# Is he ready to let off the lead?



## PJ2410 (Apr 12, 2015)

We have a very bright, playful and energetic Cockapoo puppy, who's about 5 months old and we love him to pieces. We take him for several walks a day and at the park we use our extended lead so he can have a run about and we practice recall as we've not been brave enough to let him off the lead yet unless it's in the garden. He does really well and will return to me with the ball every time and I reward him with treats and lots of praise. My only worry is, he gets extremely distracted by other dogs / people if they're in the vicinity and he automatically runs over to play / greet them. He jumps around and gets extremely overexcited but no amount of calling him back or shaking treats makes him come back to me and apart from reining the lead back in, I've no control over him. Some people are fine with him because they can see he's just a playful puppy, but others are not, especially if he's jumping up at them or their dog isn't for playing! How do I get him to return to me when I call - is it just lots of practice? I'm worried that if I let him off, he'll get distracted, keep running and won't come back! Any advice appreciated please.


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## Datun Walnut (Oct 15, 2013)

We've a game that seems to work well both with Poppy and our last dog. You need two people and lots of very high value stinky treats (Sausage or chorizo etc)

One person holds Baxter's collar and the other person walks away from the dog just a couple of yards. *Excitedly* call Baxter and when he's fully wound up and trying to get to you, then your partner finally lets him go. He should catapult towards you. Catch him with lots of praise and a treat then your partner has to excitedly call him. Only let him go when he's wound up to full speed.

You can gradually extend the distance between you and once Baxter has grasped the rules of the game, it should go like clockwork. 
If Poppy sees Marion and I walk in different directions, she knows the game is about to start and gets very excited. 

You can add things in for control like a 'sit' and a 'wait' at each end. 
It's good for bonding too.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Given that I am babysitting my sister's Basset hound Chloe at the moment (my sister has taken my mum to a family funeral (person)) and spending hours at the fenced in dog park to try to help Chloe recover from the loss of her best pal Barney (euthenized last Monday after a valient effort to help his failing kidneys with daily injections) who had a very long healthy, happy life after my sister rescued him....I feel I am in a special position to discuss dogs who cannot ever be let off leash. I would never *ever* get one, it subjects you to a chained life as far as I am concerned. 

I know of only one foolproof solution and that is to boost the dogs already strong drive to remain with his pack. To me this means no calling, no practice with recall and starting them off leash in safe places right from the get go. You walk, they follow, period. If they don't follow you need to impress upon them that you are by far the fastest, most fun, most interesting, best company to be had and what is more you randomly dispense fabulous treats and affection to happy dogs who come in to check in with you periodically. You also need to pretend that you would not really care if they got lost. This means hiding on them a couple of times and letting them find you.

Rufus has a fabulous recall and that is because we taught him from young that when we whistle (we use the one that sounds like it is from star trek) and he flies to us he gets a super treat like a half hamburger. The thing is we rarely use it because he keeps one eye on us, all we need to do to get him away from something of interest is to walk the other way and he'll follow. We have the luxery of many great trails to practice all this on, hopefully there are some where you are.

Sorry for the long post! In a nutshell, practice an emergency recall once daily, otherwise never call them, just walk, and lose them once or twice when they are young enough to really mind it. Really work at the other obedience stuff away from distractions at first and soon you'l have a dog who is a pleasure to be out with and who will not suffer at all from PID park induced deafness.


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## Janey153 (Mar 26, 2015)

Fabulous post Fairlie!


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## PJ2410 (Apr 12, 2015)

Thanks for your help guys, I shall certainly be trying some of these techniques!


