FAQ

 

Dear Friends,

 

Today this question came up in the forum of FIAPO by Ms.Shakuntala. This is a very common problem faced by many. Here is what I have researched in the last few years and concluded for some of the dogs which sometimes run after vehicles in my area -

 

 

1)         One most comonly known reason is their association with a vehicle that may have hit the dog in their early age or later. So they develop this fear of certain vehicles/ noises and as a natural reflex run or bark after them. Also in some cases the very high frequecny of the vehicle’s engine which we do not hear cause irritation to the dog. My pet is allergic to one type of bike which produces ultrasonic noises also. He doesnt bark at other vehicles, but only certain bikes.

 

2)         Second most important reason which i figured out after much research was equally shocking to me. I observed that certain dogs after they were sterilised developed this insecurity almost 3-6 months after the surgery. They never used to run after vehicles before but after some months of the surgery they started running after children or vehicles or developed a non aggressive yet apprehensive behaviour. After much research I concluded to myself that Dogs by nature mark their territories by urinating on trees, objects and other permanent structures. They do this within their area only and hence mark their region. This is true for most animals. But what I didnt know was that their urine contains a chemical which is produced by their sex organs in micro quantities which is very distinctive for each dog. This chemical ( name forgotten) remains even after the urine evaporates. Hence each dog does this exercise daily, of marking their region by urinating this chemical, even if its a pet dog, male or female. This is the reaons that your street dogs will never bark at your pet while they may bark at an outsider’s pet dog in your area.

So when a dog is spayed this chemical stops to mix with the urine. And slowly the dog realises that his/ her territory is threatened naturally. As a result the dog finds an alternative method of marking his/ her territory, i.e. barking, running after vehicles, etc. Yet the dog is not aggressive and is harmless in such cases as the level of testosterone in the blood is nill and the dog doesnt really get angry to bite. So most dogs even though they run after vehicles, become timid and scared once you get back at them and shout immediately.

This is mostly true for Alpha dogs in a group if they are spayed. Other dogs since they follow such dogs as leaders dont run after vehicles even if spayed bcos they were never leaders and their position in their society is not threatened.

This I have seen in many many dogs. So according to some vets it is best to spay a dog between their first reproductive and the second one.

 

3)   The third reason dogs start running after vehicles is when they become confined on one street for food, water and love. They become possessive and start running after vehicles. So it is advisable to keep changing the feedin place of a dog by a few 100 meters within one street. One should never feed the same dog in the same SPOT everyday. A few meters of shifting the feeding area makes a world of difference. The dog must recognise the entire street as his and not just one spot. Then the dog doesnt beceom so possessive as in the case when he is fed on one spot all the time. If the dog is resting otherwise on one spot is alright, but while feeding change the feeding spot by a few meters. It has worked for me.

 

4)  once one dog starts runing after vehicles the pack follows. So there is always one dog who is the culprit, which is mostly the alpha dog, and mostly spayed.

 

Some of these facts are unknown to most people dealing with animals. The RIGHT TIME TO STERILISE a dog will affect its behaviour even after it is spayed. Fallacy is that spaying reduces aggression, but little is realised that nuisance and aggression may not always be mutually inclusive. A dog which may not bite can still run after vehicles and cause some problem. So we must be carefully time the spaying of a dog.

 

 

I have successfully tried these two methods on dogs which are too late to be rectified. They had already developed this problem of chasing vehicles and causing panick and were already spayed.

 

 

I told my building guards to start feeding my dogs, instead of me doing it myself. I used to give the guards the food but the feeding was done by the guards in front of me or behind my back. In a few weeks the dogs became very attached to the guards. Then came the real part. Now everytime the dog used to run after a vehicle, the guard was asked to shout at the dog. ONLY SHOUT or make a loud noise. nothing scares a dog more than loud noise. no guard used to hit any dog or throw water or anything, but only shout at the dog at the correct instance the dog was running after the vehicles or bang the stick down on the street and shout “NO” simultaneously. This went on for 2 weeks. The guards were obviously paid so they were more interested in the otherwise silly job of taming a street dog

After two weeks I saw it that everytime a speeding vehicle went past the dog, the dog before running saw around to see if the guard was watching. Then just one “NO” to the dog was enough to chill down the urge to run after the vehicle. This method takes a lot of patience but has worked. Since guards are mostly around so the dogs slowly loose interest in the task of running after vehicles. But in my case the dogs still run afetr the vehicles in the night when they know that the guards are fast asleep … ))))