# Walks, squirrels, and temper tantrums



## jfoxny (Feb 29, 2012)

My dog, Goulash (14 months), bolts after squirrels and rabbits on walks. When I stop him from doing this he throws a massive temper tantrum: jumping, grabbing onto me, barking, yelping, and recently nipping. 

The way I've been handling it is to step on his leash to prevent him from being able to jump or move, step in-between him and the squirrel, then give him the sit command. I won't let him go until he sits and then responds to the "watch" command. Recently, however, when I motioned to give him the sit command with my hand he nipped at me in frustration - almost to say, "get your hand out of my face!"

My question is two fold: 

1) Any suggestions on keeping him from bolting the instant he sees an animal? Trainer suggested teaching him to carry something on our walks. Anyone have success with that?

2) Any suggestions on handling the tantrum when they do happen? Am I handling it well? Trainer suggested using the "disappointed voice" if he tries to nip at me.

Thanks in advance,
Jason

PS - Goulash has two feline "sisters" at home which he gets along with reasonably well.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Goulash sounds just like another delicious Vizsla!  His tantrums are not tantrums as such, just his overwhelming natural instincts overpowering his training. It sounds like you do let him have a chase, it's just that you are having difficulty in settling him before you let him go chase, if I have read your post correctly? Correct me please if I am wrong.

His behaviour is actually good in some ways. It shows he has some natural prey drive. Containing all that while you remove his leash and give him the GO command can be controlled and trained to, just ask any hunter. RBD and REM will know more on this, but what you're basically wanting is to get the dog steady and then release him. You want him pointing the prey, not running after it until you tell him too. Which is pretty much what a hunter wants.

I've trained this into my dogs for a different reason, but with the same effect. I have a WAIT command which I taught them. SO once they spot something, they point and hold. Once I say GO, the chase. But not till I say. All I did was practice it. Over and over and over on every walk. Praising when they got it right. 

The nipping is over excitement too, but you need to take stock of that. How did you react to it? Even with a V, a nip should be strongly reacted to. Your highest level of dog reaction. Whatever that may be. (Depends on your level as a person)

To go back a step might be a good suggestion. Do a few walks where you just do not allow the dog off lead at all, not for anything. Then, slowly and randomly, let it off when you want. Praise when they get it right, whimsical when wrong. 

Others will chime in with some other great suggestions I am sure. Heaps of people in here have lots of alternative methods which seem to work, so kick back and wait for a few responses. I am sure you will find a solution. But, I will leave you with my training mantra...... "Repetition and consistency are the keys" 

My oldest boy Ozkar is so prey driven, when I let him chase things in the bush, he comes back with bleeding eyelids, nose and underarms.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

All natural reactions on his part. Any tooth on skin in a no no and should be handled immediately. I would never step in between a dog and potential pray. He needs some regular whoa training, and you need to be very mater of fact and calm about it. Next time you should freez like a stone, hold him firm at the collar, and wait until he can stay put without a twitch. He should be rewarded when he holds; with a calm steady voice and a treat. Watch some Whoa videos and you'll get the idea. It's all about the time you put in and an understanding you create with him. Show him some love and understanding about his frustration. Continue to expect he stand still or better yet at point and control his excitement. Continue to reward him for that control.


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## jfoxny (Feb 29, 2012)

Ozkar said:


> It sounds like you do let him have a chase, it's just that you are having difficulty in settling him before you let him go chase, if I have read your post correctly? Correct me please if I am wrong.


Thanks for the feedback.

No, we live in a city so I actually do not want him bolting after small animals. However, I do, of course, recognize that it's in his instinct to want to do that. Regardless, it sounds like, from your comments, that it's really just a matter of repetition - minus the bit correction which I should probably do more strongly next time. 

I do not hit my dog and I try hard not to scream at him either (though I have my moments). I instead try to simply use a strong, displeased tone when correcting his behavior. The trainer, however, recommended using a disappointed tone - which I will try the next time this happens. Have luck with that?


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## jfoxny (Feb 29, 2012)

Linescreamer said:


> I would never step in between a dog and potential pray.


Thanks for your reply. I'm just curious why you don't get in-between him and his "prey." The reason I do it is to try to focus his attention on me (same reason why I wait until he responds to the "watch" command before I let him go). I also do that when he's trying to get to something he wants after I told him no. 



Linescreamer said:


> He needs some regular whoa training, and you need to be very mater of fact and calm about it. Next time you should freez like a stone, hold him firm at the collar, and wait until he can stay put without a twitch. He should be rewarded when he holds; with a calm steady voice and a treat. Watch some Whoa videos and you'll get the idea.


I haven't heard of "Whoa" training; I'll have to take a look. Goulash currently goes to Daycare every day and gets obedience training there. I'm also going to see if they can work on impulse control with him a bit more. Hopefully that helps.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Just to clarify what I mean by highest level reaction. A Vizsla is a unique dog and must not be trained with harsh tones. So, I paraphrase my comment with that as a reference point. Sounds like you understand already by the wording in your next post. Strong reaction.....for a V. And I agree, physical force is not good for a Vizsla's headspace. I was more eluding to how high in energy you are as a human being and being at the higher end of that scale than the lower end. So if your natural persona is "Quiet as a church mouse", then it would be above that a little  

Hitting a Vizsla tells it you have lost control and are not the cool calm collected pack leader I should trust completely.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Putting yourself in between a dog and prey can be dangerous. The dog is focused on that prey and putting it in his mouth. It's like sticking your hand in between a the dog's mouth and a steak. 1st - your competing with him for that prey/food and 2nd - your not teaching him anything you're just telling him he can't look! He needs to look! You want him to look. That's what Vs do. They live to hunt! Which is another way to say look, point, retrieve. The Whoa will help you focus the energy and his desire to hunt into something he and you want. It just needs to be controlled. If he can get the whoa and point and you can show him how good he was/is for doing it; both of you will be satisfied.  You will need to combine the Whoa with a release command so the dog knows when he can stop pointing and relax or retrieve. The following video should give you a good idea of how the dog should react once he spots the prey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqT0SX57pmA

One more thing. Someone else training your dog means he will listen to that trainer, but not necessarily listen to you.


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