Dog Bolting away when off lead

[Blankscreen]

We've got a 7 month old cavapoo and when she is let off the lead she bolts as far and as fast as she can.

We:ve done lots of long lead training with high value treats and praise and she still reverts to type. I'm terrified she is going to get lost or run over.

Anyone have any tips that we can try

Thanks

With a long line you should be able to prevent a dog ignoring recall. A flick on the lead to get its attention or even hauling it back in.

Used to have a dog (poodle) like this, didn't necessarily bolt all the time but certainly chose to come back only when they wanted to. It was deeply frustrating and on particularly memorable occasion, reduced me to tears (at which point he decided he'd pushed me far enough!). We kept him on the lead for a good 3 years or so until he calmed down a bit and then finally the training clicked.

As others have said, she's still very young so I'd keep at it - consistency is key.

Poodles can be too clever for their own good and I wonder whether its the poodle in her playing up. In addition to the training I'd look at ways to keep her more mentally stimulated each day as this might help.

How does she respond with recall in the garden? If you can focus on recall in confined, safe spaces then you can add in distractions etc.

Definitely keep her on the lead in the meantime though. Id suggest a short or fixed length lead for the woods, once her recall is good in non-trouble areas, you could move to a long lead in wooded areas.

We when went into the wooded area and she completely loses her mind she just literally wants to chase anything and everything and is loving life.

Yep! You have a dog that's part poodle and they were originally bred to retrieve game in water. So all the smells in the wood will drive her mad and make her lost all focus on you.

My own dog can't be trusted in the woods and is kept on a lead or longline else he would stick his nose to the floor and bugger off entirely you really do have to be selective where you let some dogs off the lead - we go to the beach for off-lead runs and save the woods for slower, sniffy walks.

I have a WCS and woods are like crack to him. I had to work hard over many many months to get recall in this type of environment and even now I have to keep an eye on him because if I don't engage him all the time on our walk then he will be off picking up scents.

Billypup is now 3, I have several ‘recall’ threads on here. We are now always on longline. I doubt I’ll ever be able to let her off in woods.

Secure fields are a godsend, don’t go for one too big though or you’ll have a similar problem. I use 3 regularly, a small cheap 1 acre, basically a big back garden, a 3 acre which is our favourite, loads of things to do and small enough to jump on the longline if she’s being an arse. And a 7 acre which would be too big and difficult if it wasn’t for the rabbit holes that take her interest.

I’m also spending a long time trying to stop the forward bolt process, even on the longline she wants to bolt but I just stand still until she refocuses.

@HumphreyCobblers

I practice recall with my schnauzer every single day but I still can’t let her off the lead out in public. Basically she is really good until there is something more interesting going on. She is just over a year old now and I am starting to see glimmers of hope that the constant training might be starting to pay off, she has stopped barking at other dogs when we are out and about at least.

I am an experienced dog owner - I took on a Mini Schnauzer at 6 months after his owner died - it took me 18 months to get a reliable recall. After the first lockdown it felt like we'd gone back to the start all over again -back to a long line whenever we were around other dogs.

Now he looks at other dogs across the field, then turns and runs to me, plonks himself down in front of me for a treat.

Some dogs/breeds just take longer - but believe me if you are making progress then you absolutely will crack it. Use a long training line (not a flexi lead) so you can stamp on it when she runs off.

you can ONLY teach recall by letting your dog loose, the long line is the way to do it safely.

Thank you Catsrus - that is great to know. We are lucky in the we have our own field we can let her off in and it occurs I should get my friends dogs to come round and practice recall with them around too.

@HumphreyCobblers

Thank you Catsrus - that is great to know. We are lucky in the we have our own field we can let her off in and it occurs I should get my friends dogs to come round and practice recall with them around too.

Can I be your friend 😊

Seriously, if it’s secure you can make a steady income from it. My friend does let me use hers for free but I deliberately don’t book it until the last minute as I don’t want her to lose income. Consequently I rarely get a slot. She is probably making £100 a day in summer and £60 in winter. She does spend money on it as it is definitely more about the dogs than the profit for her.

I would keep her on lead and work on recall in a secure area. She still a puppy, so I wouldnt expect her to be perfect yet.

Please dont let her off lead if she bolts. My friends beautiful dog bolted after a rabbit from the top of a big nature reserve to a busy A road and you can imagine the rest.

Our poodle used to bolt too.

billybagpuss definitely

But I live in the arse end of nowhere and it’s all fields here! My lucky dog has free rein to run around it all, once we fenced it in.

My parents garden is 5 acres and is 15 minutes away. There are a lot of distractions! We are going at the weekend to make sure the fence is secure and will then take here there for the foreseeable.....

You've got a cavalier poodle cross, so. It should be absolutely possible to teach her recall. Not many people réalise, but poodles were bred as retrievers just like labradors.

I wouldn't bother with a long line lead, she's still very young and can be taught to come back.

I agree with another poster, using treats isn't a great way to work because she is much more excited to see what she can find off the lead! Practice throwing a ball in the garden. She'll get used to bringing it back to you, without getting a treat. Her reward will be praise from you and a nice belly scratch. Once she brings back her toy to you easily, you know that she is on the right path, as she will be happy to come back to you even if it means giving up her prize!

Retrievers (standard poodles included) are built to fetch and bring back. It's all about tapping into your dog's nature. :)