Lunabaluna23 Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Hi Y'all! I have a cute little BC (all 33 lbs of her!) named Luna! She is 11months old this month, and I have had her since she was 9 weeks old. I wanted to know more about letting BC's off leash to walk... Mostly how you train them to do it (if you need to train them to do it all) when is the best time (age wise) and places to try it for the first time? Things like that. I live in Charleston SC so we have lots of dog friendly beaches and open grass areas that are great spots where dogs can be off leash, but I will admit I am a littler nervous. Not just about Luna taking off, but also with other dogs, cars ect. I know that I can not have this mind set when/if I try off leash walking because I defiantly do not want her to sense my tense feelings. At thanksgiving she was off leash in a large yard that has no fence but y husband had her engaged in playing fetch so I was happy to see her not go off anywhere but I know that that is different from walking off leash! Any advice would be amazing and very appreciated!!!! Thanks guys!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Do you have a large fenced area you can start in? A local park or a friend's yard (or your own)? I start working with all of my dogs off leash in fenced areas. When I can trust my dog to stay close, ignore cars, come when called regardless of what the dog is interested in, then I know we can start venturing into unfenced areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald McCaig Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Dear Doggers, You can let her off leash when she has a (nearly) bulletproof recall. Donald McCaih Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simba Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Get a long line! I was advised to get one by members here for my dog's recall. She's improved so much I actually rarely need to use it any more. More experienced people than I can explain better, but the basic idea is that the dog can wander around with you while you hold the other end. Like a giant lead. As she gets better you can progress to having it drag along behind her etc. It's a 'safety net' and training aid. While you use it you take time and train a really good recall, gradually increasing distractions and varying locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Swindall Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 A very light weight cord like parachute cord is my preference. I then tie a loop in the end that will just slip over her neck. Make sure to tie the knot correctly so that it cannot tighten up and choke her. Then just slip it over her head next to her collar. Do not attach it to the collar. The idea is that it is very uncomfortable for the dog to pull against. You can start with it in your hand but do not allow the dog to reach the end. As she wanders too far, call her name and give a sharp tug on the cord before she reaches the end. then call her to you and start over. As things progress, you can let her drag the cord. If she tries to run off or ventures too far, step on the cord and allow her to hit the end. But call her name to get her attention just before she hits the end of the cord. The cord can get shorter as she progresses. Just before she is ready to go without the lead she should be very obedient on a short, very light weight, cord about 6 feet long. I should do more of this myself, its a great exercise. Remember who is leading who, there should always be a little discomfort when she reaches the end of the cord or lead. Make sure she is able to walk on the lead without pulling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geonni banner Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 I second the solid recall. It helps if the dog is not a fearful, noise/dog/people reactive type. If it is, be very, very careful. If you're in the busy part of a city, just keep the leash on. I started my girl going for pee-walks off lead. She already knew where we were going - it didn't involve crossing streets, and at first, we just did it at night, when there is very little traffic where I live. We did frequent, rewarded recalls, and kept it short. I taught her to heel with an automatic sit, for crossing streets and for when there were kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 A long line shouldn't be a crutch in place of training and it shouldn't be a means to punish your dog. It's rather a pity you've left it so long to think about letting your youngster off lead as small pups are the easiest to train because they generally want to hang out with you if it's a pleasant and interesting experience to do so. As already said, a long line should just be a safety measure while you are training a recall. Ideally your dog shouldn't be aware of it. Far better that your pup should stick with you because it wants to rather than because it will be compelled or hurt. Dogs aren't stupid and if you have relied on the line for control yours will know when it is removed. Your husband did right playing with her and you need to find out what she likes best in life. Most of us are mere mortals and don't have the opportunity to have our pups accompany us while we are pottering around with daily life just as a matter of expectation. Most of us have a less than ideal environment and have to adapt to suit it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cass C Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 To be honest by 4 months I had a solid enough recall to let my dogs off leash for hikes. Not that a quiet hike is the same as what you're wanting to do. I also started training the second I got them at 8 and 10 week. The question I have to ask is how much recall training does your dog have? I'm just wondering because if your dog has no recall right now you shouldn't start with a super long lead or rope. If your dog has poor recall start with a 10 ft leash or rope and just stand on it. Call your dog and when they turn to you get excited and give your dog a jackpot reward, which is more of their favorite treat than you would usually give and then it's time to part with your dog and let them know you are more fun than whatever they were doing. Slowly give the dog more lead or rope until your dog will drop whatever it is doing and bolt to you when you call. I also train my dog to stay close to me by calling my dogs back to me whenever they get too far away and eventually they realize if they can't see me they have to come back to me and their fun ends, but this can only be done if your recall is solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 I agree that a long line shouldn't be a crutch, but a drag line can offer you a little reassurance if you're not entirely sure of her recall if she gets distracted and forgets she's supposed to come back to you. But, yes, her recall should already be very good, and you should practice it on a long line so that she doesn't think "come" only applies when she's only 6 feet away from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 I might be an outlier here... but with all my dogs since my teen years, I've just taken them to a safe field or wood... and then let them go. None of them has ever run off for more than a few minutes, and they've all intentionally come back. I wouldn't try this near a road or in a city location - and not until I have some sort of bond with the dog - but they do seem to understand who they belong with. My little dog has made friends with a pretty Chesapeake mix, four months. The first day, they ran and played. The other day, we let the Chesapeake off leash to play again, but my girl took off into the woods after some scent. She came right back, as she always does, but the Chesapeake pup was off like a streak. Still, she was only gone maybe 3 or 5 minutes before she came charging back at us, happy to have had her little adventure. The owner was plenty glad she came back; I'm not sure his wife would have let him come home without the dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simba Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 See, I have done that, but I have a place where it is well-nigh impossible for the dog to run somewhere dangerous. Gates ahead and behind, water on one side, wall on the other, you literally can't go anywhere but this long path. So for years before I ever owned a long line we did this. I can see that if you are tense, if the places you have to walk aren't fenced, or have other animals around, it is absolutely sensible to think of safety first. We all know the people who bring their untrained dog to the park when they have no recall, and the havoc it can cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunabaluna23 Posted December 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 Thanks everyone for all the advice I appreciate it a lot. Luna has a solid recall and when she was younger (5 month ish ) her recall was good enough to start the off the leash training which we did only in fenced in yards, and then moved and we stopped moving forward with off the leash training, because after the move she started to show sign of leash reactivity and a lot of fear driven behaviors from her change to a new place, so honestly the off leash stuff had to take a back seat for a bit for us to regain her calm state while walking. Now that she is back to walking calmly and is getting better (not perfect but better) the interest has peeked again to see about starting this, but like i said we only want to start this process once she is totally back to her old self with walking Thanks again guys all this information really helps a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.