Jess is a Border Collie - she's 8 months old and going for a walk has become a nightmare
for her owner Anita. Jess is obsessed with chasing cars, bikes and even joggers. Dogs
that chase can be a very serious problem and has the potential to be extremely dangerous.
I really don't like taking her out on a busy road. It's 's that bad. She's pulling as soon
as you get her out the gate. If a car comes from behind, she starts spinning round and
round. It's - I can't let them - my kids are teenagers, I can't let them take he for a
walk because she might run into the road. You know, it is a really serious problem.
It took Anita 22 years to persuade her husband to get a dog. Now that they've got one her
husband is regretting his decision. He says if Jess can't be trained properly she will
have to go.
If Jane can sort this out, I'll be the happiest person in the world, because, you know, just
the thought of getting rid of Jess... I just, you know, I just want to be able to walk her
properly. So.. oh god. I would just like Jess to, you know, I'd just like to be able to
walk Jess. You know, because I want her to have a nice life.
Well, Dog Behaviour Expert Jane Hanshaw can't promise miracles but if Anita is prepared
to work hard, Jane's confident she can get this car chasing under control.
Hi, how are you?
I'm alright thanks. How are you?
Not bad, thank you. Hello, Jess. How are you? Right, am I alright sitting here? Good. Thank
you. Looking at her there, I would say that she's more of a working sheepdog.
Right.
Rather than a border collie as such. She is a border collie, don't get me wrong, but she's
the working strain. So you've got the supercharged version. She's hard-wired to chase. That's
what shepherds use. They need them to herd the sheep. So in her - part of her makeup
is to chase. So she's doing what comes naturally to her. So in the absence of sheep she's choosing
cars.
Jane has taken Jess away from busy roads and other distractions to teach a basic command
'Leave It'. If Jess masters this the plan is that she'll eventually learn to leave cars,
bikes and the other things she chases.
So basically you put a really tasty treat in the palm of your hand. As the dog's nose
goes for it, just close your fist like that. You're not shouting, you're asking it to leave
it. When she goes, uh? Good girl. Take it. And then you give to her with a take it. Teach
it on food initially, and then once she knows it well, what I'd like to do is go, -'eave
that car, leave that jogger, leave that bike.'
A head collar can be a really useful tool for controlling a dog that lunges, because
basically It can't get the power from its shoulders into that lunge. You've got control
of the head. What's really important on the head collar is that you spend some time getting
your dog to accept it. Even if you're only just putting it on for a few seconds and rewarding
that acceptance. Don't rush it, spend the time and then that will help you later on
the training.
Jane's already spent some time with Jess ensuring that she's comfortable wearing the head collar
in the house, before moving to an outside environment.
Walk with me? Come on, let's go. What we're looking for ' good girl, super ' is some really
nice relaxed walking. Oh, that's much better. And I'd like to turn that way, so that I've
always got the dog on the inside. Good girl. Lovely. Super. A lot of praise when she gets
it right. We're not going to tell her off. What I'm looking to do is I want to be really
relaxed. I want you to be relaxed and I want her to be relaxed. I'm not looking for a tight
lead. The point of it is if this head collar's on she can' get the power behind that lunging
that she's doing. So we have to get her to accept that first. Which is what we're doing
now.
Jess seems to have accepted the idea of wearing a head collar but how will she cope with passing
traffic?
Jess hardly reacts as two cars pass by.
Good girl. So she looks behind and we use that leave it again. We're not telling her
off. Don't be cross. She's already bothered by the environment enough really. So good
girl. What a good girl. Oh, that's so nice, you're lovely. Good girl. Good, good.
With just a couple of hours training Jess has gone from this -
to this. Just imagine what Anita could achieve in a couple of weeks if she sticks at it.
I know you were a little bit upset earlier on; you thought you might have to give her
up if you couldn't cope. Do you feel better equipped now?
100 per cent better. I just can't believe the difference from, you saw what she was
like this morning. It'''''''s like, unbelievable.
So what's important is that you do lots and lots and lots of really small sessions. Five
or ten minutes four or five times a day is much better than a sort of hour slot at the
end of the day. Do you feel you might have to give her up now? Think you can keep her?
I do yeah. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now. The difference today, I just
feel so 'I can see, you know, she can - she can do it. She can do it.