Lunging, barking, and spinning at passing vehicles (which is what I mean by “car chasing”) is a common issue in border collies, thought to affect 25% of individual collies (Marin et. al., 2026). The behaviour is rarely due to herding tendencies in collies, and much more likely to be related to fear, frustration, anticipation, pain, trigger stacking, compulsive behaviour, and maybe, eventually, the thrill of the chase. This article, “Beyond Herding: Understanding Traffic Chasing in Border Collies,” explains more.
Car chasing behaviour poses a safety risk to dogs, owners and road users, and is a welfare concern, causing stress and over-arousal on walks.
It’s important to understand that rehearsal reinforces the behaviour: each time a collie lunges and the vehicle continues past, the collie thinks that they have been successful in chasing it away and keeping themselves safe. This is intrinsically reinforcing and maintains the behaviour.
Progress therefore depends on preventing rehearsal through careful management and implementing training and behaviour modification that teaches emotional regulation and helps to change a dog’s association with traffic.
This post focuses on management – the way that you can set up your dog’s environment to help the training succeed.
Management for Car Chasing Collies
Before any behaviour modification plan can be effective, management must be firmly in place. Border collies cannot learn calmer responses to cars if they are repeatedly practising chasing, lunging, or barking at traffic.
Keeping car chasing collies away from traffic is not avoiding the issue – it is part of the solution. It’s also important for the welfare of the dog and keeps everyone safe.
On walks
- Avoid walking alongside roads, any roads.
- Both busy and very quiet roads can be problematic for car chasing collies in different ways.
- Busy roads can be distressing, and a mix of traffic such as motorbikes, lorries, buses, rattly trailers, or dustbin lorries can cause specific vehicle reactions, usually the louder vehicles that make collies jump.
- However quiet roads can be worse. On busy roads, the constant stream of traffic is predictable and less of a threat. Traffic appearing on quiet roads is a “Sudden Environmental Change” (SEC), which can be alarming. This is even worse on narrow country lanes with no footpaths for safety.
- So walk right away from roads all the time – even if you live only 50m from a track off a road, it sounds crazy, but you will ideally need to drive somewhere instead of walking.
- If you do need to walk along roads (and be aware that this will severely limit the dog’s ability to recover), choose quieter routes and quieter times of day.
In the garden
- If your dog chases traffic when in your garden, this has to be stopped.
- They must be supervised in the garden at all times.
- Use a long line and harness if there is any chance the dog can see or reach traffic, and take them inside if they attempt to chase traffic.
- Ensure fencing is secure; border collies are athletic and can be persistent.
In the house
- Prevent repeated visual fixation on traffic through windows.
- Use window film, frosting, blinds, or barriers where necessary.
- Rehearsal that takes place inside the home is as detrimental as rehearsal that takes place on walks.
In the car
- Be mindful that fixating and lunging at traffic can also occur while travelling.
- Prevent frantic scanning, barking, or lunging through appropriate restraint and calm set-ups.
- Using a covered crate is usually the best way to do this, and is less stressful for the dog and the driver.
Equipment for unavoidable traffic exposure (e.g. vet visits)
- Well-fitted harness with front attachment points (Perfect Fit harnesses are ideal), with a double-ended lead attached to front and back points for additional control.
- In some cases (large dogs, established pulling), a head halter may be required; fit and conditioning are crucial. Dogmatic head collars are good for this.
No Punishment
Punishment, lead corrections, shouting, or aversive tools:
- increase emotional conflict and stress
- bring fear into an already stressful situation
- damage trust in the handler
- may intensify reactivity and chasing
Car chasing collies are frightened, frustrated, and overwhelmed, not defiant or disobedient. Punishment will not help and is more likely to make things worse.
Awareness of Trigger Stacking
Sensitive breeds like border collies are particularly vulnerable to trigger stacking, where multiple stressors build up throughout the day.
Traffic, noise, restraint, delivery drivers, unfamiliar dogs or people, lack of rest, and pain are just some of the factors that can combine to push a dog over threshold. Management should therefore aim to reduce total stress load throughout each day, not just exposure to cars.
This involves:
- 16 – 20 hours of sleep
- 15 – 30 minutes of mental stimulation (training, puzzles, other enrichment)
- At least an hour of physical exercise, ideally 2 hours
- Daily sniffing/licking/chewing opportunities such as free work, lickimats, filled kongs, and natural chews
- A regular routine
- Predictability, autonomy, safety
- Try to avoid stress and over arousal – no fast chase games, lots of calm activities such as free work, carry out a stress audit.
Coming next…
The influence of pain in car chasing collie cases – read more about the importance of ensuring that your collie isn’t in pain before proceeding with training.
References:
Marin, B., Salden, S., Broeckx, B., Van Den Broeck, W. and Haverbeke, A. (2026) Born to lunge? A survey on lunging behaviour and associated factors in Border Collies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 296, 106894.