We had the same issue with Fabian (who slipped out of his harness went off scampering at just 4.5 months old). We ended up taking him to a three week class specifically on coming when called. The most important thing the trainer stressed was to make coming to us the most FABULOUS thing in the while world, over anything else that could possibly distract him. Since he's food-motivated, that meant treats. We trained him, when hungry, on a 30-foot leash. He'll come to me now, from anywhere in the house. We reinforce those lessons in the dog park,where he's off-leash. But unless it's a fenced-in area, I still don't trust him to be off leash outside. Because, after all, SQUIRRELS are actually the most fabulous thing in the world, not humans. |