Barks At Bikes/scooters

[KateAndDuke]

Hi all,

I have a 16 month old desexed weimaraner male who is doing great in obedience training. Walks well on the lead, comes when called, sits, down, etc. One thing I'd really like to do to train out his lack of etiquette when it comes to bikes, scooters and skateboards. We can be going on a walk or sitting in the park and if anyone goes past on a wheeled device he will bark and sometimes growl. I get the feeling that if he was off lead he would chase as well. I know it's not aggression against the people, it's just the fast moving wheels, but it looks bad because most people on these things are young children. If I was a parent and saw a dog barking/growling at my kid I wouldn't be impressed.

At this stage I've been trying to stop eye contact when cyclists approach, but that becomes difficult when there are lots of them around. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can desensitise him to bikes/scooters/skateboards? He's such good, gentle dog and this behaviour doesn't reflect him at all. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I had a foxie that was like this (buses, bikes, skateboards etc) and when he saw another dog as well.

I got some tips from "It's me of the dog" show. She made every meeting with another dog etc a very rewarding experience. She got some help from someone who kept appearing with another dog and kept practicing, in the end the dog was fine.

I did this with my foxie for 2 weeks and it worked a treat. Every morning we would pass buses and cyclists on our walk and I just kept feeding him treats and distracting him - got him to sit, fed him treats and praised him. He had done obedience so could sit on command.

[persephone]

Borrow a skateboard/scooter and use it around your place ... praise him for ignoring .. and eventually the novelty may wear off

[Dee_al]

my sisters little maltese cross used to do this, she just eventually grew out of it....