Ditch your leash: The 3 elements of off-leashing

Post by Andrew Warner.

Developing your dog’s off-leash skills is the greatest gift you can give to him. As I’ve said time and again, the frustration from being attached to a leash and collar is the source of countless problems people have with their pets. 

However, depending on your dog, creating off-leash reliability can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish – seemingly impossible at times. 

When working towards this goal, there are three things you should be focusing on to keep your dog happy, safe, and free.

1. General Attraction: You and your dog, like any healthy couple, should be able to go out in public and do your own thing – mingle with other people and dogs, sniff trees and generally be social. However, you should each be aware of each other at all times. If your dog is getting in trouble, you need to be there to correct it and to help him out. Likewise, if you were in trouble, your dog should want to help you.

This can be the most difficult part to train, especially if you and your dog are at a frustrated point in your relationship. If you let your dog off a leash and it just runs away and never looks back, then you have a problem. Fulfilled dogs will generally not dash through a door and run away from you without regard to where you are.

To train this, start by working on the fundamentals – walk your dog in an organized fashion. Take your dog places that he enjoys. If you’re at the dog park or another enclosed area, reward him with food and praise when he checks in with you (even when you don’t ask for it). The more fun things you and your dog do, the more he will like you and want to be with you.

2. Train a recall: This goes without saying, but if your dog does not come to you when you call him, then your dog is not ready to be off-leash. I see a lot of people get tripped up by recalls and it’s usually from a lack of clarity on the dog’s part, because the owner has forgotten to follow through when issuing the “come” command. 

Post by Andrew Warner.

3. Distance sit: This is perhaps the most important, because if your dog can sit from anywhere, then you can stop almost any problem and keep your dog as safe as possible. This is something that few people work, but all people should. I always like to give people the scenario of their dog running across a busy street and getting to the other side safely – what would you do in that scenario. Calling your dog back to you could be a risky proposition, but if you can tell them to sit and have them wait in one spot for you to come grab their collar, then almost all crises can be averted.

Start practicing sits when your dog isn’t looking at you or when they are about 5 feet away. Don’t let them run back to you and sit at your front as they normally would with a recall – we already have a command for that!

Post by Andrew Warner.

If you’re ready to get your dog off-leash, then let us know and we can help!