I had a scare over the weekend. We were out in the country near where my husband works. Pastureland, scrub oak, trails. Great place to walk off leash, no one is ever there, but there are some fences few and far between so the dog can't get lost.

We were nearing the end of our walk with Leonidas off leash. He for some reason got happy and started running large circles around us (about 25 yard diameter or so). It was nice to see him run all-out, he so enjoys it. Then suddenly he went a little wider and through a row of eucalyptus trees. As he was turning to come cack towords us, I noticed he was heading right into the very last segment of fencing that had been running along the tree line. It was the wire type with about 9 inch or so squares. I started yelling "no, stop!" but he didn't and ran head long into the fence. At the last possible second I think he saw it and tried to break, but couldn't in time. I thought for sure he would be hurt, but he came immediately back to us, and other than a welt across his forehead, seemed OK. He still has a small mark there today.

My question in all this is, is there a way to teach him to "stop"? How would you go about doing this? Is this something that would be better trained with an e-collar? Am I silly to think he would actually stop when in full run?

pics of him at full speed:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r42/shodyL/waller3-1.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r42/shodyL/waller4-1.jpg

Thanks.

I teach a "wait" command in all of my dogs. Does not mean they have to come back to me, but they know to not go forward until I release them with an "okay" or "get back to work".

Maybe teaching the "down in motion" would achieve the same thing? I haven't taught this, but I believe it's used in schutzhund. Just a thought...

He will "wait" at the door, or before getting out of the car, until released. But can this be transfered to when he is at a full run? How would I go about teaching this? Obviously, start at a walk, maybe with someone helping me by holding the long line to stop him when I give the command? Tips would be appreciated.

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Maybe teaching the "down in motion" would achieve the same thing? I haven't taught this, but I believe it's used in schutzhund. Just a thought...

Where can I find out more about this?

Thanks.

I have no advice Shody but I wanted to say that your dog is too adorable.

I guess you can use "sit" too if your dog knows to sit right away instead of him coming to you and then sitting.

Does he know what "stop" means?

Thanks! He is quite a big goof and still so much a puppy!

No, he doesn't yet know stop, that's what I need to teach him.

I'm not a dog trainer, just trying to figure out a way to do this. I'm thinking maybe on a long line. Maybe toss something, and when he starts to go for it give the "stop" command and halt him with the line? until he starts "stopping" on his own at the command? This seems like it would be easier that trying to find a way to teach it when coming at me. And then maybe once he "gets it" it will transfer to incoming also?

Does this seem like a good way to start, or is there another better way? This is what I know I will get from all the extremely knowledgeable trainers on her, Exact advice! I need step by step, I'm a much slower learner than my dog!

My dog learned stop by walking on a leash. I would say "stop" and make sure the dog also stops then I push his butt down in a sit. Not sure if it's just another sit command. ??? A dog trainer got me into doing this. He can do this off leash from a distance now. Still working on distractions though.

I haven't done schutzhund, but I have taught my dog to down on command while playing. I started by calling him to me in the back yard and giving him the down command when he was about half way to me. Then I started doing it during play, while he was bringing a ball back to me. Next I started doing it while he was chasing the ball or the Frisbee. For this last I used a remote collar to help reinforce the command. He isn't perfect yet, but we continue to work on it and he is getting better.

Assumption here is that your dog knows his sit and down commands and obeys them around the house or on walks. If not, you need to teach them first.

yes, he knows them. We have been working on down from a distance also. I have only gotten about 25 ft. away so far. I put him in a sit, walk away, turn and give him the down. He does it well. If I then tell him to sit, he always bounces back up and takes a few steps in my direction before sitting. We are working on that. I haven't tried to get him to down while on recall or playing. I will start working on that too.

I have heard that people who are training hunting dogs teach "whoa" for thier dogs to stop instantly. This is what I was thinking. A way to get him to stop.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.