The most stressful moment of my life..

Everything you're feeling is totally normal, and everything Vixen is doing is also totally normal. I was so overwhelmed for the first couple months after we brought Marlowe home. Seriously, I was in therapy! Not just because of that, but it was not helping! It gets better, I promise. Conrad and Marlowe fought (sending Marlowe to the emergency room for stitches only about 3 weeks after we first brought him home!), Marlowe had zero training, was not housetrained, barked in his crate, we got a nasty note pinned to our door. He's the love of my life but good lord those first 6 or so months were tough.

Teaching a recall should be part of your basic obedience class, though most of the work on it you'll have to do on your own at home. With a herding breed, I'm thinking it will probably go quite well. It's typically the hound breeds and the nordic breeds that are the bears with the recall.

Amy, Vix probably hasn't had any obedience training, so you have to approach her training like you would with a really young puppy. Because behavior-wise, they're on the same level.

All basic obedience classes teach a recall, and since Vixie seems prone to running away (my guess is that her previous owners made this worse by playing that chase game) I'd try to find an intermediate and advanced class after this specifically for the off-leash work.

If you really don't think Vixie is the dog for you within a few months, by all means find a more suitable home for her. But you haven't had her very long at all, she's barely had time to settle in and get some good training. Dogs are miraculous in their ability to adapt to living with different people, but if she and Carlie don't get along at all (I haven't seen evidence of this in your pics) I can see your concerns. And with people like us who take our dogs so seriously, it's common to have second thoughts about such an important decision. Eve is the only dog I've had that didn't give me puppy blues, but she's paying me back now as an adolescent for her eerily perfect behavior as a baby.

How scary! I'm glad you and Vixen are okay now.

Personally, I don't think this really has anything to do with being a rescue, or having issues, or being a Corgi (although they do tend to be stubborn), or you being a bad Mom, or anything like that!

Dogs usually do not come pre-trained, in any situation. And even if they are, in an intelligent breed, the dog is not likely to behave with you from day one... you have to show them that running off and disobeying is not acceptable behavior, to YOU. Nevermind her previous owners - even if they did train her, that training is not immediately going to apply to a new home. And part of what's great about Obedience classes is that most of it is human training; Vixen cannot possibly know what is expected of her, if you have never worked with her.

Remember... do NOT chase a dog that is running from you. The dog WILL outrun you. Instead, call them in an exciting, happy voice to get their attention, and run the other way. I also agree with making both dogs sit and wait before exiting any door. Both of my dogs will sit and wait when they are entering/exiting any doorway, even my hard-headed little Corgi mix. ;D

I'm glad that you are taking Vix to Obedience classes, that is definitely a step in the right direction. I hope that she and Carlie get along better... just make sure you're giving each of them plenty of individual time & attention, and they should adjust well. It took Gonzo a few weeks to stop growling at Fozzie every time he was in sight! So, please, don't give up.

I forgot to add my little tip for getting a dog who's run off to come back: fall down. Seriously. All of the things that you emotionally and instinctively want to do in that situation are pretty much the wrong things to do. Marlowe has a habit of finding holes in the fence at the dog park and his recall in those situations is pretty good but not fantastic and he never wants to come back through the fence (he stands there looking at it like, hey, how did I get over here?) The keys for me have alway been: remain up-beat with your voice and body language, act casual like it is no big deal, and don't chase the dog. Which is pretty much the opposite of what my gut and my heart are telling me to do which is: FREAK OUT AND CHASE THE DOG DOWN!

Last time he got out at the dog park, I climbed over the fence and he never went out of view (and we were in thick cover so probably no further than 20 feet from me at any point) and he wasn't running away from me, but he wouldn't quite come close enough for me to get him either. Then I slipped in some mud and fell on my hiney and he came over immediately to see if I was okay (he was so concerned, it was adorable and I couldn't be mad at him). He got some treats, and a one way ticket back on to his leash. Running away or walking briskly away in the opposite direction can also work well, as the dog thinks, "Hey, she must see something over that way that's interesting! I'd better go check it out too!"

But I still have to rely on these little tricks from time to time because I have hounds who, along with huskies, are the most notorious breeds for poor recall. Most dogs, if you put the amount of work in to recall that I've put in, will have very very solid reliable recalls.

Wow, thank you everyone for such nice responses and great advice.

Lizmo- I'm going to PetSmart for Vixie's training classes. I already met the trainer and have seen how well she has trained her Corgi/Border Collie mix (such a cute dog). I wish I was starting sooner! They don't start until January 19th.

Houndlove- I wish I would've fallen down!! That really might have worked. I know I didn't chase her.. I just kept slowly following her hoping she would come to me. I tried sitting near her hoping she would sit next to me, but that didn't work as well as I was hoping. Now I know that if that happens again (God, I really hope it never does) to try running in the other direction. What I'm wondering is even if she learns a recall very well in the house and on a leash, if she gets off the leash isn't it possible that she'll completely ignore my command because she'll think "OOoo! I'm off my leash. I don't have to listen to her!" Have you experienced that at all?

