Off Leash Reliable

Both dogs are top class

Both dogs are outside during the day (people are out with them!) and won't wander. They wouldn't leave the property.

On walks they are very reliable indeed!! That is MASSIVELY important to me as all walks are off lead! Fred is on lead in woods if there's a road nearby as he likes to hunt for bunnies. But both have excellent recall. Both are very happy to go back on lead if necessary and will stop to be leashed up.

I try and avoid setting them up to fail so I'm always on watch for what's about anyway.

Jose` is reliable if there's not another dog or say a squirrel in the area. So, I guess he's not really that reliable. But otherwise, he comes very well in a big field or in the woods almost always. Little Chulita Chihuahua was very reliable. She was usually somewhere around my ankles anyhow. lol. Sometimes she'd scamper up the trail a ways but yes...always came when called. She just wasn't too brave so that's probably why.

The Poodle puppies....I don't know. I haven't dared try with them yet. lol. They have a little bit of a mind of their own and I'm not sure how easy it will be to make them very reliable. I did take them to a dog park which I never have ever. But it was empty except for us and it was very small, fenced, so I turned them loose. They came quite well for me there. But again, if there were distractions, I doubt their reliability. They definitely need more practice.

Lyric, my Doberman was the best. He was so reliable, it was incredible. No matter what, he always came promptly when called, even in mid chase of deer. But they're just built to be obedient...to love being obedient.

Romeo is 100% reliable. I can down him from a distance too.

Skye is not at all. She is the type to just keep going. I'm not sure how I've gotten her back in the past.

Zoie is not 'reliable', but she's not a bolter either. She will chase things or run up to people, so we don't go off leash unless it's a really private property.

Fiona is okay, but she is too interested in other dogs. I may end up proofing with an ecollar but I'm not sure.

Yes for both dogs and it is very important in so many ways. It's indicative of the relationship we have, our training, etc. What do I consider reliable? I can call them off anything, they recall under anything, they will obey a down command from any distance. My dogs are almost exclusively off leash, which is why it is a pain in the ass when they are on leash loose leash walking would be easier without the leash

During specific training scenarios they are on leash and when in areas with a lot of other people, just to satisfy local ordinances. Other than that, they are off leash

It's very important to me. My dogs are very reliable. I consider reliable when they come every time I call, the first time, in any level of distraction.

If I have to add exceptions like "they are reliable except for..." Or "they are reliable most of the time" etc IMO it's not reliable and I don't consider recall trained until my criteria above is met.

All of them are reliable to some degree. Would I trust them in 100% of situations? No. Is it a deal breaker for me? No.

Henry has come leaps and bounds in his recall. He's a hound so he's both intensely interested in the great outdoors but not really inclined to listen. I've worked with him over the years and do trust him quite a bit. He's off leash often in daily life-pottying in the yard, going to the car, some hikes, wandering around and outside my office, etc. The majority of our walks are in the city, though, so he's usually leashed for his own safety.

Rhys is pretty attached to me and would stay close if I let him off leash more. But I almost always keep him on a long line because of his DA. It's just not worth the risk.

Kami, who is Rhys's full littermate sister and here for a few weeks (we're dogsitting for the breeder), is AWESOME off leash. Mostly because she is a crazy ball dog and will do anything for her ball. That has been really neat and since Rhys is so crazy about her, he's been sticking closer to me as well.

Zane is pretty good.
Abby is good as long as nothing activates her prey drive.
Deputy, it depends on if he's on this planet (dementia).
Kieber, we won't even go there.

Since I rarely have them off the property and the only place they go is to the fenced in 3 acre pasture, it is not crucial to me.

Watson's not particularly off leash reliable. He stays within sight for the most part, but he likes to run around and hunt for animals and if he's on a scent he's not going to come back immediately. It depends a lot on the situation too. Hiking in a new place with no other dogs around he's pretty good - he wants to stay close and with fairly low distractions his recall is good. On our own property he is comfortable and just takes off doing circles through the woods, coming back on his own time.

I do wish he was more off leash reliable. We have a lot of land and it's frustrating that he has to be on a long line 99% of the time. I had him off leash constantly up until 9 months, so I hope he may become better with age as he settles down. I do let him off leash on our local trail in the winter when nobody is out there.

