I'm not letting him off his lead any more!

Kuchar is now 10 months old, we've had him 7 months. I've been training him every day to "come here" and he gets a bit of liver, pat, and praise. I thought I'd got it pretty good (except when he sees another dog, then he goes selectively deaf). I only let him off the lead on a very secure (so I thought) stretch of walk where there are garden fences along one side, and a small river (which he doesn't go near) on the other. All the time calling him back to me at intervals for his liver, praise, etc. I was feeling pretty pleased with him!

Today, on this "secure" stretch of walk he was sniffing in the bushes and I walked on a few yards, turned and called "come here". No dog - he had vanished off the face of the earth. Desperately searching amongst the bushes on my side of the garden fences, I found there was a small gap in the fence at the back of one house, one which had obviously been used before, probably by foxes.

I ran round to get to the front of these houses and met my son - he had been phoned by some young mums who complained that they had found Kuchar outside the local shops and he was jumping up at their children and upsetting them. My son brought Kuchar home then came to look for me. Kuchar had obviously found this hole in the fence, gone into the house's back garden, through to the front, across the busy road and to the shops where he saw PEOPLE who he loves nearly as much as other dogs.

That's it - tomorrow a trip to Pets At Home to buy an extendable lead.

I'm still trying to recover from my heart attack.

Ok no harm done in the end to anyone so you're probably right to take these precautions

i have an extender lead get the longest you can get and the ribbon one , it is fantastic for those that cannot be let off

Thank you Dave, I appreciate your support. I am still shaking - you think they're in a safe place and they find SOME way of confounding you. I've never come across this before in my experience - I would have hoped that my dog's love for me (not to mention the prospect of some liver) would have got him back to me - it was only a matter of seconds, literally - but it seems I Just Can't Trust Him.

I hope the day dawns when his recall is perfect no matter what the temptation (but how to test this?) - maybe when he's older and more mature. I just feel so sad that he wants to escape from me.

Thank you Roz - I think I will need one made of steel hawser, Kuchar is so strong I am afraid of it breaking.

You shouldn't feel like that as he's young and it's a big adventure , I'm just lucky that my 2 are scaredy cats and don't like to be too far away. Take your time with some recall and practice on getting some trust back

You're a great comfort Dave, thank you!

new Staffy owner wrote:You're a great comfort Dave, thank you!

You just sound a bit shaken up by it all so get a cup of tea or a can of lager (I prefer the latter) and chill out . The tape extender is good BTW but I prefer the cord one as it doesn't get tangled. Of course your other option is a long training line (30 feet or so) this way you can practice your recall whilst he is in grabbing distance , just let the training line trail on the floor and if you need to get him quickly you can grab the line, stand on it , whatever you have to do. High value treats are the key to success , he has to know it's worth coming back

Thanks Dave - I'm having a glass of wine

Training line is a good alternative idea I hadn't thought of; unfortunately our "walks" are a bit muddy now and all that gathering up into increasingly muddy hands ...

And I'm hating the idea that other dog walkers will see my lad on a lead and think "a Staff on a lead, must be dangerous". Still, lesser of the two evils - I can always explain to the other dog walkers.

I do appreciate your (and Roz's) support.

a training line is exactly that , for training so why should anyone think anything good luck

Thanks Dave, good point.

Calming down now, thanks to you and dry white wine

Think that we have all been there, took lexi to the market once and she was in the car and then i opened the door she bolted and i had to run around the market after her, i was just waiting for her to get into a nice fight lol never took her back to the market.

I found the ribbon leads the best, i did spend like £30 on mine (a pink one, obv..) but some bugger and i think i know who stole it.

Thanks Hayley, it's horrible isn't it. Kuchar has also bolted out of front door but this felt worse to me for some reason, he was just so LOST for about 5 years (or so it seemed).

Kuchar is our first dog for 10 years, since our last Dobe died, so I'm a bit out of touch - what is a ribbon lead?

Oh, and I'm sorry that "someone" stole it.

It's so scary when that happens - you automatically think the worst & panic! Dempsey disappeared from the park when my oh was walking him - he was only 6 months old. My oh searched for nearly an hour & eventually came home to face me & tell me he'd lost my dog. As he came to the door, Dempsey shot out of our next door neighbour's front garden, furiously wagging his tail & looking very sorry for himself. He'd gone home on his own - across two main roads! Don't blame yourself - it happens. For the time being use a long training line & just let it trail. Every so often call him back & if he doesn't come first call, reel him in! He'll get there!

new Staffy owner wrote: I just feel so sad that he wants to escape from me.

