Do you walk your dog on a leash?
- Thread starter Paige
- Start date
Buster is on leash a lot more where I live now, the leash laws are much tighter. I have picked one area near my house I do let him off, he has proven himself trustworhty here with distractions many times. Its a big open paddock that I can see for a couple of hundred metres each way, the grass is always short and so there are no hares/wallabies for him to chase.
I like to let him off because he is much less stressed offleash and enjoys himself a LOT more.
Its the best way to excercise him with a good run.
He's much more resposive offleash then on.
He's not dog aggro offleash.
His quality of life would drop dramatically if I didn't give himt he chance to run offleash a couple of times a week.
I like to let him off because he is much less stressed offleash and enjoys himself a LOT more.
Its the best way to excercise him with a good run.
He's much more resposive offleash then on.
He's not dog aggro offleash.
His quality of life would drop dramatically if I didn't give himt he chance to run offleash a couple of times a week.
H
Yes I can say that I can trust my dogs to obey me.
While the average owner was walking their dog around the neighborhood on a lead, I was running 20+ miles a week through busy city streets with my dog off lead, and while they were doing a basic puppy course, I was doing ultra-advanced classes with a class full of present, and former DA, and HA dogs, and spending time exposing my dog to stresses that most average dogs would have problems with if encountered during a normal day.
What the average owner with a dog on a leash would worry about, my dogs would not even notice, and consider rather boring.
My dog will stand and look a growling, lunging, snarling dog a foot from her face with a kinda "what is wrong with them" look. The other will simply lock into my side, because he knows he is not allowed to react, and the decison is mine to make
That is the result of continual training, that continually notches up the stress levels for the dogs so they become confident, and stable. Most of all they really do trust te master to protect them, and make the decisions.
Where most classes leave off with distractions at the point of healing amongst each other on lead, I work in classes where dogs work off lead in a group of 15 to twenty, many of which have had issues with aggression, and some maniac throwing fire crackers out there just to add some spice to the situation.
WHile the average dog, and owner think a 2 minute stay is something neat, I leave mine in a stay outside a super grocery and go in, and come back out in 10 minutes, knowing exactly where my dog will be.
That kind of extreme training is why I know exactly how my dog will respond.
My dogs are bonded to me, in a way that makes the normal dog-human relationship seem like a joke.
I actually had a dog bolt one time, many, many years ago, and she was bounced off a passing car. That will never, ever happen to me again.
She did survive the accident, and when she healed, we changed the whole concept of obedience, and training. Never again was she allowed to bolt after some animal, unless I allowed it, and I could still call her off it, at any time.
As I got more into training her better, and learning more, I found she bonded closer to me, and I found that neat, and rewarding. The more we trained together, the stronger the bond.
Somewhere along the way, I became hooked on training dogs. It is now a part of me, and something I love to do.
Howie
Here at home, my dogs spend most of their time off leash on the farm when they are out with me.
I have never had my dogs at a dog park, but in parks they are often off leash, BUT I keep an eagle eye on other peoples dogs and avoid them.
But that also depends on which dog or dogs I have with me in public. Hailey use to have a solid recall, but I have not worked with her in years and she in now my hubs dog........Petie has a solid recall, Bobbi is good as well. Sprout USE to have a good recall, until the day she escaped from my husband and son.......they chased her all over the area for almost 3 hrs........my recall was gone and frankly I have not worked enough with her to get it back to a high degree.
My new pup of one week has learned a recall here on the farm and with distractions, its coming along nicely and I expect it to be very solid by next spring. She is doing great at this time, considering that she had never been off leash before and was barely leash trained at almost 6 months old.
Lynn
I have never had my dogs at a dog park, but in parks they are often off leash, BUT I keep an eagle eye on other peoples dogs and avoid them.
But that also depends on which dog or dogs I have with me in public. Hailey use to have a solid recall, but I have not worked with her in years and she in now my hubs dog........Petie has a solid recall, Bobbi is good as well. Sprout USE to have a good recall, until the day she escaped from my husband and son.......they chased her all over the area for almost 3 hrs........my recall was gone and frankly I have not worked enough with her to get it back to a high degree.
My new pup of one week has learned a recall here on the farm and with distractions, its coming along nicely and I expect it to be very solid by next spring. She is doing great at this time, considering that she had never been off leash before and was barely leash trained at almost 6 months old.
Lynn
My dogs are always on leash when we leave the yard. There is a leash law that does state the requirements of length. My dogs have an awesome recall, but I would never put it past them to be 100% reliable at any given time. There is always that one time that can happen and I would never forgive myself for giving them that much room when I was able to help it.
