Fargo is a two year old male border collie, with an obsession with any running motor vehicle. He is so dedicated to catching that car, he will stalk the computer when my other half is playing you tube videos of hot rods (he is as obsessed with shiny cars as my border collie). Fargo has always had little food drive, and high play drive. I slowly shaped his behavior using clicker and treats. I really wanted to teach a incompatable behavior to the car chasing using shaping with the clicker. According to my students, I have an endless supply of "puppy crack", all treats that Fargo has spat at my feet and given me the "you're still trying to poison me look". Cheeses, meats, freeze dried raw patties, junk food, and treats have all been snubbed by Fargo. I feel like I've hit the lottery when he finishes an entire meal. So you can imagine what happened when I loaded up on chicken and lamb, and stepped out in front of my house to begin shaping ignore the passing car. I'm pretty sure there is still lamb on the roof of my house. I tried taking Fargo to a friend's farm to try sheep herding, give a dog and outlet and improve the inappropriate behavior. Sure it works, my own students have fixed problems with their own dogs. Fargo's take on sheep herding? First there was sheep bowling, then ignore the sheep, then roll in sheep poo, and finally stalk the old farm truck (hasn't run in years) and wish it would move. I don't think the sheep were impressed, or my friend. Fargo comes from champion ,herding lines, so my friend (probably for the sake of friendship) welcomed us back for another go after Fargo matured a few more months. Fargo was not thrilled to see the sheep, no magical herding " turn on" (border collies across the country are ashamed to admit to his heritage). However, my twelve pound papillon mix has a natural talent for herding sheep. My friend has not invited us back (not even for coffee- she is a die hard "all border collies should have sheep" person, probably thinks I ruined a great herding dog, I like to believe she is jealous over my mini border collie wanna be and her natural talent ). So anyway, I was working Fargo at the park on a long line for his safety (he has never gotten loose to actually chase a car, he mentally chases them, and if I wasn't paying attention, tries to dislocate my shoulder). We were working on heelwork, focus on his attention to the details for an upcoming competition. I was using tug and toss games as a reward, the steak I had brought was clearly meant to remove him from this world and therefore he was going to leave it on the ground for the coyotes. Fargo was having a great day, he had my full attention. I was so thrilled with his attention and focus, that I almost ran(literally) into the running park ranger's suv. he had apparently rolled up behind us because he didn't see Fargo's long line at first, and then stayed to watch him work. It was cold today, so he left his truck running. Fargo could have cared less about the suv, we were playing his favorite games!! Seventeen years professionally training, I never once thought to exchange those treats for games during clicker training! Poor Fargo, he needs a smarter human.
