off leash jeckle and hide syndrome

When i take Silva to our little off leash area down the road, which is always just me and him he never likes to go to far out of site and usually comes back if called. But if we go to a dog park he just goes crazy and any recall goes out the window and he turns all forms of hearing and obedience off.

He is 8 months old so I know he is in that naughty I'm not listening stage, and people that are Staffy friendly understand the struggles that comes with young stubborn staffs. The thing is he is around 30kgs and does not look like a pup and most people at these parks get a totaly wrong 1st impressions (doesnt help his owner is a little dodgey looking).
How am I to train him for these enviroments. Do you use a recall long lead? Cause all I can invision is either everyone getting their legs cut off or some poor person being tied to a tree.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

below is a photo of Silva. our 3 year old got tired of pushing the scooter so we hooked his lead to it and he would pull her along. She did wind up in the bushes a few times though.lol

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He is good looking boy! Sorry I am not going to any help as I have never been to a dog park. Maybe a re-tractable lead might help

Logan is exactly the same. I use a long training lead and it works wonders. They are awkward at the start for getting tangled etc but once you have the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

He is absolutely stunning in that photo. Have you got any more of him recently?

I'd practice his recall in a quiet area on a long line with maybe one calm dog if you know anyone who'll help you out. Once he's learnt to come back to you amongst distractions, increase it a bit until you can trust him off the lead around dogs

Trying with a calm dog sounds like a pretty good idea. He does wear a sporn Halti though can you do long leash while using a Halti style collar?

I am always happy to post pictures. I couldnt pick just one or two favorites. SORRY

I wouldn't use it with a collar, you'd attach it to a harness, because obviously if they hit the end of the line it's going to do a lot of damage to their neck if it's attached to heir collar.

He's beautiful how big is he? He looks massive

Silva wrote:

Wow, my kind of dog there

We need pics of him more often. He's a stunner.

Fantastic photos, more the better

He's a very handsome boy great pics, we use a training line like mat it's great

Fantastic looking boy , see what you mean about the dodgy looking owner I think masses of tattoos are just commonplace these days or certainly in the UK so nothing really dodgy , my lad is shoulder to foot covered , new bit of artwork every week

Your boy looks like the gentle giant

Tara wrote:I wouldn't use it with a collar, you'd attach it to a harness, because obviously if they hit the end of the line it's going to do a lot of damage to their neck if it's attached to heir collar.

He's beautiful how big is he? He looks massive

Yeh thats what i thought. We usually use both a harness or a halti depending on what mood he is in.

He is alot bigger then what we were expecting. Last weigh in he was about 27kgs prob stands around 40-50cm to the shoulders.

Dave wrote:Fantastic looking boy , see what you mean about the dodgy looking owner I think masses of tattoos are just commonplace these days or certainly in the UK so nothing really dodgy , my lad is shoulder to foot covered , new bit of artwork every week

Your boy looks like the gentle giant

unfortunatley people are always going to stereotype, both tattoos and bully breeds. He is a huge softy though. Plays a bit rough sometimes but not an aggressive bone in his body.

Silva wrote:

Dave wrote:Fantastic looking boy , see what you mean about the dodgy looking owner I think masses of tattoos are just commonplace these days or certainly in the UK so nothing really dodgy , my lad is shoulder to foot covered , new bit of artwork every week

Your boy looks like the gentle giant

unfortunatley people are always going to stereotype, both tattoos and bully breeds. He is a huge softy though. Plays a bit rough sometimes but not an aggressive bone in his body.

Well talking about stereotyping , my lad is as I say covered in tattoos , mohican haircut, super fit (he's a personal trainer) so powerfully built, takes part in and trains cagefighting and has 2 English Bull Mastiffs so stereotype away

Dave wrote:

Silva wrote:

Dave wrote:Fantastic looking boy , see what you mean about the dodgy looking owner I think masses of tattoos are just commonplace these days or certainly in the UK so nothing really dodgy , my lad is shoulder to foot covered , new bit of artwork every week

Your boy looks like the gentle giant

unfortunatley people are always going to stereotype, both tattoos and bully breeds. He is a huge softy though. Plays a bit rough sometimes but not an aggressive bone in his body.

Well talking about stereotyping , my lad is as I say covered in tattoos , mohican haircut, super fit (he's a personal trainer) so powerfully built, takes part in and trains cagefighting and has 2 English Bull Mastiffs so stereotype away

Me and your partner have a lot in common. I guess I cant blame people for stereotyping me as I choose how I present myself, but as for poor Silva, he has no choice in how he looks. I'm not guna complain that my dog looks staunch though.lol

It's taken me just over 12 months to let marley off the lead in the park again. Some dogs can just be so stubourn, and he is certainly that when he wants to be. I used a long line and treats for alot of it and he was very good at recall when nothing was about but as soon as there was a distraction, all out the window.
Not sure if its because he is maturing a little but over the past month or so he started to ignore the distractions and come back to me. This week I've been letting him off lead in the park most nights and he's been perfect making me quite proud of him and his responces.
Hope it doesnt take you as long but dont get disheartend if its a while, it take some patiance.