Dogs love to explore the world, but when it comes to skateboards, you won’t find the same enthusiasm. Why do dogs hate skateboards? What’s the reason behind this annoying peculiarity? Find out why, and how you can get your dog to stop chasing them.
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Dogs are inquisitive creatures; you can find them trying out everything their parents are doing and doing stuff that they hardly even understand. However, we can’t say the same for skateboards.
Skateboards are not so fascinating for dogs. As dog owners, you will gradually learn that dogs can have very irrational behavior towards skateboards. You might not like the undue attention you get when your dog barks at skateboarders.
But this is not your dog’s fault. Anything that passes quickly beside dogs triggers their chasing instinct. You may have observed your pet dog trying to lunge at people riding on skateboards, or running behind cars that go by too fast.
The main reason dogs hate skateboards is that when they see someone moving quickly on a skateboard, this triggers the chase response of your pet dog. We will talk about why dogs hate skateboards further in this article.
Why Do Dogs Chase After Skateboards?
Chase Drive
Dogs do chase and run after skateboards because seeing someone on a skateboard creates the urge to run after the skateboard. If your dog runs after a skateboard, this could be dangerous for both your dog and the person riding the skateboard.
It can be difficult for the rider as they can be very unsuspecting and may not have any idea about the dog running after them.
Every dog has a chase drive in them, and this drive is instilled because of their genetics and ancestry. As dogs have a close origin to wolves, they are very competitive.
The chase trigger in dogs encourages them to run and chase after prey. Dogs chase after a skateboard as their defense mechanism is to intimidate something that they are scared of.
Noise
Another reasons that dogs fear skateboards as their wheels rolling on concrete create a loud noise. This noise can trigger the dogs into thinking that a threat is approaching them.
The chase trigger is also dependent on the breed of your dog. If your dog’s breed has been a breed of stalking and hunting dogs, then he or she will be more aggressive towards skateboards.
Another reason dogs hate skateboards is that dogs consider skateboards a threat. The loud noise from a skateboard can affect the dogs with sensitive hearing. So when they see or hear a skateboard, they could also think that you are under attack.
How Do I Get My Dog Used to Skateboarding?
You can make dogs familiar with skateboards. Removing skateboard phobia from dogs is not that difficult in most cases.
You will gradually need to show that skateboards are not scary to the dog. These skateboards don’t carry any threat to them. You’ll have to be patient as your dog might need some time and space for dealing with their phobias.
Calm him down and remove anxiety and fear
You can try and make your pet dog more familiar with the skateboard. The reason why your dog might start barking can also be because they are nervous. Some of the dogs cannot distinguish between prey and a person riding a skateboard.
If you feel that your pet dog is getting nervous, you can calm them down. You can ask your pet dog to sit down and relax whenever you see them being anxious. When the dog appears to be settled, you can carry or walk them closer to the skateboard.
You can also give your pet dogs their favorite toy to make them happy or distract their attention away from the skateboard.
Show it to him everyday
You can also purchase a cheap skateboard online and then show that to your pet dog every day. Soon they will register that skateboards are not harmful to them.
Give it treats to not bark or chase after the skateboard
Every Time your dog doesn’t bark after seeing a skateboard, you can also give them a treat for that. Similarly, your dog can also play with their favorite toy when they behave properly around a skateboard.
Encourage him to stand and try to ride it.
You can also try to get the dog to come closer and closer to the skateboard. You can encourage them to stand on the skateboard, making your dog associate skateboarding with a fun thing.
Here’s a cute video of a dog who loves his skateboard that is doing the rounds on the internet these days:
Why Is My Dog Scared of skateboards?
They think of it as either a threat or a prey, since it whizzes past them.
You will find that your dog is scared of skateboards as dogs cannot distinguish between a skateboard or prey. Dogs consider skateboards to be a threat to them. Fast-moving objects are riders that trigger the chase response in a dog.
Another primary reason why dogs hate skateboards is that a skateboard not only moves quickly but it also makes a lot of noise.
The loud noise can alarm and alert the dogs, which can activate their predatory instincts. Due to these instincts, your pet dog might start barking as they want to keep the skateboards away from them.
Is the Churchill Dog Skateboarding?
Nope, it’s just graphics.
In case you missed it, here is the video we are talking about:
As some of the astute readers might have noticed, no, the Churchill dog is not skateboarding. As we have seen in the above article, dogs are afraid of skateboarding. If you have seen the Churchill dog skateboarding, that is mainly because of the computer graphics used by the makers.
The editing and graphics team have used graphics to show that the Churchill dog is riding a skateboard. In reality, the Churchill dog is not standing on a skateboard.
Is Otto the Skateboarding Dog Alive?
No, sadly, Otto, the skateboarding dog, is no more. This bulldog was a Guinness World Record holder for gliding through the longest human tunnel. That is that this dog glided on a skateboard through the legs of the people.
Here’s the video of Otto’s world record-breaking attempt:
A Few Final Words
Dogs can fear something which might not be scary for you at all. As responsible pet owners, it is your duty and responsibility to help your pet dog cope with such fears. Fear of skateboards in dogs is due to their instincts.
You can reduce or remove this fear by making them comfortable with and around a skateboard. Otherwise, your dog will make stupid decisions such as chasing after a skateboard, then he or she will either injure themselves or some other.
You can use some of the tips and tricks mentioned for making your pet dog familiar with skateboards. Thank you for reading the article. We hope you enjoyed some of the videos! You may also like to read about other peculiar habits of dogs such as chasing after flies and rolling around in dead worms.