I also have a little Black Lab (5 1/2 months) who keeps escaping into neighbouring garden chasing rabbits, deer well anything.  She knows she isn't suposed to do it and blatenly ignores me and my husband to come back. I try and keep calm and use the whistle to recall (it works all other times) but she still will not come back. The outcome is often me waiting in ambush for her to emerge from the woods and grabbing her. We have tried telling her off by the shaking her by the scruff of the neck, placing her apart from other other lab pup in a sin-bin and even totally ignored her (she doesn't come back when recalled) but nothing seems to work - not even treats. I even tried not calling her to see if she suddenly realises I'm not there but that only occassionaly works

We know where she likes to go and make sure she is on the lead so she cannot disappear as soon as she gets out of the car etc. I'm at a loss as to what to do, when she is on her walks in the filed she is as good as gold but get her near woods or in the garden and she will esacpe for a good 30min/1 hour (usually when I have somewhere to be.

She obviously has a great senting nose and loves the chase but its getting beyond a joke...help!!!

there is no point in telling her off when she has come back because she won't have a clue what it is for. she will most probably think it is because she has come back that she is getting told off and therefore it is going to make her recal at those times even worse (she will be thinking allong the lines of "last time when  i came back my owners told me off and shook me so this time i am not going back till i really have to!")
if she comes back quickly give her a jackpot of treats (loads of her favorite) and if she comes back slowely one of her kibbles will do

HTH

Totally agree with anna, she will associate the telling off with the last behaviour that she did, which is coming back to you - so in effect you are actually spoiling all the work you have been doing on her recall.  To start with when she does come back, even if it takes a while, give her lots of praise and a treat, whatever her fave is.  Then as she starts to become more reliable just reward the quicker recalls with her fave treat and the slower ones with a cursory good girl or similar, but do this gradually - to start with no matter how irritated you feel by her taking a while to come back you need to praise her not tell her off.

Karen

Two lab puppies - my you do have your handsfull.....

There are three basic rules when teaching dogs how to live with humans - the first one is to make sure they can't actually do the stuff you don't like - so find out where she escapes from, and seal the holes.....  Secondly, make sure she has plenty of chances to actually do the kind of things she likes, so give her plenty of chances to play chasing games - try dragging a soft toy behind you for her to chase and 'kill'.  Thirdly, make sure YOU are the centre of her world, that she can come to you whatever she may have done without fear of 'punishment'. This may even mean training both pups seperatly and making sure they spend more time with you than with each other.

I have 3 dogs and as a responsible dog owner I have put up a 5 foot fence around our entire garden so that they cannot get out. When taking them for walks I originally used to tell them off when they didnt come back and this did nothing! I learned that when they are running off they are having the time of their lives and so why on earth would they want to come back to me?! So I walk them armed with treats, if they come back as soon as I call (9 times out of 10 now!!) they get a big fuss made of them with along with saying good boys and girls then they have a tasty treat and a quick tuggy with a toy. If they come back ages after I call then they just get a tip bit and a quick pat on the head. I think the aim of the game is you have to make it fun to come back! Hope this helps

I think others have already answered most of the points, would just like to add that the ONLY way of keeping any dog safely in your back garden is to make the garden 100 % dog proof! At least a 6 foot fence all around that cannot be dug under or eailsy climbed is essential. It's not up to the dog to stay where it is, it is up to the owner to make sure it cannot get out. Don't forget if your dog can get out, other dogs can also get in. (So what will happen when the bitch is in season?)  My dogs are totally reliable on recalls but I would not expect them to stay in my garden if there were ways for them to get out -after all you can't always keep your eyes on them and how are the dogs to know they are not allowed to go out.

Just another piece of advice about fencing - because it is, indeed up to you to keep her out of  neighbouring gardens, etc - and that is to make sure it will always be too high for her to jump. So don't base your calculations on her jumping capabilities at five and a half months or by 12 months she'll be clearing it like a champion showjumper! Also don't understimate the gap that a determined escapologist can squeeze through where the fence adjoins.

