How to train your dog to not run away outside?

One reliable method is clicker training—an associative learning process that relies on rewards and positive reinforcement rather than punishment. Choose a comfortable, distraction-free spot where you can maintain control, such as a fenced yard. Leash your dog during training, so you can control your dog and hold their attention. Attach your dog to a long line, a leash that measures fifteen feet or longer, to create a significant distance between you and your dog while still being in control. As your dog explores the space at the end of the long line, call your dog’s name or tell them to come. The moment your dog performs the desired behavior, click your dog clicker to mark that behavior. Immediately after clicking, reward your dog with an edible treat, reinforcing the idea that the clicker sound signals an oncoming treat. Always pay attention to a dog off-leash, keeping your dog in your line of sight if you’ve decided to take the leash off in an open space like a park, beach, or hike. Start leash training early, around ten weeks, though you can start as early as four to six weeks old.

Spay or neuter your pet. Intact pets have an innate drive to reproduce, so hormones can override good sense. Male dogs likely will seek out a nearby female in heat and intact females will search for a male mate. Spaying or neutering your pet when he is young removes the hormonal desire to roam. Build a fence around your yard. Pets never should be allowed to roam freely and should be walked on a leash or let out into a fenced yard for bathroom breaks. Although electric fences keep some pets from running away, if something desirable is on the other side, such as another dog, a squirrel, the mailman, or playing children, your pet may decide to risk it and run through. Put up a tall, sturdy fence to prevent your pet from climbing or jumping over it to escape. Walk the fence perimeter daily to check for potential escape routes, such as holes, snow piles, and fallen branches. Teach your dog basic commands. Teaching your dog to obey basic commands can come in handy if he decides to chase something that catches his eye. Most importantly, teach him the commands “come” and “stay.” Provide adequate exercise opportunities. Pets with pent-up energy are more likely to run away, so provide exercise opportunities every day to stimulate him physically and mentally. Providing safe outlets for your dog’s energy will make him less likely to run off in search of adventure. Keep your pet safe from loud noises. An unexpected loud noise can make your dog panic and bolt before you realize he’s gone. Keep your dog safely on a leash or in a fenced yard when outdoors so he can’t run if he’s scared by a loud noise.

You may have inadvertently trained your dog to bolt every time you unleash her. She doesn’t know the difference between being let off leash inside the park fence, where she is free to bolt or when you do it in an open area or near a road, where it scares you that she might run into the road and get hurt. First, stuff your pocket with yummy treats. Get yourself a very thin, long lead or strong string or twine and attached it to your dog’s collar and the other end to your belt. Then attach the regular leash to the collar. Ask her to sit and then unclip the regular leash and see what happens. When she is surprised by the other leash and stopped mid-bolt, immediately call her name and give the “come” command and then give her a yummy treat. Make a big deal out of the fact that she came back. After several of these “bolting-interrupting” episodes she’ll begin to see that bolting doesn’t work anymore and that she gets praise and yummy treats from coming back rather than taking off. A word of advice, unless you are in a fenced-in area or enclosed park I wouldn’t recommend that you take her off leash for safety and legal reasons.