Our 13 wk BC walks perfectly off the lead whilst in the woods/fields, but as soon as she's out on the lead near a road, she is drawn to chasing cars!
I have sat for hours on the bench at the side of the road to try and get her used to the traffic but I get the same reaction every time a car goes by
I had a friend drive by and pull up to talk to us a few times and as soon as the car gets close enough, she starts wagging her tail, (the dog, not the friend ) making no attempt to go for the car.
I have heard that this is a common problem with Collies and just wondered if anyone had any similar experiences, and if so, how did they cope?
I think I will end up with muscles like Arnie if this carries on!

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Never had a problem like that with Jayjay in fact he was terrified of passing cars when walking by the road to start with, we just made sure we didn't avoid walking by roads and carried on as normal.

As with anything we didn't go out our way to solve the problem as I often find that increases the problem before it solves it, we just walked by the road when we had to, ignored his attempts to pull away from the road and just carried on ahead. I don't think many people have the same attitude we do but it certainly works for us.

hi,
take a look at this website to help your dog stop chasing cars: Train Your Dog to Stop Chasing Cars - Associated Content

hope this helps

Thanks for your comments, think we need to get the 'heel' command sorted!
We have been practicing but she seems to have selective hearing.......... Even a nice tasty treat or her favourite squeaky ball are useless against moving traffic! I know they say you have to make yourself more attractive to your dog, be it's centre of attention but I think the only way I could do that would be to smother myself in peanut butter or another dogs wee..........have to draw the line somewhere................

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ok, there are 10 stages in which a dog goes through when they have pent up energy and in your case your pup expresses this through chasing cars!

here are some tips for you:
when you are out walking you pup, keep her interested in you by constantly talking to her, use a squeeky toy or her favourite toy to help as well!

when a car is coming by, you will notice her behaviour and posture changes and she will be going through the stages very quickly.
when you see the changes, tug on the lead to the side, dont pull her back. pulling the lead to the side keeps you in control and her in check.
do this every time, reward her with a tasty treat when she does what you want her to do and carry on with your walk. do this every time she looks at a car, goes to chase a car and when she is penting up her energy.

if you are consistant with this then she will stop doing this and walk with you and be more focused on the walk, not the cars!

This is more or less what I have been doing but she isn't interested in the treat (tried usual range plus liver, chicken, cheese etc)
Should I try her on a harness? Maybe this will give me more control.
She is so well behaved in every other aspect and circumstance (ok, we won't mention puppy classes) it's kind of making our walks not quite as enjoyable.
Still, I will keep trying.........things can only get better! Thanks for the tips

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i wouldnt put a dog or a puppy on a harness because the dog and pups will have more control over their heads and bodies. people make this mistake all the time and then wonder why they dont have control and their dog isnt good on the lead/harness.

harnesses were originally made for sniffing dogs, as they like having their nose on the ground constantly and when they are on leads, they have linited access to the ground as the collar and lead hold up the head.

you would be better sticking to the collar and lead for your walks to be more of a success. she is still young and you just need to be consistant with her.

hope this helps!

you could also try putting the collar very high up her neck so that you have total control of her head and body. (like show dogs at crufts)
she will look as though she is on tip toes which is what you want especially if she is trying to chase cars. using this method would also work for you as she will have no option but to follow you, so she wouldnt be able to chase the car then, would she!

My sheltie dosn't like walking after its been raining, he gets neverous of the wet tires on the road. I find the best thing to do is to walk normally and just use a firm "heal" when required and lots of praise when hes walking nicely.

Yours is still young though and I think with heal trainning and practice he should grow out of it.

You can also try turning the other way to desctract the dog, or making it sit

Good Luck!

Hi there,
I have a bc and went through this when he was a pup.
Don't panic it is perfectly normal as collies, being hearding dogs have a high chase instinct.
Do you go to puppy class? If you do you may be teaching her commands such as leaves when you put a treat in front of her and tell her to leave it then giving her a different treat etc. Having learnt this we were adviced by the trainer, also a collie owner,to use this principle with traffic. As our dog is clicker trained, when walking down the road, if i saw an approaching car I would give the leave it command and click him at the moment before he had the chance to try to chase and would then phrase him and give him a treat. Repeat this method and your clever collie will soon cotton on to the fact that if she doesn't chase she gets treats. Even now from time to time i give him the occasional treat just to keep it going. Hope this helps. I think it is good because it makes the dog consciously make the decision to not chase the car. It certainly worked for us.