Off lead walking

I want to take Zeus for a walk off lead.. most probably in a park or woods.. but hes never been off lead. I'm not sure if I completely trust him off lead as I'm not sure if he'd run away or just go nuts!

We have two parts to our back garden, the slabbed bit which is Zeus's.. and the grass bit which hes not allowed on as we grow plants/vegetables etc. Whenever we let him go on the grass bit, he goes nuts and runs around like crazy, its a job trying to get him back as he keeps running away, so I don't want that to happen if he does go off lead.

Does anyone have any tips for how I could get him to behave off lead.. or do I just simply take him off lead.. and take it as it comes?

We never let Suki off lead unless she is in a fenced in area. We do use a long lead of about 20-30 meters that lets her have more freedom to explore but still allows us to get her back

sky is like that on grass..especially long grass!...Sky has never been off her lead as i dont trust her yet as whenever she sees people/dogs/horses etc she pulls on her lead and trys to get to them.
We bought a 10 metre training lead from pets at home and take her on a quiet field. She does come back when called and to be honest she doesnt like going far from us anyway and will only use the whole 10 metres if me or my partner both go together and one of us walks with her.
I think we will stick to the lead for another few months though and maybe when we do let her off do it with her doggy friend who always comes back to his owner as he is alot older as im sure sky would follow and get used to being called back.

Don't be in a rush to let him off, too many people want to let their pups off lead straight away then they develop all kinds of bad self rewarding habits like running up to people or other dogs.

I know a trainer who doesn't let his pups off lead until they're at least 6 months old, sometimes a year; he says it's better for them to spend the first 6 months/a year of their lives on a lead then the rest of it off lead (in safe areas) than the first 6 months/a year off lead and the rest of their lives on one.

I'd get a long line if I were you and work on getting a solid recall for now

Definitely a long line, and make sure the end of it is always well within your reach.

I let my dogs off lead from about 3 months old, but only in a safe environment with no other dogs around. At that age, if they do a runner I can still catch them! But I always have treats/squeeky toys with me to get them to come back.

A little tip. If you're going to allow your dog to have off lead play in the park, make sure that throughout the walk you put the lead on for a minute or two & then take it off several times. Don't just unclip as soon as you go into the park & then clip on again when you go home; your dog will soon realise that the lead means going home & you won't get him back!

Caryll wrote:Definitely a long line, and make sure the end of it is always well within your reach.

I let my dogs off lead from about 3 months old, but only in a safe environment with no other dogs around. At that age, if they do a runner I can still catch them! But I always have treats/squeeky toys with me to get them to come back.

A little tip. If you're going to allow your dog to have off lead play in the park, make sure that throughout the walk you put the lead on for a minute or two & then take it off several times. Don't just unclip as soon as you go into the park & then clip on again when you go home; your dog will soon realise that the lead means going home & you won't get him back!

That's a really good tip!

I just came back to post a few links you might find helpful.

http://www.examiner.com/article/training-your-dog-to-come-when-called-1

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/reliable_recall.pdf

Also, just to mention, make sure you use a harness with a longline not a collar.

Another thing worth mentioning here, although I think it's in the links above, is it's a good idea to use a random word for recall, something that won't be said often or be misused. Also, never use the word to call your dog to you then do something it's not keen on like putting him in the bath/clipping his claws etc.

Jellybean is 5 months now and we've been letting her off lead - she doesn't run away, and if we stop walking, she stops too and comes back to us. Last time we were out though she was getting a bit bold and going up to people even though we called her. So I think we are going to long leash her for a while longer, especially during her 6 to 9 months/year period.

We've gotten so much advice from people saying take her off but I would feel better with her on - not just because of her going up to others, but being off in her own little puppy world and possible getting kicked by a jogger or run over by a bike (i.e., if you're on a shared path). Give it a try and see how he does, maybe he'll surprise you. One tip we got from Alpha Dogs was be sure to call the dog back every 30 seconds or so and reward like crazy when he comes back.

hi, i let my puppy 14 weeks off lead in the park and he loves it, i've been going to puppy classes and have to practice recall so i've bought a long line off ebay £5 20 foot to practice this on, he's really good but needs to be perfect so i know 100% i can get him back if i need to.

Thanks for your input, guys. we already use a 10 meter line with him on his walks and when we take him to the park, so I think I'll keep using that and then see how he is when hes older!

As jstaff said, I've only let him walk free when hes in a fenced off area, so I'll keep doing that!

Girly wrote:Jellybean is 5 months now and we've been letting her off lead - she doesn't run away, and if we stop walking, she stops too and comes back to us. Last time we were out though she was getting a bit bold and going up to people even though we called her. So I think we are going to long leash her for a while longer, especially during her 6 to 9 months/year period.

We've gotten so much advice from people saying take her off but I would feel better with her on - not just because of her going up to others, but being off in her own little puppy world and possible getting kicked by a jogger or run over by a bike (i.e., if you're on a shared path). Give it a try and see how he does, maybe he'll surprise you. One tip we got from Alpha Dogs was be sure to call the dog back every 30 seconds or so and reward like crazy when he comes back.

Yeah, that's the important time to keep them on a longline so they don't pick up any bad habits - when they go from 'velcro pup' to 'bogoff pup'