Everyone has given me loads of advice so far about my Boxer pup - so here goes, another question you might be able to help me with.

My 16 week old Boxer pup is doing really well (she's a clever little thing) - I've been taking her to puppy classes and now she sits, lies down and stays when you ask her to - well most of the time!! (bribing her with her favourite food plays a big part).

The only thing I'm struggling to teach her is to come back to me when she's off the lead. She's fine when there is nobody around - she'll stay close by and come when she's told. But... as soon as she sees another dog, a jogger, somebody on a bike, or basically anything that moves, she off and completely ignores me when I try to get her to come back. I've tried food, her favourite squeaky toy, running away from her and hiding, but she takes no notice.

It's not so bad now as she's only small, but when she is fully grown I can quite imagine her scareing people and other dogs as she bounds up to them.

Has anyone got any advice I how I can get her to stop doing this. Thanks.

Time, patience, and maturity :) :)

Seriously, it's best to get her into the habit of a controlled recall before you let her have her head (freedom) off of the line. Make it fun for her to come back to you, but don't let her loose where it is absolutely imperative that she obeys you. She's just too young for this and it usually will take some time for the maturity level to reach the reliable obedience stage :)

That said: I met a Boxer which escaped off of his leash last month and came racing after us (my girls and I had passed him on my bike). He ran up, my two reacted to his sudden appearance, chewed him out, and he had such a hurt look on his face afterwards. He couldn't wait to run back to 'mommy' :) :) I thought he was still a puppy (14-18 months.) I met him and his owner a week later. I was surprised to see this bouncing "puppy" as a fully mature 5 year old :rolleyes: Such a sweet dog, but so much Tigger in him :D :D
toodles

But surely you know that Boxers remain puppies until they go into old age, usually at about 10 years old!

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

Perhaps you could put her on one of those extending leads. So when she bounds off she can't get to what she wants and you could practice getting her back to your side. Once she is regularly doing this, then you could let her off. It is difficult at the moment I know because you don't know if the dog she bounds up to is going to be friendly. My dogs always react to loose dogs running up and getting "in their face". If she does get a nip (or a bite) it could easily affect the way she sees other dogs. I would put her on the extending lead which will give her a little freedom and you can practice the recall.

Regarding joggers, cyclists etc, take her to where you meeet a lot of them, but a little beyond her critical distance, so she is a bit interested (pricked ears?) but not pulling to get to them.

Reward her for good and calm behaviour with a treat or play wiht a toy.If you use a clicker you can mark the exact moment the jogger goes by and the pup will learn it is the ignoring that gets rewarded.

Gradually over weeks get closer to joggers/cyclists.

It may help if you have a "leave it" command as well, if she gets very over excited, and then reward her for looking at you. Take it very slowly and reward each little step.

Later, probably several months later, use a long line and harness, and so give her more freedom to choose herself, reward her for good choices :)

Eventually she will be trustworthy off lead.

It does take a while but is worth it. Her chase instinct is I expect more due to play than real predatory mode :)

If at all possible, never get her in the postition where she wil get a chance to chase until she is reliable, or it wil undo a fair bit of training.

Best wishes and have fun, the Boxer sounds lovely

Lindsay

Thanks for the suggestions - I already put her on an extending lead when we go for walks across fields and in parks (but sometimes take her off it if there is nobody about and we're not near roads). I haven't tried rewarding her for coming back on the lead - although she is pretty good and doesn't tend to pay as much attention to dogs and cyclists etc when she's on it. I'm taking her for a walk after work so I'll give it a go and hold off letting her off the lead until she has a bit more control.