Wont stay in the yard !!!

[PrettRachel]

Hello Everyone i would love to hear some imput on a certain dilemma i have...Our lil girl, Rachel is around 3 months old now and quite a handfull but we love her to death, she is getting very smart on some things, she knows how to sit and shake, we are working on the "leave it" command when she is into something she isnt supposed to be into. We are looking to get her into some classes at the local petco just not sure when yet. She LOOOOOOOOOVES to go outside and run around the yard, mu concern is that when we let her out to run she tends to go out of her yard and into the neighbors yards, luckily she hasnt wondered farther than that yet. We live in a small town and i dont want her getting lost or stolen on her little run away escapades. I (the BF) am in a wheelchair and most times when i take her out i have her on her leash so she wont run off when my fiancee is at work, but when she is home with me we try to let her out off the leash so she can run and burn her energy. So i guess im wanting to know how or what we can do to teach her to stay in our yard when she is off her leash, we dont have a fenced yard but i have read that they sometimes jump fences so dunno how much help a fenced yard would actually be !!! . Anyone else had this problem and have any solutions to my problem....any responses would be appreciated. Again, sorry about posting this here....Thanks in advance for any help !!!

 

[Caney Creek]

I would work on getting her more exercise daily, for one, and also get a fence if that's possible for you. We have a 6 ft privacy fence, and while I have heard of boxers jumping fences like this, our dogs have never even thought about it. The backyard isn't huge, but it's plenty big enough for Caney (the youngest) to do her daily "burns" from one end to the other at full speed. We've got a dog door as well, so they can go outside and release some energy whenever they need to. If you can't take her yourself for daily exercise or have your fiance take her for a good run every day, a fenced yard that she has access to regularly is a must. Even so, you'll see best results as far as her behavior if she gets regular exercise and mental stimulation.

Also work on her recall. Until she can be trusted to come back to you when you all her offe-lead, she cannot be allowed that freedom. For every time you call her and she doesn't come back, she is learning that she doesn't have to. Try to NEVER call her when it's unlikely that she will respond. Only call her when you can enforce the command (ie. she's on a lead and you can pull her back to you) or you've worked with her enough to be sure that she'll listen. ALWAYS be overly happy when she comes to you. She must always associate coming back with something positive. If your praise isn't enough at first, begin training with special treats that she only gets in these recall situations; slowly wean off of them, but still incorporate the treats periodically.

 

[Cyrus2005]

You can do a search here on Boundary Training. We did this with our dog, and it has worked out wonderfully. Our neighbors were amazed he would not leave the yard. It takes a ton of training and patience (and treats!) but it pays off. We can take our dog anywhere, and he stays with us all the time. Sorry I don't have time to type out the specifics of what we did, but this site (and others) has a lot of great info on this topic. Good luck with your baby!