How do you get a border collie puppy to stop chasing cars?

Question

We have a five mth old border collie that we love and want him to stop.

When I take him for walks he barks and lunges for cars ( he is always on his leash) I am afraid he will one day get away and get killed by car. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I'd recommend getting a harness; they're virtually impossible to slip out of.  Just make sure you're holding the leash tight and he'll be fine.  He should grow out of it eventually, especially if he's around cars a lot; they'll become commonplace and less interesting.

Answer 2

I agree with much of what michael C had to say. As a Border Collie, aussie and rough collie owner and trainer of my own dogs I can tell you that instinct is definatly working against you. That said the problem is certainly fixable. Training goes a long way.

      Enroll your dog in a good positive training class with a trainer who is experienced with border collies. Border collies do especially well with clicker training, harsher methods that may work with other breeds don't fair well with the intelligent and sensitive breeds such as the border collie. They can actually create problems and you can end up with a timid unresponsive border collie. They have been breed to work in unison with their owner (shepherds) not as a subordinate, they thrive when they know that they are getting something out of the deal.

    You will be suprised by the improvement you will get in your car chasing problem if your dog is obedience trained. Training helps the dog to pay attention to you in all situations. So when he goes to chase cars, squirells, kids, you can give him a firm NO, or Leave it. Distract him with a high value treart (tiny pieces of cheese or meat) Praise him when cars go by and he ignores them on his own.

    His drive will likely never go away, but this way you will have tools to control it. And do concider a dog sport when he gets a little older like herding, agility, Frisbee, flyball, Rally-O, obediance, tracking, backpacking, search and rescue or therapy work. a tired border collie is a well behaved border collie and those brains are too good to waist ;).

Good Luck!

Answer 3

He needs discipline and if you can't give it to him then I'd get a trainer or go to a local K-9 training center to learn to control your dog.  It's past Petsmart classes.  I don't mean to be abusive but a dog needs to know you are the leader and you will not tolerate him pulling you like that.  DO NOT ever let him lead on a walk or going thru a doorway or anything else.  YOU need to own the space, not the dog.  A trainer will cost you but it'll be worth it.  They'll evaluate the dog and work with you to figure out if he needs to stay for a few weeks to train or if you are going to be part of the daily training.  Good luck.  

Answer 4

Sun In My Eyes., I wish I had a a border collie.

Answer 5

Start training him. Don'tt let him act like a idiot on leash. When he starts lunging at cars, quickly turn the other way and pull him with you. Make him pay attention to YOU. there is no need for him to act like that, I know he is 5 onths old, but training needs to be done, now. Before harm does happen. how much excersise does he get? Anyway to put him in herding classes? Border collies are born to "chase" herd things. Thus what he is doing.  

Answer 6

this is an extreemly common behavior in this breed, some bogs are inteligent to a fault and it can kill them. Like was mention above your guy might trying to herd the cars, I would go a step up from there and say this is straight prey drive. Often this can also surface with motorcycles, skateboards and children. Often it is very frustrating to your bc that he can not control somthing in their enviroment and they need to take it down and put it in their place. You are working agaist a fundemental instict and breed characteristic,  you have some work ahead of you to bring it under control.

Start obedience classes, work on your leadership and leash work. When on casual walks use a heavy leather leash, loop the leash around your hand a few more times. Have the leash attached to a properly fitted martingale collar. I ussally don't like harnesses unless the dog is already under control. Natural instinct with a harness it to pull and it multiplies the dogs strength and there is no way of giving a decent correction. All bcs I've come accross alert and fixate before giving chase, break the fixation as soon as it starts. A smelly treat, harsh noise and sideways poke to the shoulder works, I like to use the focus or leave it command and make them make eye contact with me. A halti wish a three inch training tab in addition to the collar leash helps alot with focus work. You will make it through this time, it's just a ton of work and commitment to be consistant. Do some research on NILF training.

Try to work for your canine good citizen, herding classes and dog sports will help. Bcs excell at agility, flyball, dock/splash dogs and disc dogs competitions.