Anyone have any tips on keeping the dog from running off for an hour or two when the kids leave the door open? He goes off and sniffs and hunts for bones. He has a great hunting sense of smell and just loves to go wander. I also need to teach him to retrieve ducks but am not close to water at home. Any dry land tips?

Go on HRC web site and try to find a club
near you.
It's a puppy or grown dog. What breed?

Beat all the kids every time one of them leaves the door open!



Sorry mate...... I just couldn't resist that one.

Google E-collar containment systems.

Thanks.
3 year old Logoto Romagnolo.
http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-b...otto-Romagnolo-Breed
The collar is an idea worth looking into.
Found a local HRC Club. No not the gay rights one lol.

e-collars have come a long way. My old way was to load the collar up with a 5 plug and light him up if he didn't do what he was supposed to. (I must admit I considered the same thing with the kids[I probably would have dropped it down to a 3 plug, at least to start], but I was afraid that if CPS took them away it might create a rift in my relationship with my wife.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
Anyone have any tips on keeping the dog from running off for an hour or two when the kids leave the door open? He goes off and sniffs and hunts for bones. He has a great hunting sense of smell and just loves to go wander. I also need to teach him to retrieve ducks but am not close to water at home. Any dry land tips?

Vigilance.

By that I mean be always ready, willing and able to go in motion after that dog 24/7/365. When that dog's gone, go find it and I mean now and run it back home! I had my last male lab trained so I could full sprint across the lawn and driveway with him at my side until I crossed the street and he'd skid to a halt at the edge of the property line. I always went after him, found him and scolded him back home.

Retrieving should be a matter of repetition. Over and over and over you and the dog have more fun than anything else playing fetch in the yard, school football field, lake shore, river bank, beach, park, abandoned lot, national forest. Oh yeah, Walmart parking lot. No matter where you go or what you're doing, you got time to fetch with the dawg for five minutes.

I kept a frozen spoonie or some other less than desirable table fare duck in the freezer, I busted it out at least once a week and pitched it into the brush along a local creek in the park. I'd follow up with the dog and we'd hunt and find the frozen spoonie in the brush. Found and retrieved to hand.

People always give me funny looks when I put the e-collar on my kids...

How old are your kids?

I live in town, so I can't have the dog running off at all. I do use the e-collar on the dog when I let her out of the kennel (she's now 2 years). I use the "pager/vibration" function of her collar (Dogtra) while calling "come". She responds well.

If she doesn't respond, I give her a brief shock, even if I can't see her. I'm very reluctant to use the shocker if I can't see her (and even when I can see her). Plus, she's a Brittany/Springer mix, so she doesn't need much stimulus.

the last word I'd recommend is talking to your kids about the consequences of the dog getting out...as in DEATH! We live close to a highway that goes through town, and dog's don't have the 9 lives cats do...my kids are 8 & 10, so they're old enough to understand that...but a 3 or 5 year old should understand that too!

Best wishes & good luck

While I agree with Steves reply, I would invest in a shock collar and learn to use it properly.
Do a search on The Collar Clinic in Traverse City,Mi, They have new and reconditioned collars of different makes.
My choice would be a Tri Tronics.
I've owned Tri Tronics equipment for a lot of years and have had real good service out of them.
A side note, no shock collar will work without your participation. To clarify that, you have to be there to correct the dog.
My Daughter's GSP got hit by a car while wearing a Tri Tronics collar because she was in the house doing dishes or whatever and not paying attention to the dog, the dog lived through it.

Stepchild

I've no idea what they're called but FWIW, my neighbour has a cable buried all the way around the perimeter of his property and a collar on his dog...... as the dog approaches the cable he gets some kind of buzz and if he doesn't stop then a shock is administered.

The dog learned the boundaries within a few days.

There is a containment system coming out that works off GPS. Apparently you set out the boundaries of your place on Google maps then up load it into the collar. When the dog gets near the uploaded boundary he gets a zap. No need to bury a wire around the yard.

Thanks guys. I'm looking into the collar choices. I'd just hate for the dog to be hit by a car. I thought of a dilemma. I have chickens and have trained him to stop killing the chickens so I'm worried about encouraging duck retrieving. Anyone have this issue?