Sue, having been there, i know what you're feeling, several times i considered re-homing Moll, but at the end of the day i knew nobody else could do anymore for her than i was doing, so i persevered, i know she's not perfect i don't think she ever will be,but at least i have some control now, Hope Sam's back home now, and i'll be in touch later.

Just checking in Sue for news thinking of ya

Any news?

morning all,

thanks very much everyone for your replies and all your support! it really means a great deal to me. sam has turned up, must have been about 2.30 yest afternoon, so he was missing about 8 hours (which is normally how long he is missing for). he was very tired and his eyes were all stuck together, but otherwise in one piece thank god! i have seriously thought about our life together and to be honest i dont think we do bad by each other. i dont think many people would put up with this and if he'd not come to me, who knows what would have happended to him? i will persevere with him as i have done so much with him just to forget all that. so if he has to be on a line when out walking, then so be it. i will carry on with the stop whistle, and maybe i will find somewhere thats fully enclosed so i can practise recalls etc when he's free running.

i do walk the dogs together, so do you think maybe i should walk them separately?? i have so many people telling me different things i'm so confused as to how i should walk him now!!!! somebody said just let him do his own thing and reward him for 'checking in' should he do so. what if he doesnt? do i just stand there and wait for him to? should i call him? should i just walk him on a short lead with no free-running? should i try and give hunting a cue, and he can only do it when i cue him to? should i let him do his own thing on the line?

thanks again everyone for your support, just makes me feel that maybe i'm not a failure afterall

Sue we'll talk when i see you glad he's back and in one piece

Sue, I'm so glad he's home - I read this thread several times but couldn't find the right words to reply.

I hope you can find the 'answer' that works for you and Sam. Whatever that is.

Hugs from us, cos we struggle too!!

Deb & Dex

Hi Sue,

I can't imagine anybody giving Sam a better home than you. I'm so glad he's back home.

I have a great DVD - Really Reliable Recall - which gives fab ideas for teaching an emergency recall. I'm working on this with all of my guys.

And I have a great book - Control Unleashed - about teaching focus for dogs who are unfocussed for some reason. It's written by an agility person and lots of it relates to agility but there are some fab ideas for every day life too.

I'm making a bit of a training plan from some of these ideas for my guys. Cal needs to learn to relax in environments where dogs bark at each other, handlers shout and people are stressed - right now, he can't because he feels he needs to keep an eye on everybody and stop any aggression that he sees. K needs to be able to relax around staring border collies. Cuillin just needs to learn some good strong default behaviours so that he remains the lovely, sensible little chap that he is now.

This e-bay seller has both of them http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/positiveanimalsolutions/ And she sends stuff out really quickly.

Tracey xx

hi tracy,

i've heard great things about that book 'control unleashed', but unfortunately when i tried to order it it was out of stock. they were waiting for a shipment. apparently as soon as it comes in its sold out!!!

where did you get your DVD from?

thanks again

Thank god he's safe, so glad he's back

glad to hear he is home safe and sound

he was still tired this morning didnt even move off his bed bless him!!! i took him out, but just on a short lead, and he didnt even pull one bit. just trotted at the side of me. he was starving though cos he'd not eaten since tues eve! went training with him last night so he had lots of treats there, and considering how tired he was he did really well (HTM class).

thanks again everyone for your encouragement and i dont feel like a failure now!

Having a problem dog (Freddy - yes that is YOU ) I think you do a fab job with Sam.

I wonder too whether rather than raising the height of the fence (not knowing how tall it is) you could create an overhang on the inner aspect so he actually can't scale the fence you have? This link might give you an idea about what I am meaning....... http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/clova.html#visual

hi sue,

somebody else has mentioned that too but using L shaped brackets to create an overhang. will definately investigate this further!

thanks for the compliment too...it means a great deal and makes me think of the good things that sam does

I've seen something like this used to keep foxes out of a duck pen - angled brackets with loosely 'draped' chicken wire between them, so that even if the fox gets that high, it drops off the chicken wire.......

do you think there's an indoor version i can fit, for discouraging dogs from snaffling food from the work tops?

Glad Sam's back home safe and sound