Whenever he gets the chance he runs away.  He has been to puppy classes but in his nature he only does what he wants to do.  He is a brilliant dog when out on lead but let him off and away he goes without looking back and I chase him which makes matters worse.  People have said to shout then walk away the opposite direction but if he is interested in something else he doesn't seem to care.  I think I have also lost a lot of confidence leaving him incase something bad happens.  Someone else said leaving a long rope/lead on him so he is easier to grab while running past me (also tried treats) but will that solve the problem? In the house he is so obedient and brill with the kids but I wish when I opened the door he didn't run away or at least come back in when shouted on.

What about one of the extension leads you can let it run out then when you call him to come back bring the lead in. That way he will learn when you call he comes back to you

Jean

my westie has started doing the same in the last couple of days, she just sits down as if to say come and get me and why should I,  so its back to the flexi lead and tasty tit bits,shes stretched out fast asleep in the chair as if butter wouldn,t melt, little madam.

My Westie (Buddy) used to do the same so i sympathise totally. I continued with the recall with treats to reward. It was slow going and he's even now not 100%. He's 22months old. Buddy's main thing was to run away to play with other dogs often some distance away and my heart would be in my mouth as i saw him disappear. If there were no other dogs about he would recall great, but put another dog in the picture and i might aswell forget it. Things did'nt start to improve untill i started letting him off the lead and letting him get on with it with the other dogs. He loved being with them so much it was a joy to watch. To get him come back i would call him and continue to walk away. Eventually he would break away from the other dogs and follow me. He's fab at it now BUT i would not stand a chance if he caught sight of a rabbit etc. People say i will never get him to reall 100% if there's something more interesting for him to chase e.g rabbit/squirrle. I would welcome any comments/advise from other Westie owners on their experiences of recall.
Budmag.

This is really a Westie thing. They have this "If I want to I will" attitude. My westie is fine but if he sees another dog he bolts. All other westies I know do the same. It is because they are so independant.

I think it would be unfortunate if Westie owners or indeed owners of ANY breed thought that their dogs cannot be trained to be obedient and have a reliable recall.  I know many terriers of all breeds that are beautifully trained and in fact compete in agility/obedience and working trials.

Sometimes you just have to be very inventive :D

I went through exactly the same with my terrier.  It took a lot of patience to overcome, but we got there in the end.  I started by just walking him on a flexi so he couldn't have the opportunity to ignore me.  I got him a new toy that was only for recall and practiced the recall on the flexi for 2 weeks.  He was much more responsive after 2-3 days, but I persisted for the full 2 weeks until it was well 'in-grained'. 
Now his recall is much better.  I wouldn't say he was 100% reliable, but he's reliable enough to take to agility and not get embarrassed!
It'll take time and lots of repetition.  Good luck!

Tohme,

And sometimes you just have to recognise that instinct is stronger than training.

I knew many people who had beautifully trained terriers (mostly Cairns, because that's my breed of terror) - one that even had her two boys doing specialty tracking work because they had mastered everything else in obedience.  Even she would not have trusted her two fellas to come back on a recall if there was a squirrel in sight.  Training, at least the positive type of training, works because pleasing the trainer is more rewarding than anything else the dog can do.  Works most of the time, but not necessarily all the time.  There would be very few terriers (fewer than there are already) who would do anything in obedience trials if they were held in an open, rabbit infested fields.  Not unless run and don't come back was one of the tests.  :-)   Working terrier trials, or earth dog trials, are entirely different story.  They are tests where strong terrier instinct gets the medals.

Yes, of course you do your best to teach your Westie or Cairn or terrier of your choice (some are much better than others) obedience and recall.  However, reliable recall in most breeds of terriers is a rarity, and you try not to put yourself or your dog in a position where a failed recall will put your dog in danger to either itself or others.

Stacey

Here, here or (come,come as the case may be)
Budmag