There is a lot of confusion around what can cause traffic chasing in border collies. Many behaviourists, trainers, and owners still believe it is caused by the instinct to herd, rather than it being a fear-based behaviour. This confusion often means that owners are given the wrong advice about how to help their collie overcome lunging at vehicles.
As the final article in my series about car chasing in collies, I’m outlining what won’t help with traffic chasing.
1. Punishment
Use harsh lead corrections to prevent lunging
Use prong collars, e-collars, or other aversive tools
Flood exposure by standing close to traffic (see Flooding information below)
Become more frightening than the traffic to enforce a behaviour
Wait for explosions before intervening
These techniques will increase stress and arousal and can increase anxiety around traffic. Remember: your dog is not CHOOSING to lunge – it’s a fear response out of their control. They cannot even hear you, let alone be able to respond – their brain is screaming THREAT and forcing them to attempt to deal with it. Punishment increases stress and often intensifies reactivity.
2. Loose Lead Walking
Insisting on loose lead walking is sometimes taught by trainers working with car chasing collies to improve the safety of owner and dog. The theory is that a dog that is taught to walk nicely on a lead will not lunge.
However, whilst loose lead walking is an important aspect of young collie education and for teaching frustration tolerance, collies that chase traffic are usually too stressed and overwhelmed to be able to think properly. Loose lead walking involves high levels of impulse control and frustration tolerance, so expecting a collie that is completely overwhelmed in the presence of traffic to be able to think and focus is extremely unrealistic
I therefore recommend that handlers practise loose lead walking in areas in which their collie feels completely relaxed and safe, and once the car chasing training is starting progressing well and collies can walk closer to roads without feeling overwhelmed, then loose lead walking starts to happen naturally.
3. Flooding
Flooding is a training technique that attempts to expose an animal to a fear-inducing stimulus until the animal no longer shows fear, at which point the trainer assumes that the dog “has got used to it” or realised that the stimulus is not scary.
With traffic chasing collies, flooding will involve taking the dog close to a busy road for extended periods of time until the dog stops lunging at traffic.
It is assumed that when the dog stops lunging at traffic, it is no longer afraid. Unfortunately, when dogs are forced to endure fear-inducing triggers at close quarters, they can just become shut down, so frightened that they no longer attempt to change what is happening. This state is known as learned helplessness, and this is usually what happens when collies that are exposed to flooding stop chasing traffic.
So, although the lunging may stop temporarily, being overwhelmed by something with no ability to escape can lead to extreme distress, anxiety, and potentially trauma, which can make the situation worse in the long run. Instead of extinguishing fear, it can intensify fear, and the dog may associate the trigger with feelings of helplessness, making encountering traffic much worse than it was before. And forcing a dog into a situation in which they are intensely overwhelmed can ruin a dog’s relationship with their caregiver, eroding trust and making training more difficult over the long term. So whilst flooding may appear to work in the short term by “fixing” the problem behaviour, over the longer term, the same, or more severe, problem behaviours can develop.
In summary, flooding is not a recommended, evidence-based technique with a high, quantifiable success rate. It is considered a last-resort, risky method that often results in poor welfare for the animal.
4. Offering outlets for herding behaviours
When trainers and behaviourists are under the mistaken impression that car chasing is due to herding, they may suggest other herding outlets with the theory that if the collie can practise their herding drive elsewhere, they will stop chasing traffic.
Unfortunately, this is not the case – car chasing is rarely due to the collie’s herding drive (see this article: Beyond Herding: Understanding Traffic Chasing in Border Collies).
Outlets for herding, such as Sheep Balls or other herding-type games, are always great enrichment for collies and will help lower stress levels and improve welfare. But as the only part of the treatment plan, they aren’t very likely to reduce car chasing behaviour.
Starting training on sheep for the sole purpose of reducing car chasing is a questionable idea in general. When collies first start to herd sheep, their enthusiasm for being with sheep increases dramatically, and it takes several months of training before they can be fully controlled. So if you want to be able to walk your dog calmly around sheep, this isn’t a good option. Unless you have the time to put in the training several times a week for months on end, and find a farmer willing to let you practise regularly on their sheep, it’s not something I would recommend.
In relation to car chasing, it’s unlikely to make any difference because collies don’t chase vehicles due to the impulse to herd – it’s due to fear, frustration, and a sense of overwhelm.