# Unusual problem... chasing planes



## Dazedandconfused (Sep 22, 2009)

Hi All,

I have a pug. He is laid back, smart and very funny. He likes to be stimulated and as such has doggy daycare 2 days in the week training classes in the evenings and agility at the weekend. On the whole is very well behaved (he barks more than i would like, but hey) He is the only dog and the two of us dote on him so he has our time and attention.

Anyhoo, when we moved to this new area he was in day care for a short time with a lady who looked after two dogs who she called 'shadow chasers' and would chase birds and planes. They were kept permanently on lead because of this behaviour. Never though anything of it because the Pug has been with other dogs since he was tiny and not picked up any traits.

Now he has started to mirror the behaviour. at first i was amused as he looked goofy chasing a great plane in the sky barking his head off but this last two weeks (as we are on the flight path to LHR) he seems to have become obsessed!

Then last week he took off at speed and stopped when i called but he was so fast he nearly made it out the front gate and to a road (we live on acres of park land and the whole area had public access so no closed gates) thank goodness for emergency stop training!!

Most worryingly I have now noticed he is actively looking up to try and find planes to chase!

We do trick training and playtime in the morning so happy to incorporate any training in that anyone thinks will work but i have yet to find a 'alternate' behaviour to take its place. How do you train the association air plane don't chase - come to me? (he can be drawn off if he is chasing a plane... but we have so many coming overhead that i need him to go back to ignoring them which he has done for the last two years!)

Any ideas for this escalating odd behaviour?


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

So a local dog boarder has taught your dog inappropriate behaviours...that is not on at all, if her dogs have behavioural issues that she doesn't want to help then that is her issue, but to then allow a clients dog to pick up these issues is bad management at best 

For the time being I would keep your dog on a long line so that you can stop any inappropriate behaviour before it starts. You could start by waiting to hear a plane (before it comes into view) and ask for sit's, downs and just relaxed behaviours (go to bed is a good one here too) so that he starts to re-associate planes with quiet time rather than busy time  You may benefit from the help of a local reward based trainer that can see the dog and give you pointers 

As for the day care...well, my dog would not be going back, that's for sure!


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## Muttly (Oct 1, 2014)

And charge the training to the day care!


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## Dazedandconfused (Sep 22, 2009)

Thank you all!

He was only with this daycare lady for a few weeks while we got settled in the area. After a while we were not happy with her (she kept leaving the house unlocked as one example... Even after we mentioned it on a few occasions) just as we were going to bin her she emailed to say she had suffered a death in the family and had to move to take on caring responsibilities. 

So no idea where she is. 

P's the two shadow chasers were daycare dogs not her own


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Dazedandconfused said:


> Thank you all!
> 
> He was only with this daycare lady for a few weeks while we got settled in the area. After a while we were not happy with her (she kept leaving the house unlocked as one example... Even after we mentioned it on a few occasions) just as we were going to bin her she emailed to say she had suffered a death in the family and had to move to take on caring responsibilities.
> 
> ...


Were the two shadow chasers collies by any chance? It is a collie trait which can quickly get out of hand until it becomes OCD.

Personally I'd teach your Pug "watch me" and "leave it" commands. Try going into the garden with him and as a plane is about to pass overhead say "leave it" and stick a juicy tit-bit on his nose. If he looks at the tit-bit immediately give it to him, plus several more and praise like mad. You will have to repeat a heck of a lot for a while but hopefully he'll get the message that planes overhead means yummie food.


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## Dazedandconfused (Sep 22, 2009)

Twiggy said:


> Were the two shadow chasers collies by any chance? It is a collie trait which can quickly get out of hand until it becomes OCD.
> 
> Personally I'd teach your Pug "watch me" and "leave it" commands. Try going into the garden with him and as a plane is about to pass overhead say "leave it" and stick a juicy tit-bit on his nose. If he looks at the tit-bit immediately give it to him, plus several more and praise like mad. You will have to repeat a heck of a lot for a while but hopefully he'll get the message that planes overhead means yummie food.


Thank you for the training tip. We already have a very good 'leave' command for him snaffling stuff off the ground. So I will pick a new word, maybe 'ignore'?... I will start tomorrow.

P's good call on the collie. They were both collie mixes. Sisters or Mum n daughter, I can't remember.


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Dazedandconfused said:


> Thank you for the training tip. We already have a very good 'leave' command for him snaffling stuff off the ground. So I will pick a new word, maybe 'ignore'?... I will start tomorrow.
> 
> P's good call on the collie. They were both collie mixes. Sisters or Mum n daughter, I can't remember.


I've had collies/collie crosses for 40 years and I know all their little foibles....LOL My youngest is a little rescue who was initially fascinated by my husband's watch face reflecting on the walls and ceiling. I requested that he either removed it or covered it up as I know how quickly 'shadow chasing' can develop.


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## Dazedandconfused (Sep 22, 2009)

Day one of 'ignore' training.

0510am normal walk time. Sky is clear and moon bright and we are on top of the hills so i can see planes coming from a mile off. Pug is totally confused as he has a harness and long lead on. Normally on his constitutionals he is naked. He is also very over excited as i have high value treats (need them to draw his attention off the planes)

He is really irritated by the long lead lots of tutting and huffing (i may just use a short one tomorrow) and is nailed to my side as there is tasty tasty treats rather than puttering off in the grass and trees as usual.

First plane, he sees me move to grab some treats so being a smart boy sits and i distract him while the plane thunders over head using the word 'ignore' while jack potting his good behaviour. All good so far.

Then he is getting really irritated with the lead and its getting in the way of him making off towards his toileting area so I make an error. decide to remove it so he can roam and do his business (our house is in five and a half acres of parkland so he is used to being free roaming during walks and has a really strong taught recall because of this)

Pug is puttering in his chosen area looking for the perfect spot then there is a plane, this time the pug decides to chase... typical i have taken the lead off so cant stop this in its tracks (facepalm) he does return when called but not till he given it a good chase barking his head off for a few seconds first, so has self rewarded. Oh i was mad at myself. 

The second issue was because of an upset to the routine. As he was so intent to sticking with me he didn't do his morning deeds. So we are going to have to do another round later before i go to work.

My question is, keep doing again on the next walk or just do a bit of training per day? as planes go over head on average every six to eight mins and he is walked four of five times a day and 10/15 mins per time (as well as day care/main walk) we would be doing a lot of training right off the bat? his normal training in the morning is short and sweet where we always finish on a win.


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Every time a plane goes over you need to be in training mode until he learns what is appropriate behaviours. The more he is allowed to practice the behaviour, the harder it will be to crack.
It won't take long before he starts to work out that plane = come to mum to sit for treats and once he starts to get to grips with it the long line can start to be left off 

For me I use every walk as a training opportunity, but then my dog needs to work so you don't need to be that on the ball lol


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## Dazedandconfused (Sep 22, 2009)

Luckily on the bonus 'dog toileting' walk this morning we didn't have a single aircraft go over and the wee guy got his business done.

I will have to get the OH on board (excuse the pun) as he does the evening walks. I will have to be firm as he does less training work with the pug and is terrible for not using set commands or not sticking to 'rules' that I have agreed with the dog


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Dazedandconfused said:


> terrible for not using set commands or not sticking to 'rules'


That's why my OH isn't allowed to walk my dog, I am a stickler for training tho 
If you can get your OH to help then that will be very beneficial and you will probably start to see a difference much quicker


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## Dazedandconfused (Sep 22, 2009)

Typical it looks like either wind direction, holding patterns or weather has changed the approach to LHR as we haven't had a plane of since Friday. so training is on hold (bar his usual)


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