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#147Mastering the Chase: Techniques for Managing Your Dog's Natural Instincts: Dog Training Today with Will Bangura

• Will Bangura, M.S., CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, FFCP is a World Renowned Dog Behaviorist, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Certified Professional Dog Trainer, and a Fear Free Certified Professional with over 36 years of experience with the most difficult of • Season 5 • Episode 147

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Ever been pulled off your feet by a dog with an eye for the horizon? We've got the rundown on why your furry friend might be more interested in chasing squirrels than chilling at your feet. Join us as we unpack the mysteries of canine behavior, diving into the psychology behind a dog's deep-seated urge to chase. You'll come to understand not only the 'why' but also the 'how' of managing this instinctual habit.

Our conversation takes you through the nuanced world of dog training, with a focus on the importance of a solid human-canine bond. Discover practical tips, tailored training methods, and the irreplaceable value of positive reinforcement. We lay out the fundamentals, from recognizing triggers to mastering obedience commands, that can turn precarious situations into opportunities for bonding and behavioral triumphs. With these insights, even the most tenacious of chasers can learn to keep their paws on the pavement.

The session wraps up with a step-by-step Dog Training  guide to teaching dogs the art of impulse control. You'll hear personal success stories and get access to comprehensive resources that take you through exercises like "leave it" and "wait." And for those moments when Fido forgets his manners, you'll learn emergency recall techniques that could be life-savers. If you're looking to transform your walk in the park to just that—a walk in the park—this is the episode for you. Remember to support the show with a five-star review; it's a great way to keep these conversations coming and show your appreciation for our four-legged friends!

In addition, I have a 19 page guide on my website on How to Train a Dog to Stop Chasing

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If you need professional help please visit my Dog Behaviorist website.
Go here for Free Dog Training Articles

Speaker 1:

The allure of moving objects, whether it's a squirrel darting across the lawn, a car zooming down the street or even a leaf blown by the wind, can trigger a dog's instinct to chase. This instinctual response by the dog is often harmless and it can be a healthy outlet for the dog's energy. However, when this behavior crosses the line into obsessive chasing of cars, bicyclists, scooters, skateboards, other animals or even people, it becomes a huge problem. Not only does it pose a significant risk to the safety of your dog, but also the target of your dog's chase and bystanders. Addressing chasing behavior is critical for the safety and well-being of both your dog and your community. Uncheck this behavior can lead to accidents, injuries, heightened stress levels and dogs which also may exacerbate other behavior issues. The key to managing and modifying chasing behavior lies in a comprehensive understanding of dog psychology and behavior. By recognizing what triggers this instinct in each individual dog, pet guardians can tailor their training approach to mitigate risks and encourage alternative, acceptable behaviors. Today we're talking about how to train your dog to stop chasing that in 60 seconds.

Speaker 2:

Raised by wolves with canine DNA and his blood. Having trained more than 24,000 vets helping you and your fur babies thrive, live in studio with Will Bangura answering your pet behavior and training questions. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host and favorite pet behavior expert, Will Bangura.

Speaker 1:

Would you like to go on Walkies? Good day, dog lovers. It's Will Bangura and you are listening to another episode of dog training today. Hey, if you're brand new to dog training today, check out the rest of our podcast. We've got a almost 150 podcast. You can go to any of the podcast hosting platforms like Spotify, apple podcast, google podcast, buzzsprout, where we host our podcast, but any of them. Do a search for dog training today with Will Bangura and make sure that you subscribe so that you never miss an episode of dog training today.

