hello i am looking for some advise for my friend as her staffie who is two has started barking at lamp posts anything with wheels and trees every time she takes on a free run on the park he will run to the nearest tree and bark at it then start ripping the bark of the tree we have tried calling him back making load noises to distract him he will come back when called but she wants him to be able to run round. any ideas welcome

How much exercise does he normally get?

Has he ever seen a squirrel and now associates tress with this? One of mine used to run to a particular tree as there was always a squirrel running up and down it.

How old is he? Does she use toys when he's at the park?

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hi yeah she takes his fav squeezy toy and plays with him dont think he has ever seem them but will have to ask her to confirm he goes out on 4 walkes a day about 1 hour at a time as he never seems to get tired.
she is confused by it as he just wants to bite and rip the trees apart but tries to do the same thing to lamp posts and its all not just one tree the park is starting to look strange lots of trees with bark missing lol

I would say this is obsessional behaviour and not much fun for the dog. Not only that, but it could get worse and the dog could get hurt.

To be honest I am not sure how to treat it. Google it and get some tips or see a behaviourist.

If it were my dog, I would put a lead on him and walk him past loads of trees and lamp posts and correct him everytime he displayed this behaviour. I would also reward him when he stops doing it, so gradually he learns to ignore them.

Although it sounds funny, you are right to be addressing it.

x

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I agree with Goodvic. Sounds very obsessional. He's getting more than sufficient exercise, so i wouldnt have thought boredom was a major issue.

Has she done much training with him? Maybe he needs to use his mind a bit more.

Id get her to seek some professional help, he could end up doing himself some damage.

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Knacker Lacquer - Adds Luster To Your Cluster

thank you for your help with this he is very well trained as from a pup he has been with a trainer but i feel you might be right as he cant seem to over come this we are going to go out later and try what you said with lead work and see if this works over time as he is very food orientated also have spoken to a behaviour specialist in our area who has offered to come round and have a look at him for us as she said it might be a bit like ocd and will be hard to break.

cant thank you all enough for the help you have given us

I agree that this sounds like obsessional behaviour and the first thing to do is stop it happening. The more dogs practise a behaviour, the stronger it becomes.

Your friend needs to seek the help of a behaviourist but in the meantime I'd avoid trigger situations/objects by keeping him onlead and/or distracting with toys. Maybe go somewhere new and see if it's trees per sé or simply the particular trees he's got used to savaging?

You could be legally liable for the damage to the trees.