our 10 moth old GSP keeps on running off when ever we let him out. We have a house in the country and out garden only has a fence he can get through into the feild next door. he runs either in the feild or down the road with no pavement or houses. we've been phoned a few times by people who've found him. how can we stop him running off???

Ensure that you have a dog proof garden by erecting proper fencing, 6ft high if possible.

Ensure he has adequate exercise around 50 mins per day for his age.

ensure he has several mini training sessions a day to occupy him mentally.

Unless you put these in place your dog may well be killed, cause an accident or perhaps be shot by an irate farmer............

Could you not have him on a long lead on one of those metal stakes in the garden until you have trained him better?  And you will need to dog proof your garden.  You need to be confident he's going to do what you want and not what he wants before he's running around loose otherwise he's going to be a danger to himself and others.

CG

I really would not recommend attaching a dog onto an apparatus of this sort unsupervised.

Also confining him may lead to other unwanted behaviours such as barking, whining etc...........

we've tried attaching him to one of thoses lead things but he just barks and whines and eats the washing! we can't get fence seeing as it will cost a fotune to go round an achre and a half, but he's getting much better, although he did run into the road the other day.....

Hi Fee, what about fencing off a smaller area of the garden to make a dog run. Mine is about 10 feet wide and 18 feet long. I bought weldmesh online and fence posts at a DIY place, my not very handy husband found that little job a doddle, and is very proud of his acheivement. :)

Dawn R.

All you need to do is fence in part of the garden nearest the backdoor which will be his area when usupervised, you can then take him into the garden when you are training or can watch him.

Having had an escapist dog in my first I can tell you if it continues he will get to like his independance and will try harder and harder even when fencing is errected that would normally keep a dog in, and you will then have to make it extra secure.

My present dogs would be capable of jumping the four foot fence that divides my garden in two, and probably even the 5ft 6inch and 6foot perimiter fecne if they wanted to, but as they ahve never been able to go walkabout they have it in their minds that wlks mean my attendance. 

The only one I have recall troubles wih when she will take herself off on our walks is the one who used to do waht your dog does in her previous home.

Do not allow this to become a habit as being an independant hunting breed (liek my own) you will end up wityh a vety unreliable dog who will be killed on the road or shot.

I am sorry to hear about your GSP.  I had a bitch GSP who was sadly run over at the age of about 8 or 10.  We never did manage to stop her running away.  As I have posted elsewhere, she just used to go deaf when hunting.  I used to therefore never let her off the lead except in places where I knew she could not escape from - eg my parents very large garden.

The day she was run over she had slipped out of my grasp whilst I was putting the lead on her in the garden prior to taking her out for a walk.  A squirrel ran passed, and she was off.  I have never forgiven myself for not training her better.  No excuse.  It was my fault she was so disobedient.  I learned a bitter lesson that day.

Good luck with your boy.  He is very young, so I am sure you will get there.

As a matter of interest, what does everyone think about these electric collars?  I know someone who uses one to great effect.  The dog in question was not traumatised by the one or two belts of electricity he got when he tried to jump out of the back garden, and it has worked.  I can't help thinking though that a less intelligent dog could be driven to insanity by the experience of constantly having an electric shock.  I believe the RSPCA have condemned the use of these collars, and i can understand why.  I don't think I would ever want to use one, but just wonder what other people think?

I think the majority would think the same..

Yes, I think so too.  And yet had I had one for my escapee GSP she wouldn't have been run over, so it's obviously a very emotive subject.

Nikki123 - don't kid yourself that an e collar would have prevented your bitch getting run over - prey drive may well still have driven her on, passed the 'stim' of the collar - and if used in conjunction with an electric fence, she may have been prevented from returning to the safety of your property once she was no longer driven by the prey drive :(

Ohh please, not E-collars again. Please, please, please.

Dawn R.

Dawn

Sorry!  Have I stirred up a hornet's nest?  I've only just started coming on this site.  I'll shut up!