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## sueanddaisy (Jun 17, 2015)

I let my 2 off lead on a near field, my little ones run with them, all playfully, I shout daisy back and she runs back to me for her treat, then diesel and he does the same, we do this several times on the field until eventually last call will be for their leads + treat. I am the only one who treats them so they know its only me that really matters when I call their names..... even when they are getting attention from either other dog walkers or dogs, they will still leave them when I call them  they are very clever


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## Humspoff (Aug 26, 2014)

PJ2410 said:


> We have a very bright, playful and energetic Cockapoo puppy, who's about 5 months old and we love him to pieces. We take him for several walks a day and at the park we use our extended lead so he can have a run about and we practice recall as we've not been brave enough to let him off the lead yet unless it's in the garden. He does really well and will return to me with the ball every time and I reward him with treats and lots of praise. My only worry is, he gets extremely distracted by other dogs / people if they're in the vicinity and he automatically runs over to play / greet them. He jumps around and gets extremely overexcited but no amount of calling him back or shaking treats makes him come back to me and apart from reining the lead back in, I've no control over him. Some people are fine with him because they can see he's just a playful puppy, but others are not, especially if he's jumping up at them or their dog isn't for playing! How do I get him to return to me when I call - is it just lots of practice? I'm worried that if I let him off, he'll get distracted, keep running and won't come back! Any advice appreciated please.


This is my world...


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Reading this over I realize that newbies might misunderstand me. Of course we played hundreds and hundreds of recall games with Rufus at home and out as well *on top* of the technique I described which is for trail walking, with absolutely no distractions at first. No way would he have come away from dogs at play when he was a pup so we went to him in those situations, not vice versa. We were taught to never ever call them to end their play or they'll learn to run away from you, you walk to them instead. Practice coming away from a distraction and then being allowed it just for listening often. This is the second part of the game Datun mentioned. Make them come away from the person who has the high value treat, to teach them that they get the treat for listening, not for going to the treat.

A good way to test their listening skills before releasing them is to put two leads on them, one long, one short, then release them from the short lead and tell them "go play". Let them get out to near the end of the long lead then call them back, if they listen then big treat and fuss, if they don't bring them in and keep them on the short lead until they can listen better.

One thing about Rufus and his high pack drive is that both of us have to stay together if we start a walk together. If one of us needs to go a different direction Rufus needs to go back on his lead otherwise he'll search for whoever split off. With my other dogs they would have remained with whoever they were most bonded too, with Rufus that is both of us. Lastly we have always been super careful with Rufus and would never have taken chances near any traffic when he was learning all this.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Dudley is just like Rufus Fairlie, his favourite walks are where I go with my son and we split up and hide and he runs from one of us to the other, but this backfired once when we were driving to a big park and my son asked if I could drop him at the first gateway which doesn't have a drive, I dropped him and Dudley off and then drove to the car park. Took me a while to find them but when I did my son told me that Dudley had given him a fright as when he let him off he immediately charged off to come and find me  he ran to the car park and looked around for our car but went back to my son who walked him away from the cars until i found them. 
Dudley stays with him when he walks him from the house. 

On our recent hols his recall was not too good at the 2nd place we went to, so sadly for him he had to stay on a long line. But he is generally pretty good, we never really managed to train him completely to recall if he was having fun with other dogs until he grew out of the excited puppy stage. Now he looks towards them, but if I call him to me he will come. 

For OP I would say it maybe worth investing in a long line (- we have a 50 foot one) so they can have a good run around but you can grab the end and bring them back to you if you need to. Best used on open ground as it can be a pain getting wrapped around tree's, but it is very useful when the go through adolescence.


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## Janey153 (Mar 26, 2015)

I am finding using a long line (50ft or 15ft) a complete pain, not just getting tangled up, but Barney tends to chew it like a maniac . They seem such a good idea though...


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

I only started using one when Dudley was a 'teenager' so he wasn't really chewing leads so much then, he was fine off lead when very little as I did what many others do and let him off when he wasn't bold enough to go far from me. The line is really good on open grass but I still had to play 'jump rope'! and I would let him off if another dog wanted to play or they would get in a tangle. They are good in area's that say 'dogs to be kept on a lead' if you see no good reason why they should be - I always say 'well it doesn't say a short lead' (and I am careful and wouldn't use it around livestock in case anyone is wondering!), the worst place for them is sandy beaches, if they get damp the line gets heavier and heavier as the sand sticks to it!!


