Bad news, Bertie is in disgrace. To be honest I'm not too happy with Rosie either.
After bolting a fox on one of our riverside walks, it's like a switch has been thrown in the recesses of Berties brain. As soon as he's offlead, he's in hunt mode. So he chased a fox through the shrubs surrounding one of the parks we go to and ran out into the surrounding roads after it escaped. I thought he was still in the shrubs and was calling him, then heard the terrifying sound of car brakes screeching followed by high-pitched yelps from Bertie. I flung myself through the gap in the trees and down the slope following the sound until I found him in a garden with a concerned man. Rosie then appeared from the shrubs where she'd carried on fox-hunting and also ignored me calling her.
The car had driven off and Bertie had been seen by the man to have taken a glancing blow. He was totally unharmed and very happy to see me. I was beyond shaken, as I didn't know if I'd find him seriously injured or having caused an accident.
So then the next time I took him and Rosie to that park, I kept recalling them and stayed away from the area leading to the gap. Suddenly Bertie ran off, totally ignoring me, up over a walkway and off into the shrubbery. I put Rosie onlead and ran after him, yep, he'd gone through the gap again. So through the gap for me, to find him running in the road as happy as could be.
So I've booked up with a dog trainer, as I cannot have this behaviour. I accept that Bertie is following his instincts and what he was actually bred to do, but obviously if he runs off like this it's risking his life but also potentially people if there's a car accident because of him. In the meantime, he's on lead walks with no free running in the local parks. He can have the 30 foot tracker lead on for a bit more freedom but until his recall is reliable he's not allowed offlead. Rosie is also back to basic obedience training, as they have bonded so well they are reinforcing each other's bad behaviour instead of obeying me.