I get rather irritated with loose dogs roaming. If I have to follow the law, why can't you? What makes you better than me? You see your dogs training vs. my dogs training in a personal manner anyhow. I am not going to sit on the corner and dispute whos dog is smarter than whos so you will hook on a leash and protect your dog. When you least expect it, and the dog runs in front of a car, how bad will you feel when you explain to your vet how it happened and you could have prevented it?
*Not using you exclusively to anyone specifically
I get rather irritated with loose dogs roaming. If I have to follow the law, why can't you? What makes you better than me? You see your dogs training vs. my dogs training in a personal manner anyhow. I am not going to sit on the corner and dispute whos dog is smarter than whos so you will hook on a leash and protect your dog. When you least expect it, and the dog runs in front of a car, how bad will you feel when you explain to your vet how it happened and you could have prevented it?
*Not using you exclusively to anyone specifically
H
That s fine wth me, but do not underestimate your dogs abllties.
It is not about smarter dogs, better owners, or more skilled handlers.
It is about time dedicated to training, and working a dog, and not many people care to do that, and there is no shame in that. Perhaps their hobbies are something else, while mine would be dogs.
I certainly would not expect many people to train or work with their dogs to any high degree. I do it because I enjoy the training, and the rewards.
It is just one of many hobbies we humans engage in to avoid massive amounts of time staring at a TV, which perhaps is many peoples hobby.
ESPN seems to be a favorite channel of many people.
Other forum members are also heavily involved in training because they enjoy it, and find it rewarding.
Some find it fun, other find it not fun at all, and quite stressful.
I built a stress agility catwalk 5 foot high, a total of 32 foot long, in my back yard, because I like working my dogs, and I doubt many people would care to bother with such things. Soon, I will build something else.
My hobby
My wife does not enjoy it, but she enjoys the rewards of a well trained dog.:lol-sign:
If the dog is never going to be off the leash, and will always be enclosed then there is little reason to train them, or push them to excell, which explains the high number of dogs walking, and dragging their owners, while I walk along with mine beside me.
It also explains why people stare when I am at an event, store etc..and down/stay my dogs, and walk away, with them sitting, or laying there, so I can talk with people, or play with their dog, sop etc... and people seem amazed like it is something special, when in fact any basic course should cover that exercise
Risk is a part of life, and you train yourself, your children, and your dogs to minimize risks to an acceptable figure.
It is not about smarter dogs, better owners, or more skilled handlers.
It is about time dedicated to training, and working a dog, and not many people care to do that, and there is no shame in that. Perhaps their hobbies are something else, while mine would be dogs.
I certainly would not expect many people to train or work with their dogs to any high degree. I do it because I enjoy the training, and the rewards.
It is just one of many hobbies we humans engage in to avoid massive amounts of time staring at a TV, which perhaps is many peoples hobby.
ESPN seems to be a favorite channel of many people.
Other forum members are also heavily involved in training because they enjoy it, and find it rewarding.
Some find it fun, other find it not fun at all, and quite stressful.
I built a stress agility catwalk 5 foot high, a total of 32 foot long, in my back yard, because I like working my dogs, and I doubt many people would care to bother with such things. Soon, I will build something else.
My hobby
My wife does not enjoy it, but she enjoys the rewards of a well trained dog.:lol-sign:
If the dog is never going to be off the leash, and will always be enclosed then there is little reason to train them, or push them to excell, which explains the high number of dogs walking, and dragging their owners, while I walk along with mine beside me.
It also explains why people stare when I am at an event, store etc..and down/stay my dogs, and walk away, with them sitting, or laying there, so I can talk with people, or play with their dog, sop etc... and people seem amazed like it is something special, when in fact any basic course should cover that exercise
Risk is a part of life, and you train yourself, your children, and your dogs to minimize risks to an acceptable figure.
wait, wait, wait.
My hobby is NOT sitting in front of a TV.
I enjoy training my dog, too.
And I don't appreciate the implication that, well, maybe those of us with dogs without recalls or ones that cannot walk off leash just enjoy sitting our fat butts in front of a TV.
It's not a joke. It's not funny.
By saying that you ARE implying that people aren't working enough with their dogs.
And I think it's FABULOUS that your dogs are so well trained, and hats off to you for taking that time and having that ability to train your dogs to have such a fabulous recall.
But I have more to make it through than obviously you do/did.
I have a dog aggressive dog, breaking through THAT barrier would be a miracle in and of itself.
Somethings are just instinctual and certain things are next to impossible to break through and sometimes are simply only manageable.
Maybe I'll find that nack one of these days. That one special behavioral/training device or way of getting through and my dog's dog aggression will totally be workable. But for now, I'll NEVER trust my dog off leash.
