be fun to chase it. also with lorries, tractors ect he will only try and chase them after there has been a motorbike otherwise he just ignores them and continues to look for bikes!

so if you have any ideas please let me know even if you think i may have tried because your way maybe slightly different to mine!

just thought i would add that it is nothing medical causing his distress!

#Thanks Guys!!!:msnohyes:

 

[CollieMan]

Is this the dog that has some Border Collie in it? It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it is, as it's quite a common BC trait.

 

[felicity]

yes it is and i know that its common for BC to do this but most of them are able to kept under control my older dog used to chase cars but he grew out of it with a bit of training. to be quite honest this is just another one of them cases where you have to see it to really know the extent of the problem but just for an insight my mother was looking after him whilst i was on holiday and she now has a scar down her leg which is around 3inches long because she tried to stop him chasing a bike and i also have a few teeth marks! but he is not an aggressive dog its just under these circumstances that he completely changes!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Here's one option.
On your property, walk past your car over and over and over again. Start asking for a "look at me" as you pass, or while you are stopped near the car. Have a friend pull out very slowly, and just repeat. As the dog improves, have the friend speed up very slowly and get to a consistent relatively slow speed. If he starts to exhibit his normal behavior, have the person slow back down to a speed that he is less excited over. Basically just repeat, slowly increasing the speed. Of course, this takes a lot of patience and a good deal of gas...but it can help.
Funny that you two mention that; every BC I've known here in Texas isn't really "car-crazy." I know Mud and Zeke could care less about vehicles of any kind... But I've also seen some(not here) who had car obsessions.
You can also try having the car stop when he starts barking/lunging/etc. You can help him learn that the car only moves when he is quiet...but, I don't know that that would necessarily solve the problem.
Anyway, this is just one way to work with this. Good luck to you.

 

[felicity]

This is a good idea except for its not cars hes crazy about its motorbikes and unfortunately its not the movement either its the sound but i could use the same concept of things to try and sort it out! now to find a motorbike!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Ah, my mistake. ^^ Well, whether it's the sound or the sight, it will help him view the motorbike as just another part of daily life, and not something to chase. Rather than the movement of the motorbike, you could simply have the person start it and turn it off accordingly. You could probably find a recording of a motorbike somewhere on the internet. I know many horse trainers sell sound CDs and free demos for horse desensitization(getting horses accustomed to a wide variety of sights and sounds). I'll see if I can find a link, if you're interested.

 

[milissa]

Might try putting him on a treadmill or running him with your bicycle (in a non-reactive environment) until he's VERY VERY tired-- then walk him by the roads with motorbikes and stuff. He'll be less responsive and SHOULD be easier to correct.
For YOUR safety, I personally would muzzle him to keep from getting bitten.

He sounds like a very frustrated-obsessive case, and will need tons of work to rehabilitate-- but to drain the frustration, he'll need tons and tons of exercise. THEN you can work on the obsession.

Be sure YOU are not anticipating him going berzerk, you have to stay calm or you'll only make him more anxious. This is another reason to muzzle-- it doesn't hurt him, and it'll keep you calm in the knowledge you won't be bitten again.

I wish you all the luck you can handle, you've got a lot of work on your hands.

 

[heidib860]

I had a Bassett Hound that went crazy over children riding their bikes. Cars, buses, joggerst, etc. were fine.

It wasn't something that stopped me from taking him from walks but I wish I had found this site earlier. For Blue it was the simple fact that I think he wanted the children to play with him and they were riding past him and it looked like alot of fun. I think it was just children period because when ever a child came over he wanted to see the child, play with the child, and have the child pet him. If that didn't happen he would bark until they did and then he wanted to be every where they were.

I've read the above posts and will have to think about this because with Max ever since day one has an odd behavior with cars. He's getting better with every walk we go on but since our fist walk he would sit every time he heard a car. He would look for the car and watch it go by and then he would start walking with me. With each car that goes by he gets better because I give him encouragement to keep walking. I think it's just his nature when he doesn't understand something or something is new to him he sits. From day one with people coming over he'll sit and won't jump up. This has been a wonderful behavior especailly seeing that my Bassett Hound had to be broken of the habbit to jump up on everyone.

 

[felicity]

Ah, my mistake. ^^ Well, whether it's the sound or the sight, it will help him view the motorbike as just another part of daily life, and not something to chase. Rather than the movement of the motorbike, you could simply have the person start it and turn it off accordingly. You could probably find a recording of a motorbike somewhere on the internet. I know many horse trainers sell sound CDs and free demos for horse desensitization(getting horses accustomed to a wide variety of sights and sounds). I'll see if I can find a link, if you're interested.

It would be great if you can find a link to something like that! Max is muzzled every time he steps foot out the house as i just cant take the risk of a passer by being bit! all your ideas are great and i shall put them into practice and let you know how we get on!:msngrin:

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Glad to help. ^^ I will go find a link, I know of one horse trainer off the top of my head that has them...I'll get his first and see what else I can find.
Edit
Clinton Anderson's Spook Less Audio

Just above the pictures of the different CDs is a link to the free demo. If I remember right, it has a variety of motorized vehicle sounds along with a million other things, lol. I think either the trail, parade, or mounted horse patrol CD would be what you're looking for. None of them are just motorized vehicles--they all have many different sounds on them. Very good though. I want to get some myself. ^-^ Clinton's one of my favorite horse trainers.

This site is the same CDs, but has a list of each sound on each CD. All of them include many of the same sounds, with some extras thrown in for each specific discipline.

If you go to Dogwise.com and type "sounds good" in the search box, it will list several sound socialization CDs.

While playing the CD, start at a low volume. Click and treat for calm behavior, and ask for him to look at you(and of course click and reward). You can slowly increase the volume, and when he is doing well with it at a relatively high volume, try going out and seeing a parked motorbike. Ask for a "look at me" many different times while sitting by the motorbike. Practicing this will help him, despite the fact that he isn't hearing it and it isn't moving. It helps pave the way towards adjusting to the other quirky aspects of those funny dogs on wheels, lol!
Anyway, hope this helps you!!! Good luck!

 

[storm22]

instead of a muzzle have you thought of a dog halter (i think there called halti's ) they work similar to horse halters and you have more control of there heads so if the dog pulls you can bring his head back towards you
they can be quite effective with dogs that lunge

also i agree with tons of exercise to quieten him down then try and train him with motorbikes

good luck