Chasing/high prey drive/OCD?

[Char_BM]

Hi all,

I have run into some problems with my 5 month old DS puppy chasing birds.
He had a few runs off leash where he got to chase some seagulls and ever since that, he has become completely obsessed with birds. If he is off leash, he will run around chasing them, even long after they have taken off. I’m worried he might run out in front of cars following a pack of birds. He normally runs the same “pattern” in the park.
I have put him on a long leash and we are working on general obedience at a distance. However, if he goes into chase drive, nothing can snap him out of it, and I just have to turn around and go home with him and go back out later.

I have also noticed him doing this chasing behavior when we go to the park at night. I let him off the leash at night because there are no birds. But he will all of a sudden start to run around like a crazy, looking into the air, like he is looking for birds. He will not pay attention to anything while he runs around.

Do you think this could be some kind of OCD? Or do I simply need to find something better he can chase.

We are training to do protection sports, so I play a lot with him, do obedience work and take him on structured walks/socialization with other dogs and puppies, as well as attending IGP class twice a week. We also do some nose work and other brain engaging games.

Our trainer can’t really come up with any solution to this, apart from keeping him on then long leash and trying to redirect him. But this doesn’t seem to work.


Thanks in advance!


-Charlotte & puppy Anouk

[TimL_168]

Baby steps. I'd shorten the leash to start with.

[TimL_168]

Keep greater distance. Short durations.

[Tim91118]

He’s old enough for an e-collar. What about his favorite toy ? You’re not going to get his mind off those birds without redirection. Don’t take him there again unless he’s able to be redirected away from the birds and he must be kept on that short leash.

[Char_BM]

Keep greater distance. Short durations.

Baby steps. I'd shorten the leash to start with.

Okay we will try that. I normally find a distance where he will listen, and then we practice recalls and so on.
He recalls just fine on a 50ft leash if the distance is right. But sometimes we are unlucky and a bird lands close to us

He’s old enough for an e-collar. What about his favorite toy ? You’re not going to get his mind off those birds without redirection. Don’t take him there again unless he’s able to be redirected away from the birds and he must be kept on that short leash.

Can’t use an E-collar unfortunately. Where I live in Europe, they are illegal and you risk a pretty hefty fine if you use one. Hence why I am stuck to a 50ft leash so I can at least stop him when he goes into his bird mode.
I have had limited success with his tug on a long line, which I managed to throw in his path and drag along the ground. It will only snap him out of it shortly before he starts looking up again and continue running. His focus on me when we are out is very easily broken with distractions (we are working on motivation and engagement in less distracting environments).

The park is our only option for walks. Our backyard is too small for him to run around in.
Do you think he would benefit work with a flirt pole?

Thanks for your replies

[Tim91118]

A flirt pole would definitely go along way in trying to satisfy his strong prey drive. It will also wear him out. Try this before you take him to the park.

[TimL_168]

Def go with flirt pole.
You're fighting for engagement. He's young. Don't give up. Break your problem down into it's individual parts and work them until solid. If there's one piece of advicei can give that I put above all else, it's this:
Set your dog up for success! Build you training exercises in a manner that he's most likely to do well with. Add distresses, distractions, and new work in small increments only after the previous lesson is solid in the dog.

[ladyjubilee]

May not help, but in addition to the ecollar, what helped us most was the trainer stressing to treat Bramble like a working dog. He had me change my mindset with her which changed her focus. She is consider a "high prey drive" dog, which makes her job a challenge. But when I started treating her like a working dog....when she had to start earning her rewards 24/7, she started changing that drive focus to work focus. Now we have a big fenced back yard with plenty of white squirrels to chase when she is off duty, but on we start working she really changes that focus, especially when my son is involved (her main job.) Now instead of running off to chase she comes running to work.

[Char_BM]

May not help, but in addition to the ecollar, what helped us most was the trainer stressing to treat Bramble like a working dog. He had me change my mindset with her which changed her focus. She is consider a "high prey drive" dog, which makes her job a challenge. But when I started treating her like a working dog....when she had to start earning her rewards 24/7, she started changing that drive focus to work focus. Now we have a big fenced back yard with plenty of white squirrels to chase when she is off duty, but on we start working she really changes that focus, especially when my son is involved (her main job.) Now instead of running off to chase she comes running to work.

What do you mean by " treat him like a working dog"? We already have him working for all his meals (can be simple engagement sessions or go seek games or similar). He is crate trained and will spend time in there when we are not doing stuff with him. He doesn't have access to toys unless we play with him etc. I am not sure if that is what you mean?

He has actually started to see me as a fun person over the last week. I have played some really silly games with him, which has worked like an icebreaker. So that is a great improvement.

We did however also have a setback today. He was off leash playing with another dog (in a completely different park with no birds) and out of nowhere he started his crazy circles. It took us over 30 mins to stop him. It got a bit too exciting a few times as he ran close to a bike path. And obviously, frantic running like this is not good for a 5 month old puppy.

But we are working on impulse control with the flirtpole and hopefully he will start to get it.

[Tim91118]

Have you started working on an “ out “ This is a good start in getting control of his drives.

[ladyjubilee]

The change was having to work for any attention. We arent supposed to just pat her head. Instead we have to look for opportunities to have her do something for that affection. Basically she work for her pay....and she is a by the piece worker. The result is (when we are consistent) she is always on the look out for a chance to get paid.

[Char_BM]

Have you started working on an “ out “ This is a good start in getting control of his drives.

Yeah he knows how to out, although we were advised not to train it yet (until his bite work is more solid)

The change was having to work for any attention. We arent supposed to just pat her head. Instead we have to look for opportunities to have her do something for that affection. Basically she work for her pay....and she is a by the piece worker. The result is (when we are consistent) she is always on the look out for a chance to get paid.

He is not really that much into affection. So unless we have food, then he really couldn't give a damn. That's why I'm trying to improve our relationship by taking him out to play several times a day (and then back in the crate after for a nap). But we will try working some more on him earning his "pay". Thanks for the suggestion

[Mark77]

Mine ate one of my wife's pet birds on the first day we brought the dog home. I mean nine week old puppy and he ate a parakeet whole. It took a long time to break of that but now- we can leave him out while letting the birds out of the cage to fly around the living room. Now outside the home, him and my two females have killed several squirrels, opossums, rabbits, and the occasional bird. It's just a dog thing I guess, they hate anything in their yard.