Chasing/Lunging at Cars

By Sally Bradbury

If your dog is reactive to cars and other traffic, you need to start off by staying away from roads. Go for walks in areas with little or no traffic, even if this means driving somewhere for exercise. This ensures that he isn’t practising the behaviour.

You’ll need a clicker (or you can use a verbal marker such as ‘Yes!’), a pot of treats, and your dog on lead. You are going to need him to want to eat, so have something delicious and smelly like cooked liver or hot dog sausage. You may want to do a couple of sessions of simple clicker training first, so he knows the game.

He’ll need to be under threshold, so position yourselves close enough to the traffic so that he can see or hear it, but far enough away so that he is unlikely to react.

The ideal training spot would be on a footpath or a very quiet road that leads to a minor road at a T-Junction, or a quiet corner of a supermarket car park. The traffic needs to be going across your view from left to right or right to left, not coming towards you. Ideally, it should be just one vehicle at a time, with at least a few seconds between them but preferably more.


If your dog is barking or lunging and trying to chase vehicles, you need to stay away from roads for now and walk him in traffic-free places. This may mean driving somewhere for exercise but will ensure that he isn’t practising the behaviour.

Find the distance where he can see a car and not react other than noticing it. You need him on lead, some small, yummy treats, and your clicker.

Stage One

Watch his body language; you are looking for the slightest ear prick. When he notices a car, you are going to click. If you have put in the groundwork with the clicker, if he knows there are yummy treats on offer, and if you are far enough away from the traffic, then he will turn back to you for the treat. Step back if that makes it easier for him to turn to you, and then step forward for the next one. Repeat, repeat, repeat. He notices the car, you click, he gets a treat.


Stage Two

At some point you are going to be slow with the click and he is going to see a car, turn back to you and say, ‘Oi! You forgot to click’. Click and treat that. Now you know he has got it and we can move to stage two. See a car, turn back to you, and get a click and a treat.


Vickie and Bob

You will need lots of sessions in lots of locations. Always ensure that he remains below his threshold, but gradually increase criteria. Get closer to the road and practise in various locations until he can walk along the road and get the occasional reinforcement for not wanting to chase or bark at the traffic.