Dog Running Away?

Hey guys! Some of you may or may not know that I have a 5 month old Basset Hound puppy named Willa. She is COMPLETELY all puppy!

The thing is, I have a good sized side yard, but no fenced in backyard. So to go potty, I just take her out to the side yard without a leash on. I mean, she's a Basset Hound, can she really move that quickly? The thing is, if she's being really playful, when I walk towards her to encourage her to come in, she'll immediately run the opposite way. This makes me quite nervous, as she could easily run towards the road.

Now, I know that I could just put her on a leash, but I would really rather just be able to let her walk out the door and she could just walk around, do her thing, and then we could come back in. I read somewhere that when they run away from you, run the opposite way, but that method does not work for us. Do you all have any suggestions? This makes us quite nervous, and I had an unpleasant dream last night about it...

Well, you will want to teach the dog "recall" (coming when called). Everyone does this differently, but, here is what i did. I tricked my dog into thinking the word "come" means "treats".
You should make sure your fence is secure, too. We took long metal hooks, and nailed down the bottom edge every few feet to prevent digging under the fence, which Buddy seemed interested in when we first got him. We never left Buddy outside alone til he had fully bonded on us.

Also, of course, if you DO chase your puppy, a new game has begun.

Everyone has their own way to teach recall, so do consider other ideas you learn of. Most ppl use the dog's name, i don't. I might say, "Buddy, COME!" but, i never try to get him to return to me by using only "Buddy" cuz he hears that word alllllllll day long.

HOW TO TEACH RECALL

Do not use your dog’s NAME to call him, he hears his name all day long. At my house, we talk about the dog by name all day long.
So choose a specific sound or word that means come.
If you have already used the word “COME!” and your dog is now immune to that word, LOSE that word, and get a brand new, distinct one, or consider a whistle noise.
TO START:
Cut up some hotdogs or real bits of meat, into small small pieces, to prevent a full or fat dog. Dogs do NOT care how big a treat is. Do not skimp on this, use real meat. If your dog is immune to treats, let me know, i have great, healthy recipe that ALL dogs go nutters for, even dogs who "don't like" treats. Or, one can use a tug toy for reward, if that is high value reward to that particular dog.

For recall,
Stand beside your dog, INSIDE YOUR HOUSE with no distractions around--- make the noise (or whistle noise) or say "come" in pleasant voice, and give a treat, and praise dog.

NO, the dog has not done anything yet, you are right.
Your goal is to convince that dog, the whistle means TREAT! And love, praise, all his favorite stuff.

Repeat this about 3 times, now first lesson is done. NOW PLAY WITH YOUR DOG. ALL LESSONS SHOULD BE SUPER SHORT, LIKE A MINUTE, 2 MINUTES…stopping before your dog gets frustrated, or zones out. All lessons should be followed by play session, so dog thinks ‘school’ is fun.
You can repeat the lesson about 2 or 3 times a day, but keep all lessons short.
Over time, take a few steps away from dog, and whistle, so dog will take a few steps towards you, and give meat treat and praise. Again, repeat x 3, play with your dog.

DO NOT ADVANCE TOO FAST.
Overtime, stand a bit farther, whistle, give love and treat when dog comes. You should still be in low distraction area at this point of training, not like, in a dog park,------ still inside your house.
Overtime, move to other rooms, use your noise, cue word, or whistle, reward dog when he comes to get that treat. FOR THE REST OF THIS PAGE, I say “whistle” but it can be ANY *distinct* noise you choose, but NOT his name.

Overtime, when dog is reliably showing up INSIDE the house, to the word “come” or to your whistle, THEN and only then, begin outdoor training.

Start in your yard, when dog is kinda tired out, standing again next to him, make whistle, give treat. Repeat x 3. Play with your dog. Yes, you could probably step away by now and use cue, but don't.
Not yet. You are hypnotizing your dog that "come = treat" at this point.
You can repeat a lesson many times a day, but keep each lesson short.

Just like you did INSIDE your house, slowly advance along, to where you are a bit further, a bit further, over much time, NOT TOO FAST.
Set your dog up for success.
If you start “losing” your student, back up to step where dog was last successful.
When you begin work in areas of high distraction, begin with dog CLOSE to you, whistle, give treat. Slowly, over time, being a lil bit further from dog, whistle, give treat.

