Unwanted Chasing of Runners & Cyclists

Hi Emma,

I see youve already checked out other threads from members with similar problems. I do think bikes and fast moving people out at parks can be really exciting for dogs, intimidating for others, either way causing an unwanted reaction.

Does your dog respond to toys or balls at the park? An easy way to try and break this sort of behaviour is to use distraction with something the dog finds more interesting. If a biker or runner comes up, try throwing a ball or tossing a toy up in the air to get your dog interested in that instead of following the other person. My dog is a sucker for tennis balls, no matter what else is perking his interest at the park, he'll always chase and bring it back to me, ignoring other people or dogs.

You can also try getting him to listen to another command before the person gets to you on your walk. Sit, stay, down are all good places to start. Even if you have to keep repeating the command to keep his attention to start with, you should be able to gradually decrease it to giving the command once, and finally not have to give a command, but be able to just say "no" or "stay" or "enough" etc etc, and have your dog stay with you. This is the method I've used with my dog, who used to rush after any other dog at the park we go to. Now, I can just say his name and he knows not to rush off. You might have to use a lead to start with, just to be sure he wont run off, if you can catch him before he gets worked up you can just snap it on quickly before giving the command.

I'm sure other members will have more suggestions. I hope you see results soon, let us know how things go!