Help to stop dog running away

i-digress

My parents have a jack russell/daschund mix that they got from the DSPCA around two years ago. When we got him he was a mess, and was obviously beaten by his former owner because he used to flinch anytime my Mum swept the floor. I have five siblings all under the age of ten, and he's really good with them and he's also a great little watchdog. We're all really fond of him, but none so much as my 6 year old sister. She loves animals, he's probably her best friend.

He is very obedient when inside the house, will come when called, sit, drop, all of that. He gets walked daily. But sometimes he manages to get out and no amount of calling will get him to come back. If you run after him, he just runs further. We've spent a lot of time trawling streets to find him, but last night he ran off and was missing overnight. My sister was distraught and sobbed her heart out. Luckily, a nice man found him crying and shivering in his garden and brought him to a local vet who scanned his microchip.

This is obviously upsetting for us, and for him. He's a great oul' yoke and we really don't want to lose him. He got so far last night that it's a miracle he wasn't knocked down. My sister asked me to help her train him to come back when he's called and I've promised her I'll try. He'll do it in the house, but not outside.

I don't live at home so I'm going to go over this weekend and we're going to try. Does anyone have any tips? Any ideas that might work? Obviously we try not to let him get out, but occasionally it happens. Any advice would be really appreciated, he's part of the family.

belongtojazz

Hiya,

I have a 2 year old Jack Russel and I have to admit they are a difficult breed to train, but so worth it when they finally cotton on to what you want and decide they are going to do it:D
My first advice would be to never chase the dog when he runs away!! they think this is a great game and will just keep going and going.
My next piece would be to get a really long lead ( i use a horse lunge line) and use that for training. Make coming back more fun than whatever they are doing. Mine is a complete gannet and absolutely loves sausages so I use them when I am training her, I also have some toys she adores but she is only allowed to play with them when she does as I ask, they are never left where she can get them and they are now hugely important to her.

When you are training recall keep the dog on the lead and call him, if he doesn't immediately come back tug the line so he does, when he reaches you use whichever reward you have for him. This does take quite a bit of time but eventually they realise if they don't come back they get tugged but if they come straight back they get a really tasty reward.
My biggest issue with my little dog is because she is sooooo small she keeps escaping from my garden, I have taught her that the sound of her treat tin shaking means she's going to get something nice so she now always comes back.

Good luck it is really tough worrying that they are going to run away but with some (or in a jack russells case lots) of work you will have a dog who always comes back:D

Good Luck.

Sigma Force

Perhaps difficult in a busy household but as a small dog it should be easy to contain the dog.. double gate system if needed. Leaving no chance for the dog to escape.

Perhaps take the pooch to some dog training classes like dspca.

As with a lot of dogs even well trained ones, if there's a gate open for a second they're gone like a shot so keep gates closed, use baby gates if needed and get the whole household to change their routine when it comes to leaving doors open.

i-digress

It is hard because he's clever. He's usually in the back of the house, in the kitchen but my parents are currently fostering a very gregarious two year old. She leaves the door from the kitchen to the sitting room open, he gets in and hides. Then when the doorbell rings he quietly follows the person answering out to the hall and bolts out the front door. We managed pretty well before fostering, he only got out a couple of times.

He's great in other ways but with kids that are 10, 9 and 6 and two foster kids at 2 and 6 months my Mum can't just leave the house and run after him and catch him. So he gets further away before she can get all the kids in the car to drive after him. Which is why its only recently become a big problem.

Thanks so much belongstojazz, really helpful advice. My sister and I will start that tomorrow

ghost_ie

Has he been neutered? He may be off after some females in heat.

i-digress

Yep, he definitely has. As far as I know the DSPCA neuter all their adult animals prior to adoption, which makes total sense.

belongtojazz

Another suggestion.... that i'm still working on, as my guys love when the front door is open. Get someone to knock on the front door and make the dog sit and wait before you open it. This one takes ages and ages but eventually he will learn that when there is a knock on the door he has to sit and not move. the favourite toy works well with this one:D

unfortunatley it may not work if he is determined to be sneaky and get out when someone opens the door to leave but it may help.

ghost_ie

Try arming yourself with a pocketful of his favourite treats and, when anyone knocks on the door or someone is going out, entice him into a room near the door by standing in the hall holding the treat at arms length inside the room whilst saying "in" and drop it in the room when he goes inside. Then shut the door while he's busy eating and you answer the door or go out. After a couple of weeks he should automatically go into the room when told without the treat.

morganafay

Does he get walked regularly? Maybe try longer walks so he's really tired out? My Springer Spaniel we had when we were kids never got walked (he was too strong for us cos we were so young) so he used to always escape and run away, just because he was bored or needed the exercise.

Qualitymark

And train him to come to a whistle.

and

ash_18x

i-digress wrote: »

Yep, he definitely has. As far as I know the DSPCA neuter all their adult animals prior to adoption, which makes total sense.

we got a terrier from a pound in Tipperary (wont name them!) five years ago and we were told he was neutered by them and paid a 'donation' to cover the costs! turns out he was never neutered, i had him down getting groomed last week and the girl said he went and marked his territory everywhere- that maybe neutering would help! she said he hasnt been done. he is always trying to escape too!

anyway he is going to the vet at 2 o clock today to get it done! i'd have done it years ago if i'd have known and i cant find the paper work we got off the pound when we got him. its so annoying but at least he is being fixed today and hopefully he will came down a bit!

maybe you should double check him! ha ha!

Zapperzy

ash_18x wrote: »

we got a terrier from a pound in Tipperary (wont name them!) five years ago and we were told he was neutered by them and paid a 'donation' to cover the costs! turns out he was never neutered, i had him down getting groomed last week and the girl said he went and marked his territory everywhere- that maybe neutering would help! she said he hasnt been done. he is always trying to escape too!

anyway he is going to the vet at 2 o clock today to get it done! i'd have done it years ago if i'd have known and i cant find the paper work we got off the pound when we got him. its so annoying but at least he is being fixed today and hopefully he will came down a bit!

maybe you should double check him! ha ha!

Was it a pound or a rescue? Pounds don't neuter dogs, and the fee you pay to get the dog out of the pound is a release fee, not a donation to cover costs. A rescue is different, they would've had the dog neutered before you picked him up, or would've given you a voucher to bring into the vets to cover neutering.
Can I ask how you didn't notice he wasn't neutered, you should've been able to see them?

ash_18x

Zapperzy wrote: »

Was it a pound or a rescue? Pounds don't neuter dogs, and the fee you pay to get the dog out of the pound is a release fee, not a donation to cover costs. A rescue is different, they would've had the dog neutered before you picked him up, or would've given you a voucher to bring into the vets to cover neutering.
Can I ask how you didn't notice he wasn't neutered, you should've been able to see them?

hi

it was actually a rescue not a pound, sorry about that, i double checked with my mam last night! he was never done and we were told that he was. i cant find the paperwork we got with him though.

we didnt notice cos there wasnt a whole lot there to be honest and because we were told he was done we didnt really question it. plus i am used to my parents wolfhounds- you couldnt not notice that they are not neutered!!!!!

anyway, he was neutered yesterday so at least it is done now!

Qualitymark

How's the training going? Does he love it? When my dog (and my late cat, alas) sees the clicker, she sits up and grins, and her ears go right up, waiting for the treats and fun it represents.