Walking off the lead

[tracy weston]

Ozzy as been going on regular walks for a couple of weeks now, both on a pavement and on a field that is near us. He is really good walking on his lead, apart from the odd distractions like leaves and people, but he as learnt not to jump up and to sit at the curb when crossing the road.
My only worry is when to start letting him off his lead. He as learnt come and stay and will come to me whenever i say, and the other day i tried shouting when their where a lot of distractions on the field and he did listen and came every time (nearly).
I must admit that the thought of letting him off his lead causes me to nearly hyperventilate, and i imagine him running off into the sunset, never to be seen again.
How have other people done this and is their any advice on how to build my confidence in letting him off? Im considering getting a really long lead, would that be helpful?

[Laura(L)Izzie]

Tbh I think obviously as long as you are away from roads (we walk in fields) there shouldn't be a problem, we let Izzie off lead straight away & we barely ever had problems (only a couple which involved her running home quite young & she really got told off for it & has never done it again - only because it involves crossing a road). Basically Izzie never lets us out of sight, never has done, always turns around to check we are still there, & if she turns a corner without realising or we hide like meanies to test her ;) She comes running back at full speed very quickly! She is an angel off lead, comes when we ask her, stops & waits for us, absolutely lovely :D I think the earlier you let them off the better as they learn as a pup what is right & that will then continue whilst growing up :)
I hope that has helped a little, & good luck :D

[wellerfeller]

Laura is right, the sooner the better. I let mine off from first walk. Obviously make sure you are away from roads etc but its best to do it now as he will be very unsure of the big wide world and so will naturally want to stick with you. If you leave it too long he may hit his confident independant streak and indeed may take off thinking he is king of the world.
Basically you have to take advantage of his puppiness, he will stay with you!!! Take plenty of treats and have lots of recall to put lead on and then let him off again, so he doesn't associate the lead with the end of his walk. Take a deep breath and away you go, nothing makes your heart happier than seeing your dog running about having fun and making friends.:)

[wellerfeller]

Oh and if he does wander off a bit far, don't chase him!!!!! Start in the opposite direction, jumping, squeaking, calling, just to make yourself much more interesting than what ever he is heading to, make yourself fun, he will follow you. You may feel a bit silly but it works and of course hand over a nice treat when he does come to you.

[flounder_1]

:iagree: with all of the above. Take the tastiest treats you have and do a little training on lead so puppy knows you have them then take the plunge and take the lead off. Good luck and enjoy!

[Mogdog]

I agree with the others. They tend to stay close at that age anyway ... if he goes ahead a bit you could call him and treat him when he returns ... he'll know it's worth returning next time.

I let Bess off lead first time, in a safe place of course, and she stayed pretty close to us and our other dog.

It's so nice to see them enjoy their walk unhampered by a lead. :)

[Rufini]

We took the plunge at the weekend during the NW cockapoo meet. Vincent was brilliant and kept close enough so we could always see him but far enough so he could have a good run about.

Unfortunatly I live in the city and there are very few areas near my house that I can let Vincent do this :( There is a great park about 20 minute walk away which Vincent just can't quite get too, as he gets too tired :(

Its the problem with only having one car!!

[tracy weston]

We've done it!:D
Ive just took Ozzy to an old miners pit field at the bottom of the road, armed with enough treats to have fed all the worlds trick or treaters last night. We walked for couple minutes and then i dared take his lead off. I thught i was going to have a heart attack/panic attack or both but i did it and he was as good as gold. He knew i had treats and he went far enough to have a run but kept looking back to see where i was. I did a lot of recall like suggested and kept putting him back on his lead and taking it off again, like you suggested Karen.
Im so pleased with him, ive no words to describe how worried i have felt about it (im a mental health nurse and i know its psychological haha)
Thank you everyone for ure advice.

[flounder_1]

Well done Tracy and Ozzy!

[MillieDog]

Brilliant. Its such a lovely feeling being able to walk them off lead.

If ever you do have a spot of trouble and young Ozzy wont come back as Janet said, be exciting and interesting. You can even lie down and wave your arms, or run gently in the opposite direction. There are times, however, when you simple have to go and collect your dog, esp if they are very engrossed in something interesting.

[Rufini]

Whooooo! Well done Ozzy (and Tracy!) :D

[Laura(L)Izzie]

That's great! Well done :D It will be easy from now on ;)

[wellerfeller]

Well done the both of you!!!!!! Bet you are on top of the world :)
The only thing I would be wary of just at the moment is fireworks, try and take him out before its anywhere near getting dark, as it would be awful for him to get a fright a run off while he is learning the "off lead" rules. That is the only reason he may take off, don't want to bring down your happy mood but just think its worth mentioning.
Well done though, you deserve a big pat on the back :)

[Jedicrazy]

Well done! No looking back now...I love walking off lead.

[ali-s.j.]

Well done Tracy, and clever boy Ozzy :D

[glitzydebs]

ah well done Ozzy isn't it the loveliest sight them jumping, hopping and running free?
walks will be a delight
x

[progressivetruth]

Well I have a different situation. I was recently in an accident and can not walk very far now. Not enough to excersize Oreo. However he has taken it apon himself to be my service dog. I did train him to walk off lead. before, now even in the city it is not a problem. Only when he has been in doors too long does he get alittle out of hand.

