How to stop livestock chasing?

My dog Spike chases livestock. Sheep and cows - and we are surrounded by both as there is a farm right outside my backdoor. Any decent walks around here are also within range of livestock and so as things stand, the only place I can let him off-lead is the old fenced-off tennis court in the local park (not a very interesting experience for him).

I have had a training session with an e-collar and it worked wonderfully. Within 20 minutes we had him walking off-lead just yards away from sheep. At no time during this training session did Spike show ANY signs of pain and I tried the e-collar out on myself before I used it on him.

Once he starts chasing there is NO WAY I can get him to listen to me - he just goes into an excited frenzy. I really want him to be able to enjoy off-lead walks without putting his life in danger!! Is there any other way I can train him not to chase livestock?

How old is Spike I had a friend whose GSD started to chase sheep at about a year old the farmer got her to bring the dog to the farm & as he went to chase the sheep in a fairly confined space the ram pinned him to the wall. After three sessions he never attempted to chase sheep again. Hope you find a cure for your dog.

Unfortunately you have a dog that has 2 breeds in it with a very high prey drive and are known sheep worriers !

Once prey drive kicks in, they dont hear anyone, instinct takes over.

If the e-collar worked, why not continue using that ?

He'll be two in August. I have written to my local farmer to ask if he'd help but he never replied. What you suggest sounds like a good idea - I'd love to try it, but not sure how I can find a farmer who's willing.

Although Spike chases livestock, he isn't aggressive towards them. He once caught up with a sheep and had it cornered (Thank God the farmer wasn't about), but all he did was play-bow and jump around the sheep, pawing it occasionally. Obviously after that I can't let him off lead until I KNOW he won't chase them.

I can't afford one. Since there are so many here who think e-collars should be banned, I was hoping they would have some alternative suggestions.

Im sorry...I live in the town so dont have much advise for you.
But there will plenty of people on here that will do!
I can have the same sort of probs with mine sometimes tho...his recall is getting really good.
But sometimes if hes playing with a dog in the park and gets very excited he sometimes gets the on set of sudden deafness and just runs around with his mates!
And thinks its all abig game...
So I know what its like when they dont listen when there exicted!
How old is your dog? mines nearly 13 months so I put it down to him being young and imature at the moment.

I think tho some breeds are more prone to "chase" live stock, cats and other animals because of a high prey drive, and thats what some of them were bred to do hunt.
Does your bred have a high prey drive?

Im sure you will get it sorted...
And hopefully someone will replie with abit of better advise!
All the best

I would never recommend putting a dog in with a ram! I work at a rural veterinary practice and in the last 6 months we have treated 4 dogs with massive internal injuries -ruptured diaphragm, torn liver and spleen causing huge internal haemorrhage. Despite emergency sugery and intensive nursing, only one of these dogs survived.
I appreciate that this is a difficult situation but please do not try and attempt a 'cure' using a ram!

Thanks for the warning pink lizzy I only know about my friend, so didn't know about rams. Where I live there are no sheep near us only cattle & I've always kept mine on lead near sheep as I wasn't sure how their shepherding inheritance would affect them.

OMG that's shocking! Guess that's not such a good idea after all! Thanks for letting me know!

I didn't mean for my post to sound harsh, it's just been heart-breaking to lose three young healthy dogs with such awful injuries. Also these dogs were working collies, used to being around livestock and moving quickly out of their way-dread to think what could happen to a pet dog in the same situation.