# Very distracted poodle (runs away)!!



## mariella (May 3, 2013)

I'm new here so I apologise if this is in the wrong category or anything. 

I have had miniature poodles all my life so have much experience of the breed but none like this. So I currently have a very clever 14 month old male miniature poodle. I do competitive obedience training with him and also agility and he is very good at this. However, he has started to lunge and bark at other dogs working next to him - even just a bark or play growl can set him off - he's just so hyper. He not at all aggressive, he just wants to play but in doing so stops listening to me, and can upset other dogs who are not very friendly.

This is not the main issue, however. He is not great at walking off the lead. I have had training lines, and his recall used to be spot on when he was younger but now any distraction and he is totally oblivious. The other day I took him off the lead in a somewhat small field let him have a little play, called him - he looked - I said 'come' (the word that he wold normally respond to) and ran away with his ball and he simply ignored me and carried on following the scent he was on. He has also previously ran three fields before to chase my friends livestock - which makes me worry for his life and my own. And he's even ran off three fields away completely out of sight, and thought he would never come back! He's deaf when there is something he wants! He has me so worried that I take him out only when I know I will not see a person, dog or any other animal as he just wants to go and see them - so he gets very little time to run and play properly, which I know is not good.

I have tried training disks, whistles, squeaky balls, treats (really yummy ones), many training recall lines and they all eventually stop working.

Is there any way I can safely walk my dog off the lead again?

Thank you for all the advice.


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

Hi there! Welcome to the forum!

It sounds very much like a terrible teen behaviour! At 14 months old he is still quite young and most dogs will go through this phase! 

Try to keep your distance from other dogs while working with him and distract him as much as you can, once he learns to calm down you can slowly get closer to the other dogs again but right now the distraction and temptation is just to big!

It's the same with walking out doors, he is testing his limits with you. I would keep him on a long line while walking him for the time being, from what you have said I don't think it is safe for him to off lead right now. Do lots and lots of recall training to reinforce it.

Try to do lots of impulse control practice. Put food on his paws and make him leave it, play with his toys and make him leave them, run up and down all excited etc. but make him stay calm and not give into his excitement. As he grows up and matures he will calm down and you will regain control! Even if you feel as though you are making no progress you will still be managing his behaviour to stop it getting worse until he chills out. 

Don't lose hope! Stick to your training and try to keep your patients!


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## mariella (May 3, 2013)

Hello there 

I had thought it could be an age thing but I've never had a poodle quite like this! So I am glad it is not just me making excuses for the little monkey. He's very well behaved when he wants to be.

I will walk him for the time being on the long line as I really do worry about him getting into trouble and I will definitely stick at the recall training. 

I think trying to keep a distance between him and other dogs is a good idea, but currently being the only dog in the household I worry that perhaps he is missing doggie company - will this make him more likely to want to see dogs when he goes out?

Thank you for the confidence though, this one really is challenging and I think sometimes I over-think his behaviour. Thanks again for the advice - hopefully soon he'll calm down enough to remember I exist when we're walking!


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## caroleduffin (Mar 12, 2009)

Hi. I rehomed a 2yr old Patterdale terrier, Molly, 5 weeks ago. She was really good at recall, and I rewarded her with a biscuit. However, a week ago she was sniffing round in a small woody area, and suddenly really took off on the scent of something. No way would she come to me. Finally caught her,having chased her for ages, and verbally chastised her. Read up on dog behaviour. Next day, long lead, and gently pulled her gently to me saying Molly come, once and rewarded her with tasty chicken and lots of praise. Did this several times over 2 days. Next day, let her off lead, let her sniff around for a few minutes, stood still, called her once - she came. Sausage treat that day. Now, a week on, she is really responding well. I let her have a few minutes sniffing round and eploring then call her once while rattling the bag with the treat in. Change the treat daily - strong cheese today. 

I know it's early days, but I hope if I continue to be vigilant she will continue to respond well. My husband says it's bribery. Hey if works I don't care! Sometimes the experts make it look easy, and I was doubtful but I trusted them, and was able to sort this with kindness and patience. Good luck with your dog. Carole.


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

When I picked up my boy, he was 5 months old and had only ever seen one over dog in his short life! He was raised in London and had clearly never seen grass field before either 

Needless to say, he was uncontrollable in a field of open space let alone a field full of dogs! Once, he even ran off down the beach with a jogger and his dog :S he would run off playing and I no longer existed to him!

So, I can sympathise with how you are feeling! 

Short term, yes, he may want to try harder to see other dogs but once he has learned that he can't do as he pleases he will calm down. Do you have any friends or family with dogs? You could always visit or walk together so he still gets a good play and a socialise but honestly I wouldn't worry as it is not to be forever.

I would suggest restarting recall training but with a whistle. Dogs are amazing at cutting out irrelevant sounds which is why they can hear the opening of a can of food while the Hoover is blaring away right next to them. The human voice is one of those sounds they easily cut out when out and about so a whistle is a brilliant tool they can't ignore. Remember to keep it easy at the start and slowly build it up starting with no distractions, low distractions, medium distractions.. And so on. 

