Great Escapes

edited May 2009 in General
Over the weekend I had the 'opportunity' to know what it feels like to have both of my dogs get loose and take off in opposite directions in a new, big, area....

Neither seemed to remember their names
Neither would recognize our desperate pleas of "come on, come here"
Neither would give up on their new found freedom
Neither gave any glimmer of hope until an opportunity presented itself for ambush
Both were recovered

Clearly, we need a new plan for Great Escapes, because waiting for an ambush opportunity is just. too. risky.

What are your plans of recovery in an outdoor, uncontrolled environment for a dog with less than gold star tendency for recall?

Comments

  • edited November -1
    I've had to feel the utter terror of this situation a few times.

    We've got a 9ft iron gate on the side of the house. Job done I thought, no Akita Inu is getting over that one. I was sat in the garden and the dogs were enjoying a bit of sunshine, Jiro went round the side of the house, two seconds later I hear the gate slam...ran around to see who had come in and see Jiro's tail disappear round the corner. He'd somehow learned how to open it. Every time I got anywhere near him he would look at me then sprint away. I had to run after him for 20 minutes, he went to the park then let me catch him after he'd had a poo!

    He is never allowed off lead and I put him on a long line in the garden if I'm not watching him. If he gets out now I know better than to chase him. If I stay calm he doesn't bolt. I walk behind him as if I'm going for a walk with him and then go up the next street towards home, he always follows if he thinks I'm going without him!
  • edited November -1
    Stay calm, throw your arms in the air waving them like mad, and run the opposite direction of your dogs while yelling/talking in a very happy voice. They will run after you.

    That's our game plan.

    ----
  • edited November -1
    hahahahahaha I just had a mental image of me doing that... Funny, but not odd. It's something I would do. Even just for fun. But I think given the actual situation, I would probably instinctively panic. Good to have a game plan in case (god forbid) something happens; my parents tend to be stupid and leave doors open when we're at their place.
  • edited May 2009
    I agree with Brad - Also, you may want to do recall training as your main focus for a while. I worked with Ninja on just his recall/focus for like 3 months straight. Not doing anything else except recall/focus training. I'm sure it also helps that Ninja is fearful of pretty much everything... So he is always glad to come to me when called.

    But, instead of just going on normal walks, take a 20-30 ft. lead with you and stop in different places on your walk and do some recall training. Soon you'll notice even when they are exploring, they will frequently be checking back with you, watching where you are. This also helps so that they know that they have to listen and focus to you in new places.

    So, if you do get into a situation where your dogs are loose, but in your sight...you will have more confidence (which equals calmness) and your dogs will be used to coming to you when called (in new places - or if they are far away from you), like it's nothing new and something they're used to...just like another training lesson - don't forget to PRAISE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM TOO!

    Also, I noticed with Ninja and Portia, if one dog starts coming toward me, the other will follow...so if you know one of your dogs has better recall than the other, you may want to call that dogs name to get them to come to you faster.
  • edited November -1
    We have two recalls- one is "come" here to this place and park it in front of me, and the other is This Way, meaning change direction, follow me, but no parking needed.

    If Seiji, Come! were to fail, I'd go to This Way and walk off somewhere.
    In our off leash Dog Field days I have called him out of social encounters gone awry with This Way- walking away, and I know Come would not have cut it.

    My dogs are also really prey oriented, so I have been able to act REALLY interested at something on the ground, point and say "LOOK!" and they'll drop whatever they are doing and come. At that point you throw a fistful of treats on the ground for them to gather while you praise and leash them.

    Like Ninja and Portia, Sage also comes running when I call Reilly, so a hearty 'Hey REI!' might work in a pinch also. Sage is very good at hopping in the car, so if he was loose but visible and I had the car handy I'd probably open the back and call out we were taking a ride.
  • edited May 2009
    The way I train Jada to recall is when we take walks off-leash, either at the dog park or somewhere where I know she won't run off, is to "migrate" around a perimeter having her constantly following. If she seems to catch the attention of something else, I snap my finger or call her name but continue to walk as if I'm leaving her behind and out of my pack and she'll snap out of it and USUALLY come running next to me. I do this as much as I can when I'm in a off-leash area.

    Of course, Jada doesn't seem like she'll ever run away from me (as of now) because I've literally done that since we STARTED going to dog parks. I keep the training up to hope as she gets older she'll continue to feel the need to travel next to me.

    To relate this to the thread, I started doing this a) cause I read it in a book and b) in case she ever DOES run away that I have it in her head to come back to me and "pack" up.
  • edited November -1
    Thank you for responses! All phenomenal ideas and we have our training ahead for sure... never want to go through that again!

    Jon - you bring up a point that we began to talk about today, that while shibas [or nihon ken] are said to not be off leash dogs, and where i live its difficult in the suburban setting, perhaps beginning something of that nature - to feed off their natural 'hunting' ability to scope out a territory around a perimeter to you the hunter and using that to your advantage to ensure greater off leash (when loose or as training) recall reliability.
    I'm not confident enough in them to find out, though.
  • edited November -1
    Thankfully, I have not experienced a complete escape, Toby darted out of the gate when he was a puppy, but it was in the morning and I ran down and called his name and he was so happy to see me ...

