obsession with birds

Posted by 1whisper
Feb 21, 2008
My Husky mix is completely obsessed with birds, she watches them all the time. When they land on the roof she will bark and bark, run up and down the garden and when off the lead in a field will run off after them.

My worry is that a couple of weeks ago she run off after them ignoring my call to come back and ran straight out on to a road. Luckily I live in the country so there was nothing coming although the road she ran out on is often used my big tractors etc. She becomes so obsessed with the birds that it is almost impossible to get her attention for commands.

Can any one give me any ideas on what I could do to kill the obsession in her before somthing horrible happens.

Many thanks
Whisper
Posted by Todd
Feb 21, 2008
Hi there and thank you fro your question.

This is a hard one. Showing interest in birds is fine and normal, and it is hard to stop this problem as when she barks and chases them the fly away simulating a chase.

So i think the what might help is increasing how much exercise she gets and also the number of toys she has to play with.

You may have to spend some time telling her off when she gets out of hand.

Other than that i think you should just try to keep her from having access onto the road. Good luck and let me know how things go.

Todd
Posted by Annie
Feb 23, 2008
Hi there,

I had this problem with my Husky mix also, and I did a lot of work on a really long lunge line. When she took off after the birds I would shout 'OFF' just before she got to the end of the line. She would wear a harness ( which is popular here in Europe)so she didn´t get hurt, and I would often be knocked off my feet.....but after doing this ( and then calling her to me for a treat) over many months she has come to understand that 'OFF' is best listened to. I always carried a tiny cat food tub and the first time she stopped herself I leaped for joy and gave her the 'jackpot' I´m not saying she is 100% yet, but I am much more in control in most dangerous situations. I also trained her to fetch a ball, but half way to getting the ball, I asked her to down. This also helped keeping her focussed on me even when she is chasing.
Good luck,
Annie