[hennypenny]

Our dog, also called ben was a dissaperer for years...he is now 8 and has come to his senses (hes a golden retriever).

We rescued him (all our dogs have been rescued) when he was 2.  he had never been walked on a lead, vomited in a car, had digestive problems (all nerves), and was for at least a year.... a joy (Im being sarcastic).

Slowly we sorted the digestion thing....chicken and rice based food sorted his runny tummy,and after another year he was eating normal dried food.

Short car journeys have sorted the vomiting.  We'dput him in the car and leave the door open...working up slowly to driving about 2 mins in the car,and within 6 months he was fine driving for an hour to go for a nice outing (to the beach or park).
The main problem was disappearing .....we live on a smallholding and if the gate was open he'd casually make his way out of the gate and we wouldnt see him for a whole day!  If spotted he refused to come back (selective deafness)......this has only sorted itself this summer.  He now sits in the front on the grass (although we do keep an eye on him and he is aware of this).

[Sandy]

I think the ones that run off have that extra bit of interlect  They are not fully controled by us humans and have a will of thier own. We hope we have cracked it buy putting him back on a lead with the other dogs, way before the end of the walk and of course I always give him a tasty treat, often he watches us out the courner of his eye and we have to ignor him then he comes back. He found a bit of dead animal the other day and we thought we were in for a long night as he kept away from us and the other 3 dogs, then I pulled out some creamed cheese in a tube, he looked at me the he looked at my partner and slowly came to me and left his find in the hedge...he oly came to me as I am the slowest..we love him but he changes where we can go for a walk!!!! He likes the car!

[doganjo]

As Sandy knows, my dogs are fast(Brittanys - French hunter pointer retrievers) and can get out of sight if you blink, so I have to be very selective where I take them in case a rabbit, hare or deer gets up in front of them - otherwise they return to the whistle every time, albeit in their time not mine - I have had to wait about 10 minutes on occasion.  I have had to keep them mostly on leads and walk them 2 at a time since I moved here 2 years ago(used to have my own land so they were never on leads before).  It has been quite wearing, but my life is so much better now I have found a woodland completely deer fenced where i can take all 5 together and just let them off inside the gate - they love it, so do I - I take my lunch or my tea with me and we have a picnic - they come back instantly if I sit down at one of the benches to eat!

[Sandy]

Well Ben did it again and I saw it comming, luckily we were parked a long way off the main road. We changed our route and did not put Ben back on the lead and as soon as the car was in sight I saw him glance up, then slowly sniff around just out of my reach then get further and further away, no amount of calling affects him, we started to walk slowly after him but he then went further down the track and we dare not go further as the road was looming, so, we pretended to shout the other dogs (they were in the car) and walk back up the road, I dropped some treats on the track as well, anyway, he then just came up to me!!! SO now, we definitely know its a car thing, even though he had been on a long walk and a swim, he wanted to end his walk when he was ready......tests your patience sometimes but I remain chirpy and make a lot of fuss of him when he dose come back but deep down I am thinking "" little **$%£%!!

[OverWyreGrower]

I found that my boys associated being put back on their leads with the end of the walk/going back in the car etc. Of course, putting them back on their leads then became a manic chase which was fun for them, but not for us!

I solved this by calling the boys back during the actual walk, giving them a treat, clipping the lead on for 5 mins, treating again, then letting them off the lead.  I'd vary it also, by calling them back during the walk, just to give them a treat.  They learnt that coming back to Mum doesn't mean we're going home, and that being put on lead doesn't mean we're going home - instead, coming back to mum means you get a couple of treats and a fuss 

Took a while, but it works well now.  I was always paranoid at having 11 stones of manic dogs running around unable to be controlled.  It only takes 1 or 2 people who are afarid of dogs to report you to the dog warden for having out of control dogs, and you could be prosecuted under the DDA   

[doganjo]

I found that my boys associated being put back on their leads with the end of the walk/going back in the car etc. Of course, putting them back on their leads then became a manic chase which was fun for them, but not for us!

I solved this by calling the boys back during the actual walk, giving them a treat, clipping the lead on for 5 mins, treating again, then letting them off the lead.  I'd vary it also, by calling them back during the walk, just to give them a treat.  They learnt that coming back to Mum doesn't mean we're going home, and that being put on lead doesn't mean we're going home - instead, coming back to mum means you get a couple of treats and a fuss 

Took a while, but it works well now.  I was always paranoid at having 11 stones of manic dogs running around unable to be controlled.  It only takes 1 or 2 people who are afarid of dogs to report you to the dog warden for having out of control dogs, and you could be prosecuted under the DDA   

That was one of my first suggestions to Sandy and she did do this, but it sounds like Ben has gone backwards a step again - that happens from time to time with any dog, so it's just a case of 'back to basics'. I'm sure he will come right again - he's still very young, not 2 yet I don't think.  And he's certainly not scary!  I love him to bits.

[OverWyreGrower]

I'm sure he will come right again - he's still very young, not 2 yet I don't think.  And he's certainly not scary!  I love him to bits.

My boys are 3 and 4 and still suffer with selective memory most of the time 
I find that just cos a command/trick has been learned, doesn't mean you should give up.  If Ben is not yet 2, mentally, he's still a baby - things like recall etc need to be practised and reinforced all the time. I never stop 'training' my boys - on walks we'll do sits, downs, waits, leaves etc; even though they are good at them.

The problem isn't the fact that he is/isn't scary - it's how other members of the public perceive him.  An out of control dog (of any breed) can be reported and potentially prosecuted under the DDA.

We were up in the Lakes last week, and 2 kids had the screaming ab-dabs at our dogs.  What were the dogs doing, you will ask?  They were on lead, walking to heel, going back to the car after a walk.  They weren't barking, snarling, growling etc.  In fact, they were ignoring their surroundings (and were on the far side of the footpath, with us and about 4ft inbetween them and the kid)
What makes it worse in my eyes, is the way the parents reacted, saying that the "nasty dogs" were going away now, and they "wouldn't let the horrible dogs get you"   

[Sandy]

THanks again, we hardly see anyone on our 3-5 mile walk around a forest and when we do they usualy have dogs or are Police recruts, the FOrest backs on to thier college!!! Ben is not one ounce ageressive either although he gave it the tough look when  some police recruits came along in what looked like an excersie in crowd controle . Ben is triggered by seeing the car, I do call him and the others back from time to time and put him on the lead for bits of the walk, he is fine......we are aware and have also been told, not to chase or run after a dog, particulaly a young one, as they think you are playing (like children do) and they get excited, we just have to pretend we do not want h im back and once we catch his eye he will follow us and get into the car..he certainly tests us sometimes and we wish he could be trusted, I dare say if our garden was a smallholding, he would wonder off too!!