SearchHow to teach Dobe not to chase goats?
Our new Dobe is extermely interested in our goats. He barks at them from the porch. We tried to take him down to introduce them but he wanted to chase and eat them. How can we curb this obsession? I'm sorry to ask so many questions this week. I have so much to learn.
Carins, if you follow Ziva's treat advice, pay close attention to what he's saying. You need to reward your dog for ignoring the goats, not just being around the goats. It's easy to train the opposite thing you intended when using treats.
What else you can do, besides smoothing out the prey drive toward goats, is to make him recognize the goats as part of the pack. You could put the goats in a smaller area with you and your Dobe, small enough so no one can run, and just hang out. Goats and dogs are a lot alike, so this shouldn't take long, once he sees you petting the goats just like you do him. Correct him before he fixates, and give verbal praise when he start sniffing the air and sniffing the goats' butts.
- Dogs use their eyes on danger and their nose on friends -
Of course, this won't end the chasing. Dobermans LOVE beating the snot out of their pack mates. And if he's a puppy - less than 2 years - he won't have enough sense to see they're fragile.
So you'll have to correct any rough play. How you correct will depend on how you've been training him. You could keep him on a pinch collar at first. Or just use verbal correction if you've trained that in.
and take pictures.. would LOVE to see your guy with the goats!!
I have the exact same problem with my new rescue!! Cats and goats! I just learned from your inquiry what I can try implementing. I've been focusing on making her part of the pack. I can have the goats lose and my dobe on a lease. We can all stand close together, three goats and a Doberman. I keep a long leash on her and can grab it when needed. As soon as the goats go back in their pen and the gate is locked, she barks and circles the pen and grabs tufts of hair out of their backs through the wire. The goats lean against the wire so it it easy for her to bite. Luckily they have a thick winter coat.
My other Doberman male is a pure delight with the goats all great friends.
Let me back up. 7 months ago we had our boy Duke and girl Jetta. Duke and Jetta were bonded like I,ve never seen. They both welcomed the goats and cats. All 7 animals would roam loose together everyday for a half hour after school. I have amazing video and photos.. Sadly Jetta died from heart failure 7 months ago.
I guess I am trying to recreate that perfect balanced bizzare pack again and it is not going well with my new rescue.
The cats are a huge obstacle too!
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It's very hard to train (or rather, un-train) the prey drive that some dogs have to be less than hyperactive.
I would suggest some de-sensitising of your dobie to the goats. Start by having some really good treats hidden in your pocket, and when he gets close enough to see the goats, immediately get him distracted from watching them to watching you and the treat. Only treat him when he is NOT looking at the goats, or better yet, when he is looking at them and not being totally tense and barking. Give him a reason to calm down. Tell him 'good boy' or whatever when is is calm, and treat him lavishly. I dont think I would trust him to make friends with them right away, only because if the goats spook and run, he will instinctively chase. No point in setting him up for failure in this. But, you can train him to not be so eager to get at them. I've been working really hard with my dog to leave cats and squirrells alone when we are out walking and she spots them. A month ago, she would nearly yank my arm out of the socket with the leash as she bolted for a cat in a yard or a squirrel at the base of a tree...but I walk her in areas that I know has cats and when she sees one and starts to tense up, I distract her with a treat, make her do a quick 'sit', tell her to look at me, tell her to leave the kitty alone, and when she finally slacks up on her obsession and ignores the cat, she gets lots of my approval, lots of "GOOD GIRL" and several small pieces of cooked liver popped into her mouth. To Ziva, cooked liver is much more interesting than a cat in a yard that she knows I'm not going to turn her loose to get anyhow. Like I said, we've been working on this for about a month now, and she is improving, but still not 100% where I want her to be with the cat/squirrel situation.
Mostly, it takes a lot of patience on your part, lots of consistant repetition with commands and treats, and not expecting things to improve too much too fast. Good luck.