Found (thank heavens!) -- a strollaway Zach.

[Bob Pr.]

I've had Zach since early September last year. Very shortly after I got him (from a shelter), we began walking a little over a mile every morning & evening plus a half mile noons. With my 2 previous Labs (1967-'81; 2001-'15), both loved to retrieve (after training) and that was such a great way for them to get enough daily exercise that I decided to try to nurture Zach's 1/4 Lab DNA into as much as possible of that, too.

We live in an apartment complex that borders a suburban residential district. On our daily 2 longer walks, like this evening, we walk a quarter mile on leash past the homes, then turn and I walk on a sidewalk across a field towards a middle school (our midway point of 1 1/4 mile total) and then return. When we get to this field, for 8 months, I unleash Zach (when others aren't around) and throw a tennis ball or sling a dummy for him to retrieve, getting praise and 6 small kibbles as his reward each fetch. (On our return, he's leashed for our walk past houses, across streets, on our way home.) When he's not retrieving, Zach loves sniffing various smells and exploring.

This evening, when I unleashed him, he started exploring the backyard of the house bordering our sidewalk (which he's often done but always before responding to my calls ("ZACH!!") to come and my distinctive whistle pattern. Tonight he didn't. I completed our regular route expecting him to show up at any time.

No Zach.

I wondered/worried if I'd find him at home, waiting for his usually highly desired supper, thinking of photocopying hundreds of "LOST DOG" flyers and where to distribute them (every home along our route?)

Retracing our route back -- fortunately -- I did find him playing in the yard of the home that's our midway, turnaround point on our noon walks. Zach (2 y.o.) was playing with a visiting yellow Lab (6 y.o.) about his size, a girl, and they were chasing each other and having a great time.

I was enormously relieved, of course, and am now debating
how I'll keep from having to relive such worries. A Dogtra e-collar is my #1 choice.

[Snowshoe]

How did he get into the yard of the other dog? If it was fenced then maybe you have a jumper. Glad you found him pretty quickly.

[smartrock]

I guess I wouldn't continue walking unless I was sure he was with me. They do get carried away by their noses sometimes. I'm glad you found him and he was safe with his new friend!

We have e-collars we use when we go to the beach. If you haven't used one before, most people suggest getting an experienced user to help guide your training of your pup. They have to be trained carefully to understand what the collar is all about. I used a program on e-collar conditioning by Mike Lardy (I think). We don't hunt, so my goal was just to have them respond to the collar tone and come back to me under distracting conditions, nothing more exact than that. There are also some instructional videos online that I watched, I cannot remember which ones in particular. There's a member here who trains specifically with the Dogtra, or she used to. Her YouTube channel is called panzertoo. She has many, many videos on training with the Dogtra, here's just one, to get you started with her videos.

How to Use a E collar Remote Collar Dogtra Dog training - YouTube

[Bob Pr.]

How did he get into the yard of the other dog? If it was fenced then maybe you have a jumper. Glad you found him pretty quickly.

It was not fenced. But it is at the corner of busy "T" intersection with often much traffic. (I was terribly afraid that if I didn't find Zach at home I might find him killed or mortally injured on a street.)

This morning, on our usual long walk, I kept Zach leashed a 100 feet or so past the spot I usually unleash him -- and then, even unleashed I thought he stayed much closer to me -- not exploring as he usually does in between retrieves -- as if he was making an extra effort to resist temptation.

If you haven't used one before, most people suggest getting an experienced user to help guide your training of your pup. They have to be trained carefully to understand what the collar is all about.

I used one quite a bit with Puff and I agree with you 100%.

I'm 'shocked' and very disappointed at the number of people who buy one and just start using it without any or very little understanding of the principles of learning and especially negative reinforcement ("punishing" stimuli). While my PhD was in clinical psychology, that was in the era when all psychology was VERY heavily biased toward learning theory so I had many courses in it -- so many that I judged myself so clinically untrained that I sought my first job in a place with highly trained supervisors that would rectify those shortcomings (and it/they did IMO).

[POPTOP]

Keep up the recall training. Temptations are so great for a fun loving lab.

Archie came to us with a great recall already. To reinforce, I took him to a Total Recall class. He totally surprised me at a rescue event in a large field with a pond. I set him free with about 40 dogs running around and he made his way to the pond, going in belly deep. Gave him one call and he blasted his way to me evading collisions with other dogs. Yet, in the back yard the other night (when I'm so on the outlook for skunks) he charged the fence and totally ignored repeated calls. Back to training buddy.

[labsnewfy]

Glad you found Zach safe and playing with his new friend. I cant let either one of mine off leash unless in a fenced in area or they will follow their noses, although Sarah has good recall in the yard there are times when she doesn't come when called straight away.