Case Study: The Child-Chasing Terrier
5 tips on what to do if your dog chases children and nips at them.
Jolanta Benal, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
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Case Study: The Child-Chasing Terrier
I recently wrote about how to prevent dogs from biting kids. This time, I’ll tackle a related question from a Facebook fan.
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Helen has two children, aged 5 and 3, and a newly adopted dog, Wilbur. Wilbur’s about a year old, part Jack Russell Terrier and maybe part Whippet. Helen writes that when he and the kids are running around the yard, Wilbur “loves to chase them and jump on their backs, sometimes even nipping at their arms. Since he is off the leash he is impossible to catch and to reprimand.” He doesn’t respond when Helen tells him “No jumping.”
Excitable Dogs Often Chase Running Children
Chasing and nipping running children is pretty much what I’d expect from an excitable, untrained Jack/Whippet mix. And since the whole scenario is one big thrill for Wilbur, he probably can’t even hear Helen’s reprimands. I mean that literally. Her attempts to chase him down only seem like part of the game. Last but not least, Wilbur speaks no English. If he’s aware of Helen at all when he’s so excited, he may register the displeasure in her tone, but I’ll bet he hasn’t a clue what the problem is. From his point of view, this is one excellent party.
Although Wilbur’s behavior is inappropriate, it seems to be playful. Also, he’s a small dog. If a large dog was chasing children as if they were rabbits or squirrels, and especially if he knocked them down from behind, I would immediately separate the dog from the kids and call a behavior specialist for help.
With that caution in mind, 5 Quick and Dirty Tips to keep your dog from playfully chasing and nipping the kids:
#1 – Give Your Dog Plenty of Exercise
I’d start by giving Wilbur at least an hour of off-leash running, trotting, and sniffing first thing every morning—but that would just about take the edge off. Maybe. Wilbur’s people will need to do more than give him physical exercise.
#2 – Use Interactive Toys to Feed Your Dog
Wilbur should get all his meals in food-dispensing toys. A bowl of food on the floor lasts about a minute and a half, and that’s including the time the dog spends licking the empty bowl in case he missed a molecule. A meal eaten out of a food-dispensing toy can last half an hour or even an hour. It keeps the dog busy, and when he’s done he’s relaxed and his jaws are tired. Get rid of Wilbur’s bowl.
#3 – Play Games to Burn Off Your Dog’s Energy
Jack Russells were bred for going after small, fast-moving prey. Wilbur could use a safe outlet for that urge, so the ideal toy for him might be a flirt pole. If you’ve ever seen one of those cat toys that’s like a fishing pole, with a string, and a bunch of feathers or a catnip mouse on the string, you’ve seen a flirt pole. To make one for a dog, use a bigger stick and a length of sturdy twine or nylon cord. Tie a stuffed animal or a piece of cowhide to your cord, and off you go.
Playing tug would also help Wilbur burn off steam. But a dog who’s already making a sport of grabbing people needs a careful introduction to this game, or the human player’s clothes will wind up torn, to say nothing of the human player’s skin. Like all dogs, Wilbur needs to play tug by three safety rules:
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The dog has to let go of the toy on cue.
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He can’t grab the toy again without the human’s okay.
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If his teeth touch the human’s skin or clothing, the game is over. In Wilbur’s case, I’d enforce the fourth, optional rule:
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The human keeps custody of the tug toy and is the one to start all games.
Wilbur’s tug games should be brief at first, because it’ll take him a while to learn to maintain his self-control when he’s excited. To teach a dog the rules of tug, see my earlier article on the subject.
#4 – Tire Your Dog’s Brain with Reward-Based Manners Training
Now, if Wilbur gets all this exercise but no manners training to go with it, he’ll be a rowdy, unmannerly dog who’s very, very physically fit. So he can keep on being rude for hours.
All dogs need to learn polite manners; that goes triple for a live wire like Wilbur. Clicker training is effective, and it’s fun for both dogs and people, because it encourages the dog to solve the puzzle of how he can get you to click and give him a treat again.
Bonus: It also helps tire his brain.
#5 – Keep Your Dog Out of Situations Where He Chases
With plenty of outlets for his energy, plus manners training and brain work, Wilbur can almost certainly learn to play appropriately with Helen’s children and even to hang out quietly while they run around. But every time he practices chasing and grabbing them, that undesirable habit gets stronger. And the more practice Wilbur gets at grabbing and chasing the kids, the more likely it becomes that one of those grabs will break skin someday.
For now, Wilbur can’t be allowed to run loose in the yard while the children play. Nor would I have him out on a leash or tether, because he’ll probably bark and lunge in frustration. Keep Wilbur indoors with a safe food-dispensing toy, instead. At times when he is tired and the children are playing more sedately, he can come spend brief periods with them, while Helen rewards his appropriate behavior with attention, play, and food. Over a couple of weeks or months, depending on Helen’s skills and how much work she puts in, Wilbur’s self-control will get better and better, and he can spend more time outside with the family.
This all sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? I’d bet it’s too much work for almost anyone who has two young children. And this leads to the big question underlying Helen and Wilbur’s situation: What was the rescue group thinking when it placed a rocket-fueled terrier mix in an inexperienced family with small kids? Check out my earlier article on how to find a shelter or rescue group that works to make appropriate matches between adopters and dogs. Next week, I’ll talk about how you can matchmake for yourself if the shelter or rescue isn’t doing that job.
Send your questions and comments to dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email, and I may use them in a future article. My Twitter handle is Dogalini, and you can also find me on Facebook, where I post links to articles and videos and respond to your questions. Thanks for reading!
Dog Chasing image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Jolanta holds professional certifications in both training and behavior counseling and belongs to the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She also volunteered with Pet Help Partners, a program of the Humane Society of the United States that works to prevent pet relinquishment. Her approach is generally behaviorist (Pavlovian, Skinnerian and post-Skinnerian learning theory) with a big helping of ethology (animal behavior as observed in non-experimental settings).