Speaker 1:

Share this with your friends, share this with your family and do me a favor. If you love what I do here, if you like this podcast, do me a huge favor. Just take a quick second right now to pause this podcast, wherever you're listening, and please give us a five star review. Your reviews are the best thing that you can do to say thank you to me. This is a labor of love for me. I don't get any money. I don't monetize this podcast like a lot of people do, but not everybody can afford private training. That can be expensive sometimes. So this is my way of giving back to the community and if you love what we do, please give us a five star review. Ok, enough of the self promotion.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about a significant problem that many pet guardians have with their dogs, and that's a dog that loves to chase. Earlier, when I started the show you know I talked about, they could be chasing after cars. They could be chasing after bicyclists. They could be chasing after skateboards, after scooters. They could chase after another dog. They could chase after a person that might be jogging. They could be chasing after a leaf blowing on the ground. Well, that can be dangerous. So we're going to talk about that today. We're going to explain why dogs chase and we're going to explain what you can do about it to keep your dog safe and everybody else safe. For example, if your dog likes to chase after joggers, well, that might not be safe for them as well. What about kids on bikes? Yeah, imagine that you're riding your bike, your kid just having fun, and here comes this big 50 pound dog running after you.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk a little bit first about why or what causes dogs to chase. First of all, one of the reasons that dogs chase is prey drive. One of the most fundamental reasons that they chase is because of that. There's this instinctual behavior that is kind of left behind from their ancestral need to hunt for food. So the site, the sound or movement of potential prey can trigger an immediate chase response in dogs. This prey drive is not just about the capture and the kill getting the prize, it's also about the thrill of the chase itself. So it doesn't matter. You know, we talk about positive reinforcement and typically when a dog is chasing after, like a squirrel or rabbit, they rarely, if ever, get it. Now if that was the reinforcer and they rarely or never got the object of their chase, that behavior should extinguish, if that's the reinforcer. But yet it doesn't. Dogs continue to do that. So that tells us that the thrill of the chase is the biggest part of the reward and the fact that this is a innate instinctual reflex for the dog and there are certain herding instincts in certain herding breeds that were bred for herding livestock and they also have this innate tendency to chase as part of their strategy to control and move animals. And you know, I see this a lot when I get called from parents and perhaps they've got a border collie or a German shepherd or another herding breed and they're chasing after the kids.

Speaker 1:

Now it's not necessarily just the prey drive or herding instincts of specific breeds like border collies or Australian shepherds or corgis, but even play, you know, chasing can also be a form of play. Dogs often chase each other, run after toys, maybe that you throw, maybe you play with your dog and you're running around as well. Now, that form of chase is generally harmless and it's a way for dogs to engage socially. It's a way for dogs to engage with you and stimulate their minds. However, without proper boundaries, playful chasing can escalate or transfer to inappropriate items, things that they would chase Now. The other reason is predatory behavior. Now, that's similar to prey drive, but predatory behavior encompasses the entire sequence of stalking, chasing, capturing and killing the prey. Now, some dogs may exhibit aspects of this behavior sequence when they chase, especially if their focus is intense and they seem to block out all other stimuli.

Speaker 1:

Now, one of the things that's important is that we understand what specifically triggers your dog to chase. Now, that's crucial for managing the behavior and the first thing that we need to do is manage the behavior. But we need to identify triggers. Now there can be visual triggers, like moving objects, like cars, bikes, animals running, joggers we talked about that kids on skateboard, scooters floating leaves, floating leaves on a lake, that can trigger a chase response. A leaf blowing on the sidewalk so visual stimuli, moving objects that's one type of trigger. There can also be auditory triggers, sounds, if you've got a dog that has high prey drive, if you've got a dog that likes to chase, have you ever been on a walk and maybe went by a bush and there was the rustling of wildlife like a rabbit in the bushes, and all of a sudden, boom, your dog's chase instinct, prey drive, kicks in. Other sound triggers that can initiate chasing behavior could be the sound of a car engine. If your dog is one that likes to chase after cars In play, it might be a squeak of a toy. Now, the other thing that could be a trigger are environmental factors. Open spaces, certain terrains or the presence of specific scents they smell Can stimulate a dog's desire to chase. Identifying these triggers involves very careful observation and understanding of your dog's body language that's critical and what your dog's specific response patterns are in different situations.

