ESCAPE ARTIST

Question
I would appreciate any help on how to train your boxer from not running away from u.  His recall is poor and loves to jump on visitors, 20-month-old boxer otherwise a great dog and a lovable family .

Thanks for your help and input.

Answer
You don't mention the situations where your Boxer runs away from you, so it's difficult to be specific, but in general it sounds like you just need to keep working on his recall.  (Don't let him off-leash in an unfenced area until he's reliable at this, of course - a 50-foot training leash can be very helpful in the teaching stages!)

One of the keys to teaching a recall is to be more interesting than anything else around the dog (or, 'more interesting than the grass' - not always easy to be with a curious Boxer!!).  One method is to find a very special, very exciting toy, get the dog interested in the toy and then throw it *behind* you, between your legs, with whatever cue you're going to use (and if you've been using "come" and he's been blowing it off, you may need to switch to a different cue) - then lots of happy praise and play with the toy when the dog gets it.  At the early stage it's OK if the dog goes past you; you can work on stopping sooner once the reaction to the cue is an automatic turn-and-head-in-your-direction.  (You'd just drop the toy at your feet, for instance, instead of throwing it behind you.)

Also, instead of chasing the dog or coaxing him toward you if he does run off, turn around and run away from him.  This often leads to a game of "catch me" with the dog chasing you, and you can let the dog catch up while using the recall cue and have a happy play time (treats, praise, whatever trips your dog's trigger) when they get to you.  

Here are some articles on teaching a recall:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/309
http://www.clickerlessons.com/recall.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/recall.htm

Jumping on people is a common Boxer trait; the key point there is to decide what you want him to do instead, and teach him that.  ("Four feet on the floor" or "sit for petting" are typical alternate, contradictory behaviors.)  Be sure that your guests know not to give him any attention - turning away from him is helpful - if he's jumping.  (If you can, have them give him really yummy treats if he is standing/sitting, as well.)  Also, be sure you aren't giving him attention - yelling or telling him "no" is still attention; if he's not at least somewhat under control, then calmly remove him from the situation, to a crate or gated-off area.  You can also keep a leash/flat buckle collar on him when you know you're having guests over, and stand on the leash with enough length that he can stand or sit, but not jump up.  You don't want to yank the leash or give corrections - this is for management, not punishment.  By managing the situations and ensuring that he gets Good Things for being polite, and ignored or removed from the visitors for being rude (jumping up), he will quickly learn which works to his advantage!