Billy the bolter

[s.ayton]

I have two toy poodles, one male, Billy, 2 yrs old (desexed) and one female, Pippa, 1 yr old.

Pippa eats first, steals Billy's treats/bones, growls at him if he approaches her when she has them and Billy backs off. But Billy sleeps in pole position and is less obediant than Pippa.

Pippa will always come when she's called but Billy won't always. Pippa will sit on command, Billy only when there is food involved or something else he wants, like to be petted or picked up. Other times he'll just completely ignore me.

So I'm really not sure between them who is boss.

When the front door is open Billy bolts out and will only return if I ignore him, go in the house and he comes back in his own sweet time. Sometimes a minute later, sometimes 20 minutes later. I get very anxious when he's out about cars on the road etc as we're not far from a very busy road. And if I follow him he thinks its a game and will run off whenever I get near him.

Pippa on the other hand will return to me immediately.

I've read lots of books, been to Puppy pre-school and I love IMOTD for advice. We always feed them seperately, dog food only and after we've eaten. They don't approach our food if we're eating on the lounge. We make them sit before giving them their food or any treat. The only bad thing that I think we do is let them sleep on the bed. I tried putting them out of the room but after a week of no sleep I gave in. I've managed to get them to go to sleep in their own beds but they sneak up during the night while we're asleep and I'll wake up to find Billy right up next to me in between my husband and I.

My main concern is the running out the front door habit. Any advice?