My Dog Chases Bikes, Cars and Runners — How to Fix It?

Plenty of dogs pick up unhealthy behaviours from puppyhood, such as starting to chase bikes, people out running, or even cars. At first they'll simply bark while chasing them, but sooner or later they'll end up biting them.

It's important to correct this kind of behaviour as soon as possible, so it doesn't take hold in our dog's mind and they don't come to think it's normal or acceptable. Let's see how to fix it simply.

Why Does My Dog Chase Moving Things?

Broadly speaking, with a few small exceptions, dogs usually do this out of play, territoriality or fear. So the first thing we need to find out is whether our dog feels scared when a bike, runner or car passes near them.

If they don't get scared, it's a case of territoriality, where the dog simply sees the runner, bike or car as a stranger trying to pass through their territory. Obviously the dog will feel the need to defend their territory, and will launch towards them barking and eventually biting.

If they do it for fun, we'll be able to spot it because we'll see they simply want to play with whoever they're chasing, with no intention of biting them.

A dog's mind is actually very simple, though sometimes we like to think they reason things through… they don't. Their instinct comes first, and defending their territory or defending themselves against possible dangers are primal instincts. We simply need to work on them to change this behaviour and avoid dangerous situations.

Defending Their Territory

In this case, the key thing is to help the dog understand it's not their territory but yours, and that they shouldn't run off after them. Teaching our dog this lesson is genuinely simple, though we'll need to be persistent.

Don't expect your dog to learn this lesson in two days, because it won't happen that way. You'll likely need to work on their behaviour for around four to eight weeks to get results, so just prepare yourself mentally and practise daily.

It's vitally important your dog exercises, burning off their excess energy daily. This way they'll be calmer, and so far easier to train and to prevent bad behaviour in.

Put your dog on a lead about two metres long and go for a walk in areas where you know there are people exercising, bikes going by or cars driving past. Every time your dog makes a move to chase after one, or barks at them, scold them with a loud, firm "No!"

Another option is to distract them when we see they're about to "pounce" on a cyclist, car or runner, either by calling their name and showing them a toy or reward to distract their mind, or by doing some game that likewise distracts their attention away from their target.

With daily practice your dog will gradually learn; within a week you'll see their attempts decreasing, and within three weeks they'll possibly only try it occasionally. Keep working on their behaviour daily, and make sure they burn off their excess energy through exercise.

How Do I Stop My Dog Being Afraid?

The only way to prevent this fear-based behaviour is by eliminating the fear, something very simple but that will also need ongoing work. We simply need to be persistent, and gradually we'll start noticing great progress.

To stop our dog being afraid of things moving quickly or passing quickly around us, we need to socialise them with that environment. We'll initially go somewhere with nobody around to bother us, and ask a friend to occasionally run or cycle past.

Our dog should be on a lead, and we should command them to sit when we see our friend coming. The technique involves distracting their attention so it's not focused on our friend, so when the dog focuses on them… we should use food, toys or something they like a lot to grab their attention (just as in the previous case).

We'll repeat this exercise for a week before moving to a busier spot, where we'll repeat the same exercise again and again, every day for a couple of weeks. Over time we'll move on to increasingly busy places, while still keeping our dog's attention when we see the "danger" approaching.

Once our dog has got used to being in busy places, we should simply stop grabbing their attention to avoid the danger, gradually. Once yes and once no, for example, repeating the exercise daily for several more weeks.