Walking off-leash

The class should be a big help.

With all my dogs, yes, they go out in the unfenced back yard.  We have deer roaming around in our woods, and often in the yard, but they've been trained to "leave it" and will give up the chase before they even get started.  I have german shepherds, so it goes a bit against their breeding to not try to herd the deer into a nice orderly group.

I started them with 50 foot long lines, always talking to them.  Eventually I started letting the lines just drag, eventually I didn't bother with the long lines at all.  No one ever gets any further from me than 50 feet, then they'll stop and turn around to wait for me.  If I call to them, the immediately stop.  This is all just training and repetion.

 I trust Neiko 100% off leash and he doesn't leave my side unless I tell him to go. Even when the dogs flushed out a bambi on one of our hikes, he still did not go far and came right back when I called him. I believe that this is because I started his training at 8 weeks old - actually more like 5 weeks old when he was still with his breeder. I just played run away games with him so by the time I brought him home at 8 weeks, he was more interested in being near me than not. It also has a lot to do with our bond, through working sheep, frisbee, obedience, etc. Fun things happen around me...

With Lily, I took an off leash recall class. It was great and improved her off leash reliability big time. I got her when she was nearly 1 and she had pretty poor (i.e. none) obedience and off leash recall. Aside from the recall class, I've also worked her in herding, therapy and agility. So again, fun things happen around me.  She does have a prey drive though. So I don't let her off leash if there's possible traffic involved.

Abbies off leash recall is getting stronger by the day. By the time she is 2 I think it'll be as solid as Neiko's. With her I've just been doing a lot of attention/distraction work as well as obedience and play bonding. The key with her is to make the reward for being with me greater than what she would get if she is off on her own.

I think that's the key difference between scent hounds and northern breeds who are bred to run. For those dogs, the high value reward is to run or follow their nose. It's hard to top that so it's a lot harder to get a reliable recall imo.

My big boy Buddy who will be 11 in a couple of months is a velcro dog...he has always been a natural heeler...attached to my left side.  I have been known to let him drag the leash while we are on walks, but I don't do it often.  But, I walk three large dogs at once on my road, so sometimes....I drop the leash to deal with a houligan. 

My other two have decent recalls, but I just don't feel comfortable walking them off leash outside our fenced in area (which is 1.5 acres...so they get lots of free fun).

The class will help....but if it were me....I'd still always walk Hugo on leash.

It's a bit harder with Northern breeds. But it can be done. There's a Mal that goes to our dog park sometimes and he's fine off leash. The class should be a big help.

I have a northern herder. He's pretty good off leash, but it took a fair bit of foundation work. I think apart from the class the most important thing is to just reward them HEAPS for hanging around with you by choice. Kivi checks in every couple of minutes for a treat, and he always gets one. Sometimes I play with him or get him to heel loosely with me. 

With Apollo, he was so attatched to me we really didn't do too much training for him to walk off-leash- it came more naturally, I guess. He just stayed right with me, always- he's a velcro dog. Patty & Molson are usually on-leashes unless we're at a park (and it's a safe area), because they're very "birdy" and will *sometimes* take off after a bird.

ETA: They are never allowed off-leash when we're walking in areas where there are cars, only parks and the beach.

I think staying with the class- and keeping it fun- is the way to go.

Kobi was a great off leash dog. Velcro by nature. I would take him off leash daily to the ravines, hydro fields etc. I trained a recall but seldom used it. Kobi would run off through the woods and out of sight as he pleased. Three minutes later he would poke his head out from nowhere to check where I was.  I never let him off leash near any roads however, no matter how quiet the streets were. Not worth the risk IMO.

glenmar

I started them with 50 foot long lines, always talking to them.  Eventually I started letting the lines just drag, eventually I didn't bother with the long lines at all.  No one ever gets any further from me than 50 feet, then they'll stop and turn around to wait for me.  If I call to them, the immediately stop.  This is all just training and repetion.

