fun4fido, dont worry about going off topic. I think James needs to understand quite a lot about dogs, not least that all dogs are different. Unfortunately with a dog that has no desire to be with you and is not in the least interested in food - unless of course I could keep a stinky dead rabbit stuffed under my coat then hiding, running away or feigning indifference does not work. And of course I dont chase after her or call her when she has done a runner, what on earth would that achieve. Usually by the time I have reached the fence she has gone through she is long out of sight so it is then a case of searching all likely places or hoping the tiny black bullet is spotted on the horizon at some stage.
She used to take off after live rabbits but now we have been hit by myxy and worse still she caught one in the garden, she is totally obsessed by the thought of corpses.
I think containment may be my only answer, mixed up with training obviously, and see what happens.
What do you make, though, of a dog that gets a good walk in the morning,helps do cattle etc, is then brought into the garden and let off her long lead and instead of running into the house to have her breakfast she bolts into the bushes in the garden and races around rabbit hunting till she is brought in forcibly. She then has a few mouthfuls of her breakfast and goes to sleep!
By the way, she is fed fresh mince or sometimes tripe roll with James Wellbeloved.

Here is my two-pence although may not be of that much use to more experienced dog owners

The way I have found to train my dog for recall was to have a very high value item with me...
Diego, being very curious and people friendly would otherwise rather run off to anybody ready to give him a treat..
I started training him to fetch with gundogs types of toys (throw toy with rabbit skin on it .. - I actually started with a stick as I found he had a passion for them lol) and he loved it ..
so on walks I carry his toy around and play some fetch/find games every so often - when I have the toy with me or in my pocket the dog is glued to me lol of course at first I had to teach him that fetching (coming back to me that it) was also very rewarding, not running off with the toy lol As Diego LOVES to find, it was not very difficult...
Now he is just used to coming back when called...

That was my way of overcoming the fact that my dog is not very food orientated...

The problem for you Blitz is to be able to find something that appeals to or rewards your dog more than chasing rabbits...difficult as your dog seem to have a very high prey drive (whilst mine would rather his "dead-toy-rabbit" than a real one he know he would never catch!)..

Good luck!

Maybe a very smelly rabbit skin would work, that would be one better than putrid flesh I suppose. I HATE rabbits, they caused me a lot of problems when my other dog was young (in fact until her mother died a couple of years ago and I became more important to her) and because we are all barbed wire fences the dogs can run for miles and, unlike some of my neighbours, I am not happy for my dog to disappear for hours.

I might have a lot to learn but carrying around a rabbit skin is only going to give it the scent to look for more

What are training discs??????????

Not sure there is a reward in the world Oscar would put higher than the thrill of chasing a bird/squirrel or rabbit. I can do the whole loony owner bit til i am blue in the face but i basically end up just looking like a loony person on my own in the park jumping about like an idiot while Oscar is off in the woods having a fantastic time.

The only thing i would say is he doesn't travel far, does come back and is pretty safe where we walk. If he wasn't he would have to stay on his line for a while longer.

Trouble with frizbee, ball, treat, owner based rewards is in that moment when they are pegging it off through the woods without even a second glance in your direction they couldn't give a flying squirrel where you are or what you are doing, they are in the moment. They know they can find you again when they need you for security, AFTER they have their fun.

Maybe rather this than a stinky dead rabbit though Blitz

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I know this doesn't help you
But when I first got Alfie and he discovered rabbits, he used to do the whole disappearing act.
We took him rabbit shooting, retrieved rabbit after rabbit until he was worn out and fed up with rabbit two or three trips and he calmed quite a bit
Though he still has a quick chase, he no longer disappears into the distance.
Mind, if it has myxy, he knows there's a good chance of a catch