Training my dog not to run away

[Joanne Morson]

Hi my dog is 3 years of age, and she is a female Beagle. She is great with everyone and is very well behaved on leash and in the house but recently she's escaped by running out the door when we go outside. I'm very worried because she was almost hit by a car the last time. I've even tryed giving her, her favorite treats and running away to see if she would follow me, my neigbour tryed to get her to come but nothing worked.

Please help me i'm desparite,

Joanne Morson

[Daniela Jantzen]

Joanne,

to ensure your dog can't run out of the house and get hit, you should teach her to politely sit at the door, wait until it opens and walk out with your approval.
When you grab the leash and walk towards the door, she will probably already be waiting there, bluncing back and forth, anxious to get out.
If not, call her to your side and ask her to sit (until she offers this behaviour automatically, put her on the leash right then and there!). Reward her with a treat if she does so and open the door ever so slightly. If she gets up without your approval and wants to rush outside, quickly close the door, block her way out and gently lean forward, forcing her back into a sit position. Then open the door again a few inches.
If she remains seated, praise her and open the door a bit wider. If she trys to get up again, close the door again and start from the beginning.
Repeat a few times until she realizes: "when I get up - the door closes! If I want it to open again so I can get out - I have to sit. So I guess I better do that...... "
Once she associated that, simply say "ok" (or whatever word you use to release a command), open the door completely and walk her out on the lead.

You can even further this exercise by having her sit again outside, wait until you closed the door and allow her to walk on.
But just one step at a time, please. :wink:

Danny

[Joanne Morson]

Thanks a lot i'll try that and hope it will work :) I also have another question to ask. My dog is also really, really whiny. She will whine while she walks or while shes just sits. It gets really annoying and i dont know anyone else with this problem so i was hoping someone here would help me

Joanne

[Marsha]

I don't know if I can help about the whining. My dog whines, too, and it's mostly when he's excited. When we're walking, if he sees kids playing, and we don't walk close to them or they don't come over to say hello, he whines. He whines at our obedience class when we all have to gather together to listen to the instructor, and it isn't playtime with the other dogs. Sometimes, he whines when he's looking out the window while riding in the car. It really seems that he's excited about something when he whines.....not especially unhappy. Usually, whenever we pass the stimulus that caused him to whine, and he no longer sees it, he quits. We ignored him for his whining at home, and he doesn't do it anymore.
In other words, ignoring him seemed to make him stop inside. I'm trying ignoring him in obedience class, too. He eventually stops, but he's not where he won't do it initially yet. He's 9 months old, so his whining was worse when he was younger.

[Grace Erick]

Joanne, my house is connected to my garage, so I exit through my house into the garage where my dog won't go and if she did, it would act as a way to keep her from running out of the house, like some dog parks have double doors to keep dogs in and let dogs out.

If you are deparate, you can just close him in the biggest room in the house with his bed and maybe make that his room with toys and his food.

My friend's dog wines, and she thinks it's because he is male and not fixed. He will walk around my backyard and occasionally whine for no apparant reason since he's outside and with his sister's and my dog playing he is occupied.

[Eric Vecc]

Joanne, I think the reason it took a while for people to get back to you regarding your issue of run-away dog, it this is a training philosophy discussion forum. This is to discuss the various techniques of training, why they work and why they don't.

If you are looking for advice on how to train your dog, try posting it in the Clicker and Obedience Training section.

This section is more for questions about why your dog will respond certain ways (such as to hand movements or actions).