RD- I think I will try an intermediate class after the beginner one. I really want her (and myself) well trained. I'm going to teach Carlie the same obedience lessons. I just can't take her to the classes because she's aggressive with other dogs especially when she's on a leash (which I'm going to one day try to fix). I will give Vixen some time to adapt to living with us and time to get some training before I consider giving her to another home. I think she'll do well as long as she learns some obedience.

ihartgonzo- I already started having them sit before we go outside, but I can't quite get them to stay as I walk out the door (especially Vixen). Carlie even knows "stay" pretty well, but she still stops sitting as soon as I open the door. It's definitely going to take some time for them both to know to sit and stay as I go out the door, but I'm willing to do it. To give them each individual time and attention, do you suggest I put one of them in her crate while I train the other one? It is hard to train one while the other one is around because they're distracting each other.

Seriously, thank you everyone for such thoughtful responses. They are greatly appreciated.

Amy, Kona is a corgi/JRT mix and she lives in a apartment just fine.

I'm not going to repeat everyone, but just in case, remember this.

If you REALLY want her to become great on recall, get a treat that is HIGHLY valuable to her. Take her out on a 30 foot lead, and let her roam. Let her get her attention off of you! Once she has done this, call her like no other. When she comes to you, make a huge deal out of it! PEt her, give her kisses, give her the highly valued treat. Make her think there is nothing better than coming to you! Once she has the recall down pat, then you can work on eliminating the treats so she comes whenever she is called. This is the way I have trained many dogs, and it works out great.

K calm down.

No, she doesn't "not like you"
No, you don't need to bring her back to the rescue because she needs a yard and space to run.

She's just a dog who has not been trained well, who has probably never lived a normal life, and who is just getting used to her new home.

First off, just be extra careful not to let her outside off leash. Make sure everyone else coming in or out of the apartment knows to be extra careful as well.

Second, a basic training class SHOULD teach recall. If you want to start clicker training, that will make her more focused on you in the long run.

Thirdly, try the training forum for some advice on how to teach a recall. Also, look into teaching an "emergency" recall, as well.

And, as has been said, falling down, flopping wildly like a fish out of water, and acting completely insane, is often alluring to dogs.

Thanks, MilosMommy. I have calmed down. I was just really scared yesterday. I've already looked into Dr2Little's recall and emergency recall exercises and have started telling Vixie "come" when she's coming back to me after I throw a toy and other times she's coming to me. I try saying "come" with a treat in my hand, but it's like she thinks I'm going to grab her the second she comes near me, so that doesn't work that well.

From now on, we're being SUPER careful when coming in or out of the door. When we take Carlie outside, we put up a little gate so Vixie can't get out. We're going to do this until we know she's trained well enough to not bolt out the door.

I had problems when I first adopted Chip .....he had been punished for running off , so of course he wouldn't come when called !! I'd get down an yelp like a puppy ! Brought him back every time !

Aw, that's cute. I'm glad it worked! It's so scary when your dog is loose and won't come back to you! I think Vixie was probably punished for running off in the past too because she certainly wouldn't come to me either. When we finally got her we praised her and gave her kisses (teary-eyed kisses).

Best way to teach a recall that will be applicable in all scenarios is to not make the leash part of it at all. The first month or so of our recall training there were no leashes involved at all because we started in the house, then moved to the yard. There was no need for a safety mechanism, which is all a leash is. You won't need a leash in places that are safe for recall training because you never ever ever call the dog during training in situations where you know she won't come to you. If you try it where you're totally certain she'll come and she still doesn't come, that is a sign that you need to back way up and make it even easier. I started recall training with the dogs literally standing right in front of me a foot away. Our next big step was the dogs across the room. Then in another room. Then on another floor. That's the kind of baby steps that are required for a solid recall. When we moved to the yard, at first I didn't call unless they were already standing in front of the door waiting to be let in. Then I started calling as they were on their way to the door to come in anyway. Then I called as they were just milling around in the yard being bored. Teeny eeny weeny steps. It was all just basically finding excuses to feed them liver treats for responding to the recall.

Since you don't have a fenced yard, you'll need to use a long line. However, since you've got a small dog, there's no reason you can't construct your line out of something very light indeed--so light she may not even notice she's still leashed. The leash is just a safety back-up so you shouldn't actually have to use it.

Our first dog was hit by a car and died because he lacked a good recall. His recall sucked because we had received some very bum advice on how to teach it that relied on using a leash and a choke collar. Dogs are not dumb and you are right: if you rely on a leash to train recall, they will figure out that if the leash isn't on, you have no power over them. That's why you set things up so the dog sees the recall cue as the best thing in the universe since sliced bread and wants to recall when she hears the cue. Never try to force your dog to recall. If she doesn't gladly come a-runnin' when you call, you need to back up and make it even easier and even more rewarding.

Thanks, Houndlove. The idea of taking baby steps with this makes it seem less difficult to accomplish. I'll just take it one small step at a time starting with inside the house. That's really sad about what happened to your dog. I'm sorry.

I almost lost Ollie the first week I had him ! ( I posted it over a year ago ) ... I went to a house selling tomatoes and when I got back into the car he got out . It was a quiet street and he saw some people across the road . He bolted across and I saw a truck coming .... An every green tree was blocking my view but I heard the hit and his cries .....I really thought he was dead , but he came to me !! A few scapes only , thank God !!! I'll never get over those cries !!

Oh my gosh, Grammy! That's so scary... I think I would've had a heart attack. Whew!

I'm sure Vixie gonna perform better once she learned. Silly dog!

Your stress and worries will all slowly fade when you see her improvement. Wish you luck!