Comment

Comment by Vicky Hay on September 29, 2016 at 12:35am

At night?!! Gosh, that would make me frantic. Glad you got him back. Around here it would be a matter of who got the dog first: the human or the coyote. :-D

Comment by Linda on September 28, 2016 at 10:34pm

Angela...thankfully Brady and Katie don't dash out the door!  Arnie was a true escape artist but he finally calmed down.  Max, Katie and Brady were all rehomings by their breeder and they were taught not to dash out the door before I got them, sure makes life easier.  They also both wait till I go in the door first or tell them it's ok to go.

Vicky...the only times Max escaped were at night for their last go out or first thing in the morning when it was dark and I couldn't see him well.  The light from the deck doesn't reach the gate area well. Their collars are loose enough that if they got caught on anything they can get out of them easily.  I use a harness for walking them.

Comment by Angela mcneal on September 28, 2016 at 6:29pm

how do you guys trim your corgis nails-stan lee wont let me touch his paws and his nails are crazy long!

Comment by Lawren and Teddy on September 28, 2016 at 3:31pm

Vicky, I call that "turtle action" when Ted manages to slip out of his harness. He pulls his legs in like a turtle. He's such a expert at doing it but a harness is the best thing for him and me on walks. Luckily, as he's gotten older, he does it less and less.

Comment by Vicky Hay on September 28, 2016 at 9:30am

LOL! Sounds like it's time to buy a new harness! :-D What a dog!

I also found the harness is much more effective on a doggy-walk than a collar. Also, for training to heel, I discovered that instead of the sharp snap you're supposed to use with a collar, Ruby is completely distracted from whatever antic she gets up to if, instead of jerking the leash, I kind of "flip" it. Let it go completely loose and with a flick of your wrist just flip it up and let it drop. This is totally gentle -- no pressure or pulling occurs -- but it instantly stops her from dragging.

On luring the dog back to you... Around the house, I've accustomed both dogs to hearing the words "doggy treat!" before I give them a treat. If one of them gets out, I go "Doggy treat! Doggy treat!" with a joyful tone of voice, and they'll usually follow me back in the house or at least come close enough for me to grab them. Ruby is beginning to get wise to this...but she's still a corgi and cannot resist foooood. Cassie has never been a runner, thank goodness.

A golden retriever we once had was a bit of an escape artist, and he WOULD take off down the street the instant he wriggled out the door. Try this: lie down flat on your black on the pavement. To gild the lily and get the animal's attention, you can make a pathetic whining noise, like a dog whining.

Most dogs can't resist this bizarre behavior. The golden would turn right around and come over to sniff at me and see what the heck was wrong, at which point I could reach up and grab him. Goldens not being too bright, he never failed to tumble to this maneuver. I imagine it would work one or twice on a corgi, but after that the game will be up...

Comment by Angela mcneal on September 28, 2016 at 9:07am

@Linda what do you do when they dart out the door?  Stan Lee darts out as soon as the door opens he darts out.  its so frustrating and i think he is deaf as soon as he goes out the door.  :P

@Vicky i have sewed mine twice, its looks so bad, there really isnt a good way to sew chew marks togeher! :P  I have so much better control with him in the harness, when he just uses the collar it gives him too much control, he yanks and pulls like crazy.  

Comment by Vicky Hay on September 28, 2016 at 8:49am

@ Linda: Yes!! Even if you think your dog can't escape, miracles happen... :-/ But another thing to consider is that they have a kind of bullet-shaped head like a greyhound, making it fairly easy to slip a collar. I use a martingale, but my dogs are never left outside in the yard without my being able to see them. If a martingale got caught just right on a sturdy twig, it could choke the dog. One reason I use a harness is to avoid the choking effect; the other is that both pooches have been known to escape a collar.

Comment by Linda on September 28, 2016 at 8:35am

I've had Brady back out of a harness when he dug in because he did not want to go in the car.  I've always have collars with tags on my dogs.  I know many people don't keep collars on them in the house or in their own yard but they can escape from both those places.  I had one corgi that would shoot out the front door from the kitchen while I was getting the mail.  Max escaped more than once when kids came in our yard to get their ball, closed the gate but didn't latch it and he always tested it..stinker.

Comment by Vicky Hay on September 27, 2016 at 12:17pm

YES! Ruby did exactly the same thing!!  Who would think they could even reach the straps well enough to get their teeth around them?

I was able to sew hers back together, so now she goes around in a sort of moth-eaten affair. It's secure, though...just...uhm...lived-in.

The other thing she managed to do is actually slip out of a firmly attached, correctly adjusted harness. While I was stopped to tend to Cassie, who in her old age gets tired about 1/2 mile into a walk, Ruby jumped up on the neighbor's lawn to indulge in her favorite cavort: wallowing in the grass. My back was turned, so I don't know how she did this, but while rolling and squirming around in the grass, she somehow weaseled out of the harness. So...now I make sure the dog is wearing a collar with tags in addition to the harness. Just in case...