Comments on: Finding Safe Places To Work With Your Dog Off-Leash

By: Smith

Smith — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 06:51:48 +0000

Exactly what I have been trying to find and wondering for the last few months. I’m always afraid of losing my dog when we are having fun in a large and kinda unfamiliar place.

By: GGof9

GGof9 — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 22:28:46 +0000

Great tips and information for off-leash training. I love being able to let my dogs run free for a few minutes to burn some energy and then work with them on basic commands. If their attention span is good, we’ll even try a new command or two but my main objective when finding a good ‘off leash’ spot is to let them have some freedom to just be who they are and explore the world around them a bit. I find it’s as good for me as it is for them.

By: Monique Beckim

Monique Beckim — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 13:28:38 +0000

I love these tips.
My old girl(daschund mix) has 99% recall. The only time she won’t listen is if there is a small critter in a hollowed log. She -must- hunt/sniff it. She won’t run off after it, any further than 50 yards. Once she reaches that point or I whistle, she comes running back.
I have a 1 year old intact Lab, and his recall is great as well. Phenomenal outside, I never(with the exception of reactivity) have a worry he’ll run off. He hears my whistle and barrels back. My question, however…my Lab is reactive to strange dogs and people. His recall goes from 95% to 0% when we cross paths with another pupper. Obviously I don’t let him off leash during peak hours, and I always have eagle eyes when he is off.
How do I manage to run off his steam, when I’m constantly worried about him running into another dog.

Back story: Ziggy(lab), wasn’t on a leash until he turned 5-6 months old. He was always off leash. Which is why I believe his recall(for the most part) is fantastic. He would go EVERYWHERE with me. We would frequent the huge wooded off leash dog park for 3-4 hours a day, just exploring. He was never reactive, would sniff butts, play happily and his recall was 85-95%. I hadn’t ever heard him growl, bark(other than play) or put his hackles up.
Then he turned 7 months old and Covid shut everything down. The dog parks were closed, I stopped bringing him to pet stores. And now he growls if anyone walks by my truck(or he even sees them crossing the road). I can’t take him to the doggo park anymore, because he’s reactive. I’m fairly good at reading his body language, but most times he doesn’t show anything.

What do I do?! Is it because he’s still intact? I’ve never heard of a reactive lab before. Especially one that just flipped a switch.

By: Jen Gabbard

Jen Gabbard — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 23:49:46 +0000

Great tips; it really isn’t easy to come up with “safe” areas around here. I’m so lucky that we have a big backyard that backs up to the woods so Laika gets to be offleash at home ( we also have a fence – although Laika hopped it once to chase the neighbors horses…. ) I hadn’t thought about a tennis court but that’s something we could definitely find around here.

By: Clowie

Clowie — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:29:50 +0000

We were lucky to have an enclosed tennis court that was hardly used nearby so we would go there sometimes. There are also some quite large fields that we use when the farm animals are not in them. My recall is perfect in an enclosed space – even a very large one! But they still only let me off lead when my routes are restricted as they say I’m too unreliable.

By: Callie, Shadow, and Ducky's Mom

Callie, Shadow, and Ducky's Mom — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 21:56:59 +0000

Great tips! Now I know where you’ve been hiding lately so I don’t have to worry that you’re in a slump. 🙂

By: Elaine

Elaine — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:57:16 +0000

You’ve given me some great ideas of places to work off-leash! I would never have thought of a cemetery or tennis court. You might have to avoid teaching the roll-over trick in a cemetery though. 😉

By: Lauranne

Lauranne — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 10:20:05 +0000

I can see you cringe when you read this but… I have practiced recall with both my dogs. Mity his always a little pick and mix, whereas BD was brilliant when I first got him but now seems to be less keen, he will come close but not all the way to me – I have no idea why. However, both of them seem to know when I am not kidding around and have a perfect ‘freeze’. Mity once took off after a rabbit, I tried come I tried everything worried I would loose him down a rabbit hole. I screamed his name and stop in terror I was about to loose him forever and he froze, on the spot. It was as if he knew. Same thing happens with BD. If a dog is coming at him across a field, has left the owner and decided he will come and say hi, I know that BD won’t like it. in that split second of worry I call his name and run towards him (to get there first and get the muzzle on) and again it is as if he knows, he freezes to the spot and doesn’t move until I get to his side. I think it’s something about the tone. I know it isn’t reliable and I don’t rely on it to ‘control’ them but they both know when I am just calling for a practice or when they can come but it won’t be the end of the world if they don’t and when it really matters.

You can un-cringe now! Is this when I come back tomorrow and can no longer access the site ;0)

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 04:45:04 +0000

This is something I need to work on with Leroy because he has no recall at all. I’ve attempted to find local baseball parks but out of the 100 that we have in our city none of them are fully enclosed. I don’t trust Leroy at all (based on past experiences) and I’m not willing to take a chance so a long leash might be our only option. At times I’ve taken a few steps away from him to get a picture but in the back of my mind I was ready to pounce on the leash if he took off.

By: Dachshund Nola

Dachshund Nola — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 00:13:11 +0000

Great tips! I work the dogs in the yard, then in the front yard with a long line, then off leash at the beach. Nola is solid in stay and come (in four years, she’s only blown me off once), Pike is mostly reliably but I don’t trust him so he’s leashed, Olivia is more solid than Pike but also always leashed, and Linc is too young for outings.