# How do you catch an escaped dog?



## pi1otguy (Jan 1, 2011)

I'm sure most of our dogs have good recall 90-95% of the time and never bolt. But what do you when the dog walks or runs out of yard and recall fails?

A few basic assumptions are:
It's either your dog or a friend's dog.
You and the dog know each other and more or less get along. You can touch and handle the dog without fear.
It's only been several seconds since recall attempts failed and the dog is between 10-40 feet from you but moving away.
Residential neighborhood with light vehicular traffic and sidewalks (that the dog is roaming)

*Edit*
One more assumption, the dog can run quicker and for a longer distance than you.


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## qingcong (Oct 26, 2009)

Not a whole lot you can guarantee in these types of situations. As Patricia McConnell would point out, you can naturally make most dogs come towards you by walking away from them with your back facing them. My dog usually approaches anybody who's sitting or squatting down. I think in most cases you just have to be patient, wait it out, and hope nothing bad happens.


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## denise3099 (Apr 3, 2012)

You call out in your happiest voice, "Carmen, come," and pretend to run away. The dog will chase you back into the house, and you'll be glad that the dog you've had for only a week didn't make you chase it down the street in a towel. Ask me how I know.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

My mom had a Husky mix who would get loose often, and we would simply leave the gate open with food and wait until he got hungry...


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Never chase a dog. They have four legs, unless you're Usain Bolt, you're not moving faster than something with four legs.

Get the dog's attention, then turn and run away. It's a fun game! If that doesn't work, go get high value treats like hot dogs and throw a bit at your dog. Keep throwing them, don't even worry about his diet. Keep luring him with treats until you can grab him. If none of that works, keep some treats on you and follow at a distance as casually as you can. Eventually, he'll get tired, bored, hungry or thirsty and come back to you.

After that, do NOT punish him. If you ever punish him for coming back, you're ensuring that catching him next time will be even harder. Give him a treat for coming back to you and then go home and work even harder on recall. (and fixing how he got out in the first place.)


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Wait 5 minutes and they come back. Well, that works for my dogs and my mom's dog's. My grandpa's dog would be gone for hours. But he wasn't neutered and usually ended up in the yard of a female in heat, so her owners would call my grandpa to come get him. I don't think he ever came home on his own.

Anyway, chasing never helps, and usually makes the dog go farther. Looking for the dog rarely helps, because you're never looking in the right place! Walking around the neighborhood shaking a treat bag sometimes helps. . ..


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## pi1otguy (Jan 1, 2011)

This happened yesterday with my friend's 14 month old pit-mix. After she escaped the yard she started walking down the sidewalk. I gave her the leash to my dog and tried to calmly walk up on her alone, but she walked away to sniff another tree.

I knew I couldn't catch her but that she loves to play chase so I ran after her full speed for a bit as she ran away from me. Then when she glanced back I quickly reversed and ran towards her my friend as fast as I could. Apparently she was merely jogging when I chased her because she closed that 15 foot gap and passed me like it was nothing. She ran directly towards my friend who got her to sit while I was still 2 houses away. I'd intended to touch her as she attempted to run past me, but it when a black dog runs in the dark it's almost like seeing where she was vs where she is.


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## pi1otguy (Jan 1, 2011)

qingcong said:


> Not a whole lot you can guarantee in these types of situations. As Patricia McConnell would point out, you can naturally make most dogs come towards you by walking away from them with your back facing them.


With my dog Spirit, I find that only works when we are away from my house. But if she can see home it has no affect. Either I walk quickly and calmly until I can touch her or I have to make her chase me and then touch her.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Diesel comes to a squeaky toy. Works every time. Or, I'll let him go swim for a minute, then recall him and if he lags I threaten to not let him go swimming every again. That usually works, Lol

Aleu comes only when she's damn good and ready. I generally end up trying to play chase with her, or calling for a cat so she'll freeze and stare or squealing WANNA GO SWIM!? LETS GO SWIM! 8D and then hit the trail towards the river so she'll hopefully follow me. 

