Help - dog keeps running off!!

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cidermillcottage1

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Hi everyone I don't usually post in here but have recently acquired a little rescue jack russell and am in need of some advice!!!
Hes four months old and an absolute joy and to be fair we have only had him for a week but everytime he is let outside he does a runner and won't come back to us!! (we live on a farm with an open garden/fields so no confined spaces). This morning he ran through a wire fence down a field and over the hedge out onto the road ...very worrying!!At the moment I am trying to keep him on the lead at all times until he gets used to his surroundings and us! any ideas to stop him from doing this?? A friend has suggested putting him on a long lunge line and calling him back..if he comes back nicely he gets a treat if not he gets a (her words) 'bloody good yank'! What do you think??
 
Yeah completely agree. Another thing he may learn to ignore his name if you keep shouting with no response. Does he like squeaky toys?? My dogs ignore me when they're in the garden, i keep a toy by the back door and give it a squeak if they ignore me. They are not aloud this toy at other times. Then when they come in they always get a treat. Clicker training is very good too.
 
To be fair, he is only young, a terrier, new to you and he is new to his home. Terriers are renowned for being very independent. In the house why dont you have some one hold him and you call him and if he comes, give him a treat and if not just keep trying, he will get the hang of it. Everytime you call him for what ever reason, feed time etc then praise him so he realises that the is being good and he will by returning to his name he will recieve something nice. Good luck
 
Personally I wouldn't be giving any 4 month old puppy 'a bloody good yank'. What lesson does he learn from that? If I don't go back they hurt me? Why not teach him 'if I do go back I have lots of fun and treats'? You can use the long line to control the pup and pull him in at ever increasing distances with a reward and lots of praise and play when he gets back, then instantly let him go and explore again so he knows that coming back doesn't mean the fun's over.
 
As said,he's young and in a strange place.If he's a "rescue" (Whatever that means nowadays) he might've been walloped for comming back.
Don't give him any command off the lead he won't obey with pleasure on the lead.When he obeys on the short lead then get him a long line and carry on until he comes back everytime even with distractions.
Make comming back a game,try running away in the opposite direction calling excitedly with a squeaky toy but don't give it to him straight away until you have him by the collor (No grabbing or it becomes a chasing game not a catching game)
Looks like it won't be easy because he has already learnt that it is a chasing not a catching game
smile.gif
 
Had exactly the same trouble with my rescue dog. He kept running out onto the road. Tried all the usual methods, treats, long lines etc, nothing worked until someone suggested tying a bottle of stones round his neck. I know it sounds cruel but it is better than having a dead dog and it stopped him from running. Now I've only to shake the bottle and he is by my side.
 
My jack russel rescue dog is the same! She just gets distracted and runs off and will not listen! I think shes got selective hearing because sometimes she is very obedient...But we have nearly lost her for good a couple of times so its a real worry.

Someone suggested i get one of those remote control collars which sends a zap or something when they ignore you - anyone used these?
 
My black lab bitch was born up on my partners family farm, as his parents have her mum, dad and brother. In the last few months her dad and brother had decided to start wandering and going off of the farm and onto the main roads which are a good old stretch away, they have been picked up by the police twice and been put in the pound, and is becoming a real pain as they keep doing it and a farm cannot be fenced. At the moment the father and brother cannot be let off the chain together as they only wander when they are together, dogs have a tendancy to wander and run off, yet my bitch will go nowhere without me, not even a wander in the park, she always wants to know where I am.
 
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