Here's the deal...it's 3:00 am, I'm soaking wet, and I'm out of breath. Why? Because I've been chasing Vader for over 45 minutes outside in the pouring rain. He woke me up whining so I naturally assumed he wanted out. I clipped on his leash and out we go. Somehow, he managed to quickly back out of his collar (I know, I know, collar was obviously too loose) and took off at a flat run before I could even register what happened (it was 2 am after all). I of course tried calling him back several different ways, and I may of well been invisible. He finally slowed down to a trot and I got close to him several times, but he wouldn't let me get close enough to grab him. Long story short, I finally herded back into our yard and while he was busy sniffing, ran upstairs and got a bowl of food. Luckily, he came over and I was able to grab him. Here's my deal. My husband is leaving in less than a month to go to Haiti for a year. Our infant son is having surgery TODAY (geat start to the day, huh) and I am completely lost with what to do with Vader. Yes, he's a great dog and I want to keep him, but he has been having some issues lately (can you say CONSTANT whining when in the crate!) If my husband hadn't been home asleep, there is no way I could have chased him. I couldn't leave our two young children alone like that and he would have been gone. Is this an issue that is easily corrected or should I consider rehoming him? I "thought" his recall was solid...apparently not.

That is scary! One of my collies backed out of a regular buckle collar (despite it fitting snuggly) and ran off across the desert. I found him and got him back but it was very scary. In my case the collar problem was not the fit but the way the collar could easily slip over the collie head. My solution was to get a nylon martingale style collar.

As far as the crate whining goes, if you're sure he does not need to go out just let him whine and stay in his crate. Or go ahead and correct him for it (I know, I know ignoring is best). You also might want to increase his before bedtime exercise so that he's more tired out when you put him in for the night.

Hopefully this is just another teenage testing phase that will soon end.

 Quote: Elaine Haynes

As far as the crate whining goes, if you're sure he does not need to go out just let him whine and stay in his crate. Or go ahead and correct him for it (I know, I know ignoring is best). You also might want to increase his before bedtime exercise so that he's more tired out when you put him in for the night.

Mine do this on and off, whining in the crate for no reason and when I let them out they just stand there and then walk back to the door to be put back in their crates. Like Elaine said if you know he shouldn't need to go potty just leave him in there to settle back down, I found a squirt with a water pistol quickly quiet mine back down. Good luck, really hope this works out for you!

Wow, very scary and frustrating.

Do you have a good ecollar for him? I would start conditioning him to an ecollar so you can start incorporating that into your training in a few weeks.

Olivia,
So what kind of training are you doing?
This dog is 7 or 8 months old correct?

Was he chasing something? What prompted him to slip his collar?
Did he ever stop to do his business? Was that the cause of the whinning or was it because of what he decided to chase?

Solid recall for a 8 month driven dog is a mistaken notion. imho


You just got a wake up call. No harm, no foul.
You won't make that mistake again, will you.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

 Quote: olivia brown

Is this an issue that is easily corrected or should I consider rehoming him? I "thought" his recall was solid...apparently not.

It can easily be prevented by his wearing of a different collar -perhaps a prong and slip collar as backup to the prong... but the recall issue is going to take effort and time. An ecollar, as Mara suggested, might be in order.

ETA: AND best of luck with your little one's surgery!

A possible reason for a male acting "out to lunch" could be neighborhood dogs in heat.
I bet you were scared to death. Good for you to catch him.
You want to keep Vader if your husband is going away, he adds safety to your home.
Prayers for you with the baby in surgery.

Welcome to adolescence!

I agree with randy. He probably won't truly have a solid recall for a while. Don't take it personally, just keep working at it and keep him on a long line. Even now I still have to occasionaly go back to having my dog drag her six foot just to remind her that I can always get her. Its less and less but she still gets fresh sometimes, and she's almost two!

A few things to try if you ever find yourself in that situation again:
1 you run away from him. Just give a sharp whistle and take off as fast as you can.
2. Lay down flat. He will come over out of curiosity and you can nab him. It sounds crazy but it works!

My Vice will slip his collar if he feels like he wants to go for a run. I have a dominant dog collar as a back up to my prong that Vice just wears all the time. I live in an apartment and the prong is a hassle to put on for every potty break so he wears the dominant dog collar.

Does Vader have a microchip? This might ease your mind if you ever had to choose between chasing and going back home with the kids.

 Quote: randy allen

Solid recall for a 8 month driven dog is a mistaken notion. imho

This is good to know.

Olivia, keep the big guy. You're doing fine.