This IS a slow process, but, it is well worth it. There is something permanent being built inside the dog's mind, the cue = the high value treat, do not rush this process. Let him make that association slowly and firmly, without any stress whatsoever.

For some dogs, it is recommended that for distance work, you have dog on very long 50 to 100 foot lead, or, work inside a large fenced in area, such as an empty school yard or empty cemetery. DO NOT attempt long distance work in high distraction areas until dog has proven he is good in short distances.
Make the distance thing occur slooowly, moving from say 10 feet, to 15 feet next day, and so on, set your dog up for success. If you do it this way, you will end up with a dog you CAN call to you from as far away as he can still hear you.
DO NOT SCOLD YOUR DOG even if he shows up late, he’ll remember that, and think, “I don’t wanna go over there and get yelled at.” NEVER EVER scold a dog who DID eventually show up. It is confusing to the dog.
IGNORE all wrong moves, reward correct responses. POSITIVE ONLY!!! If this is not FUN for you and your dog, you are doing it wrong.

As you get into further distances, WHEN THE DOG IS VERY ADVANCED and totally understands that “Whistle = treats + love!” and you are beginning to practice among more distractions, you may have to whistle, clap on your legs, be very interesting, to lure your dog from far away. I myself make an entirely different noise---"beebee beebee COMEmere beebee" to call my dog from far away, it's very high pitched, and i crouch down, and slap on my legs. My dog LOVES it, and comes running full speed to me with a laff on his face, but, you'd blush to hear this high-pitch noise i use, ha ha!!

here is great tip Tx taught to me, that i will pass on to you:
TIP: NEVER EVER CALL TO A DOG WHO IS ABOUT TO PEE. Never ever call a dog who is doing his pre-urination sniff. It is a rare dog who will come to you during that, when you gotta go, you gotta go. If you call a dog who is in process of the pre-urination sniff, you will weaken the cue, cuz he most likely will NOT come at that moment. Wait til he finishes and THEN call him. Then you win. You do not want to ever give dog 1 chance to hear that cue and NOT come.

Have lessons every day, every day, and advance slowly.

ONCE DOG SOLIDLY UNDERSTANDS THE NEW CUE, I mean like steel, then and ONLY THEN begin to reward with “praise only” on a recall. Be very very slow to fade out the treats, AFTER the dog totally believes that the word “come” means “treat”, ha ha.

I still to this day, years later, still call my dog and still give him meat bits when he show up sometimes, not every time, but my dog never knows for sure if this *might* be the time he will get a bit of real meat. And we do practice recall almost every day of his life to keep it razor sharp.
GOOD LUCK!!!!

I know it goes against your feeling, but don't run after your dog. They turn it into a game of chase, wich is not what you want.
If you run away from her, do you make yourselve interresting? Make funny noises, jump around a bit, invite her to come and play with you.
My guess is, she knows you want to take her inside, when she doesn't want to yet. Make sure it is always fun to come to you(very hard, I know you reeally want to go inside NOW, but she thinks: no way, I'm having fun!)
Heavily reward her coming to you, either with treats or a game she really likes(playing tug or throwing a ball)
Then make it unpredictable. One time you call her and play with her, then let her go run around again. You can call her and ask her to sit or down, then let her go again. And another time you call her and you go inside. Mix it up, call and play, then go inside.
But allways reward the coming to you.
Something else you could do, is to have her on a very long leash, so she can run around freely, but, when you call her and she does not respond, you can tow her in gently.
I don't know how focused your dog is on you, but something that really worked for me, was to go inside and shut the door loudly. If they don't come when called, I say: ok good bye!! and go inside. Of course I would peek outside, to see what they are up to. For my dogs that takes all the fun away from being outside and after some time they would come to the door, so I could let them in. But this usually only works when your dog is focused on you

By the way, I would try to find a way to fence off your yard, as Bassets are scenthounds and WILL follow their noses. There is no higher reward for her than to be able to go follow a scent. It is allmost impossible to top that reward, once they figure out, they can get away from you. You mention your dog is 5 months old, so she will be going into puberty, which means she will only try more to find out where her boundries are. Suddenly they will forget the simplest of cue's. Sit??? I have no idea of what you are talking about! Very normal, but like I said, once she figures out, she can get out of the yard, you will have a whole lot of trouble teaching her to stay IN the yard!