Tire biting- woody not cattle!

[red]

I've got a problem w/ Woody that I'm afraid will get serious. I have a little cart I pull for yard work. He seems to have to get in front & bite the tires. I'm afraid he'll progress to trucks & tractors. The heeler does it to the lawnmover but he is so big you see him. Woody's a squirt!

Any ideas of suggestions on getting him to stop?  (dog)  (dog)  (dog)

Red

 

[fluffer]

Red,
That will be a tough one to break.  He is a heeler and that is what they do, chase and bite things    Any hearding breed will do this.  It is hard to break them of what they are bred to do, even if they should focus on cattle and not wheels. 

I breed Border Collies and every one I have had will chase cars.  I tell every buyer that their pup WILL chase things at some point.  I watch my pups and as soon as they show interest in chasing a car (or whatever) I will put a long light lead on them and bait them to chase the car, or in your case the cart.  When the pup goes for it I jerk that lead hard enough to spin them around and say "NO"!  WIth my BC it usually only takes 1 or 2 times at most and they never chase a car(or tractor or whatever)again.  However, heelers and corgies are a little more stubborn, so it may take you a few times.  But if you use the lead and have someone else move the cart you won't be shouting at him from the cart which is what is causing the problem.  If that makes any sence   

Good Luck
Fluffer

 

[red]

It does but he's usually loose when we're working in the yard. Think I should just try it as an experiment? I also thought about a spayer w/ water?
Thanks for the info!
Red

 

[fluffer]

Red,
I don't know woodys personality, but spraying him might work, or it might just make the cart all that more fun to chase and bite.  When you use a line and a 2nd person to pull that line and yell "NO" then teh cart, or person driving the cart is not giving him a reaction.  If you put a long enough and light enough line on him he may not even realize whats getting him, he will only know maybe he should quit.

You know him better then I, so go with your gut    Good luck!

Fluffer

 

[red]

Alpha Male descibes him best! He beats up the heeler who out weighs him by 50 pounds!  (dog)

Red

 

[fluffer]

Alpha Male descibes him best! He beats up the heeler who out weighs him by 50 pounds!  (dog)

Red

Sounds like a tough cookie! 

Fluffer

 

[knabe]

this is the cookie jar for kids.

my dogs are basically being retrained by my daughter to do this as she thinks it's fun. 

you must get to them before they tune you out.

start out by having them sit or lay down, then move the cart, one little move, have them sit.  they are bred to fetch the object to you by herding.  you could get a collar with those pokey things onthe inside, the electric collars, netiher of which i have used.  i have "retrained" mine to just leave when i use the mower or wheel barrow.  my one dog has a massive cast, the word for circling the herd in a field that hasn't gathered yet.  her cast is about 4 acres.  my other dog's cast is about 30 feet.  when these two casts intermingle, they try and cast each other.  as you can tell by the proceeding, i don't use these dogs to work that much, though the one small caste dog i have allowed to teach me how to let her gather the cattle and move a little bit.  it's really rewarding.  wish i had time to really learn it like jeff.

 

[minimoo38]

can you try the no chew spray, and just put it on the tires? it just makes it taste really bad, i don't know....just a thought, but i like fluffer's idea. it sounds pretty cool.

 

[knabe]

i tried the spraying thing, and they just curled their noses.

maybe you could get him to jump in the cart when you move it.

 

[CAB]

Woody is actually trying to be a header, not a heeler. He wants to get out in front and turn the cart. I think Cathy that I would buy or borrow a shock collar. You won't have to set it very high to start with. Woody's smart, he'll learn fast. Get him trained soon B/C it will get worse.

 

[4Ts4H]

Had a similar problem with a Sheltie a few years back...he would attack the wheels on the wagon when the kids pulled it around the yard.  Here's the amazing part--after oiling the axles, he stopped.

Turns out that there was a high pitched noise coming from the wheels rotating on the axles and the oil eliminated it.  I know this 'cause about every six weeks it would start all over again until I got the oil out!!!

Just food for thought---or... :

 

[knabe]

maybe that's why they like vacuums too.

 

[4Ts4H]

Yeah, that dog would get after the vacuum even before you got the dang thing plugged in.  We had to lock him in another room to run the thing!

 

[afhm]

Instead of water use ammonia or vinegar in the sprayer.  He won't like that but might enjoy the water.  You might also try one of those electronic dog trainers that emits a high pitched sound like a dog whistle.

 

[knabe]

be EXTREMELY careful if you use ammonia.  i got that in my eye when i was a kid at a 10% dilution, and i couldn't see for about an hour.  it was extremely painful.

 

[DiamondS]

My fiance' recently lost his 18 yr old heeler.  She hated lawnmowers.  Running or not.  They had to buy new tires for their push mower every year.  She would attack the wheels on the front of the little pushmower.  If you walked in the barn, she'd run straight to the mower and growl and attack the wheels.  It might be middle of winter and the mower was sitting in the middle of the yard.  Never figured out why she hated it so much, but I don't know many people that had to replace pushmower tires yearly.  That was just Shasta's thing.....

However, she never went after anything other than mower tires.  I would use vinegar over ammonia.  But, if he likes water, squirting him may just become a game.  I would try the leash trick first.

 

[cowz]

I have heard of this...put vinegar in a squirt gun or spray bottle set to go the distance......take it with you and squirt them in the face and firmly tell them no when you want them to quit.  Sounds kinda mean, but better than them getting run over by a 4 wheeler or something.

 

[red]

I scolded him when he started biting the tires. He HATES to be scolded. He stopped after that & got a treat when we stopped. If I continue to have problems I'll try Fluffer's method. they say it also works if the dog jumps up on people.

Red

 

[knabe]

squeezing paws to get a yelp, with a quick no, and then petting  works too to keep them down.  but you also have to remember to kneel down and pet them on other occassions.  shy cats especially like it if you get down low.

 

[Bawndoh]

I am sure Woody does not need this type of treatment yet, but if it gets worse and worse, you could try a shock collar.  Ceaser Malan (Discovery Channel) delt with a bad case of tire biting with a Blue Heeler.  The dog would bit all sizes of tires, moving, or parked.  The dog was only 1 year old but had been run over 3 times, and as a result, she already lost 1 eye.  If Woody obsesses over it, and never gets better, then I would suggest the shock collar.  This way you can "punish" him even when he thinks you cant see him.  If he happens to do it to tires when you are in the house/barn, and he is outside.  It really worked on the dog Ceaser treated.  The owner jumped in the truck, and started it.  The heeler started to stare at the tires and "obsess", and before he could go for the tire, Ceaser shocked him.  He ran about 100 feet and layed down.  It only took the dog about 2 shocks and it was totally different.  I never ever even let the thought of a shock collar as treatment run through my mind.  Now seeing that a professional dog trainer used it properly, I would use it if my own dog ever got really bad.  It is especially good if you are always alone, and nobody else can help you scold the dog.
There is my 3 cents.  Not really reccomending you use it now, but if nothing else works, you could give it a thought.