It's different for every dog, however. A squeaker might work, food, squeaking and running away so they'll chase you, etc.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

All I know is you don't run after him!! 

If his recall didn't work, I might try "Touch!" He'll come running to touch for a treat a lot of the time. 

My dog tends to stay pretty close to me, and isn't so big on chasing things, so I imagine if we were somewhere and he did get away, it would be because he wanted to get back to the house or the car which are the only two things, other than me, he ever shows a strong desire to get to.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

denise3099 said:


> You call out in your happiest voice, "Carmen, come," and pretend to run away. The dog will chase you back into the house, and you'll be glad that the dog you've had for only a week didn't make you chase it down the street in a towel. Ask me how I know.


Agreed. And lol on the towel part... that would have been quite a story.

I've had two fosters slip their collars. Yes, I did learn my lesson after the first one on using martingales or harnesses but the second one managed to slip her collar on the first night they brought her to me before I could buy either item.
Both times they only got a very short distance away because I immediately went "Hey, lets go to the park, yay! Time for walk!" in a super happy voice (to paraphrase- if the dog knows and likes words like car, park, walk or dinner it helps a lot) and jogged a few feet in the other direction. 

to catch a dog that's been loose awhile or is actively avoiding, sometimes driving slowly with a car door open makes them run up to you and of course, shaking a treat bag or tossing treats to lure them closer while someone else walks around to get behind them can work.


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## Roloni (Aug 5, 2011)

The owner of the loose dog.. paying attention to another dog.


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## Zoey's Mommy (Mar 3, 2012)

squeeky toy or I take the car to go look for my runner. Zoey absolutely cannot resist the temptation of a ride, she's probably go home with the UPS man just because he has a truck!

Emmett usually comes back pretty quick.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

Jubel hasn't gotten out and taken a "joy run" around the neighborhood for quite a while but the few times he did get out I would calmly follow him around until he got tired of exploring. He never tried to leave the neighborhood but he would cross the residential street with no care to the possible danger. The last time I grabbed a dentastix which he LOVES and I just had to get his attention on me. Once he noticed the dentastix he came a run'in. 

If and when he gets out again I think I'll try the car trick. Jubel can't resist an open car door so it's very likely to work.


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## Zoey's Mommy (Mar 3, 2012)

dagwall said:


> Jubel hasn't gotten out and taken a "joy run" around the neighborhood for quite a while but the few times he did get out I would calmly follow him around until he got tired of exploring. He never tried to leave the neighborhood but he would cross the residential street with no care to the possible danger. The last time I grabbed a dentastix which he LOVES and I just had to get his attention on me. Once he noticed the dentastix he came a run'in.
> 
> If and when he gets out again I think I'll try the car trick. Jubel can't resist an open car door so it's very likely to work.


we got that one from a friend that had a Pit Bull/Chow Mix that LOVED riding in the back of a truck. he got loose a lot, and they'd drive through the neighborhood with the truck gate down. they'd find him in 10 minutes, flat!

keep in mind this dog was black with a black tongue, so I'm sure if he'd ever hopped into the back of someone else's truck, they'd probably think one of Satan's minions was hitching a ride, lol!


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Roloni said:


> The owner of the loose dog.. paying attention to another dog.


For the jealous dog (like mine) I'm sure this could be absolutely perfect.
I know Diesel would bulldoze another dog down and stand in it's place for me to pay attention to him.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

When I am fostering and a dog gets loose, I have had good luck with flinging myself to the ground and rolling around laughing. There's something about a human on the ground that is very enticing to most human-loving dogs. Laugh, roll, pick grass and throw it up in the air, act like you're digging... This will bring most dogs in.

For my own, I just have to call them. Running away is also very, very powerful.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

It just wouldn't happen to me and my dogs. They never bolt or run away, and if I take off running away from them I can guarantee they will come. Or I can put them in a sit from a distance and go and get them. But their value for being with me beats everything.

If it was a friend's dog or a new dog I would either lie on the ground and/or make funny noises or run the other way while calling the dog. If the dog didn't love being chased I might just casually walk over to it like nothing out of the ordinary was happening and then just grab the collar/leash.


