Training Your Dog To Chase Squirrels

and why some dogs are so hard to train

If I asked 100 dog owners if their dog liked to chase squirrels, most would say yes. It’s a pretty common dog thing, right? Even on leash, most dogs will go nuts trying to get a squirrel.

But did you ever ask yourself why this happens? I mean, did all these people train their dogs to chase squirrels? Did they reward them after the chase? Give them treats? Nope! That would be weird! So why do so many dogs do it?

Because even though we aren’t rewarding them, they are being rewarded. With dopamine in the brain. The very act of chasing triggers dopamine in the brain, and a rush of feel-good chemicals follow suit. It makes the dog feel really good. The same way I get a rush of dopamine when I eat a slice of really good pizza… I don’t need a reward to want to eat pizza again — the very act of eating it is inherently rewarding. My brain will make its own rewards, thank you very much!

This is why certain breeds do certain things. Border collies stare and stalk because it’s inherently rewarding. It feels good. They don’t need to be rewarded by us - they ALREADY ARE rewarded, and with something far more powerful than a treat. Olive doesn’t need a reward to retrieve her ball — the simple act of doing it is powerfully rewarding.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL REWARDS

External rewards are rewards outside the dog. That could be the owner giving a treat or the negative reinforcement of an e-collar. If I ask Olive to sit and reward her with a ball throw, that is external motivation. If I tell her to sit and apply leash pressure until she sits, that’s also external motivation. But it’s not always about us. Let’s say Fred, a fearful dog-reactive dog, barks and lunges at another dog. His owner is embarrassed by the outburst and drags him away. Getting to leave was rewarding and that will motivate the behavior again in the future. Or Piper, who is frustrated and reactive. She goes ballistic at the sight of another dog, so her owner lets her go over to say hi. The greeting is the external reward. The dog doesn’t control that.

Internal rewards is when the rewards are all coming from the dog. It’s just fun. Things like chasing a ball, chasing a squirrel, digging a hole, herding cattle, barking, chewing, etc. Now, where this gets tricky with training is that we do not control the reward - and the simple act itself is inherently rewarding. So let’s look at dog reactivity again. This time let’s look at my dog, Oak, a German shepherd. Oak is dog reactive, but there is no external reward — he doesn’t want the other dog to leave, nor does he care about a greeting. Oak just gets a big dopamine rush from having the outburst itself. The very act of barking and lunging makes him feel good.

And these behaviors that are intrinsically motivating? They are very difficult to train away. Because the very act itself is a huge reward. Every single time Oak gets to bark and lunge at another dog - it’s a huge setback in his training. For Fred or Piper, a reactive outburst is a small setback. For Oak it’s like an alcoholic in recovery having a drink. He’s fallen off the wagon. It’s a huge setback. He’s felt that sweet, sweet rush of dopamine and now he wants more - he needs more! This is why dogs like Oak tend to ramp up during a training session. They start off okay and quickly spiral. Because once they feel that dopamine, they need more. Like an addict needs more. It’s why things like smoking, eating junk food, drugs and alcohol are so hard to stop —the very act is so pleasurable.

Because dopamine is the “I need more” hormone. It’s closely linked to addiction. When we do something we find pleasurable, which our brains are hardwired to do, our brains release a large amount of dopamine. That makes us feel pretty darn good, and it pushes you to seek more of that good feeling. I take a bite of pizza, my now-happy brain releases loads of dopamine, and I’m pushed to eat another slice (or two or three) to keep chasing that euphoric dopamine feeling.

And dopamine has another purpose—it helps you remember those pleasurable things. I drive by the pizza place and remember - “That’s where I ate that pizza!” and suddenly my brain is reminding me how good that felt and now my mouth is watering and I want more pizza. My dog walks by the tree he chased the squirrel up last week and his brain lights up: Hey! That fun thing happened here! Make it happen again!

THE HARD-TO-TRAIN DOG

This is why some dogs are harder to train. An easy-to-train dog is highly motivated by things you have to offer (external rewards): food, play, affection and has a low motivation for those inherently-rewarding “bad” behaviors, like barking and lunging at other dogs or chasing squirrels.

My dog Sam was very easy to train. He was obsessed with food and did not care much about other people or other dogs. Squirrels were fun - but food was even more fun. If he were off leash and a squirrel appeared, I could recall him back because I held the all-powerful food, his main motivator.

Olive is harder. She likes food, but nothing, and I mean nothing compares to the dopamine of the chase. It could be a blowing leaf, a squirrel, bird, runner, bike - it didn’t matter - she HAS TO CHASE IT. Her brain screams for that dopamine. Chase beat every reward I had to offer, every time. Oak gets a huge hit of dopamine from barking at other dogs. Luckily for me, he also gets dopamine from playing tug with me. So if I can prevent him from feeling that dopamine (by not allowing him to bark/lunge) AND reward him with play - I’ve won.

But what about dogs like Luna? Luna loves barking at other dogs, BUT she is not motivated by food or play. There is no reward that will motivate her to ignore the other dog and not bark and lunge. The bark and lunge is so powerfully rewarding that food and play cannot compete. Luna’s owners will have a very difficult time trying to train away her reactivity.

Why am I talking about this? Because it can feel really frustrating to watch other reactive dog owners sail through training quickly and easily while you’ve been struggling for months or years with your dog’s reactivity or their recall. And too many trainers will tell you that all dogs are easy to train - they’re all motivated by something! Maybe, but what if that ‘something’ is the very thing you’re trying to stop? There are absolutely dogs that are harder to train and need a different approach.

And if you’d like to learn more, check out my in-person and online training programs!