Speaker 1:

Now we talked a little bit about breed, and breed, as well as a dog's individual temperament, can affect whether or not they chase. I mentioned certain breeds. They're more predisposed to chasing due to their historical roles and their genetic makeup hunting breeds, herding breeds, terriers they often have a higher propensity to chase due to their ingrained instincts, so understanding the breed specific tendencies can help provide insights into managing this behavior. Now a dog's individual temperament can be a factor Beyond breed. Individual temperament plays a significant role in chasing behavior. Some dogs may have a higher innate drive to chase, while others may be more laid back. Factors such as age, socialization, history, past experiences and training can all influence a dog's propensity to chase. Recognizing the complex interplay between a dog's genetic predispositions, individual temperament and environmental triggers is absolutely essential in developing effective strategies to manage this chasing behavior. This understanding allows you, the pet guardian, to tailor your approach to each dog's specific needs, creating a foundation for successful behavior modification and management.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about preparing ourselves for the training that we need to do Now. The first thing is that you need to establish a strong foundation, and there's an importance of a solid pet-parent dog relationship. The cornerstone of effective training is a solid relationship between you and your dog. Now that relationship is built on trust, mutual respect, understanding the dog that feels secure and connected with you is going to be much more likely to be receptive to training and a lot more eager to want to please you.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so here are key aspects to foster a strong bond with your dog. The first thing is consistent communication. Clear and consistent signals help dogs understand what's expected of them, reducing confusion and building trust with you. Secondly, using positive reinforcement. Using positive reinforcement techniques strengthens the bond between your dog and you by associating the work that you're asking it to do, that it gets the rewards for, rather than punishment, with you and your relationship and the dog's experience being very positive and enjoyable experience. And then quality time spending quality time together with your dog through play, exercise, love, praise, affection all of that helps deepen the emotional connection, making your training sessions more effective.

Speaker 1:

So, if you don't have a good bond, if you don't have a good relationship with your dog, that's the first thing that you need to begin to work on. I can tell you one thing if you are more interesting, if you are more fun than what's going on in the environment, your dog is going to stay focused on you and your dog's not going to chase. Now, I realize that's not easy. That's not easy. So let's talk about, first of all, for training. We need some essential tools in order to do this. The first thing we're going to need is a long line, and I'm not talking about a retractable leash. You can get a long line and sometimes they're called cotton training leads. I know when I go on Amazon, that's what I do a search for. I can get those in 10 feet, 15, 20, 30, 50 feet, 100 feet. When I'm working with a dog that has high chase instinct, I tend to like to have a longer long line.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is just like a regular leash, guys. This has a handle on it like a regular leash. It's got the leash clasp, the metal leash clasp that gets attached to the harness or collar on the other end, and it's just very long. I like to use a minimum of a 20 foot long line when I'm dealing with a dog that likes to chase. Second equipment I need I need a really good fitting harness. I don't want the dog slipping out of that harness. The other thing is hey, guys, if you're used to using a collar and hooking your leash to that versus a harness, the harness is going to provide a lot more comfort and a lot more control during your training sessions and that's going to ensure the safety of your dog, especially if they like to pull if they like to lunge.

Speaker 1:

Now we also want to have a treat pouch and we want to have super high value food rewards. Hey, listen, the big reward of the chase is huge for your dog. What do you have to balance that out? Do you have huge positive reinforcers, having your dog's favorite toy maybe it's a squeaky toy, because that can kick in prey drive too and if you can redirect that to the squeaky toy, if you can get your dog chasing after the toy after the ball, fulfilling that need, we can often just redirect that chasing behavior. So that's another piece of equipment that you're going to want to have and that's going to be your dog's favorite toy. And we talked about high value food rewards. Listen, I'm not talking about some cheap treats. I'm talking about little, tiny pieces of cut up hot dog, cut up cheese, cooked chicken, cooked beef something really, really good. All right.

Speaker 1:

Now I like to use clickers. So that's another tool. If you don't know what a clicker is, if you don't know how to use a clicker or why we use a clicker, know that the clicker is a precise way to mark desired behaviors and it signals to your dog exactly when they've done something right. Initially the clicker means nothing to the dog, it's just a neutral sound. But we take time to what we call charge the clicker and basically what that means is we're going to associate, we're going to pair the sound of that click with that clicker to a high value, positive reinforcer.

