Jill Bowen

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas and has taught at Texas A&M. She lives with her veterinarian husband and two cats in Blacksburg. If you have a question, please write to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, VA 24068, or send an e-mail to mjbowen@radford.edu

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I have a Lab mix dog that will chase cars, bicycles and joggers. We have tried a variety of things to stop him, including a good beating, but nothing seems to stop him. Why does he do this?

It is perfectly normal for dogs to chase moving objects. All dogs have this innate instinct to chase anything that moves. For example, herding and hunting dogs were bred to chase prey and protect flocks from danger.

Unfortunately, when a dog is a puppy it is fun to watch him chasing blowing leaves, squirrels, etc., but as dogs get older, they think they must chase anything that moves. Chasing cars can prove to be deadly.

To prevent your dog from chasing cars, keep him on a leash when out walking. Retraining him is not easy. Never encourage chasing behavior. If he steals something like a shoe when at home, do not chase him to get it back. Reinforce his early training of coming when called.

Increase the amount of exercise he has. If he is tired, his urge to chase is diminished. Use a head halter (gentle-leader type) when walking, this gives you much more control and will prevent you from being dragged if he sees something to chase.

Get friends or family members to help by asking them to run or jog by as you walk your dog. When he tries to chase them, give a gentle tug on the leash and say "no." Praise him when he stays by your side. Repeat this training until your dog no longer wants to chase the jogger. Once you are happy that he will ignore the jogger, repeat the procedure with your helper on a bicycle. Finally repeat the same procedure with someone driving a car.

Beating your dog will achieve nothing except make him afraid of you, as he has no idea that he has done anything wrong.

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We got a small Jack Russell when he was 10 weeks old from a farm where there were a lot of dogs. He is now 2 years old and still highly nervous. He is frightened of other dogs and will run off in a panic. He does not like loud noises such as the vacuum cleaner or mower. He is a good house dog and sleeps in his crate all night, but during the day cannot bear to let me out of his sight and carries his squeaky toy everywhere.

It sounds as if your terrier has not been given an adequate or an appropriate amount of socialization. His fear of other dogs and loud noises suggest that his behavior has not been triggered by one incident, but rather a failure to learn what is acceptable and nonthreatening in the environment.

Your dog's strong attachment to you and his desire to be with you at all times are signs of his anxiety, as is his obsession with his toy. To make him feel secure, always walk him on a leash. Get a friend with a dog to accompany you on walks so that he gets accustomed to another dog. Praise him when he reacts favorably to that dog or any others that you meet. Do not scold or comfort him when he becomes nervous, as that will only reinforce the nervous behavior. Instead ignore him.

As he obviously feels comfortable when crated, use this when vacuuming. If necessary, put his crate in another room while you clean. Many cats and dogs dislike the noise of the vacuum but learn to tolerate it over time, especially if they can easily move to another area of the home when you are cleaning. I suspect that his early life on the farm may be the origin of his fears when being a puppy among many dogs meant he did not learn how to interact with others, merely how to be fearful in the presence of adult dogs.