I did exactly this with Chuck. Actually in the picture below you can see the 50 feet line attached to him while we are in an open space. I also let the line drag and is very rare that i see the other end of it

Nikon and Kenya - yes they are and were fine off lead before we had the fence.  We have a "leash law" here and I would not walk a dog off lead in the city anyway, but they were not confined by anything in our yard before we got a fence, and are usually off lead for training at Schutzhund club (which is not indoors or fenced).  In fact, a lot of Schutzhund dogs have to be trained later on *with* a leash, since the BH test requires a leash for the first part, but all the other titles are off leash.  Going off leash was not anything I really worked on, never had long lines I needed to wean them off, they have just always been this way.  Not super-clingy but they don't wander and come back if I say their name.  Nikon used to let himself out to potty even when he was about 10 weeks, long before we had a fence.  He would just push the porch door open and then scratch when he needed to be let back in.  I gave him a lot of freedom early on and I actually think that helped never develop any issues of trying to run away or wander, and never really needed training or long lines for security.

Coke - never, ever!  Not gonna happen, lol!  He is now "off lead" now that we have a fence, and we take him to our large dog park and to fenced in fields for running and playing.

 that is the cutest picture

 Cheyanne,Lillie,Kujo, and Joker can be let out to potty(no fenced in yard) and walked off leash.

Fynn was 8 months old when I got him. I am still working with Fynn and I've had him a year now. I only let him off leash when it's just him and Lillie Im walking. He stays with her. He can now be let out to potty without a leash.

My guys run the gamut in their abilities to be offleash. All of them go out to the backyard to pee and play offleash, and it's an unfenced backyard.

Shimmer - trusted inherently no matter where we are. She's such a follower (of dog or person) with such a great recall that I don't really have to worry about her.

Zipper - yes, to a point. His recall is still developing to what I call a very reliable recall around big distractions, but for the most part he's great. He doesn't run off, per se, sometimes he just finds more interesting things and tunes me out. But it's not so much now with training and bond-building (he's the newest to the "pack", coming from a home where a recall was not really taught).

Gaci - she's my tricky one. She's such a hunting dog that it's been a trial to get her taught reliably to be offleash. Sometimes she gets so into the hunt that she loses all control of her own impulses and she doesn't even hear me. For her, training will never truly overcome her instincts, so she only gets offleash running in certain areas, and in familiar areas. We routinely walk a wooded trail offleash that is surrounded by farmland, as well as the shoreline down by the river, because she has been to these places many times and they have lost "some" of their novelty. But in new areas, or on certain days, she just has to be on leash. Plain and simple. Agility training has helped a lot as well, to build focus and attention while offleash, but it's still not the same as a nonchalant walk in nature, so we have to be careful.

We do have a fenced in yard. When we are on walks though they're all different.

Brownie-he is always on a leash while walking on a street or sidewalk. If we are at an open field or something he will be let off but I ALWAYS ALWAYS keep his collar and tags on him.

Cuddles- she is most always off leash, all the time. I barely ever at all even bring a leash along for her. She isnt really too interested in the other dogs, rabitts, cats, etc. that we would see on a walk. and her recall is 100% reliable.

Lion- he is most always off leash as well. I do bring a leash for him though just in case. He loves other dogs and I wouldnt want him to go up to a dog-agreesive dog or anything. So he isnt allowed to wander to far away from me and Brownie. Maybe 5 feet on all sides is the farthest I let him go. Cuddles, on the other hand is allowed to go ahead as far as she wants. She is trained to wait to cross streets and always stays within sight.

 Tootsie, is a vary "velcro" dog. She won't even go exploring, unless I'm with her. Did I mention that she also has "0" prey drive. She also would never approach a dog, but there is a leash-law and we obey.

 Emma is 100% reliable, anywhere, any time. One day, her collar FELL OFF in a parking lot, full of cars, and she didn't even act like she noticed, LOL.

Ena Bean is allowed off leash at dog shows, in my trainer's yard, at the beach, and in my yard (unfenced part). She isn't as reliable as Emma, but in "Safe" areas, she's fine. She's just young, and a bit untested, and a little wide eyed for me to feel completely safe, LOL.

Jewel is brand, spanking new, and has no training to speak of. She is on leash, only, unless she's in a fenced yard. I really don't think her recall is going to be an issue. She is the very definition of velcro.