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## Nev Allen (Feb 17, 2010)

You have the answer you looked for above, now for the home work.

Teach him his name and reinforce the recall.


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## MusherChic (Nov 6, 2010)

With my dogs, I basically act like they're missing the best party ever if they start wandering away from me. I'll run away from them, call they're name in a super excited and happy tone, I'll play with a toy of theirs if I happen to have one, I'll pretend to be really interested in something on the ground, etc. 

Sometimes it's a waiting game though (especially with my huskies and others I've known). I don't chase them as that will only make things worse but I will try to keep track of the general vicinity of where they are so I can kind of make sure they don't get hurt. Like at home, I go stand up by the highway to make sure they don't show up on it. 
They usually come right back after they've had their fun.


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## Cailin (May 2, 2012)

Zoey's Mommy said:


> keep in mind this dog was black with a black tongue, so I'm sure if he'd ever hopped into the back of someone else's truck, they'd probably think one of Satan's minions was hitching a ride, lol!


That made me laugh! 

I did have a dog that would just jump into any car she could find. It didn't help that we lived in a building with a large parking lot. Once we lost her, only to have a neighbor come to us five minutes later telling us he had taken off to find an enthusiastic dog looking at him like "where are we going?". That technique would totally fail with Reina, though. She hates cars. And she's oblivious. If you try running from her, she'll be like "oh well" and go on with her business until she's had enough.


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## w8ing4rain (Sep 4, 2008)

When we first got Dixie she escaped multiple times. She is quite an escape artist. She can slip your average collar or even harness in seconds. If she is after a squirrel the really isn't anything you can do because she is too focused on the squirrel. You just have to wait it out and hope the thing runs up a tree. We haven't had an escape in a long time. We found a harness that she can't slip out of and put a lock on the gate ( she taught herself how to open the gate her first week here).

I totally agree with running away from the dog instead of towards it. Although if there is a squirrel involved she won't notice which way you ran anyway.

I have trained Dixie to come to a dog whistle. She gets a high value treat anytime she comes to the whistle. We practice in the house for fun. I hide with the whistle and blow it. She immediately comes running to find me and there is an awesome treat 100% of the time. It works great but I haven't tried it in a squirrel chase yet. She gets so focused that I doubt she would even notice the whistle. I hope not to find out.


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## Tofu_pup (Dec 8, 2008)

trainingjunkie said:


> When I am fostering and a dog gets loose, I have had good luck with flinging myself to the ground and rolling around laughing. There's something about a human on the ground that is very enticing to most human-loving dogs. Laugh, roll, pick grass and throw it up in the air, act like you're digging... This will bring most dogs in.
> 
> For my own, I just have to call them. Running away is also very, very powerful.


Agreed. I don't know what it is about a human rolling in the grass but I know very few dogs that could resist. Just for fun, I'd do run away+fall down combo. Make the fall really dramatic. 

I've also used other dogs to round up a loose dog. Kaki will round up smaller dogs for me. I had to do that a lot with my old roommate's dog. She'd have him run straight to my feet.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Obviously this isn't much help if your dog is independent, but my solution is to have a dog that has no interest in running away or getting lost. If I turned her loose outside, she would be pawing at the door within seconds. If that didn't work, she would progress to scratching and howling. I love me some people-oriented dogs!


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

pi1otguy said:


> I'm sure most of our dogs have good recall 90-95% of the time and never bolt.


Aheheheheh.


