07/25/2025
An oldie but a goodie! How I taught the untrustable off-leash dog to recall every time. It's long, so prepare yourself :)
Oster was "never to be trusted off leash, you will never catch him" when I first got him. And this was very factual. He wouldn't let you get within 6 to 10 ft away from him if he were loose and if you did attempt it, he would bolt. Mostly just because he had not been desensitized to being off leash I believe, and I just assume, that perhaps each time somebody needed to get him it was in a rush and he learned that if I avoid people, they can't catch me, and I get to continue to do whatever I want when I want to. This is typical of basenjis I have found. But, thankfully I have always been able to counter condition it with time and dedication and my expansive dog knowledge.
So I started in an enclosed fenced-in area when I first got him. The first day I got him home, I spent almost 3 hours just sitting in the fenced in backyard, giving him confidence in that if he came up to me or came close and/or was within hand reach, it didn't automatically mean that he was going to get caught and be put away / in a kennel/not be able to run around anymore. At first I had to toss little pieces of treats towards him because I couldn't get him to approach me for the life of me. But if I would toss treats at the 10-ft distance and then the six foot distance, slowly we got to 3 ft distance and then he was within arms length. I never once tried to grab him or catch him, that isn't the point of building trust and confidence with a dog that doesn't want to be caught. My goal was to make him understand that even though he is within range of me catching him, that doesn't mean that I am going to.
After about 3 hours I had him eating treats out of my hand and he was learning that I could touch his collar and reach for him, and typically that meant treats and that he could continue to be out and roaming around the backyard at his leisure.
I was very proud of him and his quick progress. I continued this for a few weeks. Also continuing reinforcement inside and powering up the word" yes" and a whistle, as if I had a clicker. I would have my mother and my daughter or son sit in a triangle formation , with me, in the living room and we would each randomly take turns calling him with a whistle and wording such as Oster come. We always did it in an unpredictable format, which is ideal with three or four people. With two people, it gets to be predictable for most cases. Anyways, so we would power up the recall command through using high value rewards that I knew he highly desired to keep it highly rewarding and positive.
After he was reliably coming to the recall immediately inside, and also allowing me to come up to him outside while in a fenced in yard, I increased the stakes and took him out to the farm where he had 12 acres to roam. I allowed him to roam freely, and we would go for walks along the property, and I would randomly give him treats whenever he came up to me or into my bubble, so to speak. Esp if it was on his own doing and I didn't call him. Because I wanted him to feel confident and rewarded for choosing to come to me on his own.
I also would call him and give him treats anytime he successfully came to me. If he came up to me but wouldn't let me pet him first, then he wouldn't get a treat. The reason I need to pet him first, is because some dogs get used to you will come up to you but if you reach down to grab a collar, they think the game is over and they're getting put away and will bolt away or not allow you to grab the collar. If every time you touch them at the collar as if you're going to grab them, but instead you just give them a treat and let them go, you build a conditioned emotional response around grabbing the collar and getting rewards. The goal was to make him feel comfortable around me. If you come up to me, you get to continue having fun and explore and the party isn't over. Just because the human is involved and coming up to you doesn't mean that you don't get to continue having fun.
He has a lot of energy and is a very smart dog, so I think he took to it pretty easily. I also am an avid dog body language person, and I find subtle cues and body language easy to detect and I think that helps me a lot in creating a quick training process. I have spent my entire life learning about wolf body language ( as a child I was obsessed with wolves, wolves everywhere including on my walls and on my bed and in Statue form surrounding my entire room.) 😂 but then there was a switch in my brain and I realized that dogs also had similar body language and I could learn a lot from studying dogs in the same fashion that I had spent so many years studying wolves.
Anyways, this is how I taught Oster to be trustworthy off leash. This is how I train all of my dogs, and I also continue to use high value rewards when we are out running and or anytime they are loose or free. I always want them to associate me in a positive light and therefore a trustworthy member of the pack. Building a conditioned emotional response around humans and being touched and freedom is a great way to build bonds and have a wonderful connection and relationship with our beloved basenjis.
Disclaimer, because I know someone will say something, I do not recommend doing this unless you know what you are doing. Extra disclaimer, DO NOT do this around any areas of danger such as high traffic areas, high human traffic areas, or anywhere that could cause injury or death to a dog that is still learning. Basenji's are wild in nature, and even the most trained dogs can and do make mistakes. We don't want to set them up for failure or in a dangerous situation that could ultimately cause us to lose them. Be smart, and make sure you enlist the help of a trained professional if your current basenji has problems with recalls. Also if your dog has noise sensitivities, be cautious and aware of the environment around you so that they don't bolt out of fear, which does happen.
I I want to finish with the thought that I highly recommend EVERYONE (that has new puppies) that you use recall and high pitch noises every time you feed them, with no gaps. This is the same as Pavlov's dog, he would ring a bell and give the dog a treat. This was repeated and eventually he would ring a bell and it would produce a physiological response of salvation as if the dog already received food even when the dog didn't actually get food.. If you continue to always associate food and the recall, they have a very high probability of returning every time. A lot of people like to wean off the treats, but I personally like being able to give treats every time they come if I am able. But I also do it intermittently so that they don't expect it every time. Because we all know that we don't always have treats, at all times in the day. And the more you do this, and the most positive experiences they have as they're growing up, you can have a profound effect on their recall. Every puppy I have ever produced, has had a solid recall and I can take them off leash running anywhere I want. But I have such a strong conditioned emotional response due to lots of training as puppies starting in the weaning pen and using their puppy mush as a cue to come running. It's quite amazing to be able to see little five or six week old puppies come flying into the pen to eat at the sound of "puppy puppy puppy" 😁 it's the little things in life 💜
I also want to say that It's not to say that my dogs never make mistakes, and that they haven't ever taken off after a deer or a rabbit before, they most definitely have. But I also put them in safe situations to where if they do fail, they are not in danger. Because I understand that they are animals and cannot be 100% perfect every time. I am proud to say though, that 90% to 95% of the time, I can get them to call off of a critter and come back to me, and I believe that is because of my training and I am very proud of that 😊
