Do you walk your dog on a leash?

[Whisper]

My two get to be off leash. Here there is lots of acreage where there is no risk of cars, people, other dogs, etc. They are not off leash in public places or allowed to run amok.
My dogs both have a fantastic recall, and we've worked on it for a long time. I know the area out here like the back of my hand and Lucy is allowed off leash in certain places but is leashed always in others.
I think my dogs would go crazy to not be able to explore with me. Millie having BC in her and Lucy having terrier in her, a walk on leash just doesn't cut it unless I want to walk 22 hours straight.
I'm very responsible with them off leash and understand they are not robots so I work with them and reinforce things all the times. I never let them approach other livestock or other dogs unless they are on leash and/or have permission to approach another dog.
They know several cues that are beneficial for prevention and safety. I am not one to let my dog bother others or one to be careless with them. I know the limits they have, the areas, their training, what is to be expected, their mind sets, and always think of those things before unclipping that leash.

 

[smkie]

I could walk Bubba anywhere and give him a heel or free rein . Ollie ,I wouldn't trust . !!! He gets freedom at both girls' homes and my front yard and stays in the yard ..... no traffic , but I'm always on alert . I really don't walk him like I should ....my bad !

YOu cant grammy it isn't your fault. I wish i was closer i would train him for you.

 

[smkie]

ONe thing i would like to add is that a person has no business getting a second dog until the first dog is trained and a hundred percent on recall. IF the first dog is trained, the second one will be so much easier, you will have the experience to be a good dog owner, and the new dog will learn from the second one more then you would think. Plus if a gate or door is left open the first dog won't run and that inspires the new dog to do the same. I have seen it happen. EVen early early one when Vic was still a pup i was in the tub and the wind blew the door open. When i came in, there was Mary and little VIc looking bewildered. If Mary had bolted so would Vic in the blink of an eye. Border training him is the hardest thing i have ever done in my life.

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

I understand why a good recall is a good thing BUT, many people here live in the middle of busy towns in apartments where teaching a recall is difficult when you have your apartment to work with. Even if the recall is good there how will it be when you take them out and try it in the real world. I for one wouldn't even chance it.

Magnus' recall is great. Not stellar but good enough for what I need of him. He goes to the farm and runs around unleashed in an unfenced area and when I call him he comes. If he was to see a dear or rabbit he would be GONE, no matter what I did. It would be instinct kicking in.

I just don't want to risk walking him unleashed. It would be very irresponsible of me if I did.

 

[Whisper]

Millie had a really high prey drive naturally, and an instinct to follow and chase things, but with lots of teamwork and time, I can call her off a rabbit and she'll turn on a dime.

 

[smkie]

I live in the city, two blocks from the freeway. During the day a car goes down our road about every 10 minutes, early morning and afternoon quadruple that. I have no fence. When Vic goes out so do i. We walked the border for head banging on the wall MONTHS> i had my son hide behind areas that he tried to sneak out and step forward when i called. I had to anticipate where he would try to break and when and be there before he was. IT was hard hard work. But he learned his boundries, he learned to run to his hearts content and chase only HIS squirrels, not the neighbors, and he learned that the pavement is "the black ribber a death". That took a year, teamwork, when he did try a break back on went the leash, back to the line which he hated with a passion. His freedom was earned. That is even MORE reason you MUST train your dog to be a hundred percent. THat begins with good sound basic obedience. THe dog learns that what you say is what must happen with sit stay down and heel. IF you have a hundred percent there, the next step is stay when you leave the room, when you back up a hundred feet, jump up and down, throw a toy, toss food, have children running or playing...putting it to the test in a busy area is the first step. BEfore you do that you must teach COME and mean it, which comes after STAY and i mean it.

 

[saffie]

if your dog does not have good recall, your dog is not safe no matter what and is not trained the way a dog should be. Honestly i got no respect for a dog that doesn't come when it is called or the owner for not teaching it.
No choke chain, no prong, no electric collar, no hitting, no yelling, repetition and praise...using exercise as reward not treats, no force training..

IT IS hard work and a responsible part of Doggy parenting.

