# Escapee, Runner, Never comes when called, Please Help!



## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

Hello Everyone! I'm new to DogForums.com. Just signed up today. I've been doing a LOT of research, trying different techniques (including advice from Victoria Stilwell, Cesar Millan, random google searching) I have a 4 year old, Male (Neutered), Rottweiler/German Shepherd/Husky mix named, Blaze. (he's my profile and avatar picture) I picked him from a friends litter the day he was born. Took him home the day he turned 6 weeks. From about the age of 8 months, he's been my little Escapee, back then he came to me when called though (lots of positive reinforcement). As he got older, the worse he got. I tried everything possible while he was a puppy to stop the bad habit before it got to this level. Blaze is usually outside during the day but since it's been so cold lately he's now inside and only goes out to potty or to go on our walks. If I take my eyes off of him for even a min while he's outside, *he will find* a weak spot in the fence, or a hole he's been secretly working on and he will take off, (This only takes a few seconds). This happened to me yesterday, he got out and I was out for 2 hours looking for him. He even teased me, I said, Come, Blaze. He ran towards me then darted around me... did that to me 4 times. Like, 'hahahaha you can't catch me!' Reason he got out to begin with was I was just dialing my mom's work number to chat while I was letting him potty (cause I get better signal outside). I will call him to come back, using different whistles, clapping my hands at him and calling his name using a calm and slightly loud tone. He doesn't even look up at me, instead he just hauls butt down the road. When I try to walk towards him and give him the 'Come' signal he just runs further and faster. I've followed him 5 blocks before (Not running after him, just walking and calling him to come). I use to just be able to hop in the car and drive up to him and open the door and he would hop right in (cause he loves car rides). Even this doesn't work anymore. I've tried Rewards, such as treats, when he eventually comes to me, giving lots of Love and 'Good Boy'. I've tried punishment, putting him on lead, or giving him a pop. Keep in mind I don't change the punishment/rewards every time he gets out, I've stuck with the same technique for at least a year before switching to another technique. He gets out at least, 7 times a year. We repair the fences as best we can, we have even buried large rock and stone underneath the fence line so when he does dig he hits rock and cant get out. We've laced Rebar through the bottom of the fence to keep him from pushing underneath it to get out. I'd just like to be able to trust him in the yard without supervision. I Worry about him when he gets out, there are other Dogs out here that are strays and they run in packs. Hill Billys out here probably wouldn't hesitate shooting him if he was in their yard. People drive way too fast on these dirt roads. I just want him to come to me when I call him. If I could stop the digging, distroying the fences and getting out all together, that would be GREAT!

A little bit more background on his training... He knows the following commands: 'Sit' 'Come' 'Wait' 'Lay Down' 'Shake' 'High Five' 'Up' (<--all using only hand signals) 'Leave It' and 'Easy' He is leash trained, No pulling/tugging/tension on the leash at any time. I take him for brisk walks about 30 mins every other day.
He only listens to these commands when he's inside the house, walking with me on the leash or in our yard. Once out of the yard, free roam, he becomes a little Hellion. He doesn't get out all the time. He will be on, what we call, the 'Good Streak' then he'll pull one of his Escapes. Sorry So Long, just wanted to make it as detailed as possible. ANY Advice/Tips would be Greatly Appreciated!

Please Help!


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

First off, welcome!

I would increase his exercise to an hour a day - half an hour every other day isn't likely enough for him. Start working on his off leash skills, so it's not just the seven times a year he gets freedom. Get a really long leash, good treats, and work on letting him explore, call him in for a treat, let him explore again. Over and over again. So 'come' means 'I want to grab your collar, give you a treat and then you can go play again'. When he's good on a 30-40 foot lead, start dropping it and use it to prevent him from bolting, but still work on coming for treats. 

Work on calling him in the house and yard too, from different rooms, hide in the closet so he has to find you, that sort of thing. When you do take him out on the long leash, change directions and so on so he's also learning to watch you and look for you if you go missing. One of the recalls we do in classes is I distract the person's dog with a treat to smell (I don't give them it) while the person goes behind a tree then calls their dog, who suddenly finds their silly owner has gotten lost. Right away they kick in to 'sheesh, gotta find mom!' mode and go looking!

For the yard, install a Blaze proof dog run. Our dog run has fencing on the ground along the front side that they tend to dig at, and this summer we will totally fence the ground so it's dig proof (tired of mud!). The fence is high enough that they can't jump it and only one time Storee got out, still no clue how (she was yelping and screaming, but by the time I came around the corner she was loose and jumped into the trailer - she figured she didn't get to come camping and was NOT amused!).


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## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

Thank You Very Much, Bordermom! Never thought to get a 30-40 ft lead and do it that way, I've tried on the regular leash. lol. I will purchase one very soon and start right away. I will keep you posted on his progress. Hopefully this works for him. I've tried tempting him with treats when I'm trying to get him back home. All he wants to do is run. So I will definitely start increasing brisk walks to an hour a day, maybe instead of brisk walks we'll start jogging and or sprinting. Might be more exciting for him that way. Anyway, Thanks again!


