[wolflover6267]

I have a beautiful German shepherd / Lab /Collie / Husky mix. He is very well trained, sits, shakes paws, wipes his paws and a gamott of other commands. He is a dog we rescued from someone who does not know the basics of dog care. Get them spayed and you won't have to worry about all the puppies for the third time.(but that is another story) Wolf is almost three years old now and the perfect dog except for two things - he loves to chase things. He will chase anything from his tail, shadows, birds, leaves and snow to the lights going by on the street outside. His second problem is that we can not leave him loose outside because of the first problem. When he see's anything that is of interest he is gone in a flash. Sometimes it takes several hours to get him back in the yard. Our Vet seems to think medication is the way to get Wolf to stop chasing things, I hate that idea and am open to any suggestions. (OTHER THAN MEDS)

[Lara's mom]

Hello and welcome! Happy New Year to you too.

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by wolflover6267

I have a beautiful German shepherd / Lab /Collie / Husky mix. He is very well trained, sits, shakes paws, wipes his paws and a gamott of other commands. He is a dog we rescued from someone who does not know the basics of dog care. Get them spayed and you won't have to worry about all the puppies for the third time.(but that is another story) Wolf is almost three years old now and the perfect dog except for two things - he loves to chase things. He will chase anything from his tail, shadows, birds, leaves and snow to the lights going by on the street outside. His second problem is that we can not leave him loose outside because of the first problem. When he see's anything that is of interest he is gone in a flash. Sometimes it takes several hours to get him back in the yard. Our Vet seems to think medication is the way to get Wolf to stop chasing things, I hate that idea and am open to any suggestions. (OTHER THAN MEDS)

Can't help you much with the problem--but am definitely against the meds!!! And what are the meds called---Some could be dangerous or for that matter make your dog into a 'zombie'--No way to treat a dog!! Do you live in the country away from busy cars, etc? (Guess not as I see you mentioned chasing lights that go by on the street) I would be afraid of letting a dog loose--anything could happen. Do you walk him on a leash at all? Can you also build a backyard fence so he can be loose and not chase so many things (and you can keep an eye on him!)

You said he was smart and well trained! I am no trainer but there are quite a few members that are---Maybe he needs some kind of hard special training or suggestions from the trainers or dog behaviorists in here. Hope they can help as I am afraid your dog may get run over! But I would not give my dogs meds!!

[german sheep]

welcome wolflover to our community.

You have a really big problem with your dog:

the information you have given sounds as if your dog has been successful in catching some sort of prey.

This makes the dog independent from its owner, because the dog knows he doesn't need the human for food anymore. This is irreversible.

Because he is kept on the leash to stop this behaviour, he requires an alternative outlet, which has developed into a compulsive action. This shows itself when he starts to chase shadows, his tail etc.

This compulsive action means that he has become independent, from which you have no control over. You cannot treat this symptom you can only offer the dog an alternative. This means, you must completely change ALL that you have done previously: where you go for a walk, his usual living area (for at least one week), and controlled usage of an substitute as prey (a ball, a stick) something he can chase and catch.

This training you MUST continually and concentrated perform for the rest of the dogs life.

LG
gs

[wolflover6267]

Originally Posted by german sheep

welcome wolflover to our community.

You have a really big problem with your dog:

the information you have given sounds as if your dog has been successful in catching some sort of prey.

This makes the dog independent from its owner, because the dog knows he doesn't need the human for food anymore. This is irreversible.

Because he is kept on the leash to stop this behaviour, he requires an alternative outlet, which has developed into a compulsive action. This shows itself when he starts to chase shadows, his tail etc.

This compulsive action means that he has become independent, from which you have no control over. You cannot treat this symptom you can only offer the dog an alternative. This means, you must completely change ALL that you have done previously: where you go for a walk, his usual living area (for at least one week), and controlled usage of an substitute as prey (a ball, a stick) something he can chase and catch.

This training you MUST continually and concentrated perform for the rest of the dogs life.

