Dog taking off

[rbi99]

Had two Goldens who never took off on me in the woods. We got a new dog last week which is a lab/golden mix (approximated 1 1/2 years old). I have been in the woods or to a nearby pond everyday with him since. At no time has he ever gone farther from me than I allowed, and ALWAYS came back the second I called him. He is well trained regarding healing on leash and the usual commands including sit/stay. I have made it clear who the alpha is including who goes through the door first, healing everytime on leash, never getting onto furniture or the bed, etc.

Today he took off on me while back in the woods. He did not come when I called him. I try to "head things off at the pass" by making sure I call him before he goes too far, and today was the first incident. I put him back on leash and walked him for a time before releashing him again, and he obeyed again for a time. He took off on me a second time, and this time when he came back I kept him on leash until we got back to the car.

These woods are very large (one square mile), and whenever I hike I let the dogs go free. Here is my question - if he takes off on me I cannot yell or discipline him when he returns because a dog only remembers what it just did - and in this instance he returned to me. So how do you guys/gals deal with that situation? I know many of you hike/backpack with your dog and many if not most do not keep your dog on leash.

[timetohike]

Get a dog training collar. Set it on the lowest setting to start. Use it around the house first. Be sure to never ever hit the zap button until after you have given the dog several warning chimes.

The first time you give a tingle suffciently strong enough it get its attention may be the only time you ever again have to use the zap button.

You do not want to zap the dog without first giving several warning chimes because you don't want your dog have anxiety over wearing the colar. You only want it to associate the zap with the chimes.

I bought one about 6 years ago at Walmart fo $60 and it works up to 100 yards. My dog learned to obey after just one zap. After I got it I never walked her unless she had the collar on so she associates the collar with walking. When she wanders a few strong commands and then just one push of the chime gets her attention.

[spiralsands]

He is not "well trained" as you said if he didn't come back to you.

[redhawk]

Get a dog training collar. Set it on the lowest setting to start. Use it around the house first. Be sure to never ever hit the zap button until after you have given the dog several warning chimes.

The first time you give a tingle suffciently strong enough it get its attention may be the only time you ever again have to use the zap button.

You do not want to zap the dog without first giving several warning chimes because you don't want your dog have anxiety over wearing the colar. You only want it to associate the zap with the chimes.

I bought one about 6 years ago at Walmart fo $60 and it works up to 100 yards. My dog learned to obey after just one zap. After I got it I never walked her unless she had the collar on so she associates the collar with walking. When she wanders a few strong commands and then just one push of the chime gets her attention.

I second the electronic collar. Although i would suggest getting one of the better ones. I paid $200+ for mine but it has a range of one mile.

I did a little different then Time to Hike, not using the chime as a warming. I used voice command NO! and when he didn't respond I zapped him. That was about 3 1/2 years ago. Since then I have had to zap him maybe four times when he tries to push the limits. I used the chimw with the word "Come" several times
and now whenever I push the chime, he returns immediately.

Hawk

[redhawk]

Had two Goldens who never took off on me in the woods. We got a new dog last week which is a lab/golden mix (approximated 1 1/2 years old). I have been in the woods or to a nearby pond everyday with him since. At no time has he ever gone farther from me than I allowed, and ALWAYS came back the second I called him. He is well trained regarding healing on leash and the usual commands including sit/stay. I have made it clear who the alpha is including who goes through the door first, healing everytime on leash, never getting onto furniture or the bed, etc.

Today he took off on me while back in the woods. He did not come when I called him. I try to "head things off at the pass" by making sure I call him before he goes too far, and today was the first incident. I put him back on leash and walked him for a time before releashing him again, and he obeyed again for a time. He took off on me a second time, and this time when he came back I kept him on leash until we got back to the car.

These woods are very large (one square mile), and whenever I hike I let the dogs go free. Here is my question - if he takes off on me I cannot yell or discipline him when he returns because a dog only remembers what it just did - and in this instance he returned to me. So how do you guys/gals deal with that situation? I know many of you hike/backpack with your dog and many if not most do not keep your dog on leash.

He is not "well trained" as you said if he didn't come back to you.

Seconded

[Gray Ghost]

I have two goldens as well. I leash my dogs for a bit, then unleash them as we get further down the trail. The key for me is very much in line with Cesar Milan--make sure the dogs do not walk in front of me. They have to stay behind me at all times on the trail. Normally one is on each side of me; if one of them pushes the boundary, I just shush them back with my palm, maybe a simulated dog bit with my hand if necessary.

[Woodsman]

.
If you go in that direction, get a better one. The lesser expensive ones have higher malfunction rates and less reliable electronics.

You don't want to put your dog thru a couple malfunctioning collars.

