Canine Keep-Away--A Deadly Game


Inside a safely enclosed fenced backyard a playful dog dodges its laughing, pursuing owner and sprints away like a young racehorse out on spring pasture. The panting owner comes to a needed stop, watching the dog admiringly. The dog turns and comes galloping back, heading with a beeline straight toward the owner, who assumes a “ready to tackle” position, slightly crouching, poised to leap. The dog closes the distance, but easily avoids the lunging owner, then dashes out of reach, racing away with an ecstatically happy, goofy looking dog-grin on its face. Later the same evening, the dog bolts out the overhead garage door another family member accidentally left open. Realizing what has happened, the owner dashes after the dog to the unfenced front yard, calling its name. The dog looks at the approaching owner, assumes a play-bow posture, and then bolts across the small front yard directly toward the busy street in front. Assessing the situation and what is about to happen, the owner starts to run away from the dog, toward a car parked in the driveway, calling frantically to the dog--“Let’s go for a ride”! Luckily the dog takes the bait and detours away from the street, back toward the owner; but as it gets near, the owner suddenly lunges, making a desperate grab for the dog, who easily evades its owners reach. Changing tacks, the owner yells at the dog in what is hoped to sound like an authoritative voice, and the dog widens the distance between them, anticipating the fun may be coming to an end if it allows the owner to get near. Besides, the owner is behaving erratically, seeming both playful and threatening, so the dog keeps its distance while playing the familiar keep-away game. A next door neighbor who has observed the perilous dog-and-owner interaction comes outside to offer assistance, and the friendly dog runs right to this person, who wisely takes hold of the dog’s collar while petting it.


Though this is a hypothetical situation, I’m sure many pet owners can relate to one, if not both aspects, play and serious, of my model for the “canine keep-away” game. Neither is recommended. While the first example, at first glance, sounds like a great pet-and-owner bonding “Kodak moment”, on closer examination it shows ominous portent. The “training” the dog receives during the seemingly safe interaction actually allows the dog to learn its owners’ limitations and disadvantages with regard to pursuit and capture. Having clearly established “You can’t catch me!”, when keep-away expert dogs slip through open doors and dash into unfenced, unfamiliar, or unsafe areas, many lose their lives playing by the same rules owners may have unwittingly taught. Chasing a dog that is free is very likely to provoke a flight response. Unless it has been taught to stop on command and take no fleeing steps away from its approaching owner, the dog is as likely to run when the owners’ intention is capture as when it is play.
Untrained dogs must be prevented from escaping. If they do get free, crossed-finger tactics must be used when attempting to recapture them, with a huge potential for failure. Giving your untrained dog freedom can have several bad results: the dog will take off, possibly getting lost, hurt or killed; the dog will hurt or scare someone, resulting in legal problems and resentment from neighbors; and the dog will learn its owners commands are background noises to ignore while enjoying freedom.
In the event an untrained dog gets loose in an unsafe area, the owner should make intriguing--duck calls, meowing, barking, whatever--noises, while moving--running, waddling, crawling-- AWAY from the dog and dangerous areas. This is NOT a training method; it is an emergency response approach. Ideally it will never be tested; foresightful owners who train proactively will never need it. Their dogs will be leashed or safely enclosed from the day they come into the home until training has been reinforced, tested, and found to be 99.9% failsafe. (We can never claim a dog to be 100% trained, since there is always a potential for a refusal or an unexpected temptation.)
The stressed out, possibly frightened owner of a run away dog often reacts with anger when the dog finally is safely captured, possibly even punishing the dog. THIS IS A BIG MISTAKE! The only conclusion the dog will draw is capture equals the loss of freedom, plus scolding, punishment, and confinement back in the house or even cage. What dog would want to give up its freedom for something worse? An independent dog is well able to locate plenty of positive reinforcement when liberated, with no help needed from its owner. While the owner helplessly and hopefully beckons, brandishing a biscuit, a loaf of bread, or a good cut of New York strip steak, some dogs don’t even seem to weigh their choices; unless they are quite hungry and food motivated, freedom offers the stronger positive reinforcers. If food luring has been used and then the dog finds itself suddenly confined immediately following the snack, it may be not take the bait a second time, having made a negative rather than positive association with the owner's offerings.
An owner that has had one accidental dog-escape experience should not wait another day to begin training. If the dog is one of the lucky ones that live to benefit from a second chance, its second chance needs to be more solid than just luck. Too many dog owners make the mistake of thinking their dog has built in command comprehension, and “know” what an owner’s spoken (or screamed!) commands mean. Many dogs hear words most frequently when they are not performing the desired behavior--and learn the owners sounds mean the opposite of what is intended! Many owners who claim their dogs have “selective hearing” actually have dogs that have been mistaught the meaning of commands. Saying “come” to a dog that is walking away associates the word with--walking away! Of course there are people who train their dog to associate a word such as “come” exactly with the behavior they want their dog to perform, yet still the dog may not comply. Why? The mistake many owners make is teaching their dog to associate coming to them with something negative.
A dog’s potential for playing the keep-away game is partially influenced by heredity. At as early as 7 weeks of age some puppies may demonstrate a stronger drive to follow in contrast to other siblings’ greater independence. While individual personalities may cause some puppies to require a bit more effort than others, for all dogs the key to training success is early positive experience and consistent reinforcement. Very young puppies show a strong drive to follow--first their mother, and later their owner. This causes some owners to drop their guard and not use a leash, believing they have a dog that “knows better” than to run off, or just has a very strong “drive to please”. Actually, by approximately 11 weeks of age, most puppies, even those with the greatest “Velcro” tendencies, start to experiment with independence. Instead of following the owner, this is when the first episode of keep-away may surface, with the puppy bolting wildly away in the opposite direction. Just as human children go through various developmental stages, so do puppies. A necessary part of puppy development is increasing independence as they begin to explore their surroundings. The problem is, the grass really is greener! Besides being highly interesting, the larger new world is also very distracting! It is easy to overlook a jumping up-and-down, clapping, whistling, hollering, toy-squeaking, treat-waving owner when preoccupied with an actual LEAF! If the owner does resort to chasing the puppy, it will most likely be perceived as FUN for all involved from the puppy perspective, at least until the puppy is caught and the party is over. The lesson learned during chase is that running works to establish distance between the puppy and the owner, and that the owner is unable to close the distance. Allowing this knowledge is a dangerous empowerment of the puppy, since its survival depends upon it respecting its owners leadership abilities, not disrespecting them.

