SBTs Off Lead

I'm just curious as to how many of you let your staffords off lead in places where there are other dogs + whether you let them go up to other dogs whilst off lead ?

Our dogs are never let off lead near other dogs, in fact not unless we can see that the coast is clear for miles

What do you do ?

Moos off all the time, shes not very dog interested they smell her bum, she looks at them scornfully and walks off! Now the owner is another issue!

With Bandit I used to be able to recall him from about 50 yards, providing there were no dogs within about 100 yards, so yes, we used to let him off. He was dog aggressive, though, so we were always on the look out. We did slip up once or twice, but no harm was done thankfully & we leanrd to develop a 'doggie radar'!

Dempsey has taken nearly 2 years to get any sort of control. He used to be dominant & would pin a dog down without hurting it (just its pride!), but lately he has shown signs of out & out aggression, so we're far more careful. If there are no dogs within 100 yards we can let him off. He won't come back, though, so I have to tell him to 'stay'. That works well, as he has a very strong 'stay'. No accidents so far - although other people have let their dogs come up to him while he's been on the lead.....the results can be pretty scary.

janey wrote:Moos off all the time, shes not very dog interested they smell her bum, she looks at them scornfully and walks off! Now the owner is another issue!

So how many bums do you smell, Janey?

Never unless in a secure area with the dog frequently with my old girl shes a angel loves other dogs

Kaisers off the lead all the time he is never interested in other dogs when we take him out with ball any dog comes near he gives them a warning and there off when we walk him without it he plays with other dogs fine never really have an issue infact he is terrible when he is on the lead he seems to always have a go i think its because he must feel vunerable when on his lead

youngkaiser wrote:Kaisers off the lead all the time he is never interested in other dogs when we take him out with ball any dog comes near he gives them a warning and there off when we walk him without it he plays with other dogs fine never really have an issue infact he is terrible when he is on the lead he seems to always have a go i think its because he must feel vunerable when on his lead

yee i would have to agree any little tug on the lead seems to set them off when there greeting another dog

Theres a dog near me who is a month younger than kaiser and she isnt allowed off the lead anymore as she runs away but they use to play everyday now when he sees her he goes mad she is a boxer cross ridgeback so is quite big and bouncy he just starts growling and going mad but off the lead hes fine its mad really

I'd love to see if Blue is alright off lead but he lungs on it so I can't trust him enough to take it off. But when work goes a bit quieter I will be booking him in for some 1 on 1 with a dog behaviourist.
At the mo I take him to a fenced in field that no one else uses and let him off there for about 40mins, twice a day

billy is still a puppy, but we let him off the lead and he is no trouble with other dogs, although one or two are with him

Molly is off the lead when one of the following happens:
1. We have her boomer ball
2. Bolan, our friends Lab, is with us
3. It's a 4 mile long beach with no one on it

99% of the time, we always have her boomer ball, her recall is getting there, but her boomer ball makes her come back every time. If we see a dog, she gets called over to one of us, and we distract her with the ball, she can be very unpredictable around dogs, she's had a go at a few, but she also gets really shy and tries to hide from some, if a dog is really close to us, then she gets put on her lead, she's snarled and growled at a few dogs when they've got too close to us, so we'd rather be safe than sorry and keep her on the lead, so we can move her off.

I keep Harry on an extending lead unless I am sure no other dogs around. He is mostly fine with other dogs, but if one starts on him I'm worried that he will make sure he finishes it. In any case my dog would get the blame, just because he is a staffy!
The other thing is that he is so nosey and curious and would be off to investigate anything he thought was remotely interesting.

Lizzie

Both Jake and Molly are great off the lead as long as its in a park or somewhere away from traffic, jake has no concept of fear of traffic and a couple of times my heart has been in my mouth when he's thought its fun to run past me and across the road to go home.

As was said before, you will find that its the other owners who have the problem with your dog being off the lead not the dogs they own lol, shame but ah well

Billy is let off, when he sees a dog he's off for a play. the problem I get more than anything is from the owners. A lot of them though tell me what a lovely boy Billy is.

Caryll wrote:

janey wrote:Moos off all the time, shes not very dog interested they smell her bum, she looks at them scornfully and walks off! Now the owner is another issue!

So how many bums do you smell, Janey?

