Punishment...should I?

thedarkrocker · Post by **thedarkrocker** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:50 am

I live in a house that kinda backs up to a road...I have trained my pit to not go past a certain point in the yard, and she has only ran into the street once real late at night (no traffic), but she just did for the first time during the day when it's really busy and dangerous. Anyway I am really lucky that she didn't get hit and came back on her own right away.

I don't know what to do about this. I don't want that to happen again. I could start putting her on a lead in the yard (though I don't like using leashes). But should there be some sort of punishment?

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:12 pm

Nope - to punish her, shes gotta come back. So shed be being punished, for coming back....

Long term (or even short term for some dogs), that would just mean shed be less likely to come back, or at least, get close enough to you that you could apply some kind of punishment.

You might not like leashes, but if you have an open yard with no fencing putting a dog on a leash is a lot less of a pain than having an injured or dead dog... or being held liable for the costs if she causes an accident!

Mattie · Post by **Mattie** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:36 pm

I have a dog that was punished when he came back by his previous owners, it took me 4 years to find the key to him feeling safe to come back to me even though Joe was never punished once he came here. That 4 years was horrendous at times but now he has as near to a 100% recall as you can get.

It isn't just his safety, he could cause an accident when someone gets seriously hurt, to me it isn't worth taking the chance, many dogs are happy being tied up. I caravan quite often and it is a rule of all camp sites that dogs must be tied up, it doesn't bother my dogs even though they are never tied up at home.

Kittylove5 · Post by **Kittylove5** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:31 pm

I think it's important to get a long enough yard leash for your dog to roam around but not long enough to get into the streets. It's cheaper than a fence and you have to think of the dog's and other people's safety as well.

Maxy24 · Post by **Maxy24** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:26 pm

I think it's unrealistic to expect a dog to stay in an open yard, some will but most will not. I would get a tether of some sort (cable or chain depending on the dog's strength).Just make sure he can get out of the sun and has water if he's out for a while or it's very hot.

thedarkrocker · Post by **thedarkrocker** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 3:11 am

Okay, thanks guys! Positive reinforcement always prevails!

griffin · Post by **griffin** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:17 pm

First, pending on where you live, at least here in the States, most districts, Counties, what have you, have leash laws, especially with unattended dogs......

Now, first step, for me any way, would be teaching you dog the "stop" command.. You can give it any name you want, but it's use is to stop the dog no matter what they are doing and under any circumstances. You can start in the house with no distractions and work to outside with a lot of distractions... Positive reward and consistency are the keys...

Then, I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but NO dog should be left unattended outside and off leash; none. I don't care how well trained a dog is, eventually and seemingly at the worst time, they will give into their instincts and chase something.

So either invest in a good fence or leash your dog for its safety as well as the safety of others.

I just came back from a search for a dog that had no leash, no collar and no training but got out of the house. No luck, all indications are some one took him after he was on the run.......

Last week another dog attacked a man, ripping his face off... The parent of the dog had him well trained, but like, hated leashes, leads, etc...The man was simply walking past the house......