she isn't listening to me anymore!

ecollars don't belong on puppies. And the problems this dog is having can easily be fixed without an ecollar.

you might want to take a look at "control unleashed", it is a program designed to overcome this sort of "I can't pay attention to mom the world is too exciting" problem this dog is having.

Misty is doing what she needs to do!  she needs to exercise (focused exercise with your participation is best) -- it would be best if you allow her to run and run and not frustrate either of you by calling her at that time - this is the time she needs to spend burning off energy -- encourage her to run until she's absolutely pooped!  It may take longer than you'd like, but the results will be good in the end...then, try and work with her (assuming you did not mean you worked with your husband on HIS leash-HaHa)  Then, work on her commands for about 15 minutes -- have delicious rewards (small bites of cheese, maybe) pinch off a piece -- praise her for doing well.  Please realize she is not defying you -- dogs don't think in that way,  Outside is very stimulating for her.  Consistency, doing the same things every day at the same time is important to dogs - they're very routine oriented.  Keep at it -- as she matures, you'll be able to have her attention for longer periods at a time Likely she will not fully mature until she is about 3---don't get discouraged, she';; be progressing during that time, if you stay with it -- the hardest part is just doing it -- every day for an hour.  Misty is beautiful!  She will be a wonderful companion, just remember, she's a kid!

I had the same problem with our puppy when we first bought her. She would not listen when she was outside and we had to keep her on a leash. She loved to run and play and when a car would go by, wanted to chase it. After trying to train her with a leash, and trying many of the ideas which have been given to your problem, she knew when she was off the leash and would revert back to doing what she wanted. I restorted to a shock collar. They can be set from low to high and there is also a beeper you can use. I started inside with it, called her and when she didn't respond, sounded the tone, gave her a little jolt and called. She came immediately. I only needed to use the "shock" two times in the house. After that I would use the tone and she came to me without my calling. The same thing happened outside, she realized it might hurt if she didn't obey--just giving the tone trained her to do as I wanted. She actually gets excited when I get out the collar as she knows we are going for a walk. I kept her on a leash during our walks but the last two times, since we are in a rural area with little traffic, I've let her run loose and she obeys me perfectly. When a car does come, she returns to my side and sits, letting the car pass by. These collars can be set from very low to high. I've never had to set it to the higher settings. I was sorry I didn't get one sooner--it might have saved a lot of redecorating of our woodwork and furniture. Good luck.

It sounds to me like she thinks you are playing with her when you chase etc.  That is why she came and sat down with you after you stopped "playing"

I think a 20' lead is the best idea, and always only call once when you call. 

The other thing that sometimes happens (although it doesn't sound like it in your case) is if you call your dog over to you and then scold the dog learns they call me, I come, I get into trouble.

So it is important to never call a dog over and then scold.

I trained dogs for a couple of years.

One other thing is maybe go to a puppy class, even if your dog does everything great but has a problem with distractions, a puppy class is a great place to work on Distraction.  All of the other dogs,smells, people etc if you can get you dog to listen at a pet store type place you can get your dog to listen anywhere.

So either Join a puppy class, or take your dog to your local petstore and work on some basic stuff there.

Good luck..

There are many many things to try before resorting to an ecollar.  This is still a pup after all.

I think your expecting to much from your dog without giving her much training.  Here is a story:  My girlfriend and her husband got a new dog and it wouldn't lister either.  They bought a shock collar so when he went to run out into their road they could stop him.  The biggest MISTAKE is the same mistake your making aleady.  You have to train a dog "what to do" when you use a shock collar.  You can't simple put it on and start shocking the dog and expect the dog to know what its suppose to do or, more importantly, NOT DO.  My friends did just that, they bought a shock collar put it on there dog and started shocking away.  The dog would run towards the road, they woud shock him!  He would yelp, shake his head and then start to run again.  They would shock, he would yelp, shake his head and then he woud run again.  Well needless to say that didn't last long becasue guess what, IT DIDN'T work.  Two weeks later the dog was dead, he ran out in the road and go hit by a car.  If only they would have took the time to train there dog and in the mean time keep him safe and on a leash.  Training dosen't happen overnight, it takes months of hard work, especially for a recall!  And once you move outside, the dog has all these distractions and interesting things and your not interesting your yelling and shocking.

Here is something I cut and pasted from a PITA blog, not crazy about PITA but this was wonderful.  Read it, Try it!!

One of the easiest ways to teach a dog to come to you is to play Hide 'n' Seek. But first you have to teach Fifi to stay, which isn’t hard at all. Just hold up your hand in a "stay" gesture, say, "Stay," in a serious tone of voice, and keep giving her delicious treats as long as she stays, while also saying in a chirpy voice, "Good stay!!" Start with very short stays—just a few seconds and then build up to longer ones. Release her by saying, "OK!!" but DO NOT give her a treat when you release her—only during the actual stay.

