How to stop dog chasing cattle

Mrs Tyson     Dogs Name: Dillon      Breed: Boxer        Age: 3 years Old

Behaviour problem – Chasing livestock – cattle

Mrs Tyson called me after she had been warned by her local farmer that he had spotted Dillon chasing his cows and said that if it happened again he would shoot him.

Mrs Tyson was in a very anxious state about Dillon’s behaviour towards livestock. She lived on her own and in every other way Dillon was a great companion, friendly towards people and other dogs, he pulled on the lead but because she lived in the country and close to open ground she did not see it as a major problem.  He was generally a very sociable dog.

On meeting Mrs Tyson and talking to her about her problem with Dillon it was clear that she was not physically able to deal with it.

It was agreed that I took Dillon in for some residential training where I could work on the problem for her and then teach her what to do when Dillon returned.

It is my view that very often dogs that chase livestock are not initially being predatory, especially if the dog has been well socialised in every other respect prior to the chase behaviour starting. I believe that the dog is making attempts to socially interact with the livestock, but unfortunately livestock tend to turn and run when they see a dog heading towards them. This can then trigger predatory behaviour or in the case of Dillon he just ran around wanting to play with them. Not that the farmer would have been the least bit interested in what behaviour the dog was exhibiting – and quite right, Dillon could have caused the cows to damage themselves.

I took Dillon in and luckily my local farmer had just put cows in our back field. We have a good relationship with him so I explained what I wanted to do and got permission to start Dillon’s training.

My plan was to socialise Dillon with the cows in a controlled way and to do this I just sat in the middle of the field with Dillon on the lead and 30 treats in a bag.

Dillon had not been fed that morning which would increase his desire to earn food (not that he knew that at the time)

As you know if you sit still in a field of cows, they will come to you, being inquisitive as they are. As the cows started to approach and providing Dillon remained in a calm state I started giving Dillon treats from my bag.

After the 30 treats had been given I finished the exercise. The cows at this point were about 30 feet away.

I repeated this exercise 3-4 times a day over the first week, gradually allowing the cows to approach closer each day.

Week 2

Dillon was great: he lay nice and calmly next to me and at no time during the sessions did he look worried or predatory. In fact he was reaching forwards with his nose and on a couple of occasions when the cows were right on top of us he sniffed and licked a cow’s nose.

During the next few training sessions I tried to make the situation a little livelier. Up to now I had been concentrating on keeping everything calm, and controlling the cows approach so that they gradually came closer to us rather than rushing in.

This time when the cows were in touching distance and Dillon was in a relaxed state of mind, I stood up quite sharply which caused the cows to jump back a few metres, but Dillon made no attempt to chase, he just sat up and looked at me as if to say “where’s my treat and are we going now?”  I gave him a jackpot reward and finished for the day.

Week 3

Over the next few days I worked on Dillon’s recall firstly away from the cows and then in amongst them, always for a really nice treat. As the day went by I was able to recall Dillon through the herd of cows that had now become quite used to us. Dillon was great, he showed no interest in the few cows that ran away as he came towards me. He was ready to go home.

Over the weekend prior to Dillon’s return to his owner, Dillon escaped through an open garden gate leading out into the field of cows.

My first thought was that he would be out there having a great time chasing the cows and all my hard work had just gone down the pan.

I ran through the gate, calling Dillon as I went. As I rounded a hedge in the field there was Dillon sitting in the spot where I had done all the socialising, surrounded by cows, quite relaxed with his new found friends. I was over the moon!!

I returned Dillon to his owner, who was delighted to see him. I explained to her what had happened and she was very pleased.

I explained the recall and demonstrated what she needed to do if there were cows in the field, Dillon behaved as I knew he could.

I ensured that Dillon could not escape her garden and said my goodbyes. I had a phone call about 2 week later from Mrs Tyson to say that Dillon was still behaving and that she was enjoying the walks with him again.