I'd missed this

youngkaiser wrote:Kaisers off the lead all the time he is never interested in other dogs when we take him out with ball any dog comes near he gives them a warning and there off when we walk him without it he plays with other dogs fine never really have an issue infact he is terrible when he is on the lead he seems to always have a go i think its because he must feel vunerable when on his lead

I think that's so right, and I don't know about anyone else but if I see another dog that's a potential problem coming towards us I might get a bit tense. My dogs pick up on this + I think it makes them worse if they're on their lead as they're feeding off my tenseness, but if they were loose they wouldn't.

There's no right or wrong here, we just have to do what's right at the time is my view, but I still would have to see for miles before I let them off

xena always since a pup walk by my side but sam never goes off the lead for 2 reason his got a bad back leg & he hate bigger dog than him.

My girls wont go up to other dogs if they see them, but other peoples dogs are a different story! Fortunately they both have excellent recall so I can shout them back and put them on the lead if an over exuberant dog comes over and starts jumping on them (skibadee doesn't like strange dogs so its not worth the risk).

Cairo goes of lead 99% of the time.Shes very good with other dogs.People normaly come up asking if its ok for the dogs to say hello,and after the bum sniffing (not us,the dogs) it turns into a game of chace for cairo.She starts running in circles,then the other dog joins in.

Charlie is on the lead while we're walking to the field or park then I let him off. His recall is getting better, but if he sees another dog off lead before I do, he's off to say hello no matter how many times I call him back. If I see another dog first, I put Charlie back on and I ask the owner if they mind if I let Charlie off and warn them that he will want to play with their dogs and probably them too! 9 times out of 10, it's fine, but he has on a couple of occasions, gone up to the wrong dog off lead and been snapped and snarled at and once got attacked by an off lead rotti who hated pups. I'm getting better at picking out dogs before him though!

Both mine are on lead for about 10mins till we get into the fields then we go for miles across the countryside off lead. Kaos can go off lead anywhere his recall is spot on in any situation, he loves other dogs to play with but isnt so bothered by them that he wont come back if called. Ty is a bit more difficult, their are a few dogs he can play with off lead but normally he goes back on if we see another dog. He isnt aggressive just way too interested in them if u no what i mean and wont come back staright away when called, i think personally if i have to call or whistle more than twice the recall isnt quite good enough, id rather be safe than sorry lol x

Vinnie isn't let off .. puerly because i dont trust his recall, he accidently got of a few months ago i called him and nothing so i ran after him and he was sat on the corner waiting for me.
I would love to let him off the lead but i dont have enough confidence that he will come back when called or not run off, so he goes on extended leads when in park etc

i dont let my staff off lead when other dogs r about shes not the friendliest lol shes at that stage do i bite or play och ill bite first then play....but i had a situation today when i was out wiht my other dog the rottie and i was walking down the road and a woman who was pushing a pram was across otherside of the road and we were both walking in same direction but the rottie was a wee bit ahead and i said hi and i was walking on and she said excuse me i dont mean to be rude but shouldnt that dog be on a lead!!!!!
i replied that she wasnt a vicious or aggressive dog and that if she was she would be on a lead and i just kept on walking and could hear her saying coz it was a big dog should be on alead now again this wouldnt have even came up if it wasnt a rottweiler .... she would have probably got more probs if it was a yorkie i was walikng lol and i bet nothing would have been said not all rotties are bad

weestewart wrote:i dont let my staff off lead when other dogs r about shes not the friendliest lol shes at that stage do i bite or play och ill bite first then play....but i had a situation today when i was out wiht my other dog the rottie and i was walking down the road and a woman who was pushing a pram was across otherside of the road and we were both walking in same direction but the rottie was a wee bit ahead and i said hi and i was walking on and she said excuse me i dont mean to be rude but shouldnt that dog be on a lead!!!!!
i replied that she wasnt a vicious or aggressive dog and that if she was she would be on a lead and i just kept on walking and could hear her saying coz it was a big dog should be on alead now again this wouldnt have even came up if it wasnt a rottweiler .... she would have probably got more probs if it was a yorkie i was walikng lol and i bet nothing would have been said not all rotties are bad

i've seen it happen stewart, my pal has a rottie x mastiff and a ridgeback, and when we walk down the street, she lets rottie x off lead, the street clears!!!, its such a shame that because they are big dogs they get bad press too, i must admit tho, i was collecting my avon books from just up the road and chapped the door and nearly fell over the fence when i seen a big rottie face coming towards me, purely cos i wasnt expecting it, not cos of fear lol, my jake was lookin at me like "ffs mum get up", he was a lovely big dog tho xx

