# My dog is obsessed with foxes and squirrels and has in general terrible behaviour



## Cassio Marques (Sep 23, 2016)

Hi everyone, this is my first post here and I joined because it really looks like people in this forum have a lot of knowledge and would be able to help me.

I have two dogs, one pug (male, called Stephen) and one rescue (female, called Carrie). Carrie has been with us for 5 years now. She's always been quite naughty and misbehaved but things are getting worse and worse, to a point where my wife and I are loosing our minds. Carrie has LOADS of energy. I always read that dogs like that need to exercise a lot, so to help with that I moved to a new flat that's right in front of a big park. What we thought would improve things, as she would exercise a lot, get calmer and easier to train/educate is actually making things worse.

She's overly excited most of the times and goes completely mad every time she sees a squirrel or a fox, which are quite common here. Every time she sees or smells one of them, she starts screaming (not barking, really screaming/crying, as if someone was actually hurting her) and pulling on the lead with such strength that it takes a lot of effort to keep holding it. Bear in mind she has around 9kg, so not a big dog. When we go out, she's always doing these very quick movements with her head, looking at all directions, as if she was trying to sniff and see the whole world at the same time.

We take them both out at least 4 times a day so they can "do their business" and also exercise. Once a day we let Carrie loose and she will run at the park for at least one hour. When I say run, I really mean it. It's literally over one hour running without stop. If we call her, she won't come back and basically we need to wait until she tires up and comes back on her own free will. After that someone would think she would get calmer, but once home even the smallest noise outside, like my neighbours opening their doors will make her bark and go to our door to "see what's going on".

Also, during her runs, if she finds fox poo, she will roll and get all smeared with it :-(

We are constantly trying to make her calm down and to train her, like:

- Making her calmly wait for me to put the lead on her before going out
- Making her wait with the door open before going out.
- Turning around every time she tries to go after foxes/squirrels, instead of letting her go after them.

She's very territorial and jealous, particularly with my wife. All the symptoms/behaviours described happen with either my wife or myself, but they are always worse if my wife is alone with Carrie.

I appreciate that what I described may be quite a complex case, but any help or guidance is most welcome. We really don't know what else to do. I know we need to learn more about training in general, but I had dogs all my life and none of them had that kind of behaviour. Her case seems so bad to me that I don't even know where to start. All I know is that our quality of life has definitely gone down with that. We really do love her and want her to get better as we believe that the way Carrie behaves is not good for her either.

Thank you!


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## labradrk (Dec 10, 2012)

Is Carrie a Pug, too? her behaviour isn't typically what I'd associate with Pugs who are usually pretty passive things, but you do get atypical ones......

I'd certainly not be letting her off the lead if she will only come back "of her own free will". Being off lead is not a right but a privilege and having no recall means she could easily end up on a compromised position......you've been lucky so far.

How toy motivated is she? what does she like to play with?


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## Cassio Marques (Sep 23, 2016)

labradrk said:


> Is Carrie a Pug, too? her behaviour isn't typically what I'd associate with Pugs who are usually pretty passive things, but you do get atypical ones......
> 
> I'd certainly not be letting her off the lead if she will only come back "of her own free will". Being off lead is not a right but a privilege and having no recall means she could easily end up on a compromised position......you've been lucky so far.
> 
> How toy motivated is she? what does she like to play with?


No, Carrie has mixed breeds. She has a bit of sausage dog for sure, but being a rescue, who knows what else? 

I've tried to teach her to fetch balls and things like that, but I must be doing something wrong, as she does it like 3 times and completely loses interest. At home, she will some times chew at some toys, but now all the time. Also, if I get one of those toys you can put food inside and put something that she really, really likes, she will play and try to get the food out. She usually loses interest on toys after a few minutes.

About her not having recall when off the lead, she used to come back to us when called in the past, but then she would only go to the park and get off the lead once a week. Now that she has this privilege every day, she's not coming back when called and basically does not pay attention to anything apart from running and other animals.