I do use somekind of force. I use rewards for coming when called but when I am ignored (Boy liked to do that when I got him) they get a 'NO!'. And when they react and still come they are rewarded. I understand it's not that simple for most dogs, as they could just run off and not respond, but for Saffie and Boy it works great. I don't want them to think they actually have a choice
Doing tricks is for fun, but there is one command they just have to obey.

 

[smkie]

my old boss's three rules for training a puppy..(this man won the nationals in the field with a brother and sister and trained me to be a trainer of his dogs) ..
NEVER give a command you don't ENFORCE
No matter what it is, or the situation, don't say it if your not going to follow through.
ALways make sure they are having 50 percent of the fun
and always leave them wanting more

Truthfully that and the commitment to have a routine and stick to it is where the magic happens. Nothing good comes easy. I think tricks are just as important because it teaches the dog to "think" puts the focus on what you want, and makes them so proud when the succeed. Tricks should be added to for challanges and makes each day exciting for both. So far Vic knows..twist left and right, sit pretty, on your mark get set...(i didn't say down) like simon says...crawl, speak, say please in your inside voice, and now sing for your supper. HOld it carry it and deliver to hand is what we are working on now. As soon as he is a hundred percent on the last one we start on a new one. I wish you could see the cheese eating grin he has when people clap. He is such a ham.

 

[elegy]

if they're not in a fence, they're on leashes. and i still end up with my dogs in fights because other people cannot or choose not to keep their own dogs under control and out of my dogs' faces.

 

[Renee750il]

Leash. They are both so independent that I wouldn't trust either of them unless we were out away from man-made dangers.

And Kharma has a theory . . . "if I'm not looking at you I don't have to hear you."

Also, with my dogs, if anything were to happen - a dog fight, or even just someone getting frightened, it would always be my dogs' fault, whether it was or not.

 

[ACooper]

ONe thing i would like to add is that a person has no business getting a second dog until the first dog is trained and a hundred percent on recall. IF the first dog is trained, the second one will be so much easier, you will have the experience to be a good dog owner, and the new dog will learn from the second one more then you would think. Plus if a gate or door is left open the first dog won't run and that inspires the new dog to do the same. I have seen it happen. EVen early early one when Vic was still a pup i was in the tub and the wind blew the door open. When i came in, there was Mary and little VIc looking bewildered. If Mary had bolted so would Vic in the blink of an eye. Border training him is the hardest thing i have ever done in my life.

I agee with that statement 100% smkie. Phoebe is so obedient that she spoiled us terribly. Honestly she took little to no work at all to be trained to have GREAT recall and walk nicely. Then Orson came into our lives........TOTAL opposite of Phoebe. While his recall is ok without distractions, I don't trust it when he gets excited. He is twice the work training due to his stubborness, and over excitedness........ it is NOT lack of brains........of this I am sure, LOL

Hopefully, with patience and his maturity it will get better everyday

 

[howiep]

Almost never, even in areas, or events with lots of dogs, that require a leash, the leash nearly always drags the ground.

I train specifically for off leash work, in busy areas, with lots of distractions.

I don't really concern myself with so called leash laws, as my dogs are under more control than most leashed dogs.

I have a lot of time invested in training, just for the reason that I do not want to have to worry about leash control.

With the oldest dog, much of it was because I use to run 20+ miles a week, and just did not want to worry about tripping over, or fumbling with leashes.With the dog before her, I did a lot of bicycling.
With my youngest dog, I trained him for off lead work, simply because after 20 years of it, I just train that way.

It takes a lot of training, with a leash, to achieve such dogs, but I find it well worth it, plus dog training is about the most rewarding of any of my hobbies.

 

[bubbatd]

We had a horrible thing that happened in Indy yesterday . A lady (54) was taking her Golden/Chow for it's morning walk in their back woods . She picked up some sticks and decided to put them out by her drive for the trash pick-up . A 17 yr old who had been out all night , fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into her---killing her . Her husband heard the crash , but didn't think anything of it until the dog came back to the house alone . No mention of leash , ---- makes me wonder . The dog was their child .( no kids ) .

