One of the best tips to keep your dog from chasing squirrels is to keep your dog leashed. A leashed dog is a dog that can be controlled, and it is a safe dog. Chasing squirrels (or cats or running children) is hazardous for your dog as well as whatever it is chasing. An unleashed dog can run into traffic chasing a squirrel or cat. They can also knock down a small child if they’re chasing a running child, and hurt the child without meaning to. In that case you risk having your dog declared hazardous and having court action taken to possibly cause your dog to be subject to termination under the law.
Even if your dog is off-leash in a fenced in area, you can instruct it to not chase squirrels by calling your dog back to you (if it is well trained) or distracting the dog with a ball thrown in the opposite direction or the promise of a treat when it comes to you. When you treat a running squirrel or cat as a “non-event” by not reacting and not encouraging your dog to chase it, then it becomes a non-event for the dog. Dogs look to us, their owners, as the leaders of their pack and respond to our emotions of fear or excitement. When you do not react to a squirrel by pointing it out or drawing attention to it, then your dog will not alert on it. Often, the squirrel won’t even run if you stay away from it and then you will not even be faced with trying to keep your dog from chasing it.
When my dog sees a squirrel (or cat) that runs, he naturally wants to chase but because I keep him leashed until we’re out of sight and distract him with other toys once we’re away from the squirrel he hasn’t learned that chasing squirrels is acceptable. Recent when he was curious about a stray cat in the area, the cat initially ran to hide under a car. He was tempted to chase the cat, but I had him sit and wait until he calmed down. Then we were able to walk up to the vehicle where he could sniff at the cat to satisfy his curiosity enough that he lost interest and we were able to continue our walk.
I dog sit for a neighbor and when his dog first came into my home, he wanted to chase my cats. With patience and working with him to sit and stay when my cats came into the room, they were finally able to become accustomed to each other. Now the cats treat him like a large brother, rubbing up against him as if they were all from the same litter!
As a responsible pet owner, it is your responsibility to keep your dog safe, either on a leash or within a fenced yard. Training them to not react to a running squirrel, cat or child will also keep them safe and not only keep them from being harmed if they bolt into traffic with their chase, but also prevent the squirrel, cat or child from being hurt. Once a dog feels that chasing something other than a ball or toy is acceptable, it will take time and patience to change that and make them a pet that is safe to be around. But in the long run, it is the ideal thing you can do for your pet.