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## Janey153 (Mar 26, 2015)

Aah thank you, that's very useful to know, especially when he reaches that bolder and naughtier age (6 months or so?) And a rare advantage to Brighton being a pebbly beach!


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## Humspoff (Aug 26, 2014)

We have been through several long lines of varying lengths... They are really handy.


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## Barneyboy (Apr 5, 2015)

I have the same with Barney who is just over 8 mths. We have been to dog training classes and he will happily do any command for a treat (except roll over he just circles his head - duh!). In the park we have a long line which we drop. Without distractions he will sit & wait while I walk away and come back when called. I play hide & seek with my boys and he loves finding them. He will also ignore other dogs MOST of the time if at a reasonable distance. However, he will sometimes randomly just go charging full pelt towards a dog he spots. He is very exuberant and today, for example, just myself & another dog owner in park. Barney was happily chasing his ball & then whoosh - off he charged before I could stop him. I called but he put the 'DEAF EARS' on. Next thing he had jumped on back of other dog who then snarled & snapped at him. I dashed over and had to reel him in. The other dog is usually friendly & was obviously putting him in his place. Am I right to remove him or should I let them carry on & hopefully Barney would learn better manners and not to jump on top. I am worried with a different dog he might get bitten when he jumps all over them. Then the long line in itself is a problem because they can get tangled together but without it how can I get him to come back when called, as no treat or human seems as exciting as a potential 4 legged buddy?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I would let them carry on if both were off leash. If the other dog was on a leash I would collect him if he won't come as you don't know how the other dog will act on a leash. I find that dogs do a good job of teaching each other good manners. Far better than we can. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

When I used the long line with Dudley I used it mainly at quiet times in the park but if I saw another dog I would use it to get him back to me, I would then find out if the other dog was friendly and the owner was happy for them to have a play and then let him off, I always try to leave it until after they had had a decent time to play before calling him back to me, it is no good giving them permission to play and then ask them to leave the dog when they are just getting into a fun playtime. To be honest Dudley was pretty much the same as Barney - doing what I wanted most of the time but occasionally ignoring me, and much as I would like to say he now listens to me 100% - he doesn't! its just that at 3 and a half he is much less likely to bother to charge over to another dog and more likely to come back to me when I want him to, but that is only because that is what he feels like doing! I still haven't been to gundog training with him which is something I keep telling myself I must do as it will be really good for him.


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## Barneyboy (Apr 5, 2015)

Thanks. Think we are just going to let him find his dog legs lol. He is due to be castrated next wk so might wait until after that has all healed up and then take the plunge!


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## catherine (Aug 22, 2014)

I'm in the same position. Belle is a year old and I've never walked her off lead because every time she will bolt towards any dog she sees. When Belle is a short distance away from another dog she will lie down and let the other dog sniff her for a second then jump up to greet them. I was told it's good dog manners but she jumps up so excitedly that it scares the other dogs and if she wasn't on a lead I worry that she might chase another dog. I've tried everything but nothing can make her recall 100%. It makes me so sad that all of her dog friends are off lead playing but Belle can't


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Catherine have you got an experienced dog friend you could walk with? The whole thing can become a vicious circle, by denying her playtime with other dogs her manners will worsen, not improve. A dog might then correct her harshly and frighten her, increasing chances of aggression. She'll also feed on your fears. The more desperate she becomes to play the less any chance of recall gets. If you walk with a friend with a dog with a good recall you can often lure both dogs back at the same time. The friend can also tell you if her greeting style is normal or dangerously intimidating. Do you take her to fenced in dog parks? How does she do with the dogs there?


