Bounderies Anyone??

[Apreston]

So we have a wonderful fun filled long weekend up in North Bay...the weather was so so but Titan had a blast.... Sticks to chew; trees to take down; ducks to chase; and tons to explore. The only problem...he did not know when to stop expoloring and how far he should be going...
So he was terrific for the 3 days we were up there but yesturday I think he just decided that the property went much further than he thought and just decided that we would venture into the woods and across the street. At this point I am running after him yelling every comand in the book. I tried a stern voice that a happy pitch voice then a screaming in desperation voice for him to come back. He litterally scared the poop out of me and he also did not listen to thing I was saying. It was like I did not exsist! At one point he turned around looked right at me and I thought i had him but little did I know mister sooooo slow to get up is not that slow to run away from me. Eventually we cornered him and I gave him a big "no" followed by a "bad boy" and dragged him back to the cottage.
So my question is...
How do you teach them the bounderies of the property?? There are no fences just the lake and trees. I want to be able to trust him not to venture off...am I expecting too much from him at this age (11 months) We followed him around all weekend paid very close attention to him but he was just content to stay beside us and follow us around. I was soooo pleased untill yesturday's "adventure of the littlest hobo"
I want to sign him up for some more obidience but someone told be it just takes practice with the "come" command so dont waste you money!
I promptly tied him to a tree and as soon as he tried to walk away and figured out he could not go any further than 20 feet he was pissed. I let him off after 5 mins and he seamed to be fine but I dont want that to EVER happen again I was so scared!
Thanks in advance for the helpful hints....

[Gracie Belle]

I wish I had some advice as well.  I have a park I use to take Gracie to that did not have a fence and she pretty much did the same thing Titan did.  We had been going to that park for a while but this particular day she wanted nothing to do with the park and instead headed straight for the busy road which we had parked along side of.  Gracie's recall in class was very good at the time.  Note her recall was good in CLASS.  Not so much at the park.  I honestly wish I had some advise but for now I can only relate.  I think Stella has the right idea and to continue to work with him and his recall.  Good luck to you.  Keep us posted.

[amberdoggoneit]

 I dont have much advice other than keep practicing recall. 

 Bell is excellent on her recall but that is becasue we practiced in every situation known to man! We put her on a 30 ft lunge line and praticed until perfect and even then was very reluctent to let her off.
 
 Well now she is great and can be off in any situation and I am confident she will come.  Baxter and Buble on the other hand have to stay on leashes becasue if they see water I dont care who or what is in between them they are going to it. 

[Apreston]

Thanks guys!
I will continue to practice the recall...our obidence trainer mentioned at one point it will take about 1000 successful recalls for your dog to fully understand and comprehend the word come. He normally comes but for some reason he had it in his head to wander?!?
We also use hand signs. If he is looking at us we bring our hand to our chest and say comes and he runs....but when he has it in his head to ijnore you he deffinently will ijnore you! What a monekey!
It is just so beautiful up there and I want him to fully enjoy everything but deffinently not at his saftey's expense! We had an Austrailian Shepard McKay he was soooo good up there he would never leave....I think I am expecting to much for his age but hopefully this summer with tons of training he will come (no pun inteaded) around
I think we will head to the park tonight to practice! Thanks again guys!

[pyr4me]

I agree that 11 months is a little young to expect really good recall. You mentioned that your Australian Shep was good off leash, I think partly there are breed differences regarding being able to be off leash as well.  Tipper is amazing off leash--he regularly has off leash runs on wooded trails near my house--he is often chasing squirrels and other critters and is out of sight for a few minutes sometimes, however, he always comes back and is completely trustworthy. Jenny, of course, being a Pyr, is never allowed off leash. Different dogs with different off leash abilities. I think that herding dogs, in particular, are bred to work at a distance from owners and have the potential to be reliable off leash more readily.