QUESTION:
I am having problems with my one year-old collie, husky and setter mix. He is aggressive towards people on bicycles. He also likes to chase cars. I know this is typical shepherd behavior, but my problem is more serious than that. One day while off leash, he bit one of my neighbors in his leg when he rode by on his bicycle. The dog is incredibly good-natured and I am not sure he intended to bite, but.. Considering what he did to my neighbor, should I have him euthanized? The neighbor has made no such claims, even though the bite punctured his skin. Is it possible break the dog of this habit?

I also have another “problem” dog. Not really a problem, but a bit tricky. It’s a young dog, a husky who seems have a bit of a hearing problem. Yelling at him doesn’t help, I have tried everything from grabbing him by the scruff of his neck to ignoring him, and he doesn’t care. With little things like teaching him not to jump up on people I strictly put him down on the ground, and he jumps up again immediately. This dog is also awfully stressed. I have his grandmother with me too, and she’s almost as bad as he is. They come from the same breeder. Is this hereditary, or is it simply a behavioral problem, or is it that the mother did a poor job raising this dog?

ANSWER:
The chasing dog has a hunting desire so strong that you simply need to keep him physically restrained, i.e. on a leash. For off leash time you’d better find safe places – open fields with no risk of meeting any cyclists, fenced fields, etc. There’s obviously a lot of hunting desire in this dog’s genes, and by allowing him to hunt this desire will only get stronger and worse.

In addition I suggest that you get help to learn to train both your dogs properly. No dog is born stressed. Some breeds are born with a potential of becoming stressed, but that doesn’t mean they will become stressed. The fact that the dog is behaving the way you describe has little to do with the way his mother raised him, it probably has more to do with your own behavior. By yelling and scolding and punishing him for his wrong behaviors, he will be stressed, insecure and likely to continue acting the way he is. You need to learn to use completely different methods which involve rewarding the dog for good behavior instead. How to go about it is too extensive to get into here, som I suggest that you find someone who can help you. Get in touch if you need help finding a trainer in your area. I may be able to help you out.

Turid Rugaas