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

catherine said:


> I'm in the same position. Belle is a year old and I've never walked her off lead because every time she will bolt towards any dog she sees. When Belle is a short distance away from another dog she will lie down and let the other dog sniff her for a second then jump up to greet them. I was told it's good dog manners but she jumps up so excitedly that it scares the other dogs and if she wasn't on a lead I worry that she might chase another dog. I've tried everything but nothing can make her recall 100%. It makes me so sad that all of her dog friends are off lead playing but Belle can't


Maggie is the same sometimes in that she'll lay down and then jump up quickly to greet them. She will also pick and choose who to be friendly with. Yesterday she met two cavalier spaniels and really liked them, then she met a mixed breed about the same size as her as was snarky with him. After that another lady was bringing her dog over to meet her but I told her not too close as I didn't know how Maggie would react to her shit tzu. I took her to a dog park once. There were a few big dogs and they came over to check her out but Maggie told them to get out of her face so I picked her up and left. Now I don't like her going near big dogs for fear of her telling them off and then them reacting to that. I've also stopped walking her with Clover (used to be her shepherd mix friend from puppy school) cause Clove kept trying to hook her in with her legs and then pin her down with her mouth on the back of Maggie's neck.


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## catherine (Aug 22, 2014)

Unfortunately I don't have any friends with dogs who live close by so I can't walk her with another dog regularly but we do occasionally and we practice recall then but sometimes she just gets too distracted. She seems to get a bit intimidated when there's a group of dogs but most of the time she's fine, just eager to play. Where we walk there are a lot of other dogs and a few times dogs run up to belle whilst she is off lead and play and then when their owners call their dog back she follows them and pays no attention to me. I've signed her up for classes to work on recall so hopefully that will help.


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

Is Maggie ready to let off lead? *NO!* This morning she was bored so we went for a long walk up to the fair ground where she got to run around on her long line. Coming back she was too tired to walk so I picked her up to carry. When we got about half way home, a lady and 2 kids in their yard wanted to say 'hi' to Maggie so I put her down and she went from person to person for lots of pats and attention. After a few minutes we said goodbye and I went walk her but she just lagged behind me so I bent down to pick her up again and she turned into a growly bitey crockapoo. I knew she was over tired so I just stayed crouched down beside her waiting for the crockapoo to subside as it usually does, but then she pulled back and slipped her harness. Off she went doodle dashing around the lady's yard. (thank goodness there is very very little traffic on a Sunday morning) I knew there was no sense calling her so I just waited for her to stop. The lady brought her little dog out on a leash so Maggie just kept going around us and the little dog till finally she went to the lady and got captured. I so wish she would grow out of the cranky overtired crockapoo stage.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'm confused. She slipped out of her harness and went on a spree? That does not sound like a cranky over tired Poo to me, it sounds like a dog in search of action. What my trainer would have had you done when you caught her was hold her collar for a second give her a full minute of love and then release her to "go play" again. It is only when they trust you that they will want to come back to you. She knew coming back meant being put back on lead and heading home. That is not cranky, that is smart!


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

catherine said:


> Unfortunately I don't have any friends with dogs who live close by so I can't walk her with another dog regularly but we do occasionally and we practice recall then but sometimes she just gets too distracted. She seems to get a bit intimidated when there's a group of dogs but most of the time she's fine, just eager to play. Where we walk there are a lot of other dogs and a few times dogs run up to belle whilst she is off lead and play and then when their owners call their dog back she follows them and pays no attention to me. I've signed her up for classes to work on recall so hopefully that will help.


It sounds like you have plenty of potential friends and just need to be a bit braver about speaking to people if where you walk there are a lot of dogs. When you meet a dog who is playing well with yours introduce yourself to the owner and ask if you can walk together for a while. That way your pup is getting some socialising and you can wait until she is all played out before you call her so increase your chances of success.


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

fairlie said:


> I'm confused. She slipped out of her harness and went on a spree? That does not sound like a cranky over tired Poo to me, it sounds like a dog in search of action. What my trainer would have had you done when you caught her was hold her collar for a second give her a full minute of love and then release her to "go play" again. It is only when they trust you that they will want to come back to you. She knew coming back meant being put back on lead and heading home. That is not cranky, that is smart!


So I guess I read her wrong. The lagging behind after we left the park was not cause she was tired but that she just didn't want to leave the park. And the temper tantrum was cause she wanted to go back and play with the lady and her kids. These little poo minds are so complicated sometimes.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

My feelings on off lead is that dogs benefit so hugely from the opportunity to socialise and investigate their environment we owe it to them to try and give them as much of a chance as we possibly can as long as we have access to safe environments - even if that means we need to travel to reach the safe environments.

