Boxer wont come when called.

Question
I have a female boxer that is two yrs. old. When she is in our fenced in back yard, she will come to us with no problem. We always tell her good girl when she does. But, when she gets out. She is like a wild animal, and the closer you get to her the wilder she gets. We live in a subdivision and she has to visit one house at a time until she upsets all the dogs in the neighborhood. The last time she got out, she was out for 4 hrs. She was exausted. We were exausted. But, I have to try and get her, because we have leash laws. If luckily there are kids playing, she will run and play with them, until one of them grab her for me. Or, she is so hungry and thirsty that I con her with a can of tuna. And, she is very smart, because she knows if I catch her, she goes back in the fence and she won't come near me. I have heard that Boxers are back about this. Can you help?

Answer
HI Teresa,

One of the behaviors everyone wants from their dogs is to come when called and yet training a 100% reliable recall isn't something people spend time training. People assume that if the dog comes when called in a fenced in back yard that the dog will come in the wonderful world outside that fenced yard. It will NOT happen unless you train it EVERYWHERE with the dog first on a long leash. It will NOT  happen if the only thing she gets from you when she does come is a 'good girl'. Trust me on the scale of things that dogs will work for, praise is very low. It will NOT happen if everytime you call her and she comes, her fun stops.  

Dogs want to have fun. In the scheme of things, your backyard is probably pretty boring so your boxer comes when called. But outside the yard, where there are kids and wonderful smells and fun options, you aren't fun to be with. You need to be more fun than all those other things out there. Do you ever play with your dog, and I mean really play... fetch, tug, a game of chase or anything that your dog finds simply fabulous? What is her favorite treat? Hamburger? Steak? Cheese? Each and every time she comes to you in the back yard, you need to make it worth her while. YOU PAY her to come to you by rewarding her very highly with a high value treat or a fun game. Do not call her when you know she has the option to not come. Using the word 'come' when your dog is running away or standing there staring at you is naming the behavior of running away or standing and staring 'come'. When she and you have set up a pattern of 'fun' (by HER definition not yours) recalls in the backyard, you put her on a leash and work them in the front yard. Start with her just a few feet away from you and call her name when she's distracted. IF she turns to you say the word 'YES' and reward her exactly as you did in the back yard (high value food and a game. GRADUALLY work up until she is 15 feet away from you on lead! Do this EVERYWHERE you can with her because just because she understands it in the back yard doens't mean she'll understand it in the front yard, in the neighbor's yard, down the street, in the park, etc.

Stop being the play police and ending her fun when calling her and start being the best reason in the world for her to come back to you. Depending on how good a trainer you are, and how well you make it worth her while to be with you, a reliable recall can take months and months or years and years.

In the meantime, you'll need to do a better job preventing her from escaping, before she gets hurt or killed.