Obsessive lead chasing - help!

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Shanti, Sep 18, 2018.

  1. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Hi all,

    We started keeping our 16 week lab/springer/border collie puppy on a house lead so we could have more control over her behaviour. This was advised by more than one person. It really seems to help make clearer to her what we do and don't want her to and her behaviour is much improved.

    However, whenever she's tied to something by the lead (or if we let the lead go) she endlessly chases it, the same way she chases her tail. What makes it seem as if it really is obsessive behaviour is that if I then take the lead off her, she goes 'back to' what she would 'otherwise' be doing, whether drinking water, chewing a chew, eating a frozen carrot, playing with another toy, settling, or whatever.

    It seems we can only prevent this behaviour by not having her on the lead, but the lead has made such a difference to our ability to manage and direct her behaviour - she tries to bite if we try to stop her doing something, and she's also quite strong now, so it's hard to redirect her without the lead.

    It's been suggested she's bored, but she gets taken out twice a day, we do training exercises with her, we play with her and she has lots of toys and constant company as my husband is retired.

    Should we sacrifice the house lead strategy in order to try to extinguish the obsessive behaviour?
     
  2. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

    Joined:
    May 26, 2018
    Messages:
    1,684
    Location:
    Blackmans Bay, Australia
    Hi @Shanti I don't think it is obessesive behaviour. When the lead is on the ground it's dead. It does not interact with her. When she's wearing it, it's moving around. Wow. Something to play with that moves seemingly independent of her. Perhaps you might trying a shorter length so that the end is out of sight, and hopefully out of her mind.
     
    Shanti likes this.
  3. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Thanks, Michael. But what made me think it's obsessive is that she seems to do it to the exclusion of all else (apart from eating meals and evacuating). Do you really think it's not obsessive despite this? I'd love you to be right!
     
  4. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

    Joined:
    May 26, 2018
    Messages:
    1,684
    Location:
    Blackmans Bay, Australia
    Hi @Shanti maybe I have misunderstood you. I thought you meant when you take off the lead she takes an interest in her kong, eating a frozen carrot. If so, she gets a very high payoff from playing with the line when she wearing it. It's fun. It moves. She can chase it. If she was fixated by the line when you take it off and it's still on the ground, then I'd be a more concerned.
     
  5. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    I'm not sure I understand you! :) We don't leave the lead on the ground when we take it off her.

    Put another way, she seems to lose interest in all else when she's wearing the lead and it's either trailing or is tied to something. I don't reward her by giving her kongs, etc to get her away from playing with the lead, but I noticed that when I take the lead away she immediately does things like drinking a load of water or chewing an edible chew toy. It feels as though she'd been ignoring or neglecting these 'needs' because of being preoccupied with chasing the lead. She starts chasing it (usually running round and round a chair) as soon as it's put on her, unless she's tied to something by quite a short length.
     
  6. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

    Joined:
    May 26, 2018
    Messages:
    1,684
    Location:
    Blackmans Bay, Australia
    Hi @Shanti what does your dog do if you drop the lead on the ground? Try it off lead please. I'd lbe interested in knowing whether she continues to interact with the lead.
     
  7. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2018
    Messages:
    1,603
    Location:
    Jersey, Channel Islands
    Shanti, as your dog has some border collie in there - and also the springer - it is possible that this behaviour is quite obsessive and OCD, yes. Spaniels can get quite obsessive with (for eg) leaf chasing or essentially being stimulated by something moving - and collies, like-wise.

    If you think the behaviour is of this nature, then I would recommend you stop using the house-line - even if you find it useful in other ways. You don't really want to encourage that type of behaviour or stimulate that part of her brain. Instead, you will need to use food treats to achieve similar control - getting her to come away from things she wants to jump on etc....
     
  8. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Hi Michael,
    Do you mean if the lead is just lying on the ground and is not attached to her collar?
     
  9. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Hello, Jo. My problem is that I don't know if her behaviour IS obsessive, since other people (including my husband) keep saying she's just playing. But it worries me. Do you think, from my description(s) above, it sounds obsessive. If it is, I'd definitely agree about ceasing to use the house lead.
     
  10. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Tried putting the lead on the carpet (not attached to her). She picked it up and started running round and round the armchair with it.
     
  11. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2018
    Messages:
    1,603
    Location:
    Jersey, Channel Islands
    If you can film a clip of the behaviour and post it on YouTube and share the link here, we can see....

    Whilst she is doing it, try to distract her so we can also see how distractible she is...
     
  12. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

    Joined:
    May 26, 2018
    Messages:
    1,684
    Location:
    Blackmans Bay, Australia
    Hi @Shanti @Jo Laurens idea of filming the behaviour in question is an excellent one. Don't chase the dog but stand there with a small piece of roast chicken [or equally high value treat] when she has started to interact with the lead. Please film the behaviour on and off lead.
     
  13. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Great idea. Thank you. We'll do this asap.
     
  14. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Hi Jo and Michael,

    Here's a link to a video of Florrie chasing her house lead:



    Although it's not shown on the video, we did offer the same treat (cheese) when she wasn't wearing the lead and she came for it straight away.
     
  15. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

    Joined:
    May 26, 2018
    Messages:
    1,684
    Location:
    Blackmans Bay, Australia
    Thanks @Shanti for making the video. I see your dog chasing the moving lead/house line. It probably envokes an element of prey drive. The lead moves away from the dog and the chase begins. Interestingly when the dog stops moving the dog stares at the lead. The dog expects the lead to move, it did the last time she moved around the table. But this time it does not move. The dog has not reasoned that when she stops moving so does the lead. She fails to recognise that she is the instigator of the game. Consequently she thinks the lead has a life of its own, which only sometimes plays with her.
    I would not be worried by the fascination per se with a lead as the dog is playing.
    But where I would be worried is that there is a possibility that when you want to start using a lead for walking the dog will tranfer the game to heeling. If so, you will have to teach the dog to stop grabbing the lead. For that reason, I would avoid using the houseline now. Alternatively make it so short that it is no longer an object of play.
     
  16. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2018
    Messages:
    1,603
    Location:
    Jersey, Channel Islands
    Hi @Shanti I only just saw this post. I wouldn't be at all worried by the video. It's not obsessive in that it's not the same movement over and over and over - like a dog chasing their tail, for example. She is able to change direction, to pause, and whilst she is really into the game and wants to keep playing, she is also able to take and eat food and isn't so over-aroused that she can't eat - so what we see is normal play behaviour. I would just be happy that you've found something that entertains her and gives you some peace and quiet o_O

    If you'd given her an actual toy to play with and she was this interested in it and playing with it so much, you'd be really pleased. The dog defines what constitutes a toy and it seems that Florrie likes to play with her houseline!

    This, in turn, is an indication she would probably also like to play with long, trailing soft tug toys - so you might want to pick up some of those from the pet shop, as then you can make this type of play interactive and use it as a reinforcer and for bonding with her.

    I would disagree with Michael about it transferring to heeling. I've used a houseline on every dog I've owned and none of them have had problems with biting the lead during heelwork. When they are outdoors, they quickly become more interested in the new sights and sounds and smells outside, and not in their boring house line which they're wearing all the time.
     
  17. Shanti

    Shanti Registered Users

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2018
    Messages:
    21
    Oh - thank you so much, Jo!
     

Share This Page