I'm considering a herding breed for my next dog (or the dog after my next dog) mostly because I'd like better off leash reliability. Watson is also much better behaved if we are with another dog who has a great recall, so if I had a reliable dog he would also have more freedom.

Finn's like... 50%. And with his ingrained habits as an adult it's very challenging to make him better than that, though I keep trying.

It's very important to me, and it's frustrating that we never made it there due to my lack of training him.

Bristol is great off leash, the only time she will wander off is to poop, and that's no more then 10 feet away. The biggest problem with her is that she LOVES people and never makes a noise so she could easily be taken.

Diesel is ok, but not what I would consider reliable because if you're not watching him he will bugger off, he'll come when called after he has a pee though.

Gage is the best, he like people but doesn't want to follow them or run up to greet them. He will lay in the garage with the door wide open and just hang out. If I put him in the yard and the gate is wide open he just stays in the yard.

Kim is good off leash in terms of not running off, but can go selectively deaf while rolling in things . Frankly she sticks to Mira like glue which looks a lot like having an amazing recall . By herself she is fine and calls off well and stops when told, but I do keep a close eye on her too.

Webster is good in open areas but I don't trust him in cover. Leash for him.

Both used to be better (100%) when we were off lead hiking several days a week and actively working on it. Neither will bolt now but they aren't as snappy as they should be.

Mira's recall and desire to stay close and/or always be tuned to me is frankly amazing. It's rare I even have to recall her beyond telling her leave it if something comes up.

Lodin is learning. Good so far.

Both of mine are what I would consider off leash reliable.

ESPECIALLY if there are games involved. If I have a Frisbee, I don't have to worry about anyting. Recon can be spooked by people/noises/kids, but he doesn't bolt any longer, and doesn't engage. So it may take a few calls to get him to unfreeze and stop freaking out and come back, but he always does.

They are off leash more than they are on-leash. We drove 12 hours with the dogs this weekend, and I think they were kept on leash at one potty stop, last night in the middle of nowhere/the dark... Every other rest stop/gas station they were let out off leash to wander/potty/then play Frisbee. Trucks rolling through, people coming and going, asking us questions from their trucks, etc.. No problems. At CPE nationals they both were off leash at our campsite for potty and play time, and also worked great alongside the crating stalls where there was a ton of grass, butting right up against a horse arena with a horse show going on and agility fields with dogs running.

It's pretty important to me because they both play Frisbee a lot and get to hang out in the yard with us, etc. When I don't have a Frisbee they will wander after a while so I have to call them back, but they like to hang out in the yard and garage with us.

In a forest or farm type setting both are excellent.

If we are places where we might come up upon other dogs or people I won't let them off leash. Its not worth Dekka snarking. She isn't likely to take off snarking, but I worry about a dog bounding up to us. Quest finds other people and dogs very exciting. She is quite friendly but I still worry as I know how much I hate it when loose dogs approach mine.

Off leash reliability is pretty important to me. There are some great trails near my house that I like to use, and my family owns a rural property up north where the dogs are oftentimes off leash as well.

Sally was fantastic off leash. She never strayed far and I could recall her off of anything. She was super duper reliable.

Seamus is also fantastic off leash and has a superb recall. He does not care about other dogs, people, cyclists, etc. just keeps walking his merry way. A jogger could literally run up beside Seamus and he won't even look up or be fazed at all. The only thing is that he walks at a fairly slow pace.

Paris is great so far.

Crystal is definitely not reliable. She will run after squirrels and stuff, and even though she will stay close enough so that I can still see her, she will not come back near us unless you tell her to "Go for a car ride" and start the car.

ETA: Off leash reliability is extremely important to me, and I know I will definitely consider it for my next dog. Certainly will be starting young and starting recall training as soon as I get another puppy.

Boo is not off leash reliable, but she's pretty darn good about not wandering (I now say this with a grain of caution that I didn't used to have)!

I consider off-leash reliable to be a dog who will come when called, call off of virtually anything quickly, and be bompproof enough that nothing will spook it to the point that it would not come back.