TIME’S UP

I train two commands for recovering a loose dog; the command “come”, and the command “time”. “Come”, actually an advanced concept, is introduced as a position-only command, stated AFTER a dog sits in front, facing me. By teaching it as a noun rather than a verb, the dog is allowed to form a solid, finite understanding. I assist or shape the dog’s behavior until the position known as “come” happens, and only then attach the voice command “come” at the moment of success. Eventually, when asked to “come”, properly trained dogs are goal oriented--to sit in front, facing their owner. Crossing distance and obstacles in between becomes secondary to the goal. Saying “come” to a dog that is walking away associates the word with--walking away! “Come” is never used when asking a beginning dog to surrender freedom. It is only used just before situations which will seem very rewarding to the dog.
Meanwhile, as a practical, temporary survival command I teach a “recess is over” concept know as “time’s up”. The “Time” command is used to capture the dog after it has been allowed freedom, so that the new and still not solidly trained “come” command isn’t potentially given a negative flavor. When a dog is commanded “Time”, it must allow itself to be touched. This can be accomplished one of two acceptable ways; the dog can stop and allow the owner to close the distance, or the dog can approach the owner. Working off lead, it is impossible to force a dog to approach the owner unless it is willing to do so. In best case, the dog ALWAYS wants to be near its owner, whenever the opportunity presents itself. In the real world, dogs sometimes do not prefer their owner’s company to their own freedom, no matter how positively they have been reinforced. Teaching “time” allows an owner to go to the dog if the dog doesn’t come to the owner; on the command “come“, going to a refusing dog undermines the meaning of the command.