It sounds as if you have serious "dog-proofing" job to do!  It's the only way I'm afraid - and I do agree with the others - you don't want her to associate coming back to you with a scruffing and telling off - you HAVE to make coming back FUN!

I do appreciate how frustrating it is "rewarding" a puppy that's having a laugh at you - been there, sworn, had raised blood pressure - but you still have to make a fuss and "who's a good girlie then for coming back to Mum" when basically, you feel like booting her into the kitchen (figuratively, of course, I would never, ever kick a dog).

She's going to be coming into season soon - and then, if she's become accustomed to getting out, she will try even harder to escape - so you really do have to act quite quickly and get the whole garden dog-proofed.   I would also advise the concrete gravel boards at the bases of fences (either that or mesh dug underground) as I've had labs dig themselves out when the fence has been made too high to jump over.

Another tip - wobbly trellis on top of a fence means they can't get the traction to "haul" themselves over a fence.

Good luck!

Margot

Cor!! You have deer and rabbits in your gardens!
How jealous am i?!
All i have is poo, mud and the occasional Starling in mine. :rolleyes:
Not very helpful i know, but thought i would get it off my chest.

Good fences make for safe dogs....................

She does not KNOW she is not supposed to chase, she is a gundog and if her prey instinct is not channelled constructively, she will become self employed.

Basic recall training by making yourself more attractive than what she is currently doing is necessary (difficult now it has  become established) but her prey drive can be redirected on to a ball and then she will have no reason to go elsewhere as all the fun happens with you not on her own.

However this does mean a great deal of investment in time from you.

A whistle will only work when there is nothing else better to do in this case........

They are not magic wands but need to  be associated with "good things", preferably practically from birth.

Loads of training, rewards and do not put the dog in a position to fail and self reward and you will have a great dog.

Ditto with the others, it is your responsibility to contain your dog.

Your pup is being normal and following her natural instincts to play and chase, punishing her for it is like telling her not to breathe!!
Apart from the fact she does not really know what she is being punished for. :rolleyes:

To stop a dog following her natural instincts to fit in with our world, is down to your training and containing of her, so as others have suggested the fencing needs to be done, and then lots of recall training done by reward this is what dogs learn from. She is still only a baby, so don't expect miracles it will take time. :-)

If your garden is too large to be able to be fenced economically, why not fence a "pen" off for your puppies?   It will obviously have to be just outside the backdoor - or they will still escape.

I would add that if one does it, eventually both will decide to escape.

Margot

I had this problem and did fence my side oif teh garden adn the bottom, but the neighbour did not ahve a good fence on theother sied so I fenced in the first 15 feet of garden for the dogs.

Neighbour now has a good fence but Istill keep the partion fence as the man at the bottom is anti dog, so why give him ammo.  the dogs only need a bit of garden to do their business (makes picking up easier and means rrest of the garden is poo free, so kids can play with9ut watching for landmines), as after all most of theri excersise should come from walks with you.

Thanks all,

We do have a fencing problem and we have managed to plug the gaps but she is such a determined little bu***r that she still find her way through. Our problem is that we are in the military and our garden isn't properly fenced all the way round and we only rent our house (I know, there are no excuces!) Molly has managed to get under the wire fencing.

I have been taking all that you have said on board, it is very frustrating when she doesn't come back, she did it again this morning when my husband and I were just about to get to work! I'm going back to basics and starting fresh, lots of treats, praise when she comes back and when we move into our new house in Feb, good fencing. The problem with a ball is that Molly and Lottie just end up fighting all the time and never getting anything constructive done....I'm sure it will all get better, they are only young still.

I know she isn't a bad dog and she really is just following her instincs but...my god...its frustrating!! The yellow Lab, Lottie just follows her naughtyness but she is alot better at coming back.