Now, I always mix up my walks. I never go to the park, let him off and just walk around. He must sit and wait while I take off his lead and not allowed to move until I release him, this could be a few seconds all the way up to one whole minute. This teaches great impulse control and that the fields are not for going mental and losing control!!

After he has had a good sniff and been to toilet I will get him back to me for obedience routines. Sits, downs, stays, bit of heel work, high fives etc. for about 2 to 3 minutes of which he gets rewarded with a good game of fetch or tugga! Both of which he loves!

This is a walk I do in a low distraction area, I used to wait for any dogs to leave before starting but now he is happy to ignore them unless they come running over. I will usually take him to a secure field later in the day so he can have a play but If I feel he is going mad or ignoring me I will stop and do some training on our way home to make sure we always end it on a happy note 

As long as you keep at it he will improve! Poodles are very smart so I'm sure he will pick it up in no time!! :thumbsup:


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

caroleduffin said:


> Hi. I rehomed a 2yr old Patterdale terrier, Molly, 5 weeks ago. She was really good at recall, and I rewarded her with a biscuit. However, a week ago she was sniffing round in a small woody area, and suddenly really took off on the scent of something. No way would she come to me. Finally caught her,having chased her for ages, and verbally chastised her. Read up on dog behaviour. Next day, long lead, and gently pulled her gently to me saying Molly come, once and rewarded her with tasty chicken and lots of praise. Did this several times over 2 days. Next day, let her off lead, let her sniff around for a few minutes, stood still, called her once - she came. Sausage treat that day. Now, a week on, she is really responding well. I let her have a few minutes sniffing round and eploring then call her once while rattling the bag with the treat in. Change the treat daily - strong cheese today.
> 
> I know it's early days, but I hope if I continue to be vigilant she will continue to respond well. My husband says it's bribery. Hey if works I don't care! Sometimes the experts make it look easy, and I was doubtful but I trusted them, and was able to sort this with kindness and patience. Good luck with your dog. Carole.


Something that may be of interest to you

Are you bribing or rewarding your dog? | glasgowdogtrainer


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## mariella (May 3, 2013)

Thanks sezeelson. I will definitely try this and keep building up the distractions very slowly . I suppose he will see his friends at agility and he does sometimes get a proper play with his sister. 

I took him out yesterday on the training line and he was beautifully behaved, also practiced a lot of advanced obedience exercises and walked with me the entire time until I released him for a little play with the line long. He seems to be perfect when he's on it and even ignored people waling past him when I told him to come away to me. I just feel he knows when he doesn't have it on and that he behaves completely differently even if he cannot feel it (he's not pulled/pulling).


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I have miniature poodles too. Candy went through a stage of refusing to come back and even just taking off for no reason, once ending up on the main road. I put her on a lunge line for a couple of weeks and let her drag it behind her and told her to wait if she got out of reach. She soon learned not to wander off on walks. My other one is a loony though, she runs and runs and runs but until recently I could trust her never to go far and she would always be back checking for me. Just lately she has started to get very untrustworthy though and will go through fences after rabbits. They are such fast dogs and so intent on whatever they are using their nose for. It is easy to forget that poodles are gun dogs and as such will want to hunt.


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

mariella said:


> Thanks sezeelson. I will definitely try this and keep building up the distractions very slowly . I suppose he will see his friends at agility and he does sometimes get a proper play with his sister.
> 
> I took him out yesterday on the training line and he was beautifully behaved, also practiced a lot of advanced obedience exercises and walked with me the entire time until I released him for a little play with the line long. He seems to be perfect when he's on it and even ignored people waling past him when I told him to come away to me. I just feel he knows when he doesn't have it on and that he behaves completely differently even if he cannot feel it (he's not pulled/pulling).


This is very normal, my dog knows when he is being walked on his normal collar and all my loose leash walking goes out the window!!

Keep it up and well practiced. Down the line when you feel more comfortable and in control you can begin to either cut the lead down so he still feels the weight of it on his collar or you can attach a normal lead and let it drag.

You need to slowly withdraw the lead rather then instantly removing it with some dogs as they have built an association with the good behaviour and lead being on. They know they cant run off. If that makes sense? Lol

Or, a method i prefer, you can build up the time in which he is off the lead very slowly. So, while your doing some obedience training you can take it off quickly for 5 seconds and then put it back on while rewarding him for his obedience! If he gets brilliant at retrieval, you can take the lead off to let him get the ball and again put the lead back on while rewarding him  basically only removing the lead when you know for sure you will be able to get it back on! But this is further down the line so for now continue with what you have been doing as it is clearly working!  well done and keep at it!


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## mariella (May 3, 2013)

Hi Blitz. Charlie ran off after a rabbit too a few weeks ago so I know exactly how you feel and I also live on a main road so this is not good - he's just so fast and I feel helpless trying to get him back when he's at a flat out sprint. I've yet to find a dog that outrun him!


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## Riff Raff (Feb 12, 2013)

mariella said:


> . I suppose he will see his friends at agility and he does sometimes get a proper play with his sister.


Can you use a controlled play session with his sister or one of his agility friends to work on building doggy distractions into recall games? One of the very best reinforcers for a recall away from other dogs is actually sending them back to play. You change the other dog from being a distraction to a reinforcer - premack is your pal.


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