worried

Hi ive been walking Bruiser 2 weeks now he is almost 14 weeks. i want to see if he will walk off lead, but at the moment i am worried as 3 dogs have been attacked in my area from a stray in the past 2 weeks.
im worried he will sense im anxious and run off!
should i wait a while or by doing that will i not be able to let him off at all because him will be to old to learn to come back, as someone has said to me?

hi think everyone worries about the first time they let there dog off.
im realy lucky cus weve got a dalmation called esme who lola follows everywhere so i just call esme back if lola doesnt come when i shout.that said though if i didnt have esme id definateley try some recal in the garden first with some treats till she knows that being recalled is a good thing.
thats quite worrying about the stray i can totoaly understand your worries can you not take your puppy to a field or somewhere away from where the stray has been known?
if thats not possible i think id have a good look round see if any other dogs about if not id let the puppy of just be prepared for a run lol
i think at some piont youve gotta bite the bullett and take the risk otherwise it could be ages before you decide to let him off

I've just started to let fudge off the lead. I take her on the local vale and luckily there's a quieter lower field where I let her off, first I make sure there's no other dogs or runners etc. Shes doing well so far and if I call her/walk off she follows. The only tip I can give you would be try and take him on a quiet field on your own before letting him off with other dogs and people around

Have you been training Bruiser at home? Will he come back when you call normally?

Please don't worry about the age. It really doesn't matter at this stage, he's still so young that learning should come quite easily for him! Whoever told you if you don't do it now you never will is being just a little silly!

he does come most times if i call him, i think im going to start whistle & treat training as this is what my brother done with hes staff and it worked wonders.
there is a large field near me but also a large pond/lake thingy which i dont want to take him near! i may have to drive somewhere!
i'll have to get an id tag for hes collar aswell even though he is chipped! god i bloody worry to much even reading this i sound mad lol

I had my puppy from 10 weeks old (now 25 weeks) , took him out for the first time at 13 weeks , only on my street and he stayed with me , I decided to take him further to the park which is 5 minute walk , let him off his lead and I've never experienced such a well behaved dog , he stayed with me everywhere , always brought his toy back to me after throwing it , I only had 4 treats with me at this point but didn't use any to start off with , gradually I became more confident with just leaving him to run and me not calling him back , When its time to leave , he will stay with me all the way to the entrance of the park where I'll put his lead on him and there's this one particular wall he HAS to jump up round the corner from my house , that's where I'll take his lead off again and stay with me , I've carried on doing this and for a well behaved pup at that age , I cant go wrong considering training wasn't needed

I very much doubt the attacking dog will fight to course injury to a pup perhaps put it in its place but not attack to kill or come out on top, just practice with your recall with distraction and you should be fine and if you come across the aggressive dog follow it to a its home and explain to the owner what it is doing or call the police, i don't like the thought of it being inpounded but other owners and their dogs shouldn't pay the price for a stupid owner.

Get a long training line if ur a bit anxious, that way he can have his freedom like being off lead but as long as uve got hold of the other end u can reel him in if u need too. That way u can increase your confidence knowing he is safe! x

yes i definatley like the idea of longline training, thanks peeps

hi well i have just startedut today tara of the lead and it really is worrying as i have another dog jr she followed him but took her on her own tday and she ran accross the field to see a boy so i called her in a playful way saying good girl ta and she came running as fast as she could i think if you let them go and have a look as long as they are in no danger walk the other way and the will soon come back. good luck its fun.

Take a pocket full of treats, that's what I've been doing with Lola. As soon as I see another dog and handler I put her back on the lead. She seems fine with other dogs now as a few have growled at her because she jumps up, but she soon learnt and now doesn't go near other dogs, runs a short distance in front, then stops and looks back to see where I am.

lackeman wrote:Take a pocket full of treats, that's what I've been doing with Lola. As soon as I see another dog and handler I put her back on the lead. She seems fine with other dogs now as a few have growled at her because she jumps up, but she soon learnt and now doesn't go near other dogs, runs a short distance in front, then stops and looks back to see where I am.

I wish Molly would learn not to jump up on them, if a dog is bigger than her, she jumps up, and usually over powers them... If it's a small dog, they usually bark at her, so she barks back, but doesn't jump on them. She's a dominant little thing with other dogs.