Speaker 1:

In this case we're going to do food. So I would get like 30 pieces of little about the size of a pea. The reward should be small, 30 of them, maybe chicken, 30 little pieces of chicken. And I'm going to go click give a treat, click give a treat. Click give a treat. Click give a treat. Very robotic, I'm not going to do anything else Click give a treat. Dog finishes that, click, give another treat. Dog finishes that. Click, give another treat. I'm going to do that 30 times in a row and I'm going to do that for like three days and then on day four, when the dog's just hanging out with me and the dog not when it's asleep and not when it's in the other room, in the same general area where you are, the dog's hanging out but not expecting the click, not expecting the treat. You're not doing another 30 repetitions of click and treat, but on day four you're going to test it by just clicking the clicker and observing what happens with your dog. Does your dog come running to you because it understands that click means treat? Now, if your dog comes running to you looking for that food reward right after you click, you know that you did your job correctly. The dog has been conditioned that click means treat. Now we can use that clicker to have precise timing to signal to the dog hey, that behavior is getting reward, and timing is critical when we're talking about training dogs.

Speaker 1:

Now, the next thing that we need to do is create a controlled environment for training. What do I mean by that? Well, we need to minimize distractions. We need to start training in a very quiet, very familiar environment where your dog can concentrate on you and what you're asking your dog to do, without being overwhelmed by triggers, without being overwhelmed by environmental distractions, external stimuli. Gradually, as we're working with the dog, gradually we're going to increase the distractions, but initially, our environment needs to be distraction free and our training is going to start with very basic foundational training exercises.

Speaker 1:

Now, when you begin the process of training any dog for anything, there's a couple things that you absolutely need. One is to be extremely consistent with your dog, and you need to be patient. You can only work as fast as your dog and sometimes the learner. In this case, your dog can get confused and we need to make adjustments, perhaps on how we're communicating with your dog, how we're training. The other thing that you need is the understanding and a long-term commitment to this process.

Speaker 1:

Listen, there are no quick fixes that last. There are no quick fixes that create conditioning. See, you need a conditioned response from your dog. If you don't have a conditioned response from your dog and you're in a situation where there's insane distractions your dog maybe loves to chase after cars or bikes you you're going to lose. Now we're going to start with having you and your dog begin to do some very basic obedience commands and then do some impulse control exercises. So some of the basic training that you can do with your dog is teaching your dog, and even if your dog knows these things, we want to practice them again, practice them more, practice them in a controlled setting, and this is about engagement with your dog too. It's not just about responding to the commands or cues. It's about you and your dog having a lot of fun, your dog being engaged with you and focused on you, and this be a fun experience for your dog. So, in a controlled environment where there are little to no distractions, start working on sit and stay. All right, start working on the come command, your recall Getting your dog to stay and getting your dog to come to you on cue or command are absolutely critical.

Speaker 1:

Those two, those two exercises the sit, stay and the recall can potentially, if it's trained well, if there's permanence and reliability in that training, if your dog is highly conditioned, one of those two cues or commands could actually save your dog's life. Imagine your dog chasing after a car and you being able to call your dog back to you. Your dog stops on a dime, turns around, comes running to you. Well, if your dog ran into the street chasing a car, that's extremely dangerous. Maybe your dog gets hit by a car. We pray it doesn't. But again, these are things that can save your dog's life. How about your dog's running and chasing? And at a distance, you can tell your dog to sit and stay and your dog stops. Again, that can save your dog's life.

Speaker 1:

So, working on a strong sit-stay and very gradually, very systematically, adding distractions and at any point your dog loses its focus, can't stay engaged with you doesn't respond to you saying sit and stay, you probably are working too fast, too soon. You're moving into distractions that are too heavy for your dog. You need to dial them down a little bit. You wanna make it challenging for your dog, but not so much that your dog fails most of the time. You want your dog to win most of the time and you wanna condition that, meaning that you wanna do repetition after repetition, after repetition, after repetition, so that it's highly conditioned.