It is important to prepare a dog for the actual capture exercise by introducing a preparatory exercise, where the new signals and reactions are introduced but the dog isn’t actually challenged. Turn the dog loose in a fenced yard, walk away without looking back (at least not obviously), and do something FUN!--Go on a “treasure hunt”, searching the yard for hidden toys. If the dog joins in, reward team effort by sharing the things you, the competent leader, have “found” on your “hunt”! Remember, when dog has been given an “OK” command it is free; if, while free, the dog happens to begin to voluntarily follow you, attach the command “Let’s go!”, and praise to positively reinforce. As the following dog starts to separate from you, repeat “OK”, so that you have again granted freedom, rather than allowing the dog to leave without permission. Instead of following the dog, or attempting to recall it, exaggerate the distance between you. Walk away; if the dog follows, again attach the “Let’s go” command, since the dog is following! When the dog is at a distance, occasionally start to walk back toward the dog, approaching it in a non-threatening, easy going manner. Anytime your dog remains still as you approach, praise the positive waiting behavior. If the dog allows you to close the entire distance and touch it, be sure to positively reinforce enthusiastically, then free the dog again and walk away. If the dog takes off while you are approaching, give it permission, saying “OK”, so you seem to be agreeing running off is a good idea. Then turn on your heel and go off in your own BETTER direction, away from, rather than pursuing the dog. If at any time the dog begins to approach you, remain still, possibly squatting down to encourage more enthusiastic approach from the dog, while praising warmly. This introductory exercise offers many opportunities to introduce new, positive associations and signals with old behaviors without ever getting confrontational.

