When Viktor came home he was really scared of the cows even though that was something he was born on a hobby farm and his first exposure to Ohio cows was a very controlled situation. Here’s a video of him being scared of a tree. That barking is something he would keep doing if he saw cows moving, cows holding still, or something that could be a cow (like that tree).
And here’s a video I took of Viktor with a yearling bull. Note that we now also will regularly walk through pastures with cattle and I have no concerns that he will chase the livestock to cause stress/injury to the animals or himself.
So what did I do to get from point A to point B? The honest answer? Mostly nothing.
When I saw he was afraid of cows as a very young puppy we mostly avoided them. When we visited the farm, I would avoid the areas with cows. If we had to pass, I would carry him with Viktor facing away. And after about 8-9 months we would do trick training or walk with the cows very far away. Over time, we worked our way closer and it’s just not a problem.
Sometimes I give this advice to families and they’re not always happy. Keep all shoes up. Avoid bike/car chasing opportunities while the puppy is young. Put away the wicker furniture. Usually, this stuff can come back into the environment when the puppy is 7 or 8 month old, and often with no additional training the puppy is fine. This is way easier than lots of daily intervention, leave it training, stay training, come, drop it, leave it, stay.
Why do more training than needed? Prevention is easier than training!
1 Comment
Fanny Gott · August 14, 2017 at 11:45 am
Great post! I find the same with border collies and cars (that they might want to herd/chase). If they’re not exposed before they’re older, it usually never becomes a problem.
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