First walkies

So yesterday was our first proper walk outside. We put howie on his lead and started walking, within 5mins an old collie had caught up with us but neither batted an eye lid, (first test passed) a little further up the track was a man with 2 dogs that were stopped so as we passed we let howie have a sniff one of the dogs started to bark at him so we called howie back and he was fine. I was quite surprised he didn't have a go back! By this time he had had about 20mins on his lead and he was doing great, he would walk about 3/4 meters in front then wait for us to catch up then carry on again. The only annoying thing really was his zig zagging! By this time it was nice and quiet so I suggested we let him off his lead and see what he does. The wife wasn't too keen but in the end we let him off. WOW I really didn't expect what happened next. He stayed within 2 meters of us and if we stopped once he realised he would stop and come back once called. He was amazing he really was.

How did everyone else get on with their first walk?

The zigzagging he is probably smelling different things mia zigzags still

That's exactly why I say to let puppies off lead from the word go. They don't have the confidence to stray far at that age so you can establish nice walking straight off. Keep on practising recall with treats when he comes, and if he does start to stray a little too far away just turn round and walk the other way so he doesn't learn he can.

Sounds like you're laying some really solid foundations there!

That's amazing for a first walk! I believe letting him off is definitely the right thing to do, keep doing this and praising with rewards when he comes back, keep that up and I highly doubt you'll have any recall issues!

my boy still zigzags, its all them smells! down the line when walkies becomes the norm, and Howie grows a bit bigger you can then walk him by your side, so that's nothing to be worried about! Well done

Suki was too scared to go very far. She hated cars as well as the train

How long should you walk a puppy for? Howie will start winging around 10mims into a walk, is he telling me he's had enough or can they walk for longer?

5 mins every month of their live