My dog chases deer. How to manage his hunting instincts safely?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It sounds like Toffee may not know his boundaries well, and assumes he can run everywhere once he's outside. I recommend training him on a leash to show him where his boundaries are. For example, walk him on a leash around the perimeter of your property, and never beyond. You can make him sit at the edge of your property, and give him a treat. Do this at multiple points around your property. Since he has run off before, he may not learn the true edge of his property. The safest thing to do is to take him out on a leash and not let him run freely. He is otherwise at risk of getting lost, or even hit by a vehicle. I hope this is helpful.

Zeke is a very handsome guy! I see that he looks like an Australian Shepherd or a Border Collie. It's very common for herding breeds to try and chase fast-moving objects like cars. To address this problem, you will need to start with Zeke on a leash at a distance from the road. You need to be far enough away that is able to notice the cars going by without reacting - this may mean you need a *lot* of distance at first, depending on how sensitive he is. Each time a car goes by, praise and reward him with a treat for staying calm. When he's doing well with this, you can gradually begin moving closer to the road, one step at a time. If he gets too excited and tries to chase, just move further away until he can be calm, and work your way closer again. Eventually, with practice, he should be able to stand calmly with you on the sidewalk even with cars driving by a few feet away. It's also important to keep Zeke on-leash or in a safely enclosed area at all times, to prevent him from practicing his car chasing behavior outside of training sessions. It can be challenging to do this on your own in some cases, so if you're still having trouble, I would recommend finding a good reward-based trainer who can work with you in person. You can search for a qualified trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org

Hi, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! As a general rule, dogs will be able to smell and hear much better than we can at all times, and at night, they can see much better because of the way their eyes are made. Consequently, it is likely either a person (could be pretty far off) or, more likely, a wild animal is entering Rusty's field of senses in one way or another. The challenging part, once you know what he is barking at, will be to redirect his attention because, to him, he is protecting his pack/territory. This carries a strong instinct-driven behavior that requires a lot of time and diligence to correct if you want him to stop. I would encourage you to make sure of what he is focusing on if you can, then try to desensitize him to whatever that is. Hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Chasing behavior can be normal, especially in certain breeds of dogs. It is important for your cat to have a safe space to escape to; I typically recommend a baby gate at the base of a stairwell (if possible) to allow the cat to jump over to escape to an upstairs level when he needs to escape. It is something that may improve with time, or it may not. When Cash starts chasing the cat, I would recommend distracting him with a different game or toy to redirect his energy and focus his attention in a different direction. I hope these suggestions help!

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! This is tough! He sure is cute! I recommend using the gentle leader head collar for better control and asking for sedatives like trazadone from your Vet. Do not take him to these places until you train him to look at you (with treats) in social situations. This will take some time. You may want to pay for private training lessons so you can focus on this one behavior. There is no instant fix but being proactive, like you are, is a good step! He is young still. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/petsafe-gentle-leader-dog-headcollar Good luck!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend looking into fence / wall rollers. These are rolling bars that are installed on the top of the wall and when Murphy encounters the roll bar, it rolls on him preventing him from catching his footing and going over the wall. You can also look at installing an invisible fence to prevent him from going near the wall around the yard. 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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! As long as he is otherwise doing fine with no wounds and no vomiting, diarrhea, inappetence or other signs, it would be fine to continue to monitor him as he is likely going to be ok. Good luck and have a great day!