How to stop your dog reacting to squirrels?

Always keep your dog on a leash. Don't give him one more chance to go chase an animal, and if he chases them in the yard, start leash walking, even for bathroom breaks, until the behavior is under control. To work on the behavior on the leash, the best thing you can do is to redirect your dog's attention. Is he food motivated? Toy motivated? Anything that's not a small animal will do! Anytime you even begin to see your dog look sideways at a small animal on a walk and react, turn in a different direction and offer the toy or treat when the dog responds appropriately and allows himself to be distracted. The idea is to grab your dog's attention away from the animal and reward him with something that proves to be more enticing than the animal. This means arm yourself with TASTY, TASTY treats. Use a treat pouch stuffed with these treats, leash your dog, and go to an area that you know will have the distraction. Stay at the farthest distance where your dog notices the squirrels, but isn't so close to them that he just goes absolutely bananas. The key is to make looking back at you more rewarding than going after the squirrel. Once your dog is amazing at this on leash, you can REALLY strengthen his recall and attempt off leash. It does take patience, practice, consistency, and time. It eventually desensitizes your dog to that which they are excited by.

Training your dog to ignore prey animals like squirrels can take time and requires patience and consistency. It’s in your dog’s best interests to acquire this training for his safety. A dog who obsessively chases after squirrels is more likely to run into the street after one and possibly get hit by a car or get lost wandering away from the yard. Teach your dog to ignore squirrels and other small animals, and you’ll be doing yourself and your dog a favor. Regardless of breed, with dedication and concentrated effort, your dog can learn to ignore squirrels too. Being creative as well as patient will make the training process easier and more enjoyable for you and your dog. Remember to take a break if you become frustrated or angry with your pup and keep the training sessions short enough, so your dog doesn’t become bored.

The first thing to do is play the “look at that” game. The goal is to have your dog look at low-level triggers and then look back at you for a treat. Start by putting your dog on leash and work in a place that is clear of distractions. Start out by having a friend assist you in being the low-level trigger. Have her walk perpendicular to your position about 30 feet in front of you. Say “look at that!” and when your dog turns his attention from the friend to you, say “yes!” and treat with high-value treats. You can work on the next step either before or after the above, but this is important – recall WITH distractions. Next, I know it sounds weird but get a fake squirrel toy, fuzz and all and some twine rope. At 40 feet away, have your friend tie the twine onto the fuzzy toy and gently and slowly move it perpendicular to your path. Say the magic words “look at that!” and “yes!” when she looks back at you. Lastly, have your friend and squirrel at 20 feet distant. As your friend starts jogging with the squirrel 10 feet behind her, say “leave it!” and pull your dog on leash backwards 5 steps and then say “yes! Leave It!” and reward. You can also run other impulse control games like wait and stay to help with her prey drive impulse control. Remember, this will take a lot of time to reduce her prey drive, so have lots of patience. In real life, when your dog sees a squirrel or cat, hopefully you see first, run the exercise “leave it!” every time.