I will let you know how its going.:rolleyes:

Thing is if you don't fence properly first time,a dn she learns she can get past your makeshif efforts, you may wel find that she may have learned to get over fences that most dogs would consider not trying.

I know what I am saying when I had a Belgian that started with 3 foot gate as a baby, then four feet then 6 feet,a dn after she had learnt how shw could clear 7 feet if she wanted.

Once you get to that stage the only thing you can do is ahve security fencing with those angled arms on the posts facing in with netting all around so they can no longer scale.

Having learnt my lesson with present dogs the four foot divider and 6 feet all aroudn keep them in.

My friend had one spot that was four feet and her male got the urge to jump ointo next door, they made it five feet and he coudl still jump it and then at 6 feet also.  In the end they just didn't let him have access to that side garden, but if it had been 6 feet to start he wouldn't have bothered.

Your pup has learnt she can have a hell of a lot more fun without you than with you, and her behavior is very rewarding so she will not stop.

Tell me about it. I have just spent 1.5 hours outside waiting for her to come back. She got under a wire fence and escaped again, despite my best efforts.  I did what you all have suggested and didn't shout at her and tried to praise her with treats when she came back to me.....'when' being the main word. She comes back when she wants..itsn't that the wrong way round??

Its as if she completely ignores me, well she blatently does and won't even come close (my fault from earlier tellings off). I managed to get her home not by my side but she followed me back and I gave her praise etc. Its very difficult to praise her when she has been so willful, knowing that she should come back but blatenly ignoring me. I have decided to put her on a long lead whilst she is is the garden, when we move to our new house the fence will be at least 7ft tall with no gaps!!!

I'm off now to defrost my hands...anymore suggestions??

Just keep doing what you're doing.  She's learnt she can have fun out there, so you've got to provide even more 'fun' at home with YOU.

BTW - she's not coming into season is she?

Having her on a long line when outside alone sounds like a good idea - but she'll need watching even more carefully to make sure she doesn't hurt herself OR the other dog, or try and get over the fence and injure herself (or worse :( )

As everyone says you have to 'praise' her when she comes back, just remember you can call her an 'evil little scumbag, + tell her you will skin her alive and all manner of evil things BUT you do it in a 'praise' voice.......
It helps you to let off steam and get rid of some frustration and the poor little beastie still thinks you are pleased with her!!

Jack

I'm not quite understanding something here.

Why don't you just buy a long line and every time she is outside, she trails a long line?  You never let her outside when you're not with her, and you practise recalls for tasty treats when she's on the long line outside.  Or maybe for a game of tuggy, if she likes that instead.  You need to use THE BEST treats you have - stinky mackerel which you can buy in packets at the supermarket in the freezer section, already smoked and ready to use, is my favourite.

Every time she manages to escape, she is learning how much fun it is to be on her own, out there, chasing things, without you.  This is not the way to set up a good working relationship.  YOu need to convince her that you are the centre of her world.

I'm afraid that if you have a determined escapologist and a garden that you can't properly secure her in - and I quite understand why you can't - then there is no shortcut to keeping her on a long line and never leaving her outside alone. I know it's a pain but far less of a pain that having to constantly extricate her from neighbouring gardens. I once had a lab X who I should have called "Houdini" and the more she escaped for a splendid jump around on the best kept allotments (she never chose the neglected ones!!) the more she developed a taste for it. As a result she was extremely difficult to recall whenever she was out for walks and despite endless training she was never totally reliable which was a great shame.

My lab chewed through an old chainlink fence so we put in a 6ft wooden one which has concrete footings so she cant dig under and escape

One warning about tethering her outside.  The tether must not be able to reach the fences as she will jump over and strangle herself!!!

This happened to me when I did this in desperation with my escapologist BSD, but thankfuly I saw it and the neighbour was in his garden and helped heave her back over, if he hadn't been she would have been dead