neplusultra

Point taken, many thanks

No, I really had no idea about them, Jo, and the friend who made the suggestion, who had no direct experience herself, is the greatest dog lover ever and would never harm a fly; she thought they produced a mildly uncomfortable feeling which would annoy the dog to the extent that it would not repeat the action. I too am not really a training-type person; I don't go in much for ordering them about and they do pretty much as they choose. I'm sure Rupert will be excellent at clicking, but I fear that I may be found sadly wanting. That is probably the nub of the problem, me not being a good pack leader. But I shall do my best and have already bookmarked various clicking aids on Ebay. However, Rupert was a model of good behaviour on today's walk, hardly barked at all, and took no notice of a cyclist speeding past. I suspect he may know that his hooliganism has been discussed.

Many thanks, 'aversive' collar techniques have been firmly crossed off the agenda and I will look into the possibility of doing some clicker training with him.

Many thanks for advice Jo, Fee and Jacky. I had never come across this sort of thing with dogs I have owned before, so it is sort of a relief to hear that other people have the same problem. I don't think toys would distract him as, although he likes them when he is bored, they come quite far down his list of interests, with walks way ahead of anything else. And I would be rather reluctant to put a muzzle on him as he pants immediately when he gets excited and I think he might explode if he couldn't open his mouth properly. I am not so worried about him biting a child as he is very gentlemanly about picking his targets and doesn't go for anything defenceless - if PV, the Chihuahua, decides he wants to come on the walk, Rupert never terrorises him, only me and Scooter. And we, also, are out in the sticks and rarely come across other people when walking. I have a feeling that, if I could stop him barking, the problem might be solved, and I wonder about putting one of those collars on him before we go out, either the ones that squirt citronella or, someone has suggested, one that gives a mild electric shock - I know he would hate the latter as he once blundered into an electric fence when he was chasing a rabbit, he made a huge fuss and was upset for hours afterwards. I think they are quite expensive so I would like to be sure they would work before shelling out. Any further thoughts?

I wonder if anyone out there can help me with a rather peculiar behavioural trait? Rupert, our Oldie wh fox terrier (see rehoming stories number 76) circles round me, when we set off for a walk, and tries to bite my wellington boot. He also occasionally makes an attacking lunge at Scooter, the other terrier. Both of them bark for the first 100 yds or so but then it all calms down and they get on with the serious business of the walk. (I think Scooter only barks as a defence mechanism as he is a bit in awe of Rupert who is older, wiser, has been here longer and, most important, is bigger) Just occasionally, Rupert rushes at a cyclist/motorcyclist and has twice bitten (quite gently) the rider (The Ark did warn us that he did this). We got in a very nice bloke who used to train police dogs to come and advise, particularly about biting cyclists as that was the more serious problem, and he brought his bike and we kept confronting R with it, who eventually lost interest, but I think that may have been because he was bored rather than cured (also, he seemed very subdued for the rest of the day having been bossed around for an hour and a half). Although this chap was very impressive and knowledgable, I think he was used to the mind of a GSD and didn't know as much about terriers. Anyway, it isn't a terribly serious problem as I can always call Rupert to me when I see trouble looming - he is very good about this now - and I can always buy another pair of wellington boots. But I would very much like to know what it is all about and why he does it. One interesting thing is that when I set off the other day, just the two of us (he was going for a hairdo in the local village) there was absolutely no fuss at all, so it must be something to do with Scooter. All opinions gratefully received