And I think it's quite crazy to assume that everyone is going to be able to.
It's not a lack of want or training with some people. Like I've said, some quirks are only manageable. ESPECIALLY when we're talking about something inborn.
My hobby is NOT sitting in front of a TV.
I enjoy training my dog, too.
And I don't appreciate the implication that, well, maybe those of us with dogs without recalls or ones that cannot walk off leash just enjoy sitting our fat butts in front of a TV.
It's not a joke. It's not funny.
By saying that you ARE implying that people aren't working enough with their dogs.
And I think it's FABULOUS that your dogs are so well trained, and hats off to you for taking that time and having that ability to train your dogs to have such a fabulous recall.
But I have more to make it through than obviously you do/did.
I have a dog aggressive dog, breaking through THAT barrier would be a miracle in and of itself.
Somethings are just instinctual and certain things are next to impossible to break through and sometimes are simply only manageable.
Maybe I'll find that nack one of these days. That one special behavioral/training device or way of getting through and my dog's dog aggression will totally be workable. But for now, I'll NEVER trust my dog off leash.
And I think it's quite crazy to assume that everyone is going to be able to.
It's not a lack of want or training with some people. Like I've said, some quirks are only manageable. ESPECIALLY when we're talking about something inborn.
Honestly around where i live, people work their dogs about 5 percent of the time, they let them out in the yard, and they call them back. THat is about the extent of their work. If you can't trust your dog then you shouldn't ever let your dog off leash, and you best make sure you never drop it either. The blessing of a hobby of taking your dog as far as he can possibly go is that you find out the sky is the limit. THey have soooo much more potential then a lot of people realize.
Lol what are you doing with the cat walk?
Lol what are you doing with the cat walk?
Don't worry, I don't plan on dropping my dog's leash.
And I'm not an idiot. I AM working with my dog and do expose her as much as she can handle to other dogs, safely ON LEASH.
So, now the ones with dogs ON LEASH need to be more careful than those with dogs OFF leash?
How the heck did THAT get turned around?
My dog isn't a killing machine beast that acts like a fool on leash. Even when walking past another dog, I can keep her under control.
My only issue is when an UNTRAINED, "just wants to say hi" off leash dog comes running up to us.
I have the RIGHT to be concerned with that. Just because MY dog has issues with other dogs, doesn't mean she doesn't have a right to peacefully and calmly take a nice walk on leash.
I'm not going to lock her up in the house and not expose her to the world because other people want to allow their untrained dogs off leash to claim territories that are public property and belong to owners who have NO IDEA how to control their dog in an off leash situation.
Of course, those with perfectly well trained off leash dogs are not included in that statement and note that I am not attacking those who are good owners and train their dogs to be perfect off leash.
So, I would appreciate it if I (and others who cannot walk their dogs off leash) wouldn't have implications or ideas thrown at me that I don't train my dog or that I have a severly dangerous dog, or that I'm some idiot walking a killing machine on a leash.
And I'm not an idiot. I AM working with my dog and do expose her as much as she can handle to other dogs, safely ON LEASH.
So, now the ones with dogs ON LEASH need to be more careful than those with dogs OFF leash?
How the heck did THAT get turned around?
My dog isn't a killing machine beast that acts like a fool on leash. Even when walking past another dog, I can keep her under control.
My only issue is when an UNTRAINED, "just wants to say hi" off leash dog comes running up to us.
I have the RIGHT to be concerned with that. Just because MY dog has issues with other dogs, doesn't mean she doesn't have a right to peacefully and calmly take a nice walk on leash.
I'm not going to lock her up in the house and not expose her to the world because other people want to allow their untrained dogs off leash to claim territories that are public property and belong to owners who have NO IDEA how to control their dog in an off leash situation.
Of course, those with perfectly well trained off leash dogs are not included in that statement and note that I am not attacking those who are good owners and train their dogs to be perfect off leash.
So, I would appreciate it if I (and others who cannot walk their dogs off leash) wouldn't have implications or ideas thrown at me that I don't train my dog or that I have a severly dangerous dog, or that I'm some idiot walking a killing machine on a leash.
It always comes down to this in these discussions and I just don't understand it. Not everyone's dog is your dog. We are all doing the best we can with our own dogs and what we've got or we wouldn't be here talking about dogs all **** day. I also really resent it being implied that because I can't (well maybe I could but who knows because it is illegal and dangerous and I will not ever try it) walk my dogs off-leash in perfect heel through a busy city street that I'm lazy. I have a coonhound. As I said, if coonhounds could commonly be trained to a 100% solid recall, houndsmen wouldn't spend thousands of dollars on state of the art radio tracking collars.