[1894]

Ditto on the more expensive cordless collars , our wallyworld collar doesn't even come close to its advertised 100 ' range .

Also ditto on proper training , and setting that young dog up for success rather than failure

Our little girl is a little over 2 years old , perfect 98 % of the time , but that drive to chase still kicks in now and again.

[Bill I.]

Our little girl is a little over 2 years old , perfect 98 % of the time , but that drive to chase still kicks in now and again.

Sounds like my dog Lexie up until 1-1/2 years ago.

For the first two summers I kept her on a leash as much as possible, including up and down several High Peaks. This required quite a bit of team work.

After that, we didn't use the leash unless there were other people and dogs around. She was a good trail dog 98% of the time, but during that 2% she could be quite boneheaded. The problem was that when she wanted to run, that desire trumped all other considerations--including her fear of getting her butt kicked by me.

Then, finally, she learned her lesson. She took off on a December hike and got herself so turned around she couldn't find her way back to me. I tracked her through the snow on a long loop through the woods. By the time I finally found her she had been separated from me for 4-1/2 hours. She had found someone's house and stayed there--waiting for me to find her, and scared that I wouldn't. The woman who liveed there later told me Lexie was a nervous wreck.

We haven't really had a problem since. She does wander from time to time, but is better at coming back. I try to let her be her own dog as much as possible.

These were some of the tricks I employed, using the "minimum tool" approach with a dog with a distinct alpha personality:

1) We mostly hike in lightly used wilderness areas, where encounters with other people were either few or unlikely. This made "incidents" strictly a matter between Lexie and I.

2) When she did take off, I kept hiking. If I stopped and yelled/whistled for her, she would feel more encouraged to keep on roaming. If she came back and I wasn't there, that might get her attention.

3) I had her carry her own pack, usually loaded down with a little bit more food than she needed. On the other hand, I never put anything of my own in her pack knowing there was always the possibility she might lose it...

4) I exercised as much patience as I could, knowing that dogs get mellower as they mature.

Granted, what I did didn't work well at first and wouldn't work at all for most people. In my case, I enjoy my dog's spirited personality and I've tried to respect her individuality as much as possible. Now that she's 7 years old, the results are paying off. If I had wanted a dog that would walk at my heel all day long, I certainly should have made a different choice that day at the pound.

[timetohike]

Sounds like I got the only walmart dog collar that works. It's been through rain, I've droped the controler a dozen times on sidewalks, and my kids and I tested it at the 100 yard distance and it seemed to be working just fine. I've never allowed my dog, however, to get more than 20 yards from me so the 100 yard feature is irrelevant.

But I also have great luck with fitness quest polypro t-shirts that I buy for $7 even though they don't seem to work for other people who then have to spend $25 on under armor t-shirts.

Remember the peanut butter scare last year? The had to recall $3 jars of Peter Pan and $1.50 jars of walmart brand peanut butter because they were made from the same batch of peanut butter from the same factory at the same time. My neighbor, who always buys peter pan, asked me "how did walmart peanut butter get in my peater pan jar?" Probably the same way under armor t-shirts get into my fitness quest t-shirts.

[DEEPFOREST]

I just finished a book which I would recommend to anyone who loves the outdoors and owns a dog. It changed my whole scope of who the "Alpha" dog really is.

It's worth the read.

http://www.amazon.com/Merles-Door-Lessons-Freethinking-Dog/dp/0156034506/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216603523&sr=1-1

[dmartenvt]

You are right about not being able to discipline them for returning - they don't understand that they're being scolded for running away 10 minutes ago, they connect the scolding with the last minute of what they've done - which is running back to you.

I find it really hard to reward my dogs for coming back when they've run off - but rewarding them for coming back is, theoretically, the right thing to do. It sounds like you're on the right path for teaching recall - repeating recall commands from very close at first, and quite frequently, and then rewarding them for coming back even a from few feet; starting on a long leash and graduating to free. I use treat rewards or just praise, depending on what motivates the particular dog. It takes a lot of time, patience, practice, and praise.

I also agree with the keep hiking/walking advice - I find that if I go off after them then they think they're leading the hike.

After fostering dogs for a long time, and taking in quite a few that are problem dogs; I will say that after a week and a half a dog is often just settling in, and your dog probably isn't "settled" enough to learn all that well. I've had a few dogs that really couldn't even go out except in the back yard in that period of time, they really needed a few weeks to settle and adjust to the new home, new people, new routines, etc.

I have also used an electronic collar for other unwanted behaviors but I try to use them as a last resort for really ingrained stuff - like prey drive (say chasing down a deer) or serious aggression. For recall I prefer rewards.

Having said all of this, I have a real problem with recall with my Belgian Malinois - her prey drive is beyond any thing I've dealt with and she is very hard to control in the woods.