You mustn't think like that! He's young, he gets carried away by new & exciting things. He obviously found the gap & decided to explore - it had nothing to do with not wanting to be with you, just the lure of exploring new things! ><

noah won't come to me at all, cos he thinks i'm going to take him out in the rain for a wee, ears down, won't budge from his cushion, not even for a treat.
but when he's outside and i call him to come in he's like usain bolt!!!!
quirky little things aint they !!

Oh thanks for the big hug Caryll. It was just so frightening.

A long lead it is ....

You've been so kind everyone. Thank you.

new Staffy owner wrote:Oh thanks for the big hug Caryll. It was just so frightening.

A long lead it is ....

You've been so kind everyone. Thank you.

It's why we are here, we are not all experts in our own right but we all , including you, have experiences of one kind or another that we work through and hopefully in a years time you will still be around here and giving someone else a "forum hug" now go get another glass of wine

That must have been quite a shock for you, I can sympathise somewhat with how you must have felt.

The training line will be an excellent idea for recall training and also peace of mind for you.

I know Dave, this website is THE BEST and I'm so grateful to you all for your help and sympathetic support. Although I have had dogs for most of my life, barring the last 10 years, and I am now 63, I have never had a dog that has run away from me before and it shook me to the core, it was soooo frightening. I've forgiven the little blighter - he is a teenage youth after all - and he is now lying sweetly asleep like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

Don't need that other glass of wine as I feel so much better through your all help and support.

Like Hayley said we've all been there. Millie jumped out of a taxi one night and took off in the dark. I was wandering around in tears looking for the white tip of her tail lol. A guy out walking his dog found her and saw me wandering around thankfully. Long leads are great, they get some freedom but you still have some control

We never let Suki off either unless we are sure that she is in a closed in area. Long lines are great though.

Use a long line - 10 metres and keep practising the recall.
Then hook up another line onto the first, so you have 20 metres.
Then 30 metres.
All the while working on recall.
He'll get it eventually.
Glad you got him back.

Thank you Paul, Caroline, Kathy, Dave, Caryll, Roz, Working Dog, jstaff - oh everyone.

I feel much better now thanks to you all, although this little blighter will NOT be off lead for some time yet.

new Staffy owner wrote:Thank you Paul, Caroline, Kathy, Dave, Caryll, Roz, Working Dog, jstaff - oh everyone.

I feel much better now thanks to you all, although this little blighter will NOT be off lead for some time yet.

>< >< >< new day today

Dave wrote:

new Staffy owner wrote:Thank you Paul, Caroline, Kathy, Dave, Caryll, Roz, Working Dog, jstaff - oh everyone.
I feel much better now thanks to you all, although this little blighter will NOT be off lead for some time yet.

>< >< >< new day today

Double >< ><

And yes, take every day as a new start!

Hi everyone - yes new day today and Kuchar now has his long lead.

Oh the bliss! He can run around like mad and I've still got him!

So it's a more exhausting walk for him and a less exhausting walk for me.

Double Hooray. Thank you EVERYONE.

new Staffy owner wrote:Hi everyone - yes new day today and Kuchar now has his long lead.

Oh the bliss! He can run around like mad and I've still got him!

So it's a more exhausting walk for him and a less exhausting walk for me.

Double Hooray. Thank you EVERYONE.

I think the thing with a long lead is that it gives you more confidence & so the dog relaxes a bit.

Yes I do feel more confident.

I can't thank you all enough for the support you have given me.

>< to everyone

Now all you have to do is learn to keep 100% of the lead off the ground - this is the tricky bit.

Hi Lynda,
I'm 65 and Bacchus is my first dog for over 20 years and my first staffie, I had GSDs before so I can appreciate the stresses of trying to get it right. It's very worrying raising a puppy at our age but also such a pleasure. ( See my thread on SHARING )

Hi Rodger and thank you.

At the risk of repeating myself, I am not in my first flush of youth either - Kuchar is my first Staffy after years of owning Dobermanns - so we have much in common.

Your comment about raising a puppy at our age being worrying struck a chord. Maybe we DO worry more at our age, I hadn't thought of that before. And particularly perhaps with a breed we have not been familiar with in the past.

I've raised puppies before (as no doubt you have) and thought that this time round would be a walk in the park, and then things came up to surprise me and worry me, and yes worry me more than they would have in the past (except for Kuchar getting lost, that was a unique experience and would have worried me in my 30s as much as now).

