help needed

my 5 yr old staffy keeps escaping from my home he wont come back when called for he is walked everyday fed and kept warm i am at the end of my tether with him can anyone help

Hiya, how is he escaping?

I recently rescued a 1 year old male and he lives to try and make a dsah for freedom whenever the front door opens. I have taken to keeping a bag of treats next to the door so when he dashes out, I shake them and call him and he comes hurtling back. I dont know if it is the right or wrong way to go about it but it works for us.

any way he can he jumps over the back fence which we have already raised its 5 ft high now or out the door at first opportyunity he wont come back ive tried the treat thing it just doesnt work but he approaches people in the street when he is out and because of hes size they become worried and try to chase him but it makes him aggressive im frightened he will bite someone im really thinking about taking him to a rescue now

Firstly exactly as already asked, how is he escaping?

If its like the case already stated at the front door then you need to teach your dog how to behave at doors. When you goto a door you need to demand your own space and teach your dog to sit away from the door.

We teach our dogs to sit before going through any door in the house firstly and also then teach them to give us our space and to behave carmly, when navigating doors. They are never allowed to pass through the door untill released to do so and they should give us plenty of space to open the door in a controlled manner they should simpley sit at a distance and wait.

If its the case of they are escaping from your garden then you firstly need to try and address that problem by securing the property better making sure there are no escape routes for your dog. An then of course work hard on getting an excellent recall.

Work on it in the house to start with simple teaching here or come or whatever command works best for you as your the one going to be using it. Once the basic command has been taught in the house its time to use it in the garden, if need be and you carnt secure your property well for whatever reason use a long lead to teach recall. Once he is doing it good in the garden you need to do it in places with more distractions like at the park again back to doing it on long lead to start with untill your confident he will listen and will come when you ask/tell him to.

You need to make the fence higher, or have him tethered when in the garden so he can't jump over it, not much fun for him but if he is getting plenty of exersize then this will fine for a time until you can curb this behaviour. Can you place a baby gate by the door so that when you open it he hasn't got instant access to escape.

What sort of recall training do you do with him? I really don't think you need to re-home him, its just down to training and if its got passed that stage then your going to have be more vigilent.

Welcome to the forum btw

hiya its mainly from the back garden when i let him out to do his business weve had him since he was 6 weeks and he has just recently started to do this and he is 5 now ive raised the fence as high as possible and he is still jumping it and he just wont come back if i try and go after him he just runs further away i just dont know what has gone wrong with him

alison martha wrote:any way he can he jumps over the back fence which we have already raised its 5 ft high now or out the door at first opportyunity he wont come back ive tried the treat thing it just doesnt work but he approaches people in the street when he is out and because of hes size they become worried and try to chase him but it makes him aggressive im frightened he will bite someone im really thinking about taking him to a rescue now

Noticed you have replied while I was writing my reply to your first post. As you have tried to secure the property and thats not working then comes down to training him to respect you and get a good recall. Unfortunatly till the problem is resolved your going to have to make sure he has a long lead on and is secured to something when in the back yard.

How much training do you do with him? Training is a must for mental stimulation and to help you bond with your dog and gain respect from your dog.

How often and for how long do you walk him? A tired dog will have no need to go running off all he will want to do is sleep.

Does he have plenty of toys he likes using in the back yard? If he has plenty of fun things to do in the back yard he has no need to go anywhere else.

He obviously wants to go out in the big wide world on his own as he thinks thats more interesting than being in the back yard, so you need to make sure .

Has he been neutered? If not is there a possibility there is a bitch in season around?? Some will do anything to get out just a thought x

no i have actually booked him in to be neutered on wednesday but some people have said that because of hes age 5 that it wont make any differebce with him

They are all escape artists. How much training do you do with him and how often is he exercised each day. Two 45 minute walks are about right plus mental stimulation such as training sessions.

Neutering doesn't make much difference for other things, only training can do that, but if there is a bitch in season around and he has only recently started doing this then it could be a strong possibility. I am not sure if it helps or not, someone else can answer that as I only have girls but I think it could be a strong possibilty Xx