-
Hey Robyn,
Thanks for expanding on Radar’s behavior. It really give us a lot more information to work with. Sorry for the late follow up reply, I wanted to have more time before I could properly respond plus I wanted to talk to Mike a bit about your issue first in order to better answer it.
__
The first thing you should understand is his breed and what is normal for his breed. You seem to be headed in the right direction already since as you said “Being part cattle dog..nipping is part of his nature”. I want to expand on this by saying that, being part cattle dog, it is also part of his nature to want to herd and be in control. This would explain him trying to “herd” your car and not let it move. It can also explain the “game” he plays with you when you try to chase him around. If you have ever seen a dog herd, you can see that they are always at the perfect distance of being able to control the cattle yet never within reach for the cattle to touch them. They also always got the cattle in eyesight. Sounds familiar?
Additionally, he is also part Amstaff and bully type breeds tends to be very affectionate and people orientated. This can potentially explain why he is a “velcro dog” to you. Which can also further explain part of his separation issue and why he don’t want you to leave.
Like Sharon said, you have a working type dog with high energy so it’s important that you fulfill his needs. Structured play and games like what Sharon mentioned are great ways to physically and mentally stimulate Radar.
______________________
Second.As you already know, this is also a dominance issue. Being around 1 year old, it is typical for dogs to start showing dominance behavior which in this case is the desire to want to control the pack’s travel decision. In the wild, the alpha wolves are the one that make the decision of the pack’s activity and when/when not to travel.
Plus, as you mentioned with yourneighbor, he seem to need to know everyone that interact with you guys. This is another typical dominant trait to want to know everyone that comes into the pack.
As mentioned in previous replies, you can address this issue by reading and following the “leadership page”.
_____________________________
The third piece of the puzzle is management. Like Sharon said, do your best to not allow him to be in a situation to run out in the street when you are about to leave the house. Can he be crated? tie down? or put in extra attention to not let him bolt out the house when you are about to leave.
management is key especially while you are teaching him obedience. Once his obedience is reliable, you can then use his obedience to manage these kind of situation.
The recall for example would be absolutely important in this situation. I highly recommend going back to phase 1 recall (even if you started training already, just to refresh him) and working yourself to phase 3 recall (which will include the e collar).
Additionally, I would also suggest you work on the place command and eventually holding long duration place command when inside the house with you. he seems to very attached to you which is not helpful when we are dealing with an issue such as him not wanting you to leave. It will be helpful for him to not follow you everywhere around in the house.
____
You are more than welcome to start a journal of him if you have not already. This will give us more information as well as let us know his progress. Keep us updated 🙂
