How to stop my dog from barking at cars and chasing motorcycles?

Hi there! Many dogs are highly aroused by movement and have a tendency to chase cars. What your trainer recommended - teaching your dog to do something else, such as sit or look at you, for a treat instead of lunging after the car - is indeed the best approach, and it's what I recommend as well. I would NOT use a shock collar, as this has a high risk of causing other behavioral issues such as aggression or anxiety, and will not do anything to teach your dog what you want him to do instead. Practice at a distance at first where he can be successful (which may need to be a long way from the road, at first), and praise and reward him with a treat for sitting calmly or looking up at you whenever a car passes by. As he gets better at this, you will be able to gradually move closer to the road until eventually he can do it even when the cars are very close by. You could also consider a Gentle Leader head halter to give you better physical control of him and help prevent lunging, if you need something that will work quickly while you're still working on training him.

I would try a citronella bark collar. This is not harmful and may deter him from barking as much. You may also consider an anti-anxiety medicine before walks like trazadone. Your vet can prescribe that if they feel like it is healthy for him. I hope this helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend using corrective collars like a pinch collar or gentle leader. These can help stop the pulling behavior. You may also look into the low voltage shock collars. These collars emit a small shock that is similar to being snapped by a rubber band. You can use this to correct the behavior and these collars can all be found online or at your local pet store. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I highly recommend getting in touch with a dog trainer in your area that can work with you on something called desensitization training. Basically, this helps your dog get used to things that scare/agitate them, such as cars or bikes going past, and gradually gets them desensitized and eventually ignoring it. Working on other techniques with a trainer such as loose-leash walking can also help with the random stopping on walks. A good first step, until you can get in touch with a trainer, is to bring a high value favorite treat with you on your walks. Any time Hermione is doing something you like such as walking nicely, ignoring something, etc, give her a treat and praise. If she gets over excited or barks at something, walk her away until she is calm, and then praise her and give her a treat when she is calm. These can help start on training until you have a plan in place with a professional.

As Dr. Phil says, "You don't break a bad habit so much as you replace it with a good habit." For the barking, you can teach the dogs the word "Quiet." Have some treats handy and, when they are barking, show them the treats. In order to eat a treat, they have to stop barking as they can't chew and bark simultaneously! As soon as they stop barking, give them a treat and praise by saying, "Quiet! Good dog!" They will soon learn that "Quiet" means a treat and when stop barking when they hear it. Some (but not all) dogs will even train themselves to appraoch you for a goodie when they feel the urge to bark! This is something you can be grateful for if it happens, but don't expect it. As for barking in the van . . . it depends on where in the van they are in relation to you. If they are nearby, you can use the same technique. If they are in the back in crates, you can get a "Treat and Train" device for each crate. You control it by remote to dispense a treat when they deserve one. In fact, you can even use it in your home if you want to reward them from another room after you've yelled "Quiet!" and they've complied. Good luck with this!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It sounds like you have been doing some one on one training and small groups, and that has been going well. If that is the case, I suppose I would try adding one dog at a time, and not moving to more dogs until the behavior is controlled. If 2 or 3 is going well, then add a 4th, and change who that 4th dog is. Perhaps you will find that there is one particular dog that is the instigator, and you can work more one on one with that dog. Make sure you are telling them what TO do (i.e. sit, lay down, stay, etc.) instead of what NOT to do. Give them a job, and reward them for doing that job. Have patience, and keep working at it! I hope that helps.

I would highly recommend keeping him on a leas for a while until he is better trained. I would recommend starting with basic commands like come, sit and play. I would take him some place not crowded and keep him attached to a leash and start with the above commands. once he starts responding you can add length to his leash. Once he starts coming to you on a really long leash you can start to remove the leash. It will take a while but you can teach him to listen to you in a crowded area.