 

[BostonBanker]

Meg's rarely on a leash, but it is because of our lifestyle. She is leashed on our rare walks around the neighborhood, or any time we go somewhere 'civilized'. But in the morning, she walks from the front door to the car off-leash. We go to the barn, where she is off-leash for 5 - 7 hours while I work. Four or five days a week, we also walk around our local reservior, off-leash except in the parking area, or if we are passing dogs who are on-leash.

I do not allow her to approach leashed dogs. She has the commands I use off-leash down beautifully. She will call off of squirrels, rabbits, other dogs, deer, and anything else she's ever decided to chase. Her wait is fantastic (stand still until I release, basically a stand stay). She even has a great "out", so if we are passing someone on the trail, I can send her out laterally and keep her off the trail until we are past. Works great for passing big groups of dogs or people on bikes.

I also will not break leash laws. I used to be an animal control officer, and I know just how much it sucks to have to write tickets for people. In most of my area, the law is that dogs have to be under their owner's control at all times, whether it is leashed or verbal control. Areas that require leashes, she is on one.

 

[smkie]

It takes a lot of training, with a leash, to achieve such dogs, but I find it well worth it, plus dog training is about the most rewarding of any of my hobbies.

I agree! I can be having a really bad slump in my life but walk my dog and feel like i have accomplished something grand. ANd if anything does happen to me, my dog can be rehomed easily. Vic has a waiting list I have had people say OH VIc can come home with me Anytime. Since i do have a serious chronic illness this is something i worry about. The better my dog is the more likely he is to be adopted by someone that cares to do nursing home visits, that will keep up his social calander that he enjoys so much. Might even be willing to tuck him in with his favorite sheet and blanket at bedtime.

 

[savethebulliedbreeds]

I don't really concern myself with so called leash laws, as my dogs are under more control than most leashed dogs.

Yeah, lets not abide by the law Those laws are in place for very good reasons. They are there to protect you and your dog and the public and their dogs.

I really don't care how well a dog is trained....sh!t happens!

 

[Paige]

I agree! I can be having a really bad slump in my life but walk my dog and feel like i have accomplished something grand. ANd if anything does happen to me, my dog can be rehomed easily. Vic has a waiting list I have had people say OH VIc can come home with me Anytime. Since i do have a serious chronic illness this is something i worry about. The better my dog is the more likely he is to be adopted by someone that cares to do nursing home visits, that will keep up his social calander that he enjoys so much.

That inspires me to get my dogs better behaved. They are good for the most part I never thought of that.

 

[jammer]

I just figured that the SIZE of the US, there is LOTS of open unihabited space... why not just drive out and walk there where there is noone about?

If I can find some on this tiny island, I am sure you can find some over there!

Easier said than done, when they build on any inch of open space.

 

[jammer]

She doesn't have 100% reliable recall, so she's always leashed. We live in a big city and it's required by law as well.

 

[Melissa_W]

Smkie, I'm trying to proof Kai's recall when it comes to rabbits. It's really hard because when he spots a rabbit, he goes into a whole different zone. He's not at all interested in food when there is a rabbit in sight. If I get his attention for a second and try to reward him with food he will just spit it out. His recall is solid otherwise, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting past this point.

There is a difference between walking with someone down the street without a leash attached, and a dog that is learning military heel off leash. Victor at first for months, drug the leash on the ground, if he stepped to far forward he was stopped. His recall was a thousand percent at that time, and when told leave it, he didn't budge. WE passed squirrels, cats, children playing other dogs being walked, other dogs loose, by dragging the leash all i had to do was step on it if he got any funny ideas.

By doing this and learning LEAVE IT my extremely high prey dog became safer to himself, and to others for he learned that he could not GO unless told to go, or the command we use as back. BEfore we could even start that he had to learn to walk loose leashed. HE had to stop sit down stay even if i backed up a hundred feet or more first at home in the yard, then in parking lots and hardware stores, anywhere we could practice we did, two times a day at the very least. By mid summer we could lose the leash. He has to walk beside me, not behind, not in front, not too far out. THat was the hardest part of all because it is natural for him to want to walk faster then Mary and i can do but learn he had to and learn he did.