JCleve86 wrote:bahamutt99 wrote:And never call her to you to punish her.
Good point...if she's doing something naughty, and you call her, in her mind she just quit whatever really fun thing she was doing to come to you. If you then punish her for doing whatever the naughty thing was, she might hesitate to come next time.
My other thought is that I know there are fairly established "fear" stages for puppies...I don't recall the ages though. Maybe she's just going through one of those?
"Flight Instinct Period (4 - 8 Months) This is the age when puppies become more independent of their owners and are likely to venture off on their own. Puppies that have always come when called or stayed close to their owners will now ignore them, often running in the opposite direction. This period can last from several weeks to months. How you handle your puppy's refusal to come or stay with you will determine whether or not he will be trustworthy off leash. It is important to emphasize here that no puppy this young should ever be off leash except in a confinement area. Therefore, keep your puppy on leash when this period arises and keep him on leash until he readily returns to you or shows no inclination to leave you. The privilege of being off leash outside of a confined area, is reserved for dogs whose owners have trained them to the point where there is no potential for them to run and fail to obey to stop or come on command. Releasing an unleashed dog in an unconfined area that is not well trained off leash is irresponsible ownership and dangerous to your dog. Even well trained dogs can make mistakes or become distracted by something in the environment so that they do not respond to their owners' commands. So, how do you respond when your puppy suddenly develops the urge to bolt? First, you must, for his safety, put a leash or a long line on your dog whenever you are not in a confined area. Second, work hard on training your puppy to come on command. Use the recall game and the spontaneous recall. When walking your dog, suddenly run backwards and encourage your puppy to come. If your dog still continues to bolt or run away, then your dog probably does not view you as the dominant figure in this relationship and you require special help to resolve this problem. Even if the your puppy appears less inclined to bolt, this does not mean that he is reliable off lead without more maturity and a lot more training."
My suggestion would be high-pitched voice, food, squeaky toy...have you tried running AWAY from the dog. Make it a game for the puppy. Most puppies will chase after you.
Also, I would keep a leash dragging off the dog. It is NEVER too early to start teaching a reliable "come." (Take this from someone who has a 1-year old malinois who runs fast as SH**, and veers off to the side about 5-feet in front of me when I call her). This way, when you call the dog to you, even if she sits a few feet away, you can grab the leash, pull her in (while taking small steps backwards), then praise when she gets close to you....