Who doesn't/can't walk their dog off the lead
Discussion
Sort of inspired by the first time off the lead thread going on... Who has never walked their dog off the lead in public?
I've no doubt this is ulimately down to us and how we brought him up, we can't walk our Bassett off the lