Hi, everyone! (Sorry in advance for my long-winded narrative!)

I have a potentially very dangerous problem with one of my dogs; she is a two year old beagle/doxie/corgi cross (as far as I can tell) named Jolie. I rescued her from an abusive and neglectful situation about ten months ago; she had lived outside her entire life, scavenged and hunted for food, had multiple litter of puppies, etc. She is a delightful dog-- very quiet, gentle, obedient and laid-back. When I brought her home for the first time to meet my other two dogs, and my four cats, she was very respectful: paid no attention to the cats beyond a quick sniff. I am an avid follower of Cesar Millan's techniques and philosophies, and immediately integrated her into my pack and lifestyle.

I live in a quiet neighbourhood surrounded on all sides by forest and ocean. There are plenty of dogs and cats who roam the streets at will. Right away, I noticed that she wanted to chase any cats we encountered outdoors. She didn't seem to equate them with the ones with whom she lived peacefully at home, but rather as anonymous, furry meals on legs. She exhibited classic predatory signals; ears up, body rigid, tail erect. I was teaching her to walk off-leash beside me when I had my first bad experience; she saw a cat in a driveway, and took off after it. I chased her down (the cat climbed a tree), and the crisis was averted. Any kind of nastiness toward other animals is not permitted in my critter-friendly household, so I got to work posthaste. Every time I saw an outdoor cat on our walks, I would leash her, bring her as close to the cat as possible, correct her when she showed obsessive attention, and ask her to ignore/avoid the cat. After about three weeks, I trusted her completely off-leash around cats. She hasn't had a problem with them since. I've done the same thing with the wild birds and rabbits in the neighbourhood.

The first time I took her on an off-leash hike in the woods, she did very well for the first hour. She and my other dogs ran in and out of the woods around me, generally exhausting themselves and having a good time. I kept a close eye on her and called her back if she got out of my sight. Near the end of the trail, she disappeared into the woods and didn't return. Another hiker mentioned that they'd seen deer nearby. We looked for her for over two hours, and only got her back through the very kind efforts of some strangers who found her sitting forlornly by the side of a nearby road.

Needless to say, I didn't want a repeat. Next hike, I took her to a disused road that cuts through the middle of town, thinking that there wouldn't be any deer. Again, she did very well until just near the end of the trail; a deer took off from the bushes, and she was gone. I chased her through the woods for about half an hour, injured myself quite a lot, and nearly drowned myself in a river. Eventually, just as I was giving up, she reappeared.

I will not take her into the woods again off-leash, and I don't think that's a good life for a dog. She deserves to run through the woods, and I deserve not to be chasing her all over the place. My other dogs have very solid recalls in the face of prey temptation; my one dog (a lab/schnauzer) seems to have been born with no prey drive whatsoever, and the other (a Jack Russel) was exposed to free-run chickens, rabbits, and cats from infancy, and comes right away when called off an interesting scent-trail.

I want to have the same confidence in Jolie. From what I've read on a few different sites, recall training (at which she is extremely adept when there are no deer around) doesn't seem to be the problem; the act of chasing simply gives a better reward than returning to me. I am willing to work on avoidance training with an e-collar, or a long training lead, or pretty much anything else humane. The method I used with neighbourhood cats seems useless, for the simple facts that a) I can't predict when a deer will appear, and b) if she goes after a deer, she can become lost, injured, or run onto a highway.

If anyone has experience with this issue, or has any advice whatsoever, I would very much love to hear it! Thank you!

"EleashaC" wrote in message
...

Hi, everyone! (Sorry in advance for my long-winded narrative!)
I want to have the same confidence in Jolie. From what I've read on a
few different sites, recall training (at which she is extremely adept
when there are no deer around) doesn't seem to be the problem; the act
of chasing simply gives a better reward than returning to me.

Are you using any food or toy rewards when she comes back to you?

There's a book you can download on this website called Stop! how to control
predatory chasíng by David Ryan. That will give you ideas on how to make
yourself more interesting than deer. Not easy with the type of dog you
have.

http://www.dog-secrets.co.uk/

Alison

I read a blurb about that book yesterday, and it looked very promising. The main concept of it, however, seemed to be teaching a recall in the middle of a chase by practicing throwing a ball or toy. The only problem is that Jolie is completely uninterested in toys! I could coat a ball in bacon grease and throw it, and she wouldn't bat an eye. If you've read this book, does it contain any methods besides use of toys? She is food motivated, so if there was a way to tie treats into the activity, that might work.

"EleashaC" wrote in message
...

I read a blurb about that book yesterday, and it looked very promising.
The main concept of it, however, seemed to be teaching a recall in the
middle of a chase by practicing throwing a ball or toy. The only problem
is that Jolie is completely uninterested in toys! I could coat a ball in
bacon grease and throw it, and she wouldn't bat an eye. If you've read
this book, does it contain any methods besides use of toys? She is food
motivated, so if there was a way to tie treats into the activity, that
might work.

--
EleashaC.

I don't have the book myself but it does seem you have to use toys.

I found a better link that explains more -
http://www.dog-secrets.co.uk/how-do-...y-dog-chasing/

The mix of breeds your dog is, are bred to work índependently and can be
harder to train.

My dog is a JRT and he was a stray. He has a pretty good recall but
sometimes he will take off. He will chase squirrels and rabbits but as they
just run to the nearest tree or hole , he is usually with in my sight.
Playing ball or frisbee doesn't get him excited but he does respond to
squeaky toys.
Also, he'll recall to a whistle . I conditioned the whistle to hígh value
food such as home cooked liver or beef .

Dogs get a real high from chasing and with Pip if he starts to get slow to
respond and come back, I walk in the fields for a week or too to wean him
off it.

Alison

On Jan 21, 11:12*pm, EleashaC wrote:
Hi, everyone! (Sorry in advance for my long-winded narrative!) ...

--
EleashaC

I'm sorry to hear you were injured trying to chase your dog! We had a
beagle like that when I was a kid who would chase anything, so we had
to stop taking him out as much and the leash was a must. Since your
dog seems to be mostly interested in deer, have you considered a
href="http://blog.doggie-diva.com/pet-strollers/get-your-elderly-dog-
out-in-fresh-air-with-pet-strollers/"antlers dog chews/a as a
reward for good behavior? They're better than rawhide bones anyway.

Never thought of that before. I have a feeling I wouldn't be the favourite person in house anymore, lol. I plan to get an e-collar and train her with the recall, set on vibrate. If she starts to run down a scent trail, I'll give her a more intense zap. Hopefully that will do the trick, because I just hate the thought of her never being able to run around in the woods like a normal dog. Thanks for your ideas!