Boo has the first one down usually, but neither of the last two. Her recall is soso - good under low distractions, but virtually non-existent when she is in "prey mode." I cannot call her off of chasing a deer or rabbit mid-chase, although she will come bolting back as soon as she is done with the chase. She comes running when called in the house or yard. She comes slowly trotting (usually) when called and she's outside somewhere else. She can also be a wuss. She is not a skittish dog, but loud noises scare her to the point that I don't doubt that she would bolt if off leash and a gunshot or firecracker went off in the nearby vicinity. She's proven that a loud enough noise will take her little 10 year old butt over a 5 foot fence and far far away.

Until she got lost a few months ago, she had never wandered. Even after that episode, I'm still convinced that the fireworks scared her over the fence, across the highway, and into an area unknown to her. I don't doubt that she would have come back of her own accord in a matter of minutes if she had not been scared and lost. That said, I won't ever have her off leash for any duration of time again (she's still allowed out the front door to go to the car without a leash for example). I would worry too much about a loud "POP!" causing her to bolt and not return. Other than the noise-phobia and prey drive, she has very little wanderlust and so is not a dog that you have to worry about with regard to doors and gates.

I would LOVE to have an off-leash reliable dog. Having a dog that doesn't actively WANT to run away is a necessity for me. Having a dog who can be let outside from the front door to the car or won't cause panic if a gate is left open is also a near must. Having a dog who I could go hiking with off-leash and be able to recall off of dogs, deer, people, and other things would be awesome and a huge plus, but I could deal without it. Having a dog who can heel nicely beside me next to a busy street ignoring all distractions is not at all necessary. (Of course the bragging rights would be nice haha!)

I would not call Jubel off leash reliable and it's not really a big deal to me. It would be nice but I'm not really bothered that he isn't either. If we are in a fenced in area he does pretty well, if I say time to go and head to the exit he will often beat me to the gate.

I have let him off leash a handful of times while hiking in the woods, he doesn't really run off but he wanders much farther than I'd really like and won't easily come back to be leashed up. Though when we ran into another hiker with a leashed dog unhappy to see off leash dogs Jubel did listen to me. I didn't bother asking for a recall I knew he'd likely ignore, instead I asked for a sit/stay and came up and leashed him. He will keep tabs on me while running around like a mad man, if the trail splits and he takes a wrong turn he is listening for me to say "other way Jubes" and he'll run back and take the other path.

Sometimes I'll drop the leash and let him run around and play with the neighborhood dogs in the park near my house. He'll either play or decide to run off and get into trouble. Ie the creek to drink dirty water or over to the picnic area to look for food items/trash. If I let him off in the baseball field 95% of the time he goes straight for the dugout to 'escape' just because he can. Then I go out and say "Jubel? Wanna go for a walk?" And he will usually come running up to be leashed for a walk. Silly dog for sure.

I didn't let him off leash at the barn hunt meet up on the beach because the odds were too high for him to be a brat. The lamas on the farm were very interesting to him, he remembers crap like that. I wouldn't put it past him to run off from the beach to go see the lamas again... Running through the trial area and all the other dogs and people. Or simply wanting to play with Cricket who really wasn't too sure about him. So he stayed on leash.

I was curious how many people have dogs they consider reliable off leash?

I consider Cooper off leash reliable. It's something I've worked on him with since I brought him home, but having later met his sister and brother, they are both good about it despite having no specific training to be, so it may be somewhat a personality trait. Either way, I love it!



How important is it to you?

It is pretty important to me, and is one of the main things I hoped for in my current dog. My last dog, Bernie, was NOT reliable off leash except in a few circumstances and even then I was always on guard. He would sneak off as soon as he knew you weren't paying attention to him. But once he would get too far and wanted to come back he would panic and not know how to get back home. That's why I really worked on it when I brought Cooper home and still work on it with him to reinforce it. But, it wouldn't be a deal breaker in bringing another dog into my household



What do you consider reliable?

Stay relatively close, come when called, check in frequently and not bolt off after prey or friends.



How often is your dog off leash?

Several times a week. I hike on some trails that are pretty quiet and I am usually able to let him off leash, I also take him to work with me and there are several areas I can let him off. Cooper is just over a year now and understands that when I say 'stay close' he has gone to far and needs to circle back. 'Sit' means drop into a sit wherever he's at. He knows 'Come' means to immediately come running and come to my side. He also knows 'leave it'.