The second training level, introduced after practicing the first exercise several (or many) times, also involves liberating a dog to a safely enclosed area. The exercise should NOT be practiced or even attempted with dogs that have shown fear when loose, or that have a history of having been punished by an angry, pursuing owner. If the following owner causes the dog to demonstrate ANY symptoms of fear or insecurity, rather than just “keep away” independence, this exercise should not be performed, and help from a qualified behaviorist should be sought. In this case the dog’s freedom is ended by the owner’s command--“time”-- which asks the dog to allow itself to be touched. The dog will either stop, approach the owner, or ignore and/or walk/run away. The owner will either go to the waiting dog, wait for the approaching dog, or follow the evasive dog around the yard, for however long it takes until the dog chooses to yield to the owner’s approach. At the point when the dog allows itself to be touched, it is rewarded with being given back its freedom.
In order to understand the appropriate application, I will share an actual recent training example:
Astro, an eleven month old Airedale Terrier, has been placed in three different homes during the last five weeks by a local rescue group. Astro is a canine keep-away expert. Though all of his placements have been with families with fenced yards, none of them have been able to tolerate the constant and not so merry chases Astro has lead them on. His latest owner, Lisa, has brought him to me in hopes I can help him learn to surrender freedom and come in when she calls. Lisa is very concerned Astro might get loose in her unfenced front yard, and possibly be hurt or lost playing his dangerous game of “you can’t catch me!”
I bring Astro, who I have met and worked with on leash training issues several times over the past week, into my fenced half acre backyard and turn him loose. Lisa nearly has a nervous breakdown; “Oh NO!” she exclaims. “How will we ever catch him now?”
I call out “TIME!“ once, and begin to walk toward Astro, who is sniffing the base of one of our many trees. I am carrying two plastic pop bottles with pennies in them in my sweater pockets, but am empty handed. I approach the dog at a normal, relaxed pace, saying nothing and watching him to see when he becomes aware of my approach. When I am approximately thirty feet from him he glances at me and begins to trot away, still sniffing with his head down. I continue to follow him, in no hurry at all. He breaks into a lope and heads to a far corner of the yard without a backwards glance at me. I sneakily take one of my bottles from a pocket, and toss it in his direction, without letting him see me throw it. The sound startles the dog, who bolts away fast, looking back at the device which surprised him. I keep walking him down, working to close the distance, and he keeps sprinting away in less and less relaxed-looking bursts. He seems quite aware of my pursuit now, and seems unable to totally relax into sniffing the yard, in part because he still remembers the penny bottle which caught him off guard already once. I keep slowly, patiently baring down, and he continues moving away. He cuts away from me at an angle, and I anticipate his trajectory, cutting him like a sheepdog without increasing my pace. The dog is looking at me over his shoulder, unsure what to do. He changes direction, and so do I, cutting him off again. He pauses for a moment, coming to a puzzled stand still and looking right at me.
Instantly my demeanor changes from silent follower to warm, praising approacher. I do not slow down or speed up, and continue to close the distance between myself and the dog. He is not sure what to do, and tentatively wags his short tail and drops his ears submissively in response to my stream of praise. As I get within ten feet of him he begins to dash away again, looking over his shoulder. I resume the silent following mode, and after just five steps, he stops again, sitting and then dropping to a groin-exposing submissive posture. As I approach, praising warmly, the dog releases a small stream of urine, and I can’t help but think “Poor dog!” This shouldn’t have to feel threatening to him, but he has no idea what I might do, and can only learn through experience that I won’t hurt or scold him.
Finally reaching him, I repeat my command word “Time” as I gently touch the dog. I then say “OK”, giving him back the freedom he has so reluctantly given up. I am sure many times in his past Astro has been punished when finally captured, and I feel bad he is expecting more of the same from me. Because he is still lying down, looking confused, I pet and massage him for several minutes, then get up, turn on my heel, and walk away to explore my backyard by myself. It has taken eight minutes from start to finish to perform the first (typically most difficult with problem dogs) “tag” with Astro.
While exploring my yard and finding various squeaky toys I’ve strategically hidden, I keep a discreet eye on Astro. Regaining some composure, he has tentatively resumed his business casing out my still unfamiliar territory. I toss one of my toys his way, and with puppyish abandon he pounces, grabs the toy, and bolts with it. I do not want to inhibit his playfulness or re-shake his confidence in my yard, so I throw a second toy in another direction, and pursue it myself, ignoring him. I then throw my toy to the dog’s startled owner, Lisa, who misses, but quickly recovers the toy and tosses it to me as her dog comes charging toward her. When he heads back toward me I toss him the second toy, and then turn and walk away from him, back toward Lisa.
“Let’s try to ditch him”, I suggest. She seems game, even if she doesn’t clearly understand my game. I can tell she is relieved by the way Astro is responding. We start to walk together around my yard. Every time Astro begins to approach or follow us, we ignore him and do a rapid change of direction. He has started to follow now, anticipating our turns and making the same directional changes. We stop, and he stops. I throw a dog toy, and he starts to go toward it, halfheartedly, then loops back toward us. While he is approximately 20 feet away from me I suddenly state my command “Time!”. The dog freezes in his tracks, looks from side to side, and then sits. Lisa and I approach him, praising, and when we reach him, I touch him and repeat “Time”, then say “OK!”, freeing the dog again. Each time we tag and then free him, we walk away without a backward glance.
On “OK” Astro is free to choose what he wants to do--explore, remain there, or follow us. Because he is uncertain, and the yard is unfamiliar, he seems to err on the side of caution, following us. This is fine; while eventually his confidence will increase and his exuberance about independent play will resurface, initially being tentative and seeking cues from group leaders makes good canine sense. We keep practicing the “time’s up” exercise--freeing the dog, then asking him to give up his freedom, and when he complies rewarding him with--more freedom! The fourth time I call “Time”, Astro trots to me and sits; “Come” I say enthusiastically, then “OK” him again.

I let some of my own dogs out to play in the yard with Astro, and suddenly it is a dog free-for-all. Lisa and I retreat to the sidelines, sitting down to watch the dogs play and discuss the training strategy I have just demonstrated.