LG
gs

Just to clarify things Wolf has never caught anything on his get a ways, (he is much to noisey when in play mode) he always stays in the field behind our house in plain site. He acts as if it is some kind of game, he just runs back and fourth across the neighbors field. He goes down on his front paws and barks at us as if to say come on over here. We live way out in the country, with one street in the front of the house. Wolf is not to fond of cars and trucks, including ours so he stays clear of them. We travel about 4 miles to the local park to take walks a few times a week. We have tried several toys for him, but the only one that seems to with stand his playing when he is alone is an old sock. We give him treats for good behavior but, I do not prefer to give him real bones because I am afraid of him getting them caught in his throat. We play games with him in our yard, he loves tug o war and our swing,(he jumps up on it and swings back and fourth), he loves to chase balls and pull our son on the sled. He loves to catch things and bring them back to us, which is usually how we get him back in the yard. In the summer all we need to do is turn the water hose on to get him back. I have had two vets tell me two totally different things so far. I am opened to any other suggestions.

[german sheep]

He is a dog we rescued from someone who does not know the basics of dog care.

Just to clarify things Wolf has never caught anything

when you are sure he never has caught anything, how old were he when you rescued him? If you are really sure, you have good luck, because you have a good chance to change his "attitudes".

To play with a dog and to walk in the park is not enough.
He needs safety, leadership and that his human takes control and responsibility over all situations.
At the moment it seem that it is the opposite

Your dog has the control of the situation and you have to think how to manipulate him to obey commands (I mean to follow you back in the yard, for example) This happenes when a dog has too much chances to roam freely.

Normally a dog is only allowed to do this, when he has a good obedience. If not then things happen as in your situation, he takes more then he can handle. It has nothing to do with playing, but to define the boundary.

You have to work out the dependency to you, which means to take everything he has had away and only give it back as you can see he will ask you for it, but not to claim. It is your decision what he gets, when he will get it and how long. We would do it with our children (TV, computer games and so on), why not with our 4-legged?

More rules for your dog, because rules give safety and rules are needed to have the feeling of a leadership.

LG
gs

[wolflover6267]

Originally Posted by german sheep

when you are sure he never has caught anything, how old were he when you rescued him? If you are really sure, you have good luck, because you have a good chance to change his "attitudes".

To play with a dog and to walk in the park is not enough.
He needs safety, leadership and that his human takes control and responsibility over all situations.
At the moment it seem that it is the opposite

Your dog has the control of the situation and you have to think how to manipulate him to obey commands (I mean to follow you back in the yard, for example) This happenes when a dog has too much chances to roam freely.

Normally a dog is only allowed to do this, when he has a good obedience. If not then things happen as in your situation, he takes more then he can handle. It has nothing to do with playing, but to define the boundary.

You have to work out the dependency to you, which means to take everything he has had away and only give it back as you can see he will ask you for it, but not to claim. It is your decision what he gets, when he will get it and how long. We would do it with our children (TV, computer games and so on), why not with our 4-legged?

More rules for your dog, because rules give safety and rules are needed to have the feeling of a leadership.

LG
gs

In response to your question we have Wolf since he is around 3 -4 weeks old. His former owner has no idea what day the litter was born just around what week. Wolf as I stated is always in plain site of us so I know he has never caught anything. He is a very active member of the family and luckily my husband or I are around him for the most part of the day. He spends about 6 hours alone every day. He has only ever destroyed one thing in our home as a puppy and that was one of our sons rattles. (I don't think he liked the noise). I am told that German Shepherds are very keen and learn quickly and he has as I stated with the exception of the chasing and leaving our yard. The strange thing is that I have a neice who is Autistic and Wolf will follow her anywhere. My neice does not talk, so it is not a command situation that Wolf responds to. Wolf is not a barker unless he feels threatened, or someone comes to the door or raises their hand to one of the family members. Again a very good mix of breeds I suppose.

By the way - do you have a German Shep mix or pure bred?

[lil mutt]

Does he get enough exercise? Does that behaviour just show recently? Maybe a behaviour training class is perfect for him..

[german sheep]

hi wolflover,

thank you for your answer.
What you are telling sounds good and therefore I would work on the dependency to you and your husband.

That he follows your neice has to do with her totally different body language.
A dog communicates through body language (plus barking and growling) and studies our movements 24 hours a day.
So he already knows things we are going to do, just by thinking what we wanna do.
Your neice moves totally different and has something he wants to find out. Because she does not talk to him, she is very interesting, because it is not usual that peolpe do not speak.

Yeah, you are right german shepherds and gs mixes are really great and easy to handle (very easy to handle) I love them.
If you wanna see mine, you can have a look on my myspace side.
Ther are some shots of them. Cornelia Benford (Cornelia Benford) | MySpace

Regards
gs

at the moment I work on the translation of a ...it is called anti-control programm. When you are interested, I will send it to you when it is finished.