Nikki, you know, theres a search facility on this site. It's a mine of information, you could put in several hours, by reading some of the old stuff. As you might imagine, there are a few subjects that ALWAYS get heated, so doing a search is a good idea, to save raking up potential trouble. :)

Dawn R.

Point taken - but this is the first site I have ever joined where such a thing has been necessary!

we did fence of a small area but he got out eventually, and the grass died from him doing his buiness.

Gravel is not too expensive to use for a dog run,and is much easier to clean up than grass. :-)

Better the grass dies than your dog.............

yes i totally agree, we do have a large gravel drive but if we let him oout there off he goes. he went into the field next door yesterdayand chased a feasant into the road :o but he's ok. he'll grow out of it one day :)

>he'll grow out of it one day

I very much doubt it, now he's learned how much fun it is! You'll have to prevent him doing it, or one day he's going to cause an accident. :(

Fee fee, you either have to stop him doing this NOW - or I'm afraid that we will find you having to post on the Rainbow Bridge forum :(

Please - do all that is necessary to train your pup - he won't grow out of it - I know - I had one that never did - you will have to fence in part of the garden - gravel or pave it and fence properly  - an area that he cannot get out of - you might have to dig the netting into the ground - but if you don't, he'll find out just what fun pheasant chasing can be - and he will either end up dead on the road, or shot by an irate gamekeeper/landowner - and nobody wants that.

Unless he is on a lead, he just cannot be trusted outside on his own - its going to be hard work, but better than heart break.

Margot

I agree, I have a 5 1/2 year old that won't grow out of it as she discovered exploring on ehr own is fun, and she ca just come find me when she has had enough. 

Therefore she cannot be let off lead anywhere that she could get into mischief.  No amount of training on my part will convince her that once beyond my being able to physically restrain her she cannot just do as she wants!!  My others her daughter included have a reasonable recall for my needs and can be stoped by voice from going through a gap or stopped or moved on by voice.

Thankfully she is not an escapologist.

My first dog of a different breed was and fences would not stop her jumping out even after raising gate to over 7feet and having inclining wire, she judt found a different route.  it lead to ehr death at only 3 1/2 years old, just a moment of not watching her in the garden.  I had to use a tether when I couldn't supervise which |I hated, but on this occasion she was let out as I was washign up but one of the children distracted me for a moment and she had found a new escape route.  Over 6foot fence and hedge (higer than the fecne) into next door over their fence out into lane and off.

I agree - my dogs have terrible recall out on a walk, so are on leads, but because I used to just let them off (in a safe area, before anyone says anything!!), they have learnt to love their freedom and it's now taking me a hell of a lot of work to get a good solid recall trained into them.  They don't grow out of running away - if anything, it just gets worse, unless you stop them having the opportunity to do it and train them to return.  My dogs are only 2 yrs old and already are proving hard to train - do your dog a favour and keep her safe!  Even if it's only a little fenced in bit, it's worth it for her safety and your peace of mind.

As an owner of HPRs myself I can tell you that your dog will not grow OUT of it, only INTO it.  Because the nature of these dogs is to hunt, point and retrieve and if not properly chanelled they will go self employed and hunt, point, flush, kill and retrieve (or eat).  If the dog is having more fun hurtling about the countryside chasing pheasant (or rabbit, hare, fox, deer or, God forbid, sheep) you will never be of interest and neither will your garden.

I would suggest that your dog is not left to its own devices in the garden if you cannot or will not fence it in properly.

It takes two years of relentless, consistent training to have a THOROUGHLLY reliable recall IMHO with dog with a strong prey drive and it must start on Day 1 of them arriving in the house.

If you cannot or will not invest the necessary time in training perhaps your dog may have a longer and happier life in a more suitable home.

i thought he'd grow out of it as a friend of ours had a dog and he stopped running away after a while. well, as i said he's getting much better, and as he isn't even a year old we have time to train him more, hopefully before his 1st birthday. thanks for all the advise ;)