Jack Price

Th ank u fan me 

Thank you for the comment! I REALLY appreciated it. 

Honestly, if I had the money to buy one, I might do that. But I don't, so I'm at a loss. And, I do know what that's like, she's gone out into the the street at a jogger and her dog.. Yeah, they didn't do anything but it was still embarrassing that I couldn't get her to come to me, and I couldn't catch a hold of her collar to get her. I kept saying sorry, repeatedly. She wasn't upset, but it was still embarrassing none the less. 

Also, beware of anyone that tells you that they can give you 100% recall reliability. it's not true. Even 99% is not good enough because the day you need that 1% is the day you won't have it. 
          
          Anytime my dogs are off leash i have an e-collar around their neck. I rarely need to press the button but it's tremendous peace of mind knowing it's available. And it works every single time even with my high drive lighting quick Mallinois. 
          
          Having doubts about whether your dog will return to you is an awful thing to take with you when you should be relaxing and enjoying your time with your dog. It detracts from how nice it could all be. I speak from experience. 
          
          Also, a friend of mine had a lab that walked up to a 2 year old girl and gently ate the ice cream from her hand. The girl freaked out and cried and her father kind of over reacted and nearly got into a blows with my friend. My friend repeated to the father, "It's ok, It's ok". But the girl and the father and even me thought it wasn't ok. 
          
          I guess you won't really appreciate what I'm saying until you experience it yourself or you're with someone who experiences it. 
          
          I don't sell them and i don't recommend any particular brand but i swear by them. They are a great insurance policy if nothing else. 
          
          

I had a Staffy years ago that i trusted heaps around kids and animals and anything. when he was 10 years old we were at the park off leash as we always did back then and i was walking talking to my friend and not really paying attention to my dog as he got further and further away from me, about 100 yards or so. In the distance i saw him galloping towards a group of families of about 14 people sitting on a blanket with kids and all the food spread out on plates with drinks. 
          
          Well, my dog loves food and will eat until he puked if i let him, and i started to scream at him to come back. He didn't and started to gallop faster towards the picnic group. They heard me screaming and got up and each member picked up a dish or a drink to save. My dog started to eat all the food he could as i sprinted to him. I will never forget this day. 
          
          I was so embarrassed that my dog destroyed their picnic but deep down i was devastated that my dog did not return to me when i called out to him. I'm not exaggerating when i say the event broke my heart. 
          
          Had i have had an e-collar that day i could have halted my dog easily from that distance and avoided the entire incident. 
          
          So, what I'm trying to say is that if you want to be 100% in control then get an e-collar. Try screaming and shouting and use food or whatever else you can think of but when all else fails you press the button and your dog will stop and turn. It's the best insurance policy you will ever get off lead. Every other technique i could recommend is never ever ever going to be as reliable. 
          
          

For some reason all of the dogs I've had aren't interested in toys too much. Maybe it's because they are outside dogs, not sure. But she's frightened of anything that I try and get her to play with. I love her even if she's a baby, but! I wish she was more secure, 'cause trust me! She's big enough to be secure of herself, but eh I donno. I've had her since she was a few months old, she's 5 years old now and I can't seem to get her out of the puppy stage. 
          
           She's really more of a submissive dog. She understands I'm the "pack leader", she doesn't eat until I say it's okay or move away from the food, she's very submissive with a lot of things that involve me. Which I assume is because she's being submissive to.. the "pack leader" me. She only listens to me, my mom has tried to tell her to move when she's in the way and I tell her she should do it like me. I tell her to use power in the command and not just say it. She doesn't seem to get it, so I end up having to do it. 
          
          She's gotten better about not running off lately, I make sure to keep her attention most of the time. When she starts to wonder off, I call her back or whistle. She usually does, but I'm still scared she will dart off like she used to. Trust me! I know she did it for the fun of me chasing her. That rat, I swear. But, since Sweets passed away, she's more attentive to what I want, and not to go too far.
          
          The thing I'm most worried about is when there are dogs wondering about, that she will go after them. Not viciously but curiously, she's really not a violent dog. I don't think I could do the e-collar, not that I think it's barbaric. Just I would rather try something that wouldn't freak her out. She's easily startled..
          I don't want her to be cooped up beside me when I let her out, I'd rather her be able to run around, but know not to go too far away. 
          
          So can you offer any help knowing more of the details? 

Hi,
          Yea that's a common problem. Dogs are opportunists and will get away with whatever they can. This is just they're way of surviving for thousands of years. 
          
          With Personal Protection Dogs there's isn't really a need to let them be anywhere but by your side at all times but if you insist on letting them get further than that for whatever reason then you need an e-collar. 
          
          Most people think they're barbaric because they don't know anything about how to use them correctly. Essentially you train your dog to respond to light stimulation. When your dog feels 'the buzz' she looks at you and is rewarded. If she doesn't then the buzz continues and the dog looses concentration of what she's focusing on and then looks to you turn the buzz off. Of course when she looks at you you've got her attention and you can recall her. Start this training from just a foot away and then work up to longer and longer distances.
          
          The main thing is that you get inside your dog's head. You can achieve this with very light stimulation from an e-collar. You will find there is no pain - unless of course you decide to deliver pain. 
          
          Most people don't trust themselves with the power but if you can trust yourself then get one. I wrote a blog about it here -  http://www.k9ers.com/how-to-correct-your-dog/
          
          She darts off because she's trying to get you to chase her. Use a tug as the ultimate bribe. They work great and will never let you down. Present the tug as a reward for getting her to return to you. She will bite it naturally. Here's another article i wrote on using a tug -  http://www.k9ers.com/how-to-use-a-k9-tug-like-a-pro/
          
          I hope that helps PlumBlossoms :)

Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it, I know what I wrote was silly, but hey give me a break, she had passed away that same day. Which is why I wrote that.. But I've still got my other dog, she's a Rottweiler/German Shepard mix. 
          Maybe you could tell me how to keep her from running away when she gets too far away from me! Oi, if she gets at least 30 feet away from me, her curiosity gets the better of her and she runs off. When I get close enough to grab her she darts off again, so frustrating. Plus, she's a wimp. Haha, I don't understand how such a big dog can be such a baby. Any ideas??!

www.K9ERS.com is a websites dedicated to the Working Dog and Fitness Enthusiast. I’m Jack Price and I am a Security Dog Consultant. It is my pleasure to provide you with practical real world ideas so you can better understand and appreciate the capabilities of working dogs and their realistic capacity to serve and protect you.