I have been training Hoshi in the hopes of keeping him off the road. This is in case he should ever get loose again. We have been practicing our sit stays at the curb of the street using a 15′ lead. I leave him at the curb and walk across the street. Hoshi does real well with that. I’m also using sit stays on at the borders of our property. I’m hoping he gets the idea that a our front yard has boundaries he should not cross. I’m also using off-leash sit stays in the front yard in a controlled setting with correction. I want him to learn being off leash in the front yard is serious business–he’s not allowed in the front yard off leash–this is just in case he gets loose.
It not all about restrictions. I’m also teaching Hoshi fetch. My goal is Hoshi will fetch his leash whenever he wants to go out the front door. It’s a slow go teaching him fetch. I’m using a training dumbbell except he can’t figure out the concept to retrieve it. The most I can do is reward him for putting the dumbbell in his mouth. I’ll try using a ball next time–that might be more fun for him.