Any tips for letting puppies off lead for first time?

[elephantstone]

Well after getting my two puppies to come inside from hiding at bottom of garden after shouting "come on" and they dont seem to wander off when on a 10ft lead. I have decided to go to Tatton Park tomorrow and hopefully pluck up courage to let them off lead.

Any tips? Im going to take a pocket full of treats and will be going with the mrs, i wouldnt let her do this on her own.. They always play up when shes on her own!

They are both 5months old. The girls quite shy and i think she'll stay close, a little nervous about the boy as hes very confident but i think he'll be okay if we find a quiet part of the park.

[bexVN]

If they like toys, a squeaky toy to grab attention. Just be careful the nervous one isn't too skittish.

5 months is quite old to be letting them off lead first time, they are more likely to stay close by at a younger age but the it should be fine esp if you've been practising .

Friendly dogs that don't wander with friendly owners are useful. Pups will want to.play with the dog and less inclined to get distracted and wander.

If the show the first sign of getting distracted/wandering call very clearly/ excitedly STRAIGHT away. Remain animated if needed, flap arms around, crouch down etc. Make yourself more exciting to go to than the place they were interested by originally.

[elephantstone]

The nervous one should be okay as she just tries to jump on our knee if something spooks her. The rustling of treat packet or rattle of tub with treats usually gets the boys attention.

[PositronicRay]

Good advice from Bex. I trained ours to the whistle very early on, it's worked great for us.

If you do nothing else get the recall sorted.

[bexVN]

That's good, just be careful that she won't bolt either though, watch her body language carefully and use lots of positive/cheerful vocalising aswell as treats .

[elephantstone]

I think we'll do some long lead walking first let them settle down abit and do a few recalls and then take it from there. I know its quite late on to be letting them off but we have a decent sized garden with a fenced off bit at the bottom so practising recall is quite easy. They both compete for my attention so i am thinking if shout them and one of them doesnt coem straight away, the thought of the other one getting some attention will be too much to resist.

[elephantstone]

PositronicRay said:

Good advice from Bex. I trained ours to the whistle very early on, it's worked great for us.

If you do nothing else get the recall sorted.

I wouldve trained them to come with a whistle but the mrs cant whistle so "come on" has been chosen!

[bexVN]

elephantstone said:

I think we'll do some long lead walking first let them settle down abit and do a few recalls and then take it from there. I know its quite late on to be letting them off but we have a decent sized garden with a fenced off bit at the bottom so practising recall is quite easy. They both compete for my attention so i am thinking if shout them and one of them doesnt coem straight away, the thought of the other one getting some attention will be too much to resist.

Long lead is a great idea for first part of walk, gives you chance to assess how they'll be and gives them time to settle in to the walk
I used to find giving Jimmy and now Bryn basic commands to check they were listening to me aswell, such as sit, lie down etc, esp if I feel they were/are getting distracted. Recall in the garden is easier than in a park but it's a good start for sure. Have a good walk.

[rambo19]

Get the Mrs to stand about 50 yrds in front of you whilst you have dog on lead, get the mrs to call dog and let dog off the lead.
Dog will (hopefully) run straight to your Mrs!

[PositronicRay]

elephantstone said:

PositronicRay said:

Good advice from Bex. I trained ours to the whistle very early on, it's worked great for us.

If you do nothing else get the recall sorted.

I wouldve trained them to come with a whistle but the mrs cant whistle so "come on" has been chosen!

We got one of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acme-210-5-Working-Dog-Whi...

a) Sound carries better (particularly into the wind)
b) The recall command is always exactly the same whether, it's me or Mrs PR. A voice command can show unwanted emotions (stress etc)

We use a few commands but the whistle means "come here immediately and sit" He always gets a biscuit for doing this(shouting "biscuit" is pretty good as well. )

[AdiT]

How did it go? I came through Tatton park on my bike this afternoon and looked out for a couple chasing after 2 puppies.

I agree with Bex that you've left it a bit late. It would have been easier to start earlier when their confidence would have been lower (first walk ideally) and they would have looked to you for comfort. It might be harder now but will be worth persevering. Avoid chasing after them; Walking/running away is more effective and if it (accidentally) turns into a game then the game is to catch up with you rather than run away. Also avoid repeatedly calling just shouting their names; Use the command. If they are busy doing their own thing, rather than just calling, hide (behind a tree, etc) and then call; They'll soon learn to keep an eye on you. It should be their job to know where you are as well as you watching them.

[elephantstone]

They were great! Let them off as soon as we got there as we got fed up with leads getting tangled. They both followed us or ran ahead and waited while we caught up. They both started chasing some birds and thinking it would be a good time to see if my call works i did it and they ran straight back. So much easier than trying to tire them out on a lead as they run around and play but still follow us. Overall very suprised/happy! Cheers for your tips everyone.

[bexVN]

That first walk is always the most nerve wracking.

[elephantstone]

bexVN said:

That first walk is always the most nerve wracking.

Wasnt that nervous to be honest, i knew i trusted them to not run off it just went alot better than i thought!

[bexVN]

elephantstone said:

bexVN said:

That first walk is always the most nerve wracking.

Wasnt that nervous to be honest, i knew i trusted them to not run off it just went alot better than i thought!

I was quite confident with Bryn he was just over 11 weeks old when we let him off (his very first walk) But I was most nervous re other dogs etc more than Bryn running off. Jimmy I was more worried about as he was over 5 months old and he was older when I rescued him. I never did need to worry though

[AdiT]

Good result.

You might have a bit of a set back at 8-9 months as their hormones start to flow. They might start to wander off after dogs/people/anything that takes there interest. Stick at it.

[Quinny]

I spent a couple of months in France last year, and there was an elderly couple with a young giant schnauzer on the site...
Every day I could see them getting more and more frustrated at the dogs lack of training....it usually ended up in the old chap screaming at the dog and the dog taking a blind bit of notice....

I was on my own with not a lot to do, so offered to take her for a walk......"feel free he said, and I couldn't care less if you don't bring her back".... He really was at the end of his tether...

After a week of walking her, being calm around her, not shouting, and ending every walk on a positive note... Ie a treat...
She was as good as gold, on and off the lead.

The owners couldn't believe the difference in her behaviour...... And to be honest I was rather chuffed with myself for making a difference...

The honest truth is, I know very little about training a dog, but I do know that your own demeanour and body language plays a massive part.....
There really was no secret, she was a very clever dog, and soon figured out that if she did certain things she got certain rewards..
Letting her off the lead for the first time was quite nerve racking... Not my dog, foreign country, what could go wrong..
But I took a deep breath, let her off, and she bolted....st now what??.... I shouted her name, and walked in the opposite direction, blow me, she didn't like that idea and came running back.... Whereby she got a treat... She figured it out very quickly...

Edited by Quinny on Sunday 11th January 20:58

[rumpelstiltskin]

In answer to the original question,dogs shouldn't be off leads,seemingly?

[elephantstone]

rumpelstiltskin said:

In answer to the original question,dogs shouldn't be off leads,seemingly?

Sorry not following?

[bexVN]

elephantstone said:

rumpelstiltskin said:

In answer to the original question,dogs shouldn't be off leads,seemingly?

Sorry not following?

I think it is in relation to the ever increasing debate about whether dogs should be even allowed off lead in public places at all. I may be wrong though!