I wish my dog would stop running off !!!

[BoneyEm1972]

Hello All,

Been very much a lurker on this board but would really appreciate a "pep" talk from someone :(

I have a highly energetic lab/collie/numpty :) cross who is a rescue dog. She is now one but we have had her from four months.

Now in sooooo many ways she is absolutely gorgeous, she is the happiest, waggiest hound i have ever met and very very loving.

BUT :( let her off the lead and she goes absolutely bananas !! She will run crazily at any other dogs (not aggressively but completely overjoyed to see them) If she is lucky to meet another loony hound she will bounce for ages. But of course, she wont come back.

We are lucky enough to live in the sticks :) but if i let her off the lead and she spots pheasants, rabbits, anything that isnt rooted to the floor she is off - and she can really run :(

I am keeping her on a long lead and we do recall training and we go to a dog trainer once a week but it just seems like there is no fun in it now, for her or for me.

Please tell me i'm just being over-sensitive and it will all get better I just feel like i am letting her down and that she doesnt get any fun any more

Thanks for reading, hope i dont sound like a right wally

[Ullena]

It will get better. Focus on getting her recall perfected before you allow her off the lead again, and remember that at one she is a teenager, and will push her boundaries.

But it will get better

[BoneyEm1972]

Thanks Ullena

It's very hard when she is so pleased to be with other dogs but I am having to a avoid them at the moment as it is just chaos on the long line as she's so blinking strong !!

[Floralnomad]

We also got our rescue at about 4 months old and his recall is still a little dodgy at 2.5 . I never had success teaching recall on a long line ,he either didn't get it or couldn't be bothered ,so at about 8 months I just started letting him off . I am very selective about where I go off lead ( no woods / limited wildlife) as his terrier instincts take over . My only advantage is that he is ball obsessed so I always take at least 2 out with me . I call him back regularly and treat and touch so that he doesn't think being caught means going back on his lead. Often he will not come back but he has a good down command and will then wait for me to go to him . I think selecting your off lead area is the main thing and not feeling a failure at having a dog that cannot just go off lead anywhere.

[SuitedandBooted]

Do you do whistle training? We found our 1 year old Eurasier to be REALLY responsive to it. It take all the emotion out of recalling your dog - you can't sound angry or desperate! Our dog is very playful, but can now be called away from other dogs, and break off from pursuing a ball, and even (at last!) squirrels and deer! We worked our way through a step by step programme, using treats she really wanted, - she is very keen on chicken and cheese!

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Does anyone near you own another nutty dog? Puppy runs after other dogs when he is walked alone, so I mainly keep his lead on unless I am certain there is no one else on the field, however when he is in out with his 'pack' he calls away perfectly from strange dogs because he has five other dogs to chase anyway.

When you are recall training you need something better than 'just a treat'. You need a really fun game (tug for the puppy and retrieve for the terrier) or lots of high value treats, not given all at once, but given one after the other. Eating a handful of treats all at once is just the same to a dog as eating one treat.

I try and use 'stooge dogs' where I can. I choose a dog who I know won't attack puppy but equally will not join in his game until given permission and then I let him off lead a few meters away from the other dog, call him off the other dog, jackpot treat when he comes back only then do I let him go play chase with the other dog, so he learns he must only approach other dogs calmly and with me if he wants to play with them.

You will most people will assist you with this if you ask nicely, after all their well behaved dog didn't get that way without training so they understand where you are coming from.

[BoneyEm1972]

Thank you everyone for your advice. It's so hard not to take it as a personal failure but she is so lovely in every other way !! Despite being a complete loon .

I will just keep trying all the things you have suggested and go back a stage for a while

Thanks again

[LoveDogs]

Our Cocker Spaniel x, she was like that, if not worse, each time we let her off the lead at the park should would go through a hole in the hedge which came right out onto the road (a busy one with a blind corner) very scary! We started to take her out using a very long lead and then letting go of it when we were away from the road, and when we called her back we started walking in the opposite direction, she soon came back when she thought we were leaving her. Now at 3 she walks to the park without a lead (although we always have her lead handy, just in case) and comes back whenever we call her.

[BoneyEm1972]

Thanks lovesdogs.

I'm glad it has worked out well for you. Gives me hope with my little airhead