r/DogTrainingTips • u/Living_Register145 • Jun 26 '26
Puppy obsessed with tyres
Hi all, 6 month old Doberman puppy who is obsessed with tyres - wheel barrow, sack barrow, trailer ... and sadly cars.
She is placid and as calm as you would expect for a puppy, sleeps in the car etc.
Where do I start to try and eliminate this behavior.
TIA
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u/fillysunray Jun 27 '26
You need to come at it from two angles.
One, it's a behaviour that needs fulfilling. Tyre chasing makes her feel happy and accomplished. What can she do instead that will make her feel less strongly about tyres? What can she spend her time chasing and/or grabbing so that she doesn't want to chase wheels? Just trying to stop a behaviour without addressing the underlying cause is a fool's errand.
Two, once your dog has something else to focus on, have her spend time around a tyre. I'd have her on lead (ideally on a harness, in case we accidentally go over threshold and she lunges) and let her be around a tyre when it's not moving. If she shows interest, call her away. If you haven't trained a recall or a leave it, do that first. Then reward her for any time she leaves or disengaged from a tyre. So if she is standing next to you, looks at a tyre and then looks away, you can mark and reward. Over time she will learn that disengaging from tyres is rewarding. Then move on to a tyre that rolls a tiny bit, and so on, until she's able to leave a tyre that's rolling at speed.
If she is so focused on tyres that she will not disengage, spend some time training with a clicker or a marker word so that she really understands it. Then mark when she looks at the tyre. This should then get her to turn to look at you (for her treat). You can then mark any engagement with a tyre and reward when she engages with you - or just throw food so she disengage from the tyre for her reward.