Help! Stanley gets extremely excited by Quads and motorbikes even 10 minutes after they have gone he will try to track.he yelps and strains at his lead.we are at our wits end as live on a farm with 3 quads.We have tried getting him near to one , we have hired one and tried pushing it .Hes absolutely fine until it starts then he goes loopy. We have even let him do a conrolled chase .The only way to calm him is to hold his face and stare directly at him until the tenseness in his body subsides.Completely get that this isnt accepted dog training practice but is the only thing that makes any difference.
all ideas gratefully received.

You need to get him under control near them when they are stationary first. Really really totally under control. Walk him around them on lead, feed him treats for being sensible. When he is able to be near them without reacting, you can start the engine. Repeat this about 100 times until he is not reacting when engine goes on.... keep feeding cheese/ sausage /chicken.......... come back when you've got that far and we can go on to the next stage the above could take you a month or so

Thank you - we got the to stationery stage before just when the engine went on he was/is so mad we sort of got worn out with it. Our quad bike hire option is on school hols at the moment so using it most days - when he is back to school we will get chance to have it again in the week so can perservere again. Living on a farm with kids on hols is bad as they are all out and about all the time. If are out and a motorbike goes by he goes bonkers! Then tries to track for ages afterwards. Dog trainer said could be he was allowed to chase one when a puppy as form of fun and it may be hardwired into him. Really want to crack it as if we are out off lead and he hears one I have no chance and could loose him if on a road. It is definately not just the noise as I have recordings which I play to which he has little or no reaction. Will keep you posted on the progress.

Is he a keen retriever? Just wondered if you could try and focus his attention by using a retrieve, obviously starting first with it stationary and then progressing little by little. Eventually when the quad/bike is moving, throw the retrieve in the opposite direction.

Nope , will only retrieve if paid in food , have tried and failed with that idea but keep em coming please, this AM walk was awful and stressful cos of the quad

Much as I hate to suggest it, because you need a quick solution or there's gonna be an accident, a remote spray collar might be a possibility. BUT you need to be super accurate with your timing, and you'd need to -*test*-('") it first to make sure he wasn't going to freak out.

Do you think the spray collar would be effective or would it make him run towards it? We rescued him at 1 year old. He was the absolute dog from hell Devil Dog - totally unsocialsed, not excercised, not interested in toys, balls etc food obsessive etc etc. During his 1st year with us he freaked at almost every noise, including sneezing, babies crying, horses, cows, bangs, etc. He is still hyper and very very busy but most things we have now managed by de- sensitising gradually. He is still sharp with noise but nowhere near as bad. I used positive re-inforcement training and rarely negative - only thing I did use was a squirty bottle or water pistol which seemed to work for things like going where he was not supposed to. Is this the same principle as the spray collar? The only good thing until I crack this is if he gets lost we can just find a motorbike to draw him out! Will think about the collar and keep working on the de sensitising. Thanks keep them coming.

Nope don't use one then. You're gonna have to persevere with the positive stuff have you ever done Ttouch on him ?

No, what is T touch and do you think it could help - we were out on the seafront this PM, motorbike goes past - he goes loopy do sqeaking like a pig and almost strangling himself on the lead (his gnerally for spaneil very very good on the lead and does excellent heel work). So only choice was to abandon the walk for him. This means whenever I try to take him anywhere new where there is a road or even perhaps a farm I have to think about it - his recall is generally good (except the deaf head if on a game bird scent) and this is about my last problem. Also he is a bit anxious at the mo 'cos Max on Wheels is not strong so I think he is picking up on our distress but nevertheless the quad/motorbike thing has always been a nemisis. Would the squirty water bottle still be worth a try?
Thks for your help - I love my boy to pieces and his had overcome so much I don't want this last thing to damage all his hard work.

I'll tell Tracey to look at this thread, she's a fab TTouch practitioner. You could walk him on a harness as well, so he doesn't strangle himself in the meantime

I saw her in action at the fling, it was amazing to watch Gilly's Molly go from being stressed to so relaxed she was all floppy.

Not sure how you'd explain it though - I'll leave that to Tracey

Hi - sounds like a really challenging thing to deal with. I would try TTouch with Stanley. It won't make things worse and it can be done in conjunction with any other things you are doing to retrain him.

Here is a link to an article about TTouch that I wrote for this site: http://www.itsaspringthing.co.uk/TTouch.htm

I would agree with Penel. Walk him in a harness if he's pulling. Dogs necks are more fragile than we realise and neck injuries can be quite hard to detect. Dogs can injure themselves pulling in harnesses but their weight is more distributed so it's less likely than on a collar.

I do have a bit of a thing about lead pulling. It isn't good for the dogs and it also isn't good for the human at the other end of the lead. Easy way to get back / shoulder injuries.

I'd always prefer that if dogs can't walk nicely on a lead that they wear a harness for walking.

Tracey xx

Thank you I shall look it up and give it a go. Will let you know if we have any success.