Maggie chases passersby

[Galt]

My Mom goes walking every morning in a fenced-in park, so she takes Maggie with her. But Maggie will sometimes run up to a jogger or a passerby and bark at them and scare them. She has gotten increasingly bold in this. One guy even kicked her; she acts so aggressive, but she doesn't bite. She won't listen when Mom calls her. Now Mom refuses to take her, and I'll have to walk her on a leash. I don't want to; is there anything Mom can do to teach Maggie to ignore passersby?

[opokki]

Your mom will need to work on recalls with her beginning without distractions and gradually work her way up to low-moderate-high distractions. Practicing with "volunteer joggers" would be a great help.

A dragline can be used for now. This way if she doesn't come your mom still has control over her.

[skunkstripe]

Is Maggie a herding dog?

[Galt]

Is Maggie a herding dog?
Neh, she's a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.

[retriever crazy]

if she keeps doing that you have to keep her on a leash...why dont you want to walk her on a leash?

[skunkstripe]

The reason I was asking whether she is a herding dog is if so, it will be really hard to train her out of it.

I think you are stuck with the leash until you can train this out of her. The key is to catch her just as she is about to give chase and then do what you need to do to get her not to. IF this means saying 'no' or shortening the leash so that she gets a tug on her collar each time is something you will find out.
Good luck.

[Galt]

Thanks all for your replies.

I was thinking - is this too mean? To ask a few people Maggie doesn't know to run in the park, like the passersby she sees every day - and just have them squirt her with water when she disobediently runs up to them? It won't hurt her, but I know she would be repulsed by a sudden squirt. It would only take a few times before she learns running up to people = bad. But I hope this wouldn't teach her to fear people or anything; I want her to be able to get along with strangers - and ignore them, so she can run free in the park each day, but I won't do that if it does more harm than good. What do you think?

[Taeric]

Water bottles are excellent training tools. If you are concerned about her fearing people, try setting up some situations where people call her and reward her when she comes. Alternate that with people being around and squirting her when she approaches someone in the "stranger" category without first being called. The logistics might be a bit difficult unless you can get together several people, some of which she doesn't know overly well to fill the roles of the strangers, but it might be worth a shot.

[Galt]

Okay, thanks Taeric. I'll be sure to have people call her who give her positive reinforcement when she comes, and alternate that with "strangers" who squirt her.
Also, your dog looks cool. He or she has the same floppy ears as Maggie!

[Georgia]

I'm no expert by any means but one trick I've picked up from TV shows is to try and catch them before the act and stop the behavior before it escalates. If you can be with her when the joggers are going by and be ready with the leash, and then stop her before she runs it might help. I'm also finding that putting yourself between the dog and whatever the dog is focused on helps to "jerk" them out of whatever state of mind they are in. Our dog is very willing to listen to us so it might not work well with all dogs.

[retriever crazy]

I'm no expert by any means but one trick I've picked up from TV shows is to try and catch them before the act and stop the behavior before it escalates. If you can be with her when the joggers are going by and be ready with the leash, and then stop her before she runs it might help. I'm also finding that putting yourself between the dog and whatever the dog is focused on helps to "jerk" them out of whatever state of mind they are in. Our dog is very willing to listen to us so it might not work well with all dogs.


i agree with you