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

> When he's good on a 30-40 foot lead, start dropping it and use it to prevent him from bolting, but still work on coming for treats.


This lead pretty much stops bolting, you've heard the story, 2 guys talking about outrunning a Bear if they see one, the one guy says I don't have to outrun the Bear, I just have to outrun you.

If the dog wants to do the tease thing you don't have to outrun him just the end of the lead.


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

Have you tried turning around and running in the opposite direction? Works for me. 
Also, if I sit down on the ground with my back to him.


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## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

DustyCrockett said:


> Have you tried turning around and running in the opposite direction? Works for me.
> Also, if I sit down on the ground with my back to him.


Lol yes, I have tried both of those things too. He acts like he doesn't care.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

A really easy, useful and quick read: http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=dtb813


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## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

Pawzk9 said:


> A really easy, useful and quick read: http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=dtb813


Thank You for the Link, Pawzk9! Seems like this is right up my alley


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## Elliebell (Mar 13, 2011)

You could give up on the fence and put your dog on a long line. It would probably prevent him from escaping. You have to be careful about the length to prevent him from choking or otherwise injuring himself, though.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

If you're going to use a long-line, I'd recommend pairing it with a harness. That way, if you have to stomp on it, at least you won't break the dog's neck.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Some horse electric fencing strung inside your fence at 1 foot intervals, about a foot away from the fence will stop him from going near the fence. It's pretty cheap.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

This long line thing works under supervision, OP said that the dog now that it's cold just goes out for duty runs. I've said this before over to a farm supply or hardware store buy thin Nylon cord 75 ft some dog snaps and you can make your own assorted lengths 10 ft, 15 ft, 20 ft, and a 30 ft, or any lengths of your choice. After cutting the cord use a match to then melt the cut ends so they don't fray.


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## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

Elliebell said:


> You could give up on the fence and put your dog on a long line. It would probably prevent him from escaping. You have to be careful about the length to prevent him from choking or otherwise injuring himself, though.


Thank You for your input!!  I have tried a long line. With a Collar, he has wrapped it around anything possible till there was a lot of tension then just pulled the collar off. I then tried a harness after that, He slipped out of the Harness as well. So he can't be trusted on a lead. I just want to be able to let him have free run of the yard without having to worry about him getting out. But right now he's indoors since it's just recently started getting so cold. Just need to get something planned out for when it does start heating up again.


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## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

spotted nikes said:


> Some horse electric fencing strung inside your fence at 1 foot intervals, about a foot away from the fence will stop him from going near the fence. It's pretty cheap.


Will most feed stores carry this fencing or will it have to be ordered online? I don't like the idea of an electric fence, but i'm sure if he touches it one time he won't go near the fence after that lol. That would stop him from digging out.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Most agriculture/feed stores carry it. Just don't get the ones for dogs. They are twice as much money and flimsy.


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## Active Dog (Jan 18, 2010)

We got an electric fence for our dogs jumping over it (ironicly Miko never once went over the fence just for the fun of it) it was always Ava who would jump over it to chase rabbits. It took Ava two times and she never did it again. I don't think Miko ever had to learn lol. It worked for us =)


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

MrsSheets said:


> Will most feed stores carry this fencing or will it have to be ordered online? I don't like the idea of an electric fence, but i'm sure if he touches it one time he won't go near the fence after that lol. That would stop him from digging out.


Electric fence is better then dog on busy dangerous rd that's for sure. Yes most feed stores should sell the electric wire fencing & mounters (don't know their real name lol) that way you could still put one on the tip of the fence as well if he tries going over the top. They can also be cranked pretty high if need be (I had to crank the one I have at my parents house up pretty high when I had a foster dog that was an escape artist I found her sitting at the first gate, should have figured lol.

Keep us updated, FYI the long line is for walks/training only, not tie out. For that you can if the e fence doesn't work, try tying a cable to a couple of trees & stringing a zip line tie out (just make sure he can't get too close to the fence & try to go over/ under.)


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

> Keep us updated, FYI the long line is for walks/training only, not tie out. For that you can if the e fence doesn't work, try tying a cable to a couple of trees & stringing a zip line tie out (just make sure he can't get too close to the fence & try to go over/ under.)


Exactly, the 1st post was that he could not get the dog to come when he wanted to go back in home.



> This happened to me yesterday, he got out and I was out for 2 hours looking for him. He even teased me, I said, Come, Blaze. He ran towards me then darted around me... did that to me 4 times.


Well I think even at 75 yrs of age if a dog ran at me and darted around me dragging a 20 ft lead I could manage to step on or grab the lead. At 65 a 10 ft lead would have been sufficient. I will say it again the lead is loose the dog is just dragging it behind him. It's for supervised walks only. 

