Indeed we adore walking our dogs. It’s the time that we truly connect with them without any boundaries and take a rest from our daily duties. While this is the most lovely time for us, it may be the hardest time for others. Today, I am going to help you get over a severe problem that may be one of the furious challenges that any owner faces, chasing bikers.
“Chasing bikers is a serious matter, you have to be patient and figure it out with your dog. First, you have to test your dog and write down notes of when the dog starts chasing bikers, then make sure to follow the notes you’ve written and treat your dog through every phase as we mentioned downwards.”
I have faced this problem for a long time with my dog Kira. However, at first, I ignored it and just fastened the leash well to my hand and made sure it’s short enough. I have told all my friends never to walk Kira and that I have to walk her myself to make sure that there won’t be any accidents. However, as I always say, dogs continuously develop new behaviors. If those behaviors were not sweet, you would face a harder time walking our dog every day, and the difficulty will increase as if you were playing Candy Crush and beating more levels. And because I ignored this behavior, Kira started chasing bikers, motorcycles, small cars, and joggers. She began to see that every flying object is an excellent prey for her! However, before I tell you how I stopped this behavior, I will start with why dogs chase bikers.
Reasons For Dogs Chasing
Remember, dogs are grandchildren of Wolves, and no matter how fluffy they got, they are still wolves. They became cute, funny, and guarding. However, their nature still resides inside them. They want to be hunters.
- In the wildlife, When a Hunter sees a smaller animal than him, this animal is considered a prey. That explains why dogs chase squirrels and cats; they are so little that they are considered prey.
- Speed is another beautiful trigger to chase. If an animal is faster than a dog, then the game has started. Such an animal, like a cat who is smaller and quicker than a dog, is worth hunting in the dog’s eyes.
Reasons Why Dogs Chase Bikers
As I said, speed is a trigger for dogs. So upon seeing joggers, bikers, runners, etc., their adrenaline level jumps so high, and they set up their mind to catch them due to their predatory nature.
However, not all dogs like chasing bikers because of their predatory nature, there is another aspect that comes into play which is the “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN” game. They find it a beautiful game, and they don’t intend to harm the biker at all. They want to play a quick catch game.
Why Should You train Your Dog to Stop Chasing Bikers?
You know, upon preparing for this post and looking at resources, etc. I have seen over 300 bikers complaining about the same issue, dogs chasing them. And guess what, I have seen only FOUR articles written by trainers addressing the real problem of chasing bikers!
So that made me think. How are so many bikers complaining, and only a few owners are saying that their dogs have such a problem? Yes, you might say, because only stray dogs are chasing the bikers. However, our “trained dogs” are right on the leash and never go off-leash
So, I opened the forums yesterday and contacted a biker. I asked about his experience, and by the way, his name is Flavio, and he told me that he is a traveler around the world by his bike
He said to me that surprisingly, most of the dogs that chase him are Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and Bull Terriers. When I asked him if he ever experiences a stray dog running at him, he answered, “Well, sometimes I do. However, 98% of the dogs that chase me are people’s dogs, not stray dogs. Stray dogs stay away from the bike and the people. The street taught them how to deal with humans, which, surprisingly, what the brand dogs lack.”
And I was shocked to hear this. When I asked him how do dogs run at him when they are fastened to the owner by a leash, he answered: “Actually most of the time I see that dogs are too angry when they see me. Besides being on-leash, they grab their owners firmly and strongly until the owners just control, and the dog starts running as fast as he could to reach me. Another popular situation that I deal with daily is the dogs that are in backyards. Many people think that the dog in the backyard means that he will never be able to get out. In fact, most of the time, I see the dog jumping over the fence or destroying it to reach me whenever he hears the sound of a bike.”
Can you see how people are struggling? We want a happy life for ourselves, our dogs, and other people. It’s a full-side triangle that we can’t miss any of its sides.
That’s why I am here to help you to get over this problem as I did and I really advise you never to ignore this problem because you think that “It’s OK, the dog is with me on a leash, he can never run” Perhaps if he went off-leash, he could do a severe damage to someone. Thanks, Flavio, for the interview, and now let’s start discussing how to stop a dog from chasing bikers.
How To Stop Your Dog From Chasing Bikers
General Methodology of the Training
So, the general method is to test the dog first. And you have to test the dog for these things:
- Distance from the biker: You know your dog will run after a biker, however, what is the safe distance that you know that your dog will never run after a biker if he is at this distance. What I mean is, will your dog run after a biker on the second side of the road? Or what if he was walking on the pavement and saw a biker at the crossroad?
