Dog runs away every walk: going to lose him forever if we can’t stop it

[Teifion]

We have a seven month old puppy who in the last few weeks has suddenly gained new confidence on walks and just runs off out of sight and won’t respond to calls to return. He was fine before this and had surprisingly good recall.

We take treats on every walk and reward recall but he’s now too excited by other things for treats to tempt him back.

Several times in two weeks I’ve thought he was lost forever. For a few days I’ve walked him in the only fenced area for dog walkers near us but it’s small and he hates it so won’t run at all in there and therefore is hyper and manic from lack of exercise all day. We can’t even practice recall in there as he won’t run. I can’t practice recall on a long extendable lead either as he won’t run when on those!

Any ideas what to do to train him not to run out of sight?

You must keep him on a retractable lead. You can get 8m and 10m leads. No dog that hasn’t got reliable recall should ever be off a lead. It’s a danger to itself and to others and you can’t protect it. Your dog is far too young to have recall that can be relied on. Are you teaching it that it mustn’t cross the front door without your permission?

Keep him on a lead and take him to a dog training class … not rocket science

Mine buggered off around that age - perfect recall before this. On a lead since trusted again!

keeo your dog on a lead, its scary when they run. Use a long line/treats and said dog may be on a lead for another good 6 months - better than a dead dog!

Do some sniffing walks with him and engage only in training exercises. Use rewards and toys not just treats plenty of love and fuss when he does as he's told. No more off lead u til he's stopped being a twat. Seven months very you g. You will be unpopular with other dog walkers if he's racing about without recall.

Sorry - the mountain dog bit confused me 🙄I take everything literally 😳

I bet he's really imposing!
This girl isn't as cuddly as our previous boy was, but she has loads of character, she's hilarious, she just cracks me up with her funny expressions. I am very large breed biased, shamefully so to be honest.

Obviously don't let him off lead until he has perfect recall??? If he goes near other dogs and gets attacked it's all on you. Best case he goes missing for a bit. Hire a field and practise, practise ,practise. Long lead.

You need to have a look at Sounthend Dog Training and also get yourself a trainer ASAP by the sound of it.

Kerp him on a lead and use propriety doggy field to train him.

“ I am very large breed biased, shamefully so to be honest.“ me too! that’s an amazing way of putting it.

Love them. It’s the quirks that have me hooked. He assesses everyone that comes to the house. My Rottweiler was so excited to see everyone and get cuddles, even if he didn’t know them. This one sits and judges.

they are secret mountain dogs - perhaps the OG as they’re only a few steps away from wolf… apparently. Most people see them as fighting dogs which is a shame.

we have a bay window and he sits in it, watching and attacking the sheet of glass of they come near.

Use a long lead OP. You can get very long ones and let them run on ground when feel safe and gradually.

Surely you keep him on a lead? He's clearly not ready.

Why is pup off the lead? He shouldn't be off the lead, you can get a long line or stretchy lead. You'd be completely and utterly heartbroken if anything happened to him it's not remotely worth it. He needs to be on a lead to be safe and trained to return with all the distractions that come with being outdoors (including other dogs who don't want a puppy running up to them).

Every dog is different, even if it's the same breed. Don't make that mistake!

Keep puppy on the lead for now. His recall is going to be weak as he heads into adolescence. Keep up the training and rewards whilst trying a longer lead. I don't recommend using extender leads because they can fail and snap.
You could try and make contact with a local dog trainer who can assist you further. Good luck 🍀

Older breeds like that (and like mine) are quite primitive in many ways, I find the reactions of guarding breeds in particular quite fascinating. In general they're very misunderstood though. Like you said, people think they're fighters and killers, and social media really doesn't help with that perception.

Our previous boy was a big barker, this girl never barks at all, but is watchful and weighs everything up, like your boy does. She can be friendly but can also be wary, I totally trust her judgement. I find it such a privilege to share our home with a creature that is so close to a wolf.

And I know we're off topic, but it's all relevant to the theme of dogs not doing recall, because I know my girl never will.

7 month old dog...a teenager! I wondered what the hell had happened with mine around this age, but she came back to me, eventually, after taking a few steps back with her training.Back on a long line, back to basics with training. He'll get there, just be patient.

Simple answer is don't let your dog of the lead.
But to practice recall on the lead you don't actually want your dog to run off you want something like a a 5 meter long line get your dog to stand then you walk off to full length of the line and then give your recall command when you can do this your next stage is an active recall which is in effect the same thing but instead of recalling into a sit you recall into a heel command
You need to do this every single day on walks and whenyour confident you can do all this even when there is distractions you can then move onto doing it with out a lead but you need to do it in a controlled environment ie a place where there is zero distractions before you introduce some distractions

And this is why people are getting increasingly sick and tired of dog owners. Why on earth are you letting a dog with no recall off a lead in a space that isn’t enclosed? How do you know your dog isn’t terrorising people or other dogs whilst off the lead and out of sight? You do realise that some people are terrified of dogs or simply don’t want your dirty dog jumping up at them or frightening their kids?

Do not let him off, the danger is he will be involved in/cause an accident. Obviously he could be lost forever too but honestly my fear would be more of accident.

Get yourselves to a decent training class.
Don't start with recall, start with sitting, down etc. Stuff you can practice easily at home. Sit at every road crossing. Don't move til he's settled.

Many times I was saved by screaming sit to a dog about to do something unsafe. Also I taught my dogs 'stop' or basically 'freeze' which saved them from various dangers.

Please don't let him off in unsafe unenvironments. Near me there are safe dog fields you can hire. Practice your off leads there.

Thanks all.

For all those saying do not let him off lead please refer to my OP where I say I was now only walking him in a dog area that’s fenced off.

following advice on here I took cheddar on the walk yesterday rather than dog treats. I started in the fenced area and then put him in the middle of a wide open space in the park where he couldn't easily disappear. I dropped his long lead on but dropped it to the ground so he could theoretically run off but I had a very good chance of catching him. It turns out cheese is the answer here! Once he realised I had it he came back to me even after one point when he saw a squirrel.

Have a read of “Total Recall” by Pippa Mattinson. It is superb for nailing a solid recall.

Its common for puppies to lose their recall when the become an adolescent and are more confident. You need to go back to basics, make coming back to you the best thing ever and ensure that he doesn’t have to opportunity to “practice” running off until recall is solid.

Unless it’s a dedicated dog walking area you are excluding people from there as you can’t control your dog

not everyone wants a dog jumping up at them especially if they have previously been attacked

don’t let the dog off lead except in dedicated dog training until you have control

I've not read all the posts but just wanted to say if it's not been mentioned, to consider using the long line only with a harness and not on their collar. If your line is long enough they can build up so much speed and could hurt their neck if they run to the end of it.
Also beware that with the speed build up they're more likely to pull you over. So brace, or if you're quick enough get it under your foot (put some knots in it!).
I say this an owner of a large breed with a prey drive, almost gone arse over tit several times because of pheasants!

Use treats that he wouldn't usually have. I trained mine with tiny cubes of cheese or cocktail sausages. He only had them when we were out. I'd let him sniff them before I let him off the lead so he knew I had them.

Also, you could try rewarding him with play. A ball or toy.

Maybe fully extend the lead so it's loose, (he might want to run if theres no resistance?)

Good luck :)

That is great news @Teifion, well done

I know what you mean in that he needs a proper run off the lead to be exercised and how can you practice if you dont let him off but... get on YouTube and look up Will Atherton, hes great, you will have a lot of work to do undoing the bad habits but with perseverance you will get there. Don't offer treats at any other time than recall and make them high value! Good luck!