Once she can stay reliably for 10 or 15 seconds, you can start playing Hide 'n' Seek, which is REALLY fun and a great way to teach "the recall." Show Fifi that you are in possession of a container of luscious treats and tell her to stay. Go into the next room and quickly hide—someplace easy, like behind the door or behind the bed. Then call out, "Fifi, come!" She knows you’ve got the treats, so she will come looking for you. As soon as she finds you, say, "Good come!!" and give her a treat. Then repeat and repeat and repeat. You can hide in a closet, up on the kitchen counter, under a blanket—get creative. It's loads of fun.

Then take it outside and practice "come" in a safe area. Try running away from Fifi while yelling, "Fifi, come!"—her chase instinct should kick in, helping her to practice the recall until it becomes second nature. Continue dispensing treats. Gradually increase the amount of distance and distraction in the environment, and try hard not to tell Fifi to come if you don't think she is going to, because that would just be teaching her that "Come" is optional, which it most definitely is not.

Always carry treats with you, and give her one every time she comes to you at first, even if you didn't call her. Later, you can gradually fade the treats so that they aren't integral to her cooperation. The most important thing of all is this: Don’t ever, ever, ever scold her when she comes to you, no matter what she did just before you called her. So even if she is ripping apart your most expensive article of clothing, if you call her and she comes to you, she must get enthusiastic praise and a warm welcome! Coming to you should always be a reward in and of itself if you want her recall to be reliable. The reason for this is obvious—a dog who won't come to you can get lost, hurt, or even killed.

Stop chasing her round or calling her repeatedly... these actions teach her to ignore you and run away from you. 

I would invest in a long line and use that to reinforce your recall.  I would also go back to Recall 101, using a different word that she has not learned to ignore.  Just calling her name is not recalling her.  How often do you use her name in the day when you do NOT expect her to come to you?  You need a distinctive word and you need to create powerful meaning for her with it.  Make a pact with yourself, that you and Misty are going to have 100% success with this new word (meaning that its never said more than once and she comes back successfully every time) and that you take full responsibility for that. 

I think you also need to up the. reward value for good recalls.  What is her FAVOURITE THING that you can offer?  Right, thats a recall reward and ONLY a recall reward.  This will make her work harder for it.  It could be food (fresh meat or liver cake is usually a top favourite) or it could be a fave toy.  If it is a toy, you can increase its value further by playing very short, highly exciting games with it with her and putting it away while she is stil very interested.

You also need to become more unpredictable in a good way for her.  Be exciting!  Be interesting!  Be more exciting and interesting than all those smells waiting to be smelt and all those holes waiting to be dug! 

She may even have been punished for recalling in the past if you have called her, then taken her indoors.  To combat this, you could use a different cue to mean, "Come on lets go inside now!"  Only it doesnt mean "lets go inside now!" it means "Hey, theres loads of treats and chews just inside the door, come on in with me and get some!!!"  I give a long loud whistle and call "Iiiiiiiinnnnn!!!!" and they come running from the bottom of the garden and go hellforleather to the door, panting and jostling happily.... they just cant WAIT to get indoors and see if theres any goodies on offer!  These days they dont ALWAYS get one... not even often, but they come runnig anyway, just in case.

Wanted to add - DON'T resort to an ecollar.  I'm not saying they don't have their place, but I am STRONGLY of the opinion that their place is not round Misty's neck. 

Also wanted to ask -cant rmbr what age she is?  But if she is 4, 5 or 6 months old.... then you need to know nearly all pups go through this stage, some more noticeably so than others.  It's the time when many dogs are starting to leave puppyhood and as such become a little less dependant and begin looking more to the horizons than adoringly at your face.  This does not mean the dog is defective... just normal.

You should also try playing Ping Pong Puppy, especially if you have kids in your family. 

What you need:

• At least two people 
• A pot full of DELICIOUS treats, and i mean THE yummiest, stinkiest, stickiest, meatiest treats you can find or make. 

What you do:

• The other person holds the dog and you show the dog the treats and begin moving away, calling her name excitedly, whistling, patting your leg etc etc.  A little bit of teasing is called for here.... she should be fighting to get to you (altho not SO Hard that the person holding her cant!) 
• Now - RUN!!  Run to another part of the house.
• When you are ready call: "Misty!!!! Come!!!"  (Or whatever your word is) 
• Person holding her releases her and you brace yourself to be flattened. (It might be best to be sitting at this point)
• Jackpot rewards (several very small ones) and lavish her with praise
• Now go back to the other person and swap - YOU hold the dog and THEY take the pot and repeat the process.
• End the game after only a few reps - she should still be on a high and raring for more!  Recall should be the best, funnest game EVER.  It should never get boring!
• Progress to the point where you don't have to take her back to Person 1 and swap over.... you can each have a pot of treats and take it in turns to shout for her.
• If you have more than 2 people in the house, (say, 4 people) progress to the point where you can have the numbers 1 - 4 on seperate bits of paper and you all draw one at random.  The person with the number 4 is the first "holder" and the person with the number 1 is the first "caller".  When the dog reaches person 1, she gets her treat and praise and then #2 shouts "misty! come!" and she dashes off to find THEM and then person 3 shouts "misty! come!"  etc etc.
• Progress to the point where you can play this outdoors in the yard and she is so busy having fun being Ping Ponged she doesnt even glance at any small critturs... you can even go as far as the park and stand in a really big circle and Ping Pong her there.  Great recall practise, great exercise for the dog and this gets the whole family in on it.... which is kinda nice but can also be handy if the dogs main carer is away for example and the dog needs to be recalled by someone else.  The whole family having the basic ability to recall the dog if they REALLY NEED TO can be a lifesaver.