I've accomplished a lot with my dogs, who are both adult rescues, and both of breeds not world-famous for their obedience abilities. Marlowe is top of his class in agility right now (which we work largely off-lead) and has his CGC. When he came to me a year and a half ago he didn't even know "sit", all he knew was hunting coon and living in a kennel. But I am not going to risk his life and my savings account (I believe the fine for breaking the leash laws here is $500) to prove a point about his "potential". We have no need to go off leash in the middle of the city. The only reason to go off leash is to give the dogs room to run and that's not what they'd be getting by walking at heel on city sidewalks, so what pray tell is the point of that?
I've accomplished a lot with my dogs, who are both adult rescues, and both of breeds not world-famous for their obedience abilities. Marlowe is top of his class in agility right now (which we work largely off-lead) and has his CGC. When he came to me a year and a half ago he didn't even know "sit", all he knew was hunting coon and living in a kennel. But I am not going to risk his life and my savings account (I believe the fine for breaking the leash laws here is $500) to prove a point about his "potential". We have no need to go off leash in the middle of the city. The only reason to go off leash is to give the dogs room to run and that's not what they'd be getting by walking at heel on city sidewalks, so what pray tell is the point of that?
I think the point is being a responsible dog owner, that includes KNOWING your dog and also following the laws of your given area etc. We all have different levels of comfort as to when we or if we allow our dogs off leash, one isn't any better than another because it does depend on the situation and the dogs and where.
For those who don't have a recall, kudos to you for knowing that. Kudos to those who are also aware of their dog's possible DA issues.
We all have the same complaint, people who don't care and have little or no regard for the safety our their own dog/s or for our dogs in the same area.
Lynn
For those who don't have a recall, kudos to you for knowing that. Kudos to those who are also aware of their dog's possible DA issues.
We all have the same complaint, people who don't care and have little or no regard for the safety our their own dog/s or for our dogs in the same area.
Lynn
i think it is wonderful that your dogs are as engaged in training, and no one is saying anyone is an idiot. I don't like words put in my mouth that i did not say. VIctor is a rescue too. ANd now it is time to get our bucket and go out for our daily episode. last night he carried it off leash for the length of half a block before stop and sit and give. Because that is "our" thing, my passions, to take him as far as i can. I only speak for myself, and my own experiences. EVery dog i have had has been trained to the 9th degree, little or big, mutt or purebred. My only point is that a dog CAN be if his owner chooses to take him that far. IT isn't everyone's cup of tea. It took us three years of multiple sessions daily to reach where he is now in his obedience. WHat i am weary of is people saying it CANT be done with a high prey drive animal and that they cant learn to discipline themselves over their instincts or that it will ruin their drive. THat is just not true. ANd finally there is a difference between a well trained animal that is in a heel command with or without a leash, and one that is let loose to walk where the dog chooses.
This is one thing I've failed in with Sadie. We don't walk her. She does get lots of exercise. We have an unually large fenced backyard and my husband plays frisbee & fetch with her every night until she gets too tired and won't play anymore.
When she was little we tried to walk her, but there are so many kids playing that she was too distracted and we got nothing accomplished. Also people in our subdivision let their dogs run loose and the dogs are not always nice. We don't have many pet friendly other places to go.
When she was little we tried to walk her, but there are so many kids playing that she was too distracted and we got nothing accomplished. Also people in our subdivision let their dogs run loose and the dogs are not always nice. We don't have many pet friendly other places to go.
H
Lol what are you doing with the cat walk?
Pretty stressful for the dog, and in the beginning they need to be coached up it, balanced, and held while on it, and eventually they learn the balance, and footing needed to cross witout assistance.
It builds confidence in self, and master, and bonding with the master. One of the next things will be a 4X4 beam, ladder, 14 foot A frame, suspended barrel tunnels, and 3-5 jfoot jumps, and platforms of various heights for the dogs to jump on, and do sit/down command, while on top of it.
All stressful, all needing the handler to assist, and teach, and all making the master/dog bond closer, due to the need for team work, and trust.
By the way, the dogs are 115, and 130 pounds each, which makes it even more interesting.
It is going to be a Dogggie Jungle Gym.
Like I wrote, I love dog training, and just working with dogs.
It never ceases to amaze me what they are capable of.
i do too! Right now we are working on carrying a slightly weighted bucket. Holding is no problem, walking is another story for he has to hold his head up so it doesn't bounce on his chest or drag the ground. This is so he can take "treats" little cards to the nursing home and pass around. Won't say it is easy but each day is a little easier. Today, half a block.