Joker, a Catahoula/German Shorthair mix, started obsessing on squirrels at the el capitan dog park when he turned two years old. He is going on four this sept. He would lay in the middle of the park and watch the trees. Now, he lives for squirrels. All he wants to do is look for squirrels. Any suggestions?
I'm not sure if there is much you can do. You could try redirecting him so that everything he sees a squirrel you call him; when he come to you you give him a really good treat. His breed was made for hunting though so it might just be in his blood and it might be a mitigation game at a certain point.
A squirrel in a dog park. Brave adventurist squirrel. Yes, you absolutely can train your dog to pay less attention to squirrels. Take it/Leave it is an excellent exercise. http://www.simpawtico-training.com/teach-your-dog-leave-it-and-take-it/ -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grdlSRkbi1c
If you can’t afford or don’t want professional training help, you can google teaching your dog a move called place. It’s usually on a raised pet bed and done in a front or back yard where their distractions exist-
Teach them place like sit with only positive but firm reinforcement and while on the prom do focus exercises like sit, lay, eye contact etc - it takes me with worst case dogs about 2 weeks of 45 min daily sessions to fix, it is possible and is easy, just be persistent and the pack leader