Speaker 1:

Listen, when I'm doing a training session with the dog and I'm asking the dog to do a certain behavior, I try to get about 30 repetitions of that behavior in my training session. Now, until my dog understands each exercise, I don't like to combine them too much. So what do I mean by that? So I may have a training session where I'm doing 30 repetitions of sit-stay and then I'm done after that, and then another time in the day or the next day I might be doing 30 repetitions of recall, having my dog come when called. I don't care how good you think your dog is on sit-stay or coming when called. It needs to have more repetition, it needs to be conditioned and it needs to be able to stand up to heavy distractions. But first we've gotta do this in a controlled environment where there's no distractions, as we've created some conditioning, as, let's say, we did the sit-stay for five days in a low to no distracting environment. Now I'm gonna go into an environment that has a little bit of distraction and I'm gonna be working on my sit-stay there.

Speaker 1:

When my dog can consistently perform that in that environment where I've got the distraction. What does consistently perform that? Well, nine out of 10 times when I ask for it, the dog does it immediately. I think that's a pretty good, consistent, reliable behavior. Look, it's an animal. They might make a mistake. I make a mistake every day, whether I want to or not. So we're not looking for perfection. Practice doesn't make perfect. I'm sorry, but practice can make for permanence of behavior, reliability of behavior, so it can become more permanent, more reliable. Now, as your dog starts to be very reliable in this mildly distracting environment, you wanna go to a little bit more distractions.

Speaker 1:

And again, if your dog is not able to sit and stay most of the time, you need to go into an environment or you need to create less distraction and spend more time working there and then gradually, systematically, over time, with patience and understanding, you begin to little by little increase the distractions until you can get your dog reliably doing a sit, stay, reliably coming when called, when all heck is breaking loose, when there's crazy distractions and listen, the things that your dog likes to chase, those right now for this purpose are the ultimate distraction. We're not gonna start there. You see, what a lot of people think they're gonna do is set the dog up to trigger, like with a bicycle going by or a skateboard going by or a car going by, and then they wanna punish the dog. Give the dog a huge correction with the prong collar, give the dog a huge correction with a shock collar, and that's going to destroy the relationship with your dog. We do not need to use punishment, we do not need to do anything that causes fear, pain or intimidation in order to get this job done. Matter of fact, scientific study after study after study have told us that positive reinforcement actually works better than punishment. Positive reinforcement works better than punishment and punishment. Not only can it destroy the relationship with you and your dog, but there can be psychological fallout, physical fallout for your dog. Again, we can train in and we can train out any behavior using positive reinforcement. And if you doubt that, because you maybe haven't been able to do that, if you doubt that because there might be balanced trainers that use rewards and corrections, rewards and punishment, and they might be saying, hey, you need to use punishment in certain situations, no, you don't. All that means is that you and no disrespect and the other trainer and no disrespect to the other trainer are not highly skilled using positive reinforcement to get the job done. It's not that positive reinforcement doesn't work. It's that you don't know how to use it correctly or you might be trying to move too quickly. You see, a lot of people want that quick fix and there's no permanence and reliability in quick fixes. It's going to come back. So if you want to get the job done right, you take the time and you use positive reinforcement.

Speaker 1:

If you have not been to my website at dogbehavioristcom again, that's dogbehavioristcom you need to go there. I've got about 85 or more articles on training and behavior and there's two in particular that well, actually three in particular that are going to help you with this One. I've got a 37 page impulse control training guide that has step by step instructions as to what to do for impulse control, and that's the other thing that we need to work on. Impulse control is huge for dogs that chase. They need to learn leave it. They need to learn wait, if nothing else, and so that huge impulse control guide that I have at dogbehavioristcom is very comprehensive. It's going to teach you, step by step, how to do many not just those two, but many impulse control exercises, and you need this. Oh, by the way, there's also the full guide on how to teach your dog to stop chasing on the same website at dogbehavioristcom. Now I want to point you also to two more training guides that are on my website at dogbehavioristcom, and that is one, the emergency recall, and two, the restrained recall. So working on getting your dog to come when called is going to be such a critical training exercise that we need your dog to respond to. It's critical that you understand how to teach that and teaching an emergency recall If you don't know what that is, that's a special word. You hope that you never have to say it to get your dog to come to you, but you train it almost every day.