I yell WHO WANTS CHEWIES?!?! which I discovered quite by accident that I have inadvertently trained as my emergency recall.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

A friend had a loose foster once, we went to help track it down. I took my six year old, who grabbed a bag of cheezies for the road, and my dog friendly dog and off we went. I guess the attraction of a kid with a chip bag that smelled like cheese got her attention and got her mooching off of him, then when the crumbs ran out she came to see what my dog was eating. I was just sitting on the grass watching the whole thing but paying more attention to the treats and my dog, she came up, mooched a treat and I slipped a leash over her neck very quietly.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

My current dog has a very good recall, usually impresses passersby... she doesn't heel off leash but her recall is superb and I have to say I'm proud! Occasionally she just _has_ to pee before she can come to me, though, in which case "Let's go for a ride!" or "Get over here!" work... "Get over here!" is courtesy of my mother and results in a tucked tail and crouching because it used to be yelled angrily. But it works as a backup so I use it if I absolutely have to i.e. if a car is coming. I make sure I only use "Let's go for a ride!" if we're really going for a ride.


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## a7dk (Mar 30, 2011)

Tofu_pup said:


> Agreed. I don't know what it is about a human rolling in the grass but I know very few dogs that could resist. Just for fun, I'd do run away+fall down combo. Make the fall really dramatic.


This! All I need to for Hobbes is run away in the other direction, but he definitely can't resist if I add flailing arms and crazy-running to the mix. I'll have to try falling down and rolling around on the ground!


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## pi1otguy (Jan 1, 2011)

a7dk said:


> This! All I need to for Hobbes is run away in the other direction, but he definitely can't resist if I add flailing arms and crazy-running to the mix. I'll have to try falling down and rolling around on the ground!


And just when I thought my human-dog interactions couldn't get any weirder...


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## JessCowgirl88 (Mar 15, 2011)

thats what i do. when i was younger we had a husky she had got out and i sat in someones grass and just pretended like i was having a good ol time worked like a charm. people most likely thought i was crazy but hey it worked lol


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## +two (Jul 12, 2011)

I think it depends on the dog. For Tyler, who has quite the lengthy rap sheet of door dashing, he needs to go do what he wants to do first. Usually what he wants to do is run like a mad man away from the house and then sniff. I have tried running away, but he doesn't care. What works like a charm is if someone else is around that he doesn't know (such as an innocent passerby). I usually enlist their help and ask for them to call him. He loves people, and especially people he hasn't met before. He has a pretty good recall when we are out and about but that all goes out the window if he thinks he's "escaped". Something about being let to roam and choosing to do it yourself, I guess. 

For Ozzie? Pfh... Ozzie doesn't really bolt and he is usually too scared to go far anyways. When he is completely ignoring me off leash, I will make the sound I use to call the cat, and Ozzie usually comes.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

+two said:


> He has a pretty good recall when we are out and about but that all goes out the window if he thinks he's "escaped". Something about being let to roam and choosing to do it yourself, I guess.


Jubel is very similar, everything is completely different when he has "escaped" vs. I dropped the leash and he knows I did it on purpose so he could go say hi/play with his friends. But I'm still pretty sure the open car door would still work if I actually got his attention to the car haha.


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

"Do you want a treat?" at high volume and in my most super-happy voice has worked in the past. So has running in the opposite direction, getting the dog to chase me. I have used other dogs to attract the interest of the loose one. By far and away my best technique is the car, though. Get in the car, drive slowly ahead of the dog, open the door and shout, "Wanna go for a ride?!?" Not only do my own dogs respond to this, but so have 90% of strays that I've been trying to get off the street.


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## Cyreen (May 23, 2012)

I remember my dog, Max, running out of the backyard, across my condo parking lot. I yelled "heel" and watched my dog fall in perfect step with a complete stranger walking to his car - "Not his heel, MY heel!"


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## titiaamor (Nov 17, 2011)

Cyreen said:


> I remember my dog, Max, running out of the backyard, across my condo parking lot. I yelled "heel" and watched my dog fall in perfect step with a complete stranger walking to his car - "Not his heel, MY heel!"


This is a wonderful story....hilarious!!!!!


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## momtolabs (May 27, 2012)

My dogs rarely run away(only twice in 6 years for Tank and once for Bentley in two years) With mae my moms dog she is an escaped artist and can somehow always get out the door. WE usually start the truck/vehicle and call her with the door open. She usually comes right back. If she is already down the road just hope in with the door open and she jumps right in and we take her around the block then back home.


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