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Running away and getting Dog to come back- The Recall

I have a foxy who, when given the hance, will turn tail and run n the opposite direction to me. If i call him... he runs faster away from me. If i turn around and go the other way, calling him or not, he just carries on his merry journey without me. This can be really frustrating and i can't figure out why he is doing this?

He comes back home in his own time - if i chase him or follow him he stays just out of my reach at all times.

Your foxy boy is doing this because you have unintentionally taught him to do this. You have made it a lot of fun for him to run away-- much more fun than to obey a recall command. To reverse the trend, for the time being you need to make your recall command ALWAYS rewarding in a major way, and ALWAYS successful, while you make running away as unrewarding as you can. To do these things will require you to react in ways that may seem contradictory and illogical at first. That's because you need to think like the dog, not like a human.

1) When you know your recall command will not work, DO NOT USE IT.

Every time you use a recall and the dog does not obey, the command becomes weaker. At this point, when your foxy dog is off leash, the command--and any jumping, shouting, and fussing that accompany it?--means nothing to him. To begin making your recall stronger, start using it when the dog is already on his way to you--for dinner, for a treat, to play, etc. In other words, wait until it is very likely that the dog is on his way to you already, and then command the recall and reward him lavishly when he arrives.

Also continue and in-yard or on-leash recall training that usually works, and reward every single obeyed command. When he does not obey a recall during training or a practice session, ignore him, walk away with the treats, and try again later. Desired behavior gets rewarded every time--undesired behavior gets ignored every time.

(With a dog that has begun to ignore a recall command most of the time, it sometimes helps to start using a new word as your recall command, and forget about the old one.)

2) GRADUALLY add difficulty.

Recalls that work have to be taught and practiced step by step. You start with a very easy situation: Dog on leash, a few feet away in the living room, you say "come," he comes, and he gets rewarded.
Gradually, you add distance--recall from 10 feet, 15 feet, 20 feet, etc., still all on leash, or within a restricted yard where he cannot get away and will usually obey.

Next you start doing recalls from just a few feet away again, but this time without the leash. Again, you increase the distance gradually. You always want to aim at an 80% or better success rate. If the dog fails to obey more than 20% of the time, then you are going too fast... adding too much distance too soon, for example.

Next you add distraction. Recall him with another dog in the yard. Recall him with other people in the yard. Gradually increase the amount of distraction until you can recall him with a beef steak in the yard--without him going near it! Eventually, you will take him to a place away from home--in the woods, to a dog park, to a beach or whatever--and repeat the entire process above from the beginning.

Now the the wide-open and tempting location, start with the leash and a short distance recall. Add distance, lose the leash, add distraction, etc. It may take some time, but if you keep taking baby steps toward your eventual goal of having the dog obey a recall off leash and out of the yard, you'll get there.

The problem you are having now is partially caused by training the dog to obey a recall in specific circumstances and at a certain level--in your yard or on a leash--and then making a GIANT STEP into a MUCH more difficult environment--loose, no leash, maximum distractions--without covering the training that goes in the middle.
(It's like skipping from 3rd grade to 11th grade!)

3) NEVER chase the dog. Don't even stay put and watch him run. Always retreat in the opposite direction.

Your dog enjoys being chases, and probably sees it as a game. Every time you chase or follow, you are teaching him, "Hey, isn't this fun?" Since it IS fun, you are rewarding him (reinforcing him) for running away. If you are in a safe enough neighborhood where you can let the dog run loose for a while, the best course for you to
take is as follows:

A. As soon as the dog is loose and running away, immediately turn around and go into the house, without comment, and shut the door.

B. Now spend the next 20 minutes, or whatever it takes, periodically peeking outside to see if he has returned yet.

C. When he does return, let him in, and do not yell at him or use any correction or punishment. Instead, reward him MIGHTILY! You are rewarding him for coming back--which he did--just not as fast as you would have liked. If you reward him well when he returns, he will return more often and sooner over time. If you get angry or punish him when he returns, why the heck should he return the next time at all? You would be punishing him for returning! Also, by immediately going into the house when he runs away, you are depriving him of any attention, reinforcement, or positive feedback. He may have a jolly time chasing squirrels and running loose, for sure, but he will not
have the added fun of having you chase him or watch him.

4) Understand how DOGS THINK about direction.

Dogs are predatory animals. In the wild, they would chase their dinner, and sometimes they would be chased by other animals that prey on them. So to a dog, the most wonderful sight in the world is the rear end of a rabbit or deer running AWAY. Likewise, to a dog in Nature, the most stressful sight is the FRONT SIDE of any animal running toward it. To a dog, the front of any being--human or animal --means possible confrontation, commands, control, decisions on who's dominant, etc. To a dog, the rear of any being--human or