[marzy]

wow that's amazing
good for oreo .. great name by the way!
any tips on training on the service training?? would love to do more with boycie!
marzy xx

[progressivetruth]

No tips because I did not train him. I just have a very good relationship with him. But I did remember that when my cousin come over one time, she was recovering from eye surgery. Oreo would not leave her side and would nudge her when she would walk and come too close to the wall.

[JoJo]

I know how hard it is letting your first dog off lead .. I was so worried with my Oakley .. but really it is good to do it early on .. just do it .. feel confident and let him off in a secure field .. I bet your puppy doesn't go far from your side :) be brave ...

I have Picnic off lead and I have to be careful not to fall over her xxx

[Muddysideup]

Our problem is Oscar.... He has always been off his lead during our daily walks in the forest, but that is going to have to stop because if he sees other people and dogs (we generally try to avoid them) he runs off, jumps up at them and generally makes a nuisance of himself.. Any recall he has learnt goes out of the window!

Yesterday was really embarrassing and people don't want a mad dog jumping up at them.. Alfie is a dream puppy and won't leave our sides - he's always off his lead..

We have tried all the usual recall traiing methods but Oscar is VERY wilful..

[axl the cockerpoo]

as a puppy we had good results using the command "WAIT" instead, Axl wouldn`t want to come back, but always wanted to show you what he had found.

we`ve gone on from there to hand signals in conjunction with commands, "HERE" means be where I can see you, "COME" means at my side but if I go down on one knee that means "COME NOW" and wait to be put on lead immediately (dog, other people, cars etc)

like training children the key thing is be consistent

[Pepster]

Our problem is Oscar.... He has always been off his lead during our daily walks in the forest, but that is going to have to stop because if he sees other people and dogs (we generally try to avoid them) he runs off, jumps up at them and generally makes a nuisance of himself.. Any recall he has learnt goes out of the window!

Yesterday was really embarrassing and people don't want a mad dog jumping up at them.. Alfie is a dream puppy and won't leave our sides - he's always off his lead..

We have tried all the usual recall traiing methods but Oscar is VERY wilful..

We have the same with Pepper. Where we walk there are very few dogs or dogs we know so it's not usually an issue but today we've been for a walk in a big park and I left her on the extendable lead but nearly everyone else had their dogs off lead and I felt pepper ought to be free too but I am just not confident, I am also still a bit wary of some dogs and so prefer her to be on lead where I can control the situation. Do you think I am right or wrong. If she jumped all over everyone or their dogs when their dogs were off lead too would I be in bother?

[lisalooloo]

Well done for taking the plunge. I have been letting Mackie off the lead since we started taking him out walks and he has been great! Until recently he has been doing the same as Oscar and running away towards other people to be petted ( a cockapoo trate I think :) )
We now need to make sure there a no others around. However the other day my daughter Mackie and I set out for our usual walk the weather was AWFUL but we got all wrapped up and set off, I let Mackie off the lead threw his ball, he fetched his ball and ran all the way home into the garden passing a road. Needless to say I am scared :( to let him off again until we start training classes in the new year.

Lisa

[Laura(L)Izzie]

Lisa that must have been worrying for you, the same happened to us with Izzie, she did it twice when she was younger, once when she'd finishe her walk she ran home without her lead been put back on! & the second time was the same as you at the start of the walk (we think she went back to see my mum). But my dad told her off really badly (shouting) & since that second time she has never done it since.
Did you tell him off? That's the only way I can think to make sure it doesn't happen again (my dad can be scary when he shouts so I understand why Izzie related lol).
Good luck :)

[lisalooloo]

It was awful my heart was in my mouth! :eek: I had my 2 year old with me also luckily she just followed as we went after him. He didnt respond to come and me saying whats this? A treat! I did tell him off. When we were out today I let him off the lead and tried the come command with a treat ready he did come back but he started to run past me again. :( Looking forward to puppy classes and we can sort it as I feel its not fair him being on the lead all the time, even if its an extended 1.

Lisa

[Laura(L)Izzie]

I can imagine it's awful. It happened to my dad not me, but he said a car had to stop for her one of the times which is why he went so mad with her. Izzie is pretty scared when my dad shouts so it seemed to sort her out. Maybe just try putting him on the lead a couple of minutes before you're nearly back so that he doesn't run off? That might help, because obviously it's good for them getting a good run round off lead & it means we don't have to walk as much if we have them on a lead to give them enough exercise. Hope you sort it quick so that it doesn't keep happening & he doesn't have to stay on lead. Good luck :)

[lisalooloo]

Thanks Ive always put him bak on the lead a few mins before we get bak. Some1 has suggested playing hide and seek armed with treats. There are a couple of large parks near where we live will try it out there. We stay right next to large playing field but there is a main road at side of it and that is where he ran off. Hopefully we can sort it thanks again.

Lisa

[axl the cockerpoo]

do you vary the route you take home?

[lisalooloo]

No we cant there is only one way into our estate from where we walk him. Its a new build estate so the other end is shut off just now until building stops.

Lisa

[Muddysideup]

We've decided to keep Oscar on his extendable lead for most of the time, until he has well and truly mastered his re-call.. He doesn't seem to mind and Alfie stays with him, thankfully..:) Kids eh?

Our labrador (we lost him 8 months ago) was never on a lead, he never ran off or took any notice of other people or dogs - he was a dream!