We take our dog out for a walk every day and he has access to the garden all day and we let him out before we go to bed and every night he still messes in the house. Also we take him out for runs and he runs away from us and refuses to come back, he used to run back to the car but now he just keeps running. Help, he's driving us mad.

What kind of dog is he? Breeds do matter on your type of lifestyle. Even mixed breeds where you think it might be part this and part that, the inherent instincts will leak through.

High energy dogs need A LOT of exercise. They need to run and be wild and free. They also need to work their brain. Obedience, agility and so on are great sources of "brain work". And when I say obedience, I mean structured classes. Obedience is more than just teaching your dog "sit". Its sitting when asked to.. your goal would be for one command. Coming when called with one whistle or one command to come. Laying down with one command. Staying until you say he is done. Obedience will also help you with him running away.

You need to take a couple of steps back and start with basics. He is running away and is out of control. Start teaching him the recall (come when called) in your home down a hallway. Every time he comes, he gets a treat and huge praise. It's the best thing ever. Once he does this well move to the living room/kitchen. Same thing, just more distractions. When he comes, big reward and big praise. Once that is good, take him into your backyard. Put him on a long lead (called a check cord) and let him wander around and do what he wants. Call him. You may have to call him a few times (but if it gets excessive and he isn't listening, grab that check cord and reel him in like a fish). Even if you force him to come when called, reward him. It's the best thing ever to come when called. Once he does good with this, try doing it without the check cord.

This process could take a long time. Its not going to happen in an afternoon.. It can happen in an afternoon, but highly unlikely.

If he gets away from you.. and he comes back to you after hours of you chasing him... praise him.. It is always good to come back. You can call him every name in the book as long as you sound happy while doing it :)

End ever session on a good note. If he isn't ready to be off leash anywhere but your backyard, you're just going to have to deal with him until he becomes obedient. It doesn't take dogs long to learn these things, you as the owner just needs to be consistent.

You should train him -_-

As far as messing in the house, you may need to restrict food and water after a certain time, so that you can determine if this is just his bad timing or a behavior issue. For example, if bedtime is 10:00, restrict food and water after 7:30. If this stops the problem, it's a simple schedule change issue easily solved. If it doesn't, you need to examine how you deal with him messing in the house. Do you give him any attention because of it? Positive, negative, violent: attention is attention.

How old is he and have you had his health checked?

Is he slipping his collar or are you allowing him to run free when you take him out for runs?

If he is slipping his collar, you might look into a type of collar called a martingale. Or depending on his size, a harness. If he pulls, they make harnesses that help curb the pulling. There are also 'head collars' such as Halti and Gentle Leader which are great at keeping a headstrong animal under control.