Getting Loose Dog Back into Home

  • Getting Loose Dog Back into Home

    Posted by Clay on April 26, 2021 at 7:33 AM

    I learned this morning I need to double down on teaching recall. I’m afraid I may have handled this incorrectly when my 4 month old got out the front door – he pushed it open, and I’m pretty sure pulled the handle down to open it. I tried running away to get him to chase me, which almost worked but I could never grab him. I tried throwing toys, but could never get close enough to him. After running all around our block, I finally went into the house after he got back to our yard. Fortunately he walked up to the porch after a minute when he realized I wasn’t playing with him. I was able to pick him up and bring him inside at this point. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and made it very clear I was upset with him, but I clearly scared him a little bit. After calming down, I had to coax him back out of his crate to give me a hug before leaving for work. Hopefully this never happens again, but how do I teach him that running away from me isn’t a game? Does something like this warrant me letting him know he was doing something wrong? Or did I make it worse by getting upset when he finally came back to the porch?

    Bill replied 2 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • Bill

    Member
    April 26, 2021 at 9:43 AM

    Hi @cbetts07 – Your effort was valiant in the scary scenario and I’d concur with you, while you may have messed up when you were making your point, the good news is, dogs generally don’t hold grudges as they live in the moment. You may have set yourself back a bit, but your renewed efforts and consistent leadership will get you through this. You may find Robert’s video on Door Darting to be timely. Conditioning your dog that an open door is not an invitation to make a run for it may be just the ticket. All the best!!

    https://robertcabral.com/courses/door-darting/

    Door Darting

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