Teaching off-leash dog to "STOP". come

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

2-year old neutered medium sized mixed breed, adopted by us (from a shelter overseas) a little over a year ago. Good dog with a bit of energy. We live in a suburban neighborhood with mostly smaller sized (e.g. 1/5- 1/4 acre) properties/homes. He usually gets at least two and often three walks a day. At the end of our street is a small park/playground.....a grassy area with a couple swings and slides. This is rarely used by kids. There are houses (some fenced, some not) that back up to most of the park on two sides. The third side of the park is adjacent to woods (part of a property owned by a pharmaceutical company). There is a fence there except for some openings cut into it which are used by deer, fox and other wildlife that seem to pass from the woods into the neighborhood esp. at night. Anyway, a couple neighbors frequently walk their dogs and we will let them off leash in this park to run and play a bit. Our dog plays well an 99% of the time good about coming when calling him. He is also VERY food motivated. My problem is if he is REALLY interested in something all bets are off. One time a couple months ago there was a cat in the park that I didn't see and he took off after it chasing it out of the park and between the houses. He returned shortly after but would not stop chasing and come at that time. I am not worried about him actually hurting the cat, more worried about him running through other people's properties, possibly chasing their cat, and especially worried about running into a street and getting hit by a car. There is another house with a boxer and "invisible fence". I do not know if the boxer is people/dog friendly and previously he would not go near that yard. In the past few days he went onto that property twice....the dog was not out, but there were obviously lot of really good smells around that yard and he was sniffing about and did not want to return at first. The other problem was one property owner dumps leftover food in the park (bread, etc.) on occasion. This is sort of out of the way section, but our dog knows there may be free food there now and runs over there. Once again I can call him back unless there IS some food in which case he want to go and gobble it (self-rewarding) before I run over and take it away. I am also worried one day he may try to chase something through a hole in the fence into the woods (never happened). The couple times he was distracted he came back relatively quickly......just worried what could happen in a short time. On the other hand I like that he can be off-leash a bit, interact with the other dogs and run freely a bit. People often compliment on how well behaved our dog is. He is well behaved on leash, with other dogs, and comes (99% of the time) when called. I can put him in a sit/stay and walk across the park, then call him to come etc. I just need to figure out how to train him to STOP and return at ALL times. A dog I had growing up would stop......he is mostly good but occasionally gets focused on something he should not. Suggestions?

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Comments (5)

tozmo1
2 years ago
Is there a good dog training program in your area? I've had many dogs and had my best experience training my dogs with other dogs in a group setting. The most important thing is you sticking with it until the dog gets it. The first time I took a dog to training, the trainer pulled me aside and said, "I'll tell you what the problem is with your dog. You!" Yikes!

On the other hand, I've found rescue dogs with unknown backgrounds, particularly if they lived on the streets for a while, are very, very hard to completely train. Those survival skills are very hard to overcome.

Good luck!
G
2 years ago
There are leash laws for a reason, no one should risk injury to their dog or someone else’s. Dog’s are unpredictable.
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socks
2 years ago
I completely understand your dilemma. Your dog needs socialization and exercise, yet he's at great risk of serious injury or annoying neighbors by trespassing on their property and harassing their animals. If your dog gets in a tussle with the boxer, you could incur legal and veterinary expense. Hit by a car (let's not even think about that)? Is there a chance that you and your friends could find a safer place? At the least, you might let your dog off leash 15-20 minutes to vent off some energy and for safety then leash him up.

My dog is the same, recall is good unless there is a squirrel or cat, then he goes into another mental state and has only one thing on his mind. I suppose you can train this out of certain dogs, but it is their natural instinct. You could try training to see if its effective when small running animals are tempting him. Otherwise, please keep him safer.
woodnative
Original Author
2 years ago
G I do understand that. This is a great group of friendly dogs that enjoy playing together when they meet up......and it is a joy to watch them do so. They normally interact and stay close. Two of the dogs are in their teens and don't go far. One other is similar in size and age to my dog. They play beautifully and at this time he runs and runs. Of course it only takes on mistake in a blink of an eye, and I am a cautious person, hence reaching out to improve things. I know there is always some risk, but I would like to minimize it as much as possible while still allowing him some time to interact and "be a dog". He does get plenty of daily on-leash walks plus attention and toys at home. tozmo1 good idea, like I said the other dogs are good (two are older and don't go far anyway). socks- all good points. This is very informal.....when neighbors happen to be walking their dogs in that area at the same time we will often let them meet up and play in this park. Good group of people with well care for dogs everyone picks up after. Streets dead end here, the dogs are generally good, so it is usually very good. In fact I never had any real fears until the recent wandering into the yard of the boxer.
socks
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
You just have to keep your dog safe by eliminating risk. Let him play as long as he is active with the other dogs, but as soon as he starts wandering away, looking around, leash him up. Or work with him yourself every day on recall. Recall him several times as he plays with the group. Or invest in professional training. Of course, the best training involves you being trained to train him.

Fortunately, I've found a group and situation where the dogs can run free, so I do appreciate the value. It's a beautiful sight to see a young dog stretch out running full bore, terrier in hot pursuit but can't quite keep up even tho' he tries hard.

The first part of your post reminded me of this poem by Mary Oliver from her book called, "Dog Songs."

IF YOU ARE HOLDING THIS BOOK

You may not agree, you may not care, but

if you are holding this book you should know

that of all the sights I love in this world--

and there are plenty--very near the top of

the list is this one: dogs without leashes.

Teaching off-leash dog to "STOP". come

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tozmo1

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Teaching off-leash dog to "STOP". come

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tozmo1

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