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## Carrie McLoughlin (Dec 28, 2015)

Hi I have exactly the same problem with my Dobermann. When I originally let her off the lead she bolted immediately to where a fox runs around on the field and no matter how much I would call her and bribe her she still would not take me on.
As soon as I put my wellies on she goes ape!!! Then 20 mins later would drag me to the field sniffing all the way!!!
I haven't cured the problem but have minimised it by
1) when I put my wellies on now until she calmes down her lead does not go on.
2)I bought a figure of 8 lead which she hates but she cannot pull at all and everytime she tries to or starts making strange noises I stop dead until she relaxes and sits down (this did take a long time but she learnt to refocus as she couldn't get to the field until she behaved) 
3)I bought a brilliant extension lead which I clip on when we get to the field taking the figure of 8 lead off. She still has the freedom of running but obviously she can't run off.
4) although we walk around the field and she still pulls towards the Fox end we walk past the area but I don't stop and we continue on our walk. She soon forgets the Fox as she wants to know what is infront. 
She constantly has her nose to the ground and scent is her thing. Unfortunately we are still treating her health problems but when she is fit enough I have researched some excellent dog scent training classes and advanced socialisation and recall classes to book her on. She also has loads of energy and the scent training uses her mental energy and looks amazing.
I still have a way to go with her but it has made walks so much easier and she has become alot more settled at home and more well behaved at home and outside.
I hope some of these ideas help, they are time consuming but stick with them as the stubborn dog mind does realise in the end!!!!!!
Good luck 
Carrie 
ps love your dogs na name!!!


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## Canarie (Sep 4, 2013)

Hi,my dog has a couple of traits similar to yours.
When she picks up a smell of a fox she will scream and pull,pull,pull to follow that smell.Same also for picking up smell of deer in the forest.
She will also only play for a few times with a ball as wanting to follow a scent.When we are on a beach she will play for a long time with the ball.I understand why this is so as she is part Beagle and there is limited scent on a beach.
When we rescued Millie we got her DNA done,which is very simple to do and inexpensive.Can find it on Amazon.I did this as wanted to know what we were "playing" with.What mixture she was was irrelevant,just for interest.It has helped with some issues,knowing what breed she is.


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## Cassio Marques (Sep 23, 2016)

Carrie McLoughlin said:


> Hi I have exactly the same problem with my Dobermann. When I originally let her off the lead she bolted immediately to where a fox runs around on the field and no matter how much I would call her and bribe her she still would not take me on.
> As soon as I put my wellies on she goes ape!!! Then 20 mins later would drag me to the field sniffing all the way!!!
> I haven't cured the problem but have minimised it by
> 1) when I put my wellies on now until she calmes down her lead does not go on.
> ...


Hi Carrie, thanks for your reply. A Dobermann with this type of problem must be really hard to control! The figure 8 lead does sound interesting, I might have a look at one of those!


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## Cassio Marques (Sep 23, 2016)

Canarie said:


> Hi,my dog has a couple of traits similar to yours.
> When she picks up a smell of a fox she will scream and pull,pull,pull to follow that smell.Same also for picking up smell of deer in the forest.
> She will also only play for a few times with a ball as wanting to follow a scent.When we are on a beach she will play for a long time with the ball.I understand why this is so as she is part Beagle and there is limited scent on a beach.
> When we rescued Millie we got her DNA done,which is very simple to do and inexpensive.Can find it on Amazon.I did this as wanted to know what we were "playing" with.What mixture she was was irrelevant,just for interest.It has helped with some issues,knowing what breed she is.


Hi Canarie, thank you for your reply.

What a great idea, I never thought about having her DNA tested, that would probably help us identify some of the behaviours. We are pretty sure she has a bit of dachshund


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## Moobli (Feb 20, 2012)

From your description it sounds like your dog is focused on everything except you. You need to make yourself more interesting. Up her training - short, fun sessions are ideal. Find what really motivates her in play or training - such as very tasty treats or a special toy.

I also would not be letting her off lead until her recall is much better. You could exercise her on a long line until you have worked on her recall sufficiently that she returns to you every time you call.

If she is constantly over-aroused in your flat, you need to teach her to calm down and to settle. It is also the ideal place to start your fun recall training sessions as there will be fewer distractions. A tired dog is more often than not a happier dog, so you need to work on her using her brain and also teaching her to chill out.

This video is brilliant for dogs that chase other dogs, animals, joggers, cyclists etc and really works on improving recall. You have to be consistent and keep plugging away, but it will make a huge difference.

http://www.dog-secrets.co.uk/how-do-i-stop-my-dog-chasing/


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