So the main idea is to check, just see what the distance is that you don’t have to worry if your dog will chase a biker. Know it and write it down. - Speed of biker: Is your dog interested in chasing a racer or a slow biker? If he likes to chase both, that’s understandable. However, observe your dog and see what he wants the most.
- Does he want to attack or play?: Remember, I said above that they chase bikers because they see them as prey or because they want to track fast things. Remember to check this by checking if your dog is happy running after a biker or he is growling and barking hard to bite him?
So now, after the test is completed (which usually takes three days), you are ready to go.
Step one, Always walk at a safe distance, the one you wrote down in the steps before. By doing this, you will keep your dog relaxed, and the dog won’t care about bikers. You should walk with a bunch of treats, and whenever a biker passes, treat him as if he won the Olympics! At first, he will be like, “Oh, free treats?” then, after he realizes that you are treating him because he isn’t following the biker, he will be very interested. Now, remember, everything takes time, and this step takes a lot of time.
After, you are sure that your dog won’t chase a biker when he is, for example, at a distance of 50 Ft.
Step two, start decreasing the distance! You need a good quality treatment for this step. If your dog loves boiled chicken then boil a chicken for him or get his favorite sausages. This time you are stepping out of your comfort zone. This time, I would also recommend to fasten the leash well, make sure that you are ready for pulling, and make sure you have a bunch of distractions like the best toys that your dog adores!
Now, I would ask you to be quicker than your dog. Try to distract him with his favorite treatment as soon as a biker passes. That way, you’ll grab his attention, and he won’t like to chase the biker because he is eating his favorite treat! You will have to repeat this for a bunch of times. Whenever you feel confident that your dog is 100% OK at this distance with bikers, decrease the distance, and give treats! Never push a dog too much as he will likely cause damages.
Try to make him relaxed and never stressed, remember he might want to play with the biker, and he doesn’t know that this freaks him out.
What If He Made a Mistake?
Well, mistakes happen. If he made a mistake, take a step back in your training. Just increase the distance once more and start giving treats. When he starts running after a bike, you can try to use the toys and tell him, “HEY, LET’S PLAY HANDSOME” and try to grab his attention. Then repeat the steps again
Pro Tip That Might Help
Something that helped me personally is theStay Command. If you trained your dog to make a stay and he is a pro-dog, then this will help you. Whenever you hear a biker, instead of trying to distract the dog with cheese or chicken, give him the command stay and offer him lots of treats if he did it correctly! However, if it failed, then use the distraction method.
Never Use a Choke Collar
Sorry, I repeat this, I know. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people around walking their dog with a choke collar, and when I ask them the reason, they will say, “The dog turns crazy when he sees a bike, we have to use it” Unfortunately, what they don’t know is that they worsen the problem. Whenever a dog gets choked when he tries to run after a bike, he will associate that the biker is a bad thing as it gets him choked, and when he finds the opportunity, he will try to teach him a lesson. On the other hand, whenever you give him a treat when a biker passes, he will associate in his mind that a biker means a beautiful treat and a playing session, what’s better than that?
The training process might be much easier if you just found a friend who can ride bikes:
Asking For a Biker’s Help
I would recommend this option over the second. It gives you the ability to carry out a detailed test on your dog without being afraid that he will bite someone or that a biker will be fearful of him.
If you don’t have a friend who can ride a bike, you can post on any group on Facebook, something like, “Hey guys, I am having a problem….” And I am sure lots of bikers will be willing to help you train your dog, and they will respect you for teaching him,
When I asked Flavio if he is ready to help any owner, he said, “I can literally stop for every dog and give him a treat to help the owner, however, I just need the owner to take the step” See, bikers are trying to help us. Now, we can use that and carry out detailed training on our dog instead of just trying to guess distances on the street.
Conclusion
If you are wondering why I interviewed Flavio, that’s because many of the owners don’t understand that they are frightening millions of people out there if they don’t train their dogs. Also, we have to understand that surprises happen, your dog might be off-leash one day, and he then might cause severe damage, so it’s better to train him rather than say, “I will make sure that he is well tightened to my hand.”
Remember, guys, K9backpakcs is offering free one-on-one sessions and free help through comments and blog posts! Meanwhile, you can check our latest post about Dog Humping right here! It’s amazing!