 Remember to end the game on a HIGH every time.  And make sure everyone "playing" knows the rules of the game.... NEVER say the word more than once, dont use it frequently and never use it if she is able or likely to disobey.

Wonderful suggestions, except the ecollar, this is still a baby.

We bought a 50 to 60 foot long leash so that we could reel him in when calling, but he could still run willy nilly around the yard. We also taught Kord the word "house". Anytime we took him out, be in front or back, when we came in we said "house".  It is our "do not stop, do not pass go, do not stop and grab your frisbee" word, it means go to the house and pronto. You could choose any word, just be consistant and make it fun.

RULE OF TRAINING, NEVER CHASE. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WALK AWAY AND MAKE HER THE ONE THAT HAS TO FOLLOW. IT,S GREAT THAT YOU ONLY CALL WHEN YOU KNOW SHE'LL RESPOND. BASIC OBEDIENCE USES A LONG LINE OR LONGE LINE FOR A RECALL. IF SHE KNOWS STAY USE THE LONG LINE TO CALL SO YOU CAN DIRECT HER RIGHT TO YOU FOR A SIT IN FRONT AND TREAT RIGHT AWAY ,IF NOT HAVE YOUR HUSBAND HOLD HER FOR THE RECALL.. ANYWAY A LOCAL DOG CLUB OFTEN OFFER CLASSES IN OBEDIENCE AND AGILITY. IF THEY'RE ON THE LEVER ITS A REASONABLE PRICE FOR A HEADS UP ON TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS.CLASSES RUN IN MOST 6-8 WEEKS. ALOT OF BREEDERS LIKE MYSELF ASK NEW OWNERS TO ATTEND OR COME BACK FOR JUST EVEN THE SOCIAL ESPECT FOR DOGS INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE AND OTHER DOGS. JUST MAKE SURE ITS A GOOD CLUB. EXAMPLE; ITS ALWAYS TRAINING ON A GOOD NOTE.   

I am getting her a long line, but I won't do that e collar thing.  She got entirely too freaked out by our invisible fencing, so we don't even put that collar on her anymore.  She is excellent in the house with regard to coming when called.  Outside is the problem.  I am going to work more with the long line and giving her treats.  Really smelly, yummy treats that she doesn't typically get.  I am also going to have a private training session here at the house soon to help me work on all her little quirks.  She's an awesome dog, but has definitely been testing the limits recently. 

Thanks to everyone.

Great to hear! I think the long line is a wonderful tool, it allows them to freely explore but leaves you still in control.

Keep us updated!

Training is something that needs to be done in different environments; once you've trained your dog in various places inside your home, then you need to do the same training, on leash outside, until she responds just as reliably as she does indoors. Dogs need to learn to respond to the commands (I dislike that word) when there are all types of distractions going on...and training never ends...All 'commands' should be reinforced intermittently over the life of the dog...treats are eventually phased out, but praise never is.

For a recall, you have to make it fun for the dog...good treats work, but you also have to call them with an upbeat voice, and sometimes moving away from or jumping up and down excitedly them gets them to come to you even faster. One thing you never want to do is to call your dog to come for any other reason than a good one...and they always get praised when they come. If you say 'come' to a dog, and the next thing you do is end their playtime, or put them in a crate, they're going to associate coming with things that end their fun..and then they'll start ignoring it when you ask them to come. If you want to put the dog's leash on, or are ready to put them in their crate, you have to go over to them...not call them to come. Also, if you chase after her, or sometimes even slowly approach her, when she's in a run and play mood, of course she's going to run...dogs like nothing better than a game of chase; she'll probably even run them give you a play bow! One essential thing to remember is to always stay calm; dogs can read our body language, and if they think we're getting annoyed or upset, they're not going to come to us.

You can try some clicker training with her also...start inside with this with her on a leash. A lot of this can be done in 5 minute increments throughout the day, or even during commercials. If you've never done clicker training, you need to prep her a bit. Click the clicker and giver her a treat; do this about 10 times. This associates the click sound with getting a treat. Next, anytime she looks at you of her own free will, without you saying anything to her, click and treat; do this for 10-20 times. Next, call her name, and when she looks at you, click and treat her; do this 10-20 times.

When you can reliably get her to look at you when you call her name, then have someone work with you on come. While she's with the other person, call her name and say 'come'; act excited; as she runs to you click the clicker, then treat her when she gets to you. Have the other person do the same thing. Start with you and the other person closer together and then get farther apart. When she's reliable with this, then it's time to do all of these exercises in the house with distractions. After that you do them outside in the yard; with and then without distractions. Be calm, consistent, and patient and you'll have a dog that comes, and is happy to, whenever you call her. Also, if you ever have to reprimand your dog, don't use their name...using their name paired with reprimands makes them associate their name with bad things, so they may start to ignore it when you call their name, even if it's for something good.