Ideally, Astro would have had a more positive early education. If his first owners had paired the word “time” with their touch each time they went to the still trusting puppy, and if the next thing that happened after hearing that word was always very fun and positive, Astro would have reacted to it as a promise rather than a threat. The same could have been done with a second word, “come”, used exclusively when the dog came to them and sat. Two words are used because outside it is safer to confront a dog with a history of keep away with a “time” command, requiring the dog to allow itself to be touched, than with the “come” command, which has a much stricter meaning. Dogs that are out in the yard playing, when confronted with “come”, may comply to the point where they stop, and reluctantly give up freedom. But some are not in a hurry to actually cross the distance between themselves and their owners, and if their hesitancy causes the owner to feel angry, or bear down upon the hesitant dog with any aura of disapproval, it will only serve to further inhibit the dog’s approach. If the dog stops, and allows the owner to close the distance, and benefits from the experience, gaining the owners praise, reassurance, and best of all, more freedom, the dog will become more and more eager to meet the approaching owner in the middle, eventually even doing all of the work and going to the owner when commanded with “time”. When the dog actually “comes” to the owner, the word “come” can be used to conclude the exercise and build a totally positive association with the command word and compliance. When the dog stops, and the owner goes to the dog, it must still be treated as a positive response, but it would make no sense to name this interaction “come”, since the dog didn’t!
Eventually off lead dogs are taught to discriminate the difference between stay and come, and to not offer aspects of the wrong behaviors when commanded. But with a beginning dog it is very desirable to positively reinforce any aspect of behavior that shows effort in the right direction. Initially there are two “right” directions! Stopping is certainly better than running away; and coming is really great too!
The time command has its limitations; it is a temporary tool to help eliminate flighty responses. The command wouldn’t be practical to use if a dog were across a busy street, since it allows the dog the option of coming to the owner; in that situation the only appropriate command would be “Stay”. “Time” is a tool used to help dogs that have developed keep away reactions to the command “come” improve their responses. Eventually the command “time” is phased out and replaced with the command “come“, as dog becomes confident, trusting, and willing to surrender freedom trustingly.
Avoiding the obvious sequence of capture leading to confinement, instead tagging and then freeing dogs again several times before finally bringing them in, can help make the owner’s authority seem less negative.
It can be very time consuming to practice the “time” exercise with an off lead dog in a large, FENCED, outdoor area. There are ways to practice, when time is limited, that still help reduce keep-away behavior. Closing short distances between owner and leashed dog, over and over again during walks, and then freeing the dog back to the length of the leash allows safe, short practices. Practicing on a longer light line or fully opened retractable leash allows simulation of off lead training in otherwise unsafe areas without the danger. When practicing “time” on a long line, the lead is never used to “reel in” the dog. Unless the dog comes to a voluntary stop, despite the presence of the slack line, it isn’t actually obeying, but being controlled by equipment. The handler can hold the line and follow the dog inside an area determined to be appropriate, such as the owner‘s front yard, “checking” the dog by pulling the line when the dog starts to wander too far away, such as off of the property. But inside the property the lead wouldn’t be used capture the dog; it is only to keep the dog safely within the area.
Perhaps most importantly, dogs need to allowed periods of safe freedom on a regular basis; they need opportunities to play, explore and exercise. If they do not, it will be nearly impossible to convince them to give up freedom when they manage to escape confinement. This is the primary cause for dogs "bolting," and playing "keep away" in the first place. Dogs that run away are given less freedom by their defensive owners; as a result they become increasingly likely to run away! Dogs that spend a great deal of time playing off lead, in safe areas, are less threatened by their owners, and actually associate going to them with rest and companionship.
Freedom isn’t something a dog should be punished for enjoying. When a dog hears the command “Time” it should feel an opportunity for positive team interaction is being presented, rather than its freedom being taken away. To make surrendering freedom seem like a positive experience requires a patient, creative trainer.


“Time”

1) State command “Time”
--with authority, not threat or anger, to dog that has been given freedom inside a safely enclosed area.

2) Evaluate dog’s response:
       A)--Dog stops B)--Dog approaches   C)--Dog runs or walks away, or totally ignores.

3) Respond:
       A)--PRAISE(!) while approaching dog   B)--Stand still, PRAISING(!), as dog approaches; squat to help encourage tentative dog   C)--Silently follow dog, at methodical (not angry!) pace, until it stops or approaches. Discreetly shake penny bottle or say “Eh!” when dog is behaving evasively.

4) Conclude:
       Touch dog, repeat the command (“Time” or “Here”), say “OK!”, and PRAISE(!); but remember, only pet when dog sits or lies down!

5) Start over again:
       Walk away without looking back (at least not obviously), and do something FUN!--Go on a “treasure hunt”, and if the dog joins in, reward team effort by sharing the things you, the competent leader, have “found” on your “hunt”! Remember, when dog has been given an “OK” command it is free; if, while free, the dog happens to begin to voluntarily follow you, attach the command “Let’s go!”. As the following dog starts to separate from you, repeat “OK”, so that you have again granted freedom, rather than allowing the dog to take it without permission.