Techniques for “Bolters”

By bolter, what we are referring to is a dog that races out a door at every opportunity, or runs away as soon as it receives some freedom (i.e. off-lead). Most of the time bolting occurs because of natural prey drive. The neighborhood critters have been teasing your poor pooch through windows and doors for days, and here is your dog’s chance to pay them back. Other reasons are the desire to run-such as happens with breeds bred for sled pulling and sometimes the protection drive which can be very dangerous as these dogs are generally bolting directly to a perceived threat to deal with it as they see fit.

Wait

Using a doorway, walk up to it but NOT through and stop, telling your dog wait. If he/she moves ahead gently pull back with the leash and give some slack. If the dog stays in position reward for “good wait”. Then back away from the door-DO NOT GO THROUGH. The next progression is for you to go through the door while maintaining the dog’s position, reward for good wait, come back to your dog and back away from the door. This step is very important-it teaches the dog the difference between a stop while heeling, and wait. When the dog is “waiting” without leash pressure, you can start calling the dog through the door with a release word or come. Keep in mind that wait is NOT stay-what the dog does behind the door is not important, as long as the dog stops moving forward. To build the consistency necessary for a dog with these tendencies, you should ALWAYS make your dog wait before going through an open door. This can be the “wait” outlined here or if you are taking your dog out, make sure he/she holds a sit/stay while the door is opened. Also, be sure to take your dog through the door on-lead. Once you cross that threshold the dog’s state of mind will change-and you will again have a bolter.

Come

Until your dog is 95% accurate, do not give the come command off leash. Start practicing this command by walking forward and quickly reversing direction while saying your dog’s name and the come command. Do not turn around-simply walk backwards for a few feet with your dog following. You can use a treat to guide your dog towards your knees. This is to give the dog a target, and also to discourage jumping.

Keep the leash short at the beginning and if need be use it to guide the dog to you. Ultimately we want the dog to come directly to you and sit immediately. As the dog is regularly performing come, have the dog sit before rewarding.

Once the dog is coming from a stationary position such as sit or down with 6 ft of leash between you, it is time to start working on a long line. The best way I have found is a clothesline. It is very light and you can do serious distance work, rather than limiting to 15-20 feet on a heavy training lead which still indicates to the dog that he/she is “attached” to you. As you have control with 50 or so feet, start cutting a few feet off the line (another reason I like clotheslines-you are not cutting up an expensive lead). With this process you will gradually reduce the length of line, yet the dog will still be under control at distance.