How can I get my dog to stay with me?

Can anyone give me some advice please:

we've had Moss for nearly a year now, he's 2. He was pretty much untrained when we got him and had spent 6 months in rescue kennels so was a bit stressed, but we have worked really hard on his training and he is now basically good - apart from this one thing.

Whenever he is off the lead he gets too far away from us - at best he just trots off slowly and steadily increases the distance, on a bad day he races off at speed and is heading for the horizon in seconds. His recall is good so he will come back very readily, but you spend the whole walk calling him back and can't relax or take your eyes off him at all. I've tried him on a long line and he trots to the end of it and then plods along very depressed and miserable as only a collie can He doesn't seem to want to be with us - we have tried hiding etc but it takes him ages to notice because he doesn't look round much. He isn't interested in toys at all, he does like food but not as much as he likes the big wide world.

I don't know how to make it clear to him that he must stay close to us - he will walk to heel off the lead but give him any freedom at all and he is off. He absolutely loves going for walks and I would like to be able to let him off the lead more.

Please can anyone help?

Thanks

If you want to use treats they have to be very high value treats like cheese, chicken, livercake etc not simply biscuits or his ordinary food.

Best to start at home make it fun & rewarding for him to come to you.

Do you use a clicker ??

As JoedeeUK has said there, you have to be fun to be with, not saying you're boring or anything, but with a dog like this, you're going to have to step up a gear and act a bit mad if you have to, get his attention, constantly, maybe do the "watch me" bit with him, get his attention, then run on a bit whilst you've still got his attention, take a ball with you or his favourite toy, use something that only gets taken out on walks maybe? Once you've got this, you'll find he'll want to stay with you, even if he wanders off to sniff or play, he'll really want to stay with you and not go too far. You can start learning the "watch me" command at home when sitting on the sofa, and give him a treat, you have to make it fun when you've asked for that though, so do something exciting afterwards, run around like a loonie, and you'll get there eventually!

How do you use a "clicker"? Is there a book that you would recommend? Thanks

Thanks for the replies - Joedee, yes, I do use a clicker and high value treats (pilchard cake is his favourite). The problem is not getting him to come - as I said, his recall is good, but getting him to hang around!

Helena, he isn't very interested in toys at all and especially not when he's outside. I'll try a bit more jumping around though, good idea.

Two of my dogs like to explore, one likes to stay with me. I`ve trained the wanderers to recall to a whistle. Some dogs are driven to track and explore, some aren`t.
It must be torture for an inquisitive hunter to be confined to a lead. You may be trying to fight the dog`s nature here. If his recall is good, why not train a whistle recall and give him a bit of freedom to roam in safe places?

You say he is not interested in toys at all. It is possible to get most dogs interested in toys even in later years. Your boy is still very young so it should not be too difficult. Get some squeaky toys and play with him. Teach him to retrieve and to "find it" and reward him with treats. Make it fun and exciting. Put the toys away while he is still enjoying it so his interest is maintained.

Once you have got him interested then take a ball out on your walks. Get him bringing back a couple of times then put it away and repeat this for the whole walk. If you can get him hooked on a toy he will spend the walk watching your pocket. I have a ball obsessed dog and it really is all he cares about!

If we have liver/kidney (cooked) in our pockets our pup will not leave our side. We also got him interested in toys by buying a kong and then filling it with dog meat and freezing it. He will play with it for ages in the house and down at the local park

Good luck

I think the advice you have been given is all good for recall but from what I understand its not recall itself that is a problem but just him not 'checking in' with you often enough and roaming too far ahead.

Two suggestions if that is the case:

(1) be really unpredicatable on your walk - don't call him but turn and walk or run in a different direction and hide more frequently. Put the onus on him to have to check where you are going rather than him relying on you calling him when you need him. (Evidently only do this where you are comfortable that you won't lose him or where he may be able to come to harm).

(2) teach him the 'wait' command - i.e. that when you say 'wait' he doesn't have to come back to you, but must stay where he is until you let him go on again. Once he knows 'wait' you can use it every time he gets say 15 yards ahead of you. I would then only release him when he has turned to look at you. If you are consitant in making him wait when he gets a set distance away from you, chances are he will start waiting there before you say the command and will look back ready for the release to be able to go on again.

Oh that's brilliant advice, that'll be the way to go, I do that without even thinking I'm doing it, and eventually he'll learn that the distance he is allowed to go is as far as he gets when you say the "wait" command.

I don't think you need to have him constantly close by your side, let him explore, but let him know his boundaries kind of thing, which is I guess what you're after here! How's it going anyways??