FYI: If you make a purchase via a link on this site, I may receive a commission from various affiliate programs, and as an Amazon Associate and Chewy affiliate I also earn commissions from qualifying purchases—at NO extra cost to you. See the Disclosure page for more information. Thank you!

Guide To Australian Shepherd Training & Care

Home

Run Away Aussie!

by Nikki
(Canada)

My Australian Shepherd (14 months) is usually extremely well behaved. 98% of the time he listens, the other 2% of the time he's already run so far he cannot hear me!

I go to a small off leash park (it's basically a large field) and it was great until my dog learned that one of his buddies lives right across the street. If he sees his doggie friend outside in the yard or walking around with the owner he takes off and I can't call him back. It's getting to be really frustrating because the road gets busy, sometimes other dogs will chase him and I don't want this behavior escalating. What can I do?

Comments for Run Away Aussie!

Click here to add your own comments

Off Leash Recall
by: Mike

My Aussie also had average off leash recall most of the time but on occasion it was terrible. It was like he said to himself " I'm a dog and I'm free ". My solution was to purchase a sports referee type whistle which I put on my key chain so I would always have it with me. Then for training I took him in the back yard and asked him to stay while I walked to the far corner of the yard. Then I would blow the whistle and when he came to me he got one of his very special bacon treats. I did this training several times a week at first and then tapered off to once every several weeks for reinforcement. I never used this whistle for anything else so that the only times in his life that he ever heard that whistle he got his special treat. I made use of the whistle only on those rare off leash occasions when he wouldn't respond and I thought there might be danger from traffic etc. When I did use it, it worked like a charm. On one occasion he even stopped in mid-squirrel chase in order to respond to the whistle. ........ WOW !!! The other nice feature about the whistle is that it can be heard above most all other background noises.

Run Away
by: Heidi M

I learned the hard way with my non-Aussie.

NEVER let your dog off leash unless he is 100% proven to come when called, with treats or favorite toy... We take our Aussie to a very secluded park off leash and she comes when called every time... that is the ONLY place she is unleashed... She is 4. Before she had a 20 foot leash where one of us was always on...

Do NOT take the risk.

Good luck,
Heidi

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Australian Shepherd Q & A.

Have Dog Training Questions?

Check out these introductory dog training videos...

I want my dog to stop being aggressive.

I want some help training my new puppy.

I want my dog to stop barking at everything.

I want my dog to walk nicely and calmly on the leash.

I want my dog to listen and come every time I call!

Back to Home

⌃ TOP ⌃

All Content Copyright © 2006-2024 by Anton Hout,
Australian-Shepherd-Lovers.com. All rights reserved.

Disclosure: If you make a purchase via a link on this site, I may receive a commission from various affiliate programs, and as an Amazon Associate and Chewy affiliate I also earn commissions from qualifying purchases—at NO extra cost to you. See the Disclosure page for more information. Thank you!

As stated in our Privacy Policy, Australian-Shepherd-Lovers.com
does not sell your personal information.