Chance has been off lead over the fields since she was 11 weeks old and whilst she has occasionally been a work in progress  has mostly been no trouble at all 










Molly was 17 months old when she came to me, had rarely been walked and never been off lead and was totally obsessed with chasing birds - so she has been a whole heap of trouble  she spent a long time on a long line learning in a safe environment and I acquired quite a few grey hairs along the lines with her. At one stage I felt she was never going to be safe to be off lead over the fields I love so much. She has always been heavily rewarded for coming back and somewhere along the lines has turned into mostly reliable and never far from me on walks. 

With regard to distraction and things they want to do I used an approach of firstly calling them to me, when they came (and if it was safe to do so) I would let them do what it was they wanted, so chase the bird or go and see the other dog. This started on a line with Molly and meant at one point I was actively seeking birds close enough for her to want to chase them. I would get her attention, get her to come to me, reward that and then let her chase. With Chance she did not need the lead but learned that if she saw another dog and came to me she would be rewarded and I would then let her go to see them anyway. It means she does not generally go bombing off to see other dogs and the more we practiced the better she got and the longer I was able to keep her with me before allowing her to go and say hello


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I love my dogs running free off lead.
Like 2nd mine have been off lead since they were tiny pups - and the rescue two that I have had were initially walked in safe areas off lead. 
I am always mega/over cautious near roads or livestock. It is not worth the risk. I am lucky in that I live in an area where there are lots of lovely places to walk in the actual countryside and I have never yet lost a dog (permanently!!!) although Kiki has very occasionally got so engrossed in a hunt that her recall was non existent... in that she was so into it she was literally deaf to me. However because we were walking in a safe area no traffic no livestock - I was not too worried and soon enough she reappears tongue out and tail high. I always act pleased to see her and never berate her for not listening - the fault was mine.
My dad used to say ' there is no point shouting at a dog's bottom - their ears are on the other end'. Most dogs respond to you if you call them before they get too far away - as if there is a magic circle around you - inside that circle your dog is very tuned to you. When you start building a relationship with a pup or new dog the circumference of that circle is very small - as the bond between you grows so does the circle.
IMHO it is hard to give a dog the stimulation and exercise and relaxation that they need on lead.
Walks ideally should be that - you walking from one point to another hopefully in a circle so that you start and finish at the same point. If your dog walk involves going the same way every day your dog will become bored and look for excitement else where. The worst behaved dogs we encounter are those belonging to people who walk a short distance and hope to encounter another dog that their dog can chase while they stand still....


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Marzi said:


> My dad used to say ' there is no point shouting at a dog's bottom - their ears are on the other end'.


I love that Marzi - and very true


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

He was good with dogs... not so good with people!!
If it is not obvious - what he was trying to say was you need your dog to look at you before you recall it - we used to do field trials with our GRs and they are trained to stop and look back on a long whistle - then you can give additional commands'
With pet dogs sometimes just running backwards making an excited noise is enough to get your pup to look back to check on you then call them 'Yay Buddy! Lets go and keep running away from them - as they start to catch up with you, stop turn around kneel down and say 'Come puppy, good puppy!' Quick treat and fuss and then send them off to play again!


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## catherine (Aug 22, 2014)

2ndhandgal said:


> It sounds like you have plenty of potential friends and just need to be a bit braver about speaking to people if where you walk there are a lot of dogs. When you meet a dog who is playing well with yours introduce yourself to the owner and ask if you can walk together for a while. That way your pup is getting some socialising and you can wait until she is all played out before you call her so increase your chances of success.


I may try that out but I'd feel so embarrassed and awful if I had to spend ages trying to get her back at the end and they got roped into it  
Belle has now successfully mastered coming back to me when called in the garden so I'm feeling a bit more hopeful


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Catherine every time you call her back hold her collar, give her a treat and a good fuss and then release with a "go play". She'll learn that calling her does not mean the end of play time. When you must leave the park don't call her. Walk calmly to her telling her apologetically "We must go but when we get home I'll get you a biscuit". It really works.