Speaker 1:

I had a client that the word they use for their emergency recall with their dogs was Pekipsi. And let me tell you a story. So every day they worked on Pekipsi, getting the dog to come. When called, the dog got highly rewarded. One weekend they went out of town. They've got two dogs and both were trained with the same emergency recall word.

Speaker 1:

There's a dog sitter at the house and the dog slip out the door and start running down the street just having a blast, having fun, and the pet sitter is absolutely freaking out. She does everything she can to try to get the dogs to come back to her and she just can't get them to come. They're not wanting her, they're playing games, they want to run, they want to chase. So she ends up calling the owner, the pet guardian, and is crying and she says your dogs ran away. I can see them, but I can't get them to come back. Well, that pet guardian because they worked on the emergency recall a lot and they had a strong emergency recall the thing that he told her to do was, in a firm but not yelling voice say Pekipsi, and they may come back to you and, if they do, get them in the house and reward them. So she doesn't hang up the phone. She's got her cell phone, she puts it in her pocket, she goes outside, she goes Pekipsi, and the dogs come running back to her like a bat out of you know what super fast, reliable, doesn't matter what's going on. They come racing in like a rocket, she gets them in the house, she gives them a reward, she pulls the phone out of her pocket and she lets the pet parent know the dogs are safe and sound. Now that's because they worked on an emergency recall. If you go to my website at dogbehavioristcom, you can find the guide on teaching the emergency recall as well as the restrained recall, which builds drive and really gets them wanting to come in. I highly recommend that you go to those articles. I highly recommend that you work on both of those exercises with your dog when it comes to teaching the recall, the restrained recall as well as the emergency recall.

Speaker 1:

I want to take a quick second to talk to you about calm dogs. Calm dogs is a natural calming aid that I spent five years researching and developing. That's right. Calm dogs is my creation. I developed calm dogs for dogs with anxiety, fears, phobias, reactivity and even aggression. I created calm dogs to help dogs that have noise sensitivities, like a fear of thunderstorms or fireworks. Calm dogs also works great for dogs with separation anxiety, a fear of car rides and travel. Calm dogs even helps those dogs with a fear of vet visits or grooming. In fact, I'm so confident that calm dogs will help your dog that I make it absolutely risk-free. Calm dogs comes with 100% money back guarantee. My promise to you is very simple Calm dogs works for your dog or it's free. Take the 45 day calm dog challenge. Go to calmdogscom or doganxietycom to learn more about calm dogs and how it can help your dog today, risk-free, at calmdogscom or doganxietycom.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's get back to how we teach a dog not to chase after things. We need to really know what the triggers are and initially you need to avoid those triggers that cause your dog to chase. You need to do everything you can to manage this in the beginning. Not that that's the answer avoiding all triggers. We want your dog to not chase after things in their presence, but in the beginning you can't have your dog continue to rehearse those behaviors over and over because they get reinforced. Remember the chase the thrill of the chase is the reward. So every time your dog does that, it is countering everything that you do, everything that you do working towards teaching your dog not to chase. Okay. So, whatever it takes, you avoid those triggers in the beginning and you start training in controlled environments and little by little you start adding distractions and little by little you start adding distance. So, distance and distractions, but you've got to do that gradually.

