Tags are great, but they do not protect the dog in any way from the dangers of running loose. I am still 'on the fence' about the strangulation dangers of dogs wearing collars in the home. I choose not to have my dogs wear them. They are all microchipped.
That said, I began by teaching mine to get back so I could answer the door.
Then, I desensitized them from bolting out the door whenever it is opened. That only took about 15 minutes to teach and reinforce.
Then when going for a walk, I make them get back so I can open the gate, we walk through, then they have to wait while I close the gate.
For me, this training was just basic manners, and for safety (theirs and mine). Falling down when trying to walk 4 hyper dogs will not happen here again.
One day the inevitable happened: someone left the gate open, and I always check the gate, visually, from my door before opening it. My gate has a spring on it so it self closes with a little help. This day it was windy, just enough to blow the gate open, and they all got out.
I got a call from my neighbor: Your dogs are out. Me: I know... I let them out. Neighbor: No, they are out of the yard! Me: Threw the phone down as I raced to the door and outside to catch them. When I got to the gate, they were all just outside the gate on the walkway, and it looked like they were trying to figure out what to do next. They looked a little relieved to see me, and I just said, Hey guys, come on back in here.... we'll go for a walk in a bit. And they all came back in the yard!
I've thought about this alot, I've never done any off-lead training with them, so the only thing I can figure is the door training as I mentioned above. Or maybe they felt lost without their leads and harnesses on. Or maybe the wait for me to close the gate after we all pass through it. Anyway, I am definitely going to keep up with this training. They are way far from perfect, a barking, jumping mess of hooligans, and I'm shocked that they even retained anything... but obviously something got through to them. They still need alot of work.
These little dogs are very smart, and it's really not too difficult to train them. It's well worth the effort and time required. Even with a tag, someone could still steal your dog.
I am glad everything worked out for you this time, and that your girl is on the mend. |