Aussie wont come back when I call her....

Question
Our Aussie, Roxi, is 5 months old.  She minds fairly well, having had no real training.  When I take her out to potty, she sometimes runs off and won't come back when I call her.  She goes exploring, and I can still see her, but she won't come back.  Help!

Answer
Even though Aussies are very smart, and like to be with their owners, they are not born knowing what the word "come" means.  But, they are quick to learn, so my advice is that, to keep her safe, you don't allow her to run free in an unfenced area until she is trained.  It's easier than you might think to get a dog to have a good recall, but you must take the right steps.  There is a really good DVD called "Really Reliable Recall" by Leslie Nelson (you can get it at www.cleanrun.com) that shows, step by step, how to train this.  If my hound can do it, so can your Aussie (my Aussies were extremely quick at learning this method).  Good luck and let me know how you make out.  Until you get the DVD, you can start her training by teaching her to face you when you say her name.  Go to www.clickerlessons.com and find the "attention" exercise.  If you don't have a clicker, you can use your voice - just say "yes" when the instructions say to click.