Doing my head in!! *UPDATE*

Max has always been good when he's called to go back on his lead after a run around in the park, but lately he's getting beyond a joke. He refused point blank to come back to me this morning when he realised that playtime was over and it was time to go back home (it was freezing cold and snow was starting to fall).

He would come so far, he scoot off so I couldn't grab or catch him. I tried ignoring him in the hope that he'd forget and come to me for a treat, I tried enticing him with sticks (his favourite thing to chase in the park), I tried sitting down on a bench to see if he'd just sit quietly with me but nothing worked.

It was only when another dog appeared and he laid down for the other dog to sniff him that I managed to grab him to get the lead on him. As it goes, it was my husband's friend's dog who I know. I was so grateful to get him back on the lead as I was starting to panic.

My husband said that for the past week he's been in the same with him too. He usually takes him out in the van to a lake and walks right around it (off lead) but when it comes to clipping it back on, he's a total nightmare. But as soon as he opens the van door, he's happy to jump in of his own accord and go home.

Any ideas what I can do? I don't want to just walk him on the lead all the time, he needs to have freedom to enjoy the park but to know that when it's time to go home, the lead needs to be back on him.

As always, thanks in advance for any advice on what to do...

Hi Nicci, my Max is the same if we havent been out long, its like he will only cooperate if he's had a decent run or workout

How long is he off lead for, and do you tire him out ?

I had exactly the same problem with Tily a couple of times and it was when I only had 5 minutes to get to work, like you I tried everything and to her it was just a big game , whilst I was getting angrier and angrier, Tilly too stopped for another dog , she grew out of it by herself though , I've found if she was awkward I would pretend I was going to leave her , just the 2 occasions when she didn't seem to care. So not so much help but you are not alone

Thanks for your replies, we were in the park for over an hour and a half, plus the walk to it which is about another 20 minutes so it can't be that. He had a good run chasing after sticks whilst we were there too. He's just being a nightmare I think. It took me another half an hour to get him back on the lead as well. By the time I got him on the lead I was close to tears with fright that I'd never get hold of him.

try varying the home time/place. if you usually start a walk and finish it at the same spot, let him off as usual and play with him and grab him like half way through the walk or at different spots everytime so he doesnt anticipate being caught in the one spot

My old dog was the same, so we used to call him back to us a few times on the walk and just praise him then send him on his way again. This meant he would always come back, because he didn't know if he was going to get a treat or praise or be put back on. Like Hayley said they also know when it is home time if they are let off and put back on in the same place, so try varying that.

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maybe try some obedience classes . teaching your dog to come when called (recall) is one of the most important things he can learn .

Brilliant ideas (as usual with this board, thank you!). I'm going to try the treat/praise/lead technique and see how I get on and also the putting him on the lead at a different point. I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks once again for all your input and help, I *knew* you'd come up with the answer! (Fingers crossed!)

or start to go home to scare him into thinking you will leave him there

Hubby took him for a long walk yesterday and after reading all the advice decided to try the call to him, give him a treat/praise him all the way around method. It was as if he knew when it was time to go home, because he said, he totally reacted differently when he was called even though hubby made no change to what he was doing at all.

To entice him, he took a packet of Wotsits with him (Max's favourite). He was salivating, he wanted them so much, but there was no way he was going to near enough to be clipped back on the lead.

In the end, he walked away from him and left him in the park. Max followed him, but by this time, hubby had had enough and just kept on walking until he got to the road. He sat down on the ground, once he got to the pavement and as near as he dared to the main road and Max just sat down right next to him, hubby clipped him to his collar and off they went. Weird or what?

I won't write what he called him, but it was something along the lines of "If he wasn't chipped, I would have left him there" (or words to that effect ... )

I'm off on leave next week, I've decided that our early morning walks will have to be just that for this week. I don't dare leave him off the lead as I only have an hour to walk him before I have to get ready for work). Next week I'm really going to have to crack this as I think it does him the world of good to have a good run around off lead.

The terrible teans and hes a clever boy to know just how to get you going, his safety is more important than a off lead run just hope you can nip it before he goes that step further and runs into the road or something if it were me hed be on a training line until he comes when called

can i recommend you read a book called Calming signals by Turid Rugass. its a very insightful book and will help you to know your dog better...when you are trying to get him back on the lead watch how many times he licks his nose. or when you finally mannge to get him back on the lead does he stop dead still and offer one paw??? i am not going to say to much cos you might disagree with me, but you need to read that book they have it on amazon.. totally changed river and our reactions once i read it and put stuff in place:)

SbtMax wrote:
In the end, he walked away from him and left him in the park. Max followed him, but by this time, hubby had had enough and just kept on walking until he got to the road. He sat down on the ground, once he got to the pavement and as near as he dared to the main road and Max just sat down right next to him, hubby clipped him to his collar and off they went. Weird or what?

Maybe Max realised that he had pushed hubby too far.
Glad you got him home safe, I hope you manage to fix it soon.