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## catherine (Aug 22, 2014)

fairlie said:


> Catherine every time you call her back hold her collar, give her a treat and a good fuss and then release with a "go play". She'll learn that calling her does not mean the end of play time. When you must leave the park don't call her. Walk calmly to her telling her apologetically "We must go but when we get home I'll get you a biscuit". It really works.


Thank you for all your tips


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

catherine said:


> I may try that out but I'd feel so embarrassed and awful if I had to spend ages trying to get her back at the end and they got roped into it
> Belle has now successfully mastered coming back to me when called in the garden so I'm feeling a bit more hopeful


sounds like the perfect time to try out a long line, let it out but keep hold of the very end, when she has pulled it about half way out (hope that makes sense) turn away from her and call her excitedly so she wants to chase you, when she catches up make a huge fuss and give treat/play with a toy etc, coming back to you should always be a good thing. you may soon find you feel confident enough to try the same without the lead. The holding the collar is good advice too so they don't think that means the end of a good time, its good to hold the treat right against your leg so the collar comes next to your hand before you hold it rather than you reaching for it, I also used to pop Dudley's lead on and off a few times during the walk as well.


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## catherine (Aug 22, 2014)

DB1 said:


> sounds like the perfect time to try out a long line, let it out but keep hold of the very end, when she has pulled it about half way out (hope that makes sense) turn away from her and call her excitedly so she wants to chase you, when she catches up make a huge fuss and give treat/play with a toy etc, coming back to you should always be a good thing. you may soon find you feel confident enough to try the same without the lead. The holding the collar is good advice too so they don't think that means the end of a good time, its good to hold the treat right against your leg so the collar comes next to your hand before you hold it rather than you reaching for it, I also used to pop Dudley's lead on and off a few times during the walk as well.


Funny you should say that, I have just ordered a long line a couple of hours ago! I'm very excited to test it out, Belle's recall has improved so much. She now comes to me when she is called out in the garden with a few distractions and she loves to find me if I hide in the house and call her. She now understands and I'm feeling very hopeful that with a bit more training she will listen to me every time


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Fabulous. My trainer framed it this way. Every time you call they weigh their choices "Listen to mum and get a stupid piece of kibble or chase that juicy looking squirrel?" It is your job to always out do the squirrel when you call, with lots of affection, fabulous treats and above all else the chance to keep playing exciting games.


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## catherine (Aug 22, 2014)

Belle went off lead in the woods this morning and she was wonderful!  She stuck close to us and I didn't use the 'come' command, just walked up to her, gave her a treat and clipped her lead back on. Though we didn't see any dogs so I'm not sure how she will be when we meet them off lead.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Good dog Belle! I'd try to walk in places with few dogs at first. Watch ahead and try to see one coming before she does. Clip her lead on and call ahead "is your dog friendly?" If yes then let the dogs have a short play. Only play for a bit then keep walking. Don't call her just walk. When she has this down well you can go to the next step which is when you meet a dog she really connects well with walk on and when she follows you call her in for a treat and a fuss then tell her "go play" and go back with her to her friend. It is all about teaching her that you have her very best interests at heart, as long as she listens to you.


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## Trish17 (Sep 2, 2015)

Enjoyed reading your post, our cockerpoo is 16wks old and he's always let loose at the park, he plays with a group of dogs and comes back when he's called - it works for us 😉


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

When I take mine for off lead walks I never take the same route and I often take sharp turns and unexpected corners sometimes turning round and going backwards just so that they are always on their toes and watching where I go. I don't call them very often. I have seen owners who call out to their dogs continuously on walks which can lead to them being ignored as owners. When I call them I only call once ( like if they are charging towards a picnicking family and I need them to return to me) if the call doesn't work I blow very loudly on my whistle and it makes them look round straight away. I aways keep high value treats in my pocket for a reward when they return.


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