Speaker 1:

Again, if you're trying to call your dog in from a great distance and your dog won't do it, you've got to ask yourself do I need to back up a little bit and work on my recall from a shorter distance? Do I have my dog in an environment that's too distracting and I didn't spend enough time training and conditioning and putting in enough repetition with these behavior exercises, like the recall in lower level distractions, before I moved into something so big. Remember, this is gradual and systematic and you've got to have patience when it comes to this. You can't work faster than the dog can get it. How many times should you do the recall? Well, when I'm working on a regular recall, I may do 30 repetitions of that Then we're done. If I'm working on the restrained recall, if I'm working on an emergency recall, I'm going to do much less repetitions. I might do five to seven repetitions daily and that's it. Because I want those two to be more interesting to the dog and because I'm going to be using high value, positive reinforcers.

Speaker 1:

Like my dog's absolute favorite toy or food. It depends. Does my dog like the toy more than the food? My wife and I joke because I've got one dog that loves toys more than food. I've got another dog that loves food more than toys. We say the dog that loves the toy. Well, the toys, or the dog's love language Food for the other dog is its love language, so to speak. You've got to use the reinforcer that is the strongest for your dog. It's got to be a lot of fun when you're working on the emergency recall, when you're working on a restrained recall. And again, details for that you're going to find on my website, dogbehavorscom. Go to the menu, click on articles and look for the restrained recall, look for the emergency recall. Also, look for this article on how to teach a dog to stop chasing. And on the same website there's a 37-page guide on step-by-step detailed instructions on how to teach impulse control. You definitely want to check that out, All right, little by little, like I said, we need to go into more and more distracting environments.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're doing all of that, you're doing everything right and you're working with your dog and you just, seemingly, are not getting any progress done, you're not having success or the progress and the success you're having is really minimal and you've put in a bunch of time. I'm not talking about a week or two, I'm talking about, hey, I've worked with my dog for two months and I can't get my dog to do this in even moderate level distractions. Well, maybe you need to get some professional help. Now you can hire a dog trainer. You can hire a behavior consultant. Behavior consultants are dog trainers but they've got more experience, more time training dogs and they specialize. A behavior consultant specializes in the more difficult behaviors. Now, I'm not saying that a regular dog trainer can't manage this problem, but a behavior consultant probably can help you with this better.

Speaker 1:

And you want to make sure that whoever you're working with a professional, that they're certified. And there's only one organization, I don't care, you know every trainer out there on their website says I'm certified, I'm certified, I'm certified, I'm certified. Most of them are certifying themselves. It's insane. There's no guidelines, no oversight, no regulation in this industry. However, no requirement for certification. By the way. However, the certification council for professional dog trainers is the only independent certifying body out there. They are not biased, they're independent, they're accredited. The same way doctors, nurses, have accredited certification that they need to do Again, the certification council for professional dog traders. And you can go to their website at ccpdt. That's C like cat C, like cat P, like Paul D, like David T, like Tomorg. Iforg doesn't work. Put incom. I'm not sure if it'sorg orcom, but you can do a search for trainers or behavior consultants in your area If you need help, get somebody that knows what they're doing and make sure that they're they don't use punishment.

Speaker 1:

Make sure that they are using positive reinforcement. Again, it can be done with positive reinforcement. You don't need to punish your dog to make this happen, all right, but there are times when you may need help from a professional when it comes to doing this. So the importance of everything today is to understand that you can have a huge impact and change the behavior of your dog chasing things If you just put in the time, if you put in the effort. Okay, now, after you listen to this podcast, if you're just listening to this podcast, please do yourself a favor Get to my website, dogbehavioristcom.

Speaker 1:

Check out the guide. My guide for teaching a dog not to chase things is 19 pages long. The guide that I have on my website, dogbehavioristcom, that has the impulse control training guide that's 37 pages long. And then, like I said, there's another article on the restrained recall exactly how to do it and the emergency recall exactly how to do it. And in that impulse control exercise, in that impulse control guide, we've got, step by step, very detailed, very specific instructions on many different impulse control exercises, like leave it, like wait, and there's more. So when you get that guide and you follow those guidelines, you can't help but have success. It's just going to happen. If you do the work, if you practice, you can teach your dog to stop chasing things. Have a great day. Everybody Appreciate it. Please give us a five-star review If you love what we do. I'm out of here.

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Will Bangura M.S.,CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, FFCP

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