    Now I usually carry treats, a squeaking toy. These are used to get his attention, and he is highly food motivated. I have to keep changing recall words because he keeps losing interest in the words I choose. Right now, his best 'recall' word is Water, because we have a kiddie pool out. LOL.
  • edited November -1
    When doing the recall training, especially with Shiba Inu, I found that repetition was the killer in their recalls and they basically get bored doing the same thing over and over again and are like "Yeah, I heard you call me, big deal, this is boring, but over here it's really great so see ya!"

    To mix it up, like others had suggested, I incorporate recalls into our on leashed walks with lots of praise, and turning in the opposite duirections and running away from them, etc. When off leash, the dog is expecting me to act a certain way when I want them to "front". They expect that I call, they come and sit in front in that exact order.

    It gets boring, so to keep their attention, when I do recalls sometimes I throw a treat thru my legs or off to the side and the dog will dive for it when they come back giving them more incentive to hurry back to me. I will also switch positions up, and not ask them to sit in front, but finish or drop in front and then give lots of treats.

    I haven't had Ike for more than a few months, so he is not trustworthy at all with recalls or off leash, but he falls for the "owner running in the opposite direction and waving arms" thing nearly every time, with a crinkling treat bag wrapper as the back up. Sigh, Shibas...
  • edited November -1
    Yeah like Lindsay running the opposite way with some crinkle food wrappers usually works for dogs that are socialized to humans. Usually acting very goofy and making running away noises with you feet gets attention along with a call using your special reserved word that indicates treats are coming if they get over to you real quick. (have heard some unusual reserve words ....Little "S*** being" one of them, but hey whatever works that keeps your voice from being angry, so your dog will come back.)

    Some really shy dogs head for the nearest bush or hiding spot. You have to change tactics depending on the dog. If the shy dog is bonded to another animal sometimes using that pet will assist to help bring out a off leash timid dog and have it return to you through the first animal.

    Snf
  • edited November -1
    With Kahlo, I will do a couple of training drills w/ her leash on just as a primer for our time on leash. I also let her know I have treats...this weekend, I let her have run of the beach to chase some seagulls. When I yelled the command come, she came racing at me...she seems to do better on recall if she knows there's something at the end...
  • edited November -1
    I had Sachi escape through the door when she was younger, my way to get her to come RUNNING home was to go start my truck. She loves going for car rides and I have a rather loud truck, she freaks when she hears it start. It was an absolutely solid recall. Now that shes older she doesnt have much drive to just take off. Unless she sees a chameleon. The most she would ever try for is a slow, and very quiet, trot the opposite direction im faced.
  • edited November -1
    This afternoon right before dinner, I let Toby out to go to the bathroom and I went outside with him. I was caught off guard when I noticed Toby started running ... right out of an open gate in my backyard. So, my instinct to catch him kicks in. I follow him through two yards, he crosses the main road and by now i'm balling my eyes out and hysterical. I was screaming at the top of my lungs ( screaming so my parents would hear me ) and my dad runs out following me, I ran across the street barefoot, in front of cars and followed him through three more yards and the woods as Toby ran around chasing bunnies and avoiding us. All attempts to use his 'magic' words were no use. None of his recall worked, he didn't listen to anything at all. Eventually, Toby gets tired and stops running and stands a few feet from my dad, and my dad snatches him up before he can get any further. By then, my asthma kicked in, I was wheezing, hyperventilating, and in a literal state of shock. On the way back, I explain to my dad that the gate was open. And he said it was impossible, he closed the gates.

    Nope. He forgot to close the big gate. I still wished him a happy fathers day, but I was really bitter at dinner. Toby was -very- close to getting hit by a car. I really thought I had lost him. ... i'm so glad we caught him.

    Anyways, there's Toby's Great Escape.

    Except ever since we brought him back, he has been acting kind of weird. He avoided me most of the night, he didn't eat his ice cubes ( which he usually barks for ). I just hope hes back to his usual self in the morning ... :(
  • edited November -1
    Oh, Jen, that must've been hard!

    Yeah, like some others, I basically act like a lunatic when my dogs get loose. Back when Melvin was pretty new around here, Rakka got out once and went charging toward the corral. Noah and I were both there, so we just both started running around, waving, calling to her, and acting like psychos. Most miraculously, it worked, and we were so pleased that we played with her for a good long while so she would get the idea that we were awesome and fun. Way more fun than a donkey that just stands there and ignores her, anyway.
  • edited November -1
    I really need to come up with a better plan because I do start freaking out under pressure and instead of thinking I was really only acting and I was putting Toby more at risk then I wanted him to be. And of course, it doesn't help that I had no toys, treats or ANYTHING on hand to grab his attention. :(
  • edited November -1
    thanks all to this post
    today toki got out of the yard and I went after him but then remembered this info so I turned around instead and went back into the yard...it was very hard to do.
    I grabbed a ball and went back outside to see where toki went
    he had disappeared but then 2 seconds later he comes running back towards me and so I show him his ball and then throw it into the yard and he ran right back in.
    i thought i had lost him. must invest in a lock
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