Jack our Lab

Question
We adopted our Lab Jack from the animal shelter when he was a puppy. He is 7 years old with hip problems, low thyroid and allergies. We have addressed all this problems with his vet so he is in good hands medically. We live on four wooded acres and have a 550 foot driveway. Jack is inside most of the time. He likes to stay on the porch and watch the woods and the drive way. There are so many places for neighbors to walk their dogs but we have one neighbor how likes to walk his dog close to the top of the driveway and when Jack sees them he runs down the driveway to walk with them. Besides never letting Jack lay out on the porch can you suggest a way to stop him from leaving the property because of this one dog? Thank you. Linda

Answer
Hi Linda.  Boundary training can be accomplished by marking the area with flags or some sort of other marker that will be very visible to the dog.  I like to use the bright orange utility flags from Home Depot.  Start out putting them at about a 5' distance apart.  

Take some really tasty food treats out with you and put Jack on a short leash.  Jack will probably want to go and check out the flags by sniffing.  When he does, say "yes!" and reward him with a small piece of food (no bigger than a pea).  Each time he touches a flag, mark it with a "yes" and jog backward away from the flags to reward.  What we're trying to train is an acknowledgement of the "boundary" and a move away from it back to you and the porch.  Make this a really fun game so that Jack will deliberately touch the flag, then get to chase you back toward the porch to get a treat.  

Begin to work Jack on a longer line - 10-15' - using the same process.  If he ever crosses the line, don't give him leash correction, just gently guide him back to behind the flags and reward him for returning to you.

You'll have to do this a few times every day.  Keep the sessions short and fun. Jack should be hungry when you do the training, so he's really motivated to come back for the reward.  Once he's good on the longer line, let him drag it and have more freedom in the yard.  Really have a great reward for him when he chooses to return on his own!

In order not to undo all your hard work, don't let Jack lay on the porch during the time of day that your neighbor walks by.  

While you're working on this training process (which could take at least a month), maybe you could talk with your neighbor, explain what you're doing and ask if he could walk a bit further away from your house.  If you tell him that Jack has bad hips and shouldn't be taking off for walks on his own, he might understand and help you out.  If possible, arrange with him a time that you can do training while he walks by.  Remember that Jack will be really tempted to take off again, so have the long line attached be out there to reward him when he gets to that boundary.  

Once he get really good at this, you can begin to slowly decrease the number of flags you have out.

Here's a link to a nice write-up on boundary training using the same type of techniques:  http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2409

Please let me know if you have any questions about the process.  Good luck!