Bulldogs are athletic animals and enjoy a good chase, to be sure.  However, when the object it’s chasing is a passing car, the neighbor boy on his bike, a jogger in the park, or even a pesky squirrel, it can be a nuisance or much worse.  This behavior disrupts your walks with the dog and other normal activities.  One option is the keep the dog tied up or indoors all the time, but we know you didn’t get a dog only to have to resort to that.  So, what can be done?

The Basic Bulldog Retraining Techniques

When chasing becomes an issue with your Bulldog it is usually time for basic remedial training.  This will fill in gaps from its earlier training or deepen lessons it did not fully acquire.

Your Bulldog’s Focus: Chasing is partly due to your dog not staying focused on you.  A well trained dog will be aware of where you are and attentive to your leadership even if it is nosing around the bushes.  This comes when you are clearly the alpha dog in its pack, so to speak.  Reinforce your leadership in every phase of your dog’s life if it is lacking.  When heading out for a walk make the dog sit first, so you know it is responding to your direction.  Then proceed.

Use the Leash to Assert Control: Start with basic leash training.  Keep up a daily walk in which your pooch is required to walk without pulling or chasing.  Any time it shows inclination to misbehave make it stop and sit before you continue.   Your Bulldog won’t like to stop and will respond to you better when it associates pulling on the leash with getting halted in its tracks.

Chasing a Toy: It may help to allow your dog to chase a toy.  Some fear that if you allow it to chase anything it will chase everything.  But your Bulldog is smarter than that.  With patient training it will understand what things it is allowed to chase and what object, animals or people are off limits for chasing.  If inappropriate chasing is partly due to too much energy, chasing a toy will burn off the extra juice and make for a contented, tired dog when bedtime comes.

Use an Aversion Tactic: Enlist a friend to engage in an action that triggers chasing.  Have the buddy jog or ride by, for example.  If your dog starts chasing, have the friend immediately stop.  Get control of your dog, give it a firm “NO,” and spray it with water, which it certainly will not enjoy.  This will help create a strong aversion to chasing.

Be Measured in your Response

Most experts believe that the use of shock collars or electric fencing is too extreme, and the majority of Bulldog owners are able to bring chasing under control with the methods we’ve detailed.  In tough cases, rather than resorting to inhumane measures call an expert dog trainer and have them come to your home to give you and your pooch the pointers you need to overcome this problem.

Stop this behavior before the Bulldog’s chasing endangers people, animals or itself.  What may seem an annoying habit can become a major problem.  Of course, if your pet has taken to chasing parked cars, you’ve got a whole other set of issues to address!