Barking Mad

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I have a 3 yo male (fixed) Border Collie, he barks at and goes for cars like Jeremy Clarkson on acid. Any ideas why this is and what the best way to curtail it is? Any help appreciated, cheers!

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EGAR

A Border Collie is a pastoral breed, and chasing cars is, unfortunately, very common in BC's. It a "replacement activity" e.g. your dog is compensating for the lack of a "job". Once this becomes fixed behaviour it will be very hard to combat it and it's also very dangerous for your dog and the motorist. Is there any chance your dog may come from working stock? BC's are highly intelligent dogs and they get bored if they don't have a task (mind, I am not saying ALL BC's) - alot of them are happier if they have a job, ie herding, agility, obedience etc. You need to curb it NOW. Try not to put your dog in a situation in which he can give free reign to his car chase. Give him something to do. I do not know your circumstances and how you keep your dog but I suggest you do something about it ASAP before the dog gets hurt or hurt someone by causing a crash. I hope I do not come across as patronising but I have often swerved to avoid a collie jumping out of the ditch and I nearly get a heart attack every time. :eek:

biko

Indeed, you need to replace one activity with another, a bad one with a good one.

Are you in a town or countryside? Have a garden? Walk it often? Are there other dogs around?

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I walk him 2 miles every day. Usually along the beach to avoid traffic and always on a leash as he'd leg it with half a chance. He's mostly kept in the house but when outside, he's on a long chain. The garden is big (an acre).

When a car pulls up outside the house when he's outside he goes insane, not just barking but what seems like utter aggression. He's not aggressive towards people at all, even with kids he's very gentle etc.

He did come from working stock, the farmer that had him said he was spooked by sheep though and wouldn't work.

Magnus, I live in a small country village.

EGAR

This type of behaviour has rarely something to do with a lack of physical exercise. It is rather a lack of mental stimulation. The dog feels good doing it as it give him an outlet. The problem here is that the dog needs to be mentally stimulated. Your best bet if possible is to enrol him and yourself into obedience and/or agility classes to give him something to do, the obedience will also help with the car chasing. Another thing you may have to look at is the food you give him, anything over 20% protein for a non-working dog is too much, especially for collies. It will drive them up the wall. Get him a good dry food with 18% protein.

Alot of people forget or do not know that herding is a re-directed hunting instinct, very visibly shown in the "creeping up" of collies to sheep and/or cattle.

Tying a dog can actually make the problem alot worse. I would recommend that you built him a run for when he is outside, preferably behind the house where he cannot see cars.

itllbegrand

hey guys, sorry to butt in. just have a question i would love to have answered. i have a 4 month old springer pup male. i got him for rough shooting but if i got him neutered would this affect his hunting performance??

Thanks