Thank goodness for this website forum, everyone has helped me tremendously and it feels like I am among friends.

I just feel a bit shy now of offering my opinions in light of the wobbles I have revealed on these pages. But I guess we all learn by our mistakes as well as our successes and being me, I can't resist adding my tuppence-worth on occasion.

new Staffy owner wrote:Hi Rodger and thank you.

At the risk of repeating myself, I am not in my first flush of youth either - Kuchar is my first Staffy after years of owning Dobermanns - so we have much in common.

Your comment about raising a puppy at our age being worrying struck a chord. Maybe we DO worry more at our age, I hadn't thought of that before. And particularly perhaps with a breed we have not been familiar with in the past.

I've raised puppies before (as no doubt you have) and thought that this time round would be a walk in the park, and then things came up to surprise me and worry me, and yes worry me more than they would have in the past (except for Kuchar getting lost, that was a unique experience and would have worried me in my 30s as much as now).

Thank goodness for this website forum, everyone has helped me tremendously and it feels like I am among friends.

I just feel a bit shy now of offering my opinions in light of the wobbles I have revealed on these pages. But I guess we all learn by our mistakes as well as our successes and being me, I can't resist adding my tuppence-worth on occasion.

Don't be shy on this forum, everyone wants to help.

BTW I had a Dobie in between my two GSDs but the staffies seem to be a different kettle of fish. I'm finding Bacchus, at 14 weeks, is beginning to enjoy cuddles on the settee more and more.

Although I used to assist with training at our local GSD classes, I have enrolled him in classes up here in Aberdeen, geared mainly for staffies, beginning next Tuesday.

Good luck with your puppy.

Don't be shy on this forum, everyone wants to help.

I know, that is what so great about it. Everyone has been Marvellous and I feel that we are all friends.

but the staffies seem to be a different kettle of fish

Yes, different to my previous dogs for sure. I loved my Dobes of course, and they loved me I am sure of it but just a little more "restrained" shall we say in their demonstrations of that love than my Staff. His exuberant licks and embraces - I can hardly breathe sometimes!

Know the feeling mate,but a WELL traine staffy can be let off its lead no bother,but yeah the extender lead will improve things .it will instill a natural 'radius' which still exists when off the lead.have you tried balls ? And toys to focus your pups attention,worked for me and now he is OBSESSED WITH THE BALL haha

We are having exactly the same problems with miley. She has run off 3 times in the 7 months we have had her. She held up a line of cars the first time and run home the second time. The third time she ran away she cut her paw on glass. We already use a 7 metre extending lead and are calling her back like you do with treats. We have just bought a 50 foot training lead and will be taking her to the park where she ran away to see how she behaves. It is very worrying and we felt like she didn't love us its a big let down. She seems to get distracted by birds other dogs and anything that moves. She is improving though it takes a lot of time and hard work.

Been forced off-line by my non-existent internet connection, so am just catching up.

My experience is EXACTLY like Mark's with Miley. I do training on the long lead off course, he's perfect so long as no distractions are around, but when distractions ARE around it all goes out the window and I'm glad to have the long lead on him then. And he is SO nosy and inquisitive, if he sees a gap in a fence or a hedge he thinks "I wonder what's beyond there?" His recall goes out the window then too.

gfranco - thank you for your support. I'm glad a ball works for you and your pup. Yes I have tried it and although it works when there are no distractions; again - if a person, a dog, a bird , an intriguing unexplored space hoves into view he doesn't want to know. I wish Kuchar was a WELL trained Staffy - I'm doing my best but he's so excitable.

Hugo is just the same he thrives on it down the fields with other dogs, he can't walk past other dogs without playing and 10 times out of 10 he won't stop until I leash him and until the dog is out of sight.

Doesn't help when the field is full of dog walkers, I'm hoping one day he wakes up an thinks bugger it I will stop pestering other dogs and people.

Hi again Lynda,
I am fortunate to be on the edge of our village and just over the road from acres and acres of open rough grassland and gorse, but have the same problems with distractions. Bacchus is seldom on the lead except near a main road and is happy to stay close and responds well to recall, with the exception being when he sees another person or dog. He doesn't stray far for anything else and I am hoping that this puppy curiosity will lessen as he grows. Like you I am on a learning curve with regard to staffies.

Good luck.

Thanks Hugo and Rodger - good luck to you too! I was beginning to think I had the naughtiest most untrainable Staff on the planet, but it seems we are not alone!