John Wilkes Booth

does anyone here know anything about how to control dogs? i'm in a situation where we moved to the country with 2 dogs that are used to the suburbs. at our last house we didn't have a fence but all the neighbors did so it sorta boxed our yard in a little bit though not completely. and so we could use that as a buffer to let the dogs go there and basically keep an eye on them and yell at them if they tried to wander off and it was easy cause they were fenced in on three sides. now there's no fences, no limits and if we let them out for even a second they run all over the place and wander off.

so basically i got a 25 ft chain with a post and if they want to go outside they have to be chained or else they'll run all over the place. thing is i know there are dogs that you can just let outside and they're fine. but i don't know how to do that. my dogs seem to have figured out that if they run off they'll get yelled at and that's about it so it's worth it in the end for them.

Pet_Sounds

My relatives installed an invisible fence. The dogs wear special collars, and anytime they try to pass the boundaries, they get a jolt. Works like a charm. Might be expensive, though.

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John Wilkes Booth

yea. i'm not trying to spend any real amount of money on some animals.

Neapolitan

A good old fashion newspaper. If your dog escapes take out the news paper and hold it up in the air, point at your dog and point at the paper and tell your dog that if it runs away again you are going to put an add saying dog up for adoption - your dog will get the message.

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John Wilkes Booth

i've already tried threats of violence and abandonment. my dogs don't seem to speak english very well.

Frownland

Get a dog whistle. When you blow the whistle, it won't make any sound. Your dog will think that you've lost it when it sees you blowing on a noiseless whistle and will rush to check on you.

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EPOCH6

I think for a lot of dogs it really just comes down to repetition. Obviously dogs, like any any other trainable pet, learn at a different pace, so comparing your dog's level of obedience to another won't do much more than test your patience. I've had some very very difficult dogs in the past, some that were just too uneconomical and destructive to keep, but I've also had a few that were very quick learners. It seems like your only options really are to build your dog a temporary restrictive area (if you don't want to spend much it's pretty easy to build fences out of wooden pallets and a bucket of cheap nails, you can find those up for grabs behind damn near any department store / retail outlet), buy your dog an invisible fence system, or keep your dog on a leash when its outside and take it around exploring the area so it's not so eager to explore at its own leisure.

EDIT: Dog whistles are a good suggestion and may be one of your better options. Try it out, they're cheap.

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The Batlord

Leaving your dog outside unattended is a good way to lose them. Dogs aren't cats. Dogs are idiots and will wander off and get lost.

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Neapolitan

I think John should walk his dog like all over the neighborhood maybe a mile square radius of his house. And take his time and let the dog sniff its way around and leave little pee pee here and there, that way if the dog gets lost it can find its way home. When a dog pee pees in different places it like a like you leaving a message posted on someones wall but it's like for other dogs and they say things like "Yo dawg I wuz here."

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EPOCH6

Aye, the dog is probably just really stoked about all of these new places to explore. Take him around, explore with him (or her?), let the dog piss everywhere, and maybe it won't be so eager to take off on its own.

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