weestewart wrote:i dont let my staff off lead when other dogs r about shes not the friendliest lol shes at that stage do i bite or play och ill bite first then play....but i had a situation today when i was out wiht my other dog the rottie and i was walking down the road and a woman who was pushing a pram was across otherside of the road and we were both walking in same direction but the rottie was a wee bit ahead and i said hi and i was walking on and she said excuse me i dont mean to be rude but shouldnt that dog be on a lead!!!!!
i replied that she wasnt a vicious or aggressive dog and that if she was she would be on a lead and i just kept on walking and could hear her saying coz it was a big dog should be on alead now again this wouldnt have even came up if it wasnt a rottweiler .... she would have probably got more probs if it was a yorkie i was walikng lol and i bet nothing would have been said not all rotties are bad

Not all any breed are bad, it's just the perception of them by ignorant people who don't know any better x

well my 2 are off lead most of the time as where i live can get away from roads,cars and on to mountain and trails in a few mins,having said that my 2 ran straight into a girl and her 2 staffs,i saw her coming round a bend as I've always got an eye a couple of hundred yards down the way,i called mine back but hers came straight onto mine,thought ho hell here we go . but my bitch had a snap at unwanted attention from one of her staffies,and my dog just wanted to run around playing .5 min chat and we were on our way ..

Taz is off lead if coast is clear,otherwise he is off like a bullet to humans or other dogs.not always been a prob but has been attacked by some dogs that have taken offence to his boistrous behaviour,his recall is ziltch when distracted lol

j0hnbh0y wrote:Taz is off lead if coast is clear,otherwise he is off like a bullet to humans or other dogs.not always been a prob but has been attacked by some dogs that have taken offence to his boistrous behaviour,his recall is ziltch when distracted lol

The old selective hearing lol

ponyo has a major ball obsession so i usually walk her across street with a flimsy leash and then take it off to throw the ball and so far we have had a nosy rude chihuahua come sniffing and not leaving her alone yet she didnt notice it at all or didnt care in the least to move her focas off the ball. same with the huge (bigger than 120lb) yllw retriever type dog that came up at her.. so im feeling soo lucky this dog has a focus like this its obsessive in the least! yet the other day she was walking with a group of 4 other dogs 2 being boy puppy spaniels one unaltered and it was all over her but she just ran away and he chased but as soon as i got her on leash to cross to area when he came to play she got scary vicious and attacking at him like she had enough & wanted to end him. it happened a few times and with the other female. so i think she is dog aggressive with the leash on. im noticing most really aggressive dogs around here are unless they are under 5lbs leashes dont seem to matter, they attack anyway. and someone explained that if you have dog aggressive dog it usually gets worse the way you respond during seeing a dog triggers the dog to be even more aggressive ie :see a dog get pinch collar tug ouch... repeat.. hey ouch everytime i see another dog....=react aggressive knowing what is to come ouch... this makes sense to me so i try not to react automatically if im around other dogs on leash, so it doesnt contribute to other dogs being aggressive or my own. tho i too own a pit like this..but he has all kind of odd issue behavior that i cant figure out. makes u realize how important it is to socialize your puppy constantly throughout its entire life.. and make sure its getting enough running and playing in daily. easier said then done ive learned..

Cleo is fine off lead if other dogs are off lead to, but causes trouble if the other dog is leashed by jumping all over them. I know she wants to play, but her manners leave a lot to be desired, so i call her back if I see the other owner has theirs on a lead, and put her on too, but then she goes mad, gets very vocal, cryng, yelping and lunging at her lead. In fact, I have just posted a help question about this very subject!

Cleo is fine off lead if other dogs are off lead to, but causes trouble if the other dog is leashed by jumping all over them. I know she wants to play, but her manners leave a lot to be desired, so i call her back if I see the other owner has theirs on a lead, and put her on too, but then she goes mad, gets very vocal, cryng, yelping and lunging at her lead. In fact, I have just posted a help question about this very subject!

I only let barney off the lead if i can see the coast is clear... He's a good wee boy and comes back when you shout him... he is dog friendly at the moment, hopefully as he gets older he won't change