# Great Escapes 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… ## Thread In General · started by tsukitsune · 11 replies - **Category:** [General](https://nihonken.org/community/c/general) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2009-05-25T13:09:52.000Z 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? ## JiroGo · 2009-05-25T15:23:00.000Z 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! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2009-05-25T17:07:10.000Z 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. ---- ## Mylo · 2009-05-25T17:35:53.000Z 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. ## Romi (admin) · 2009-05-25T19:11:28.000Z 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. ## Wryly Brindle · 2009-05-25T19:41:54.000Z 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. ## jadatheshiba · 2009-05-25T21:47:49.000Z 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. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2009-05-26T00:12:28.000Z 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. ## tobyshiba · 2009-05-26T01:07:50.000Z 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. ## lindsayt · 2009-05-26T01:22:36.000Z 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... ## StaticNfuzz · 2009-05-27T18:42:04.000Z 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 ## Darwin67 · 2009-05-27T20:46:03.000Z 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... --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)