My Jack Russel runs away and will not come when called

Question
Hi Kristen. I have been having problems with my 8 month old Jack Russell Terrier. He gets into the garbage if left alone even for just a few minutes. We bought him a crate to put him in when we're not in the house, but is there any way that we will be able to leave him out of it and have him not destroy the garbage. If you have any info on this I would really appreciate some tips to correct this. More importantly though, i have a tie out in the yard and he has recently developed the problem of running away as soon as he is let off to come in the house, or on the way out side to go on his leash. He runs away and will not come back, he allows you to come within a few feet of him and then he darts away again. I chased him around our neighborhood for 2 whole hours one day. I am not sure if he thinks it is a game but it is extremely frustrating because he absolutely will not come when called if he is loose out side. Please help!!!!!

Answer
For the garbage raiding, you have several choices:

1. You can block his access to the kitchen with baby gates or an extended "X pen" (dog playpen).

2. You can put the garbage in a cabinet (under the sink, for example), put it in the broom closet, or build a special slide-out cabinet just for the trash can (I have one of these and absolutely LOVE it).

3. You can get a taller trash can that will not allow him to stand up and reach into it, and get one with a lid that he cannot stick his head through. Make sure the can is next to a wall or cabinet so he cannot easily knock it over. If you need to, you can put an eye hook on either side of the trash can and use a bungee cord attached to each eye hook to keep the trash can from being knocked over.

4. You can make getting into the trash can become a very unpleasant experience for him. For this, you will need to keep a leash and corrective collar on him when he's loose in the house, OR use a remote training collar. I prefer the remote training collar because you don't have to go running towards him to grab the leash to give a correction if you're using a remote collar. Plus, you can hide behind a corner so he doesn't know you're there, and correct him when he goes to sniffing at the trash can, and he thinks the trash can caused the correction, rather than it coming from you. This way, he doesn't learn that he can get away with it if you're not looking.

If you'd like more information on how to implement number 4, reply back and let me know.


The running away from you when outside has an easy, easy solution. Don't allow him to be off lead outside at all, until his recall is solid. When you take him outside, he should be on a 4-6 foot long nylon or leather leash. Walk him to the tie out on leash, hook the tie out to his collar, then unhook the leash. When you take him off the tie out, hook the leash to his collar, and then unhook the tie out. If he's on a leash, he cannot run and play a game of keep away with you, and more importantly, cannot get hit by a car while he's running away from you. I would recommend putting him in a puppy obedience class so he can learn some basic commands, including coming when called.

Good luck and please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with!

Kristen