Probably walking of dog may not be the priority here, just turning dog loose in the fenced in area may be what OP wants to do. That's fine as that's how our dog is setup to do his duty, but he then returns when done.


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## MrsSheets (Dec 16, 2011)

Well, since my first post, I had increased Blaze's exercise to 1 hour daily of light jogging. I've been doing Training 20 mins, twice daily on a 20ft lead. This morning I let him out to potty, seems he's learned a new trick... I had my eye on him and watched as he lifted the latch and ran out the gate. THIS TOOK ONLY 1 SECOND. Literally 1 second. I said "No!" but by the time I said it and started to make my way towards him, he was gone. I then used my command 'come' in a pleasing tone (because in the past i've used angry tones and got no results, training has been 'come' in a pleasant tone with excellent results... and what dog would come, willingly, to an angry tone?) Anyway, he's still running around the neighborhood. 5 blocks down the road I've followed him. I've tried playtime, 'chase mommy' He doesn't even look up at me. I was standing 10 ft from him, gave him the 'come' command and he still didn't even look at me. I then tried to get his attention with a whistle... this worked, he was now looking at me, I commanded, 'come'. Still nothing, he just ran away from me. At this point it is too soon to say the training isn't helping. Once he decides to come home, training will continue. Do you think he even realizes he did something bad?! I honestly don't know how much more I can take... we may need professional help here. Blaze is my only baby left, my angel (Trucker, an Australian Shepherd, that -never- left my side) of 11 years passed away, of old age, last year.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Padlock the gate. Electric fencing aound inside perimeter of yard really does work.


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Your dog sounds like ours, the little pookers. We did a lot of recall training with her when she was younger but made one key error. We let her get a taste of running around like your dog does, off leash, before her recall was good enough. This was at the dog park, which had a 4 ft fence. She jumped it once to go greet another dog and that was it. Every time she got a chance to run free she took it. 

So no more dog park. And we have to be extra vigilant where we live now because we're out in a semi-rural area with no fencing. So she gets leash walked every time to potty - no turning her loose. And we use really long lines for excursions or romps around the yard so she can run around but is still catchable. After lots of training, with the long line, her recall is about 80%. But it isn't perfect. So she gets zero opportunity to get loose. 

Someone passed on this training regimen to me - it has helped a lot. Maybe it will help you, too. Still need to lock that gate and do something about the fencing, though. But the training might help if he gets loose again.

Recall training was broken down into steps. Dog had to pass each step before progressing to the next. If dog is not nearly 100% at a step, go back to an earlier step - you're moving too fast. Never call a dog to come if you can't guarantee he'll do it - teaches him that he doesn't have to come (running free like he has been is very reinforcing = FUN!!). Find a new word for recall to start your training over again, like "Here!" Couple it with an exaggerated beckoning motion with your arm so that you can recall from a long distance even if he can't hear you (works great on a noisy beach!). Note: Adding distractions as the dog progresses is a very important part.

The steps for recall training - ask him to come at ever greater distances. Start inside the house. Then move outside.

1. From body length away on 6' lead
2. From 4 feet away on 4 foot lead
3. 6 feet away on lead
4. 10 feet on lead (OL)
5. 12' OL
6. 15' OL
7. 20' OL
8. 30' OL
9. 50' OL
10. A line that must be close to 80 feet, never measured.
11. Off leash in fenced backyard.
12. Off leash in front yard no fence.
13. Dragging the 30' line from 20 yards.
14. Dragging the 30' line from about 50 yards.
15. Dragging 30' from 100 yards.
16. Off leash in fenced 4 acres. 

This forum has lots of great info on recall - you might try a search here, too. I wish you luck! I know from experience how frustrating it is, not to mention dangerous, to have a grinning, "catch-me-if-you-can" dog running your butt all around the neighborhood.

P.S. The tire your dog out advice is great because dogs need that, but IME it does not stop a dog with wanderlust. I've seen my dog bolt for a run after a full day at daycare, several walks, training, and a romp through the park with friends. I just accept that she isn't reliable and manage her with leashing.


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

I have a dog that is good with recall BUT she will wonder if left outside (we also have a rual area here, no fence) so with she is outside (when I am here but can't watch her 100%) when I am not there she along with Izze comes inside.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I believe that huskies are known escape artists. And, like most dogs, they like to be chased. From the looks of the avatar picture, he looks like he loves the cold.

I agree with Nikes, use an e-fence. When my Lab was about 6 mos, he would dig out just to get on the other side of the fence and explore, not to run around. I bought a dog e-fence with an e-collar, set it up inside the wooden fence, and it does keep him from the fence, whether turned on or off, but I do have to turn the fence back on about once every month or two to keep him from testing things.

As Nike said, a horse e-fence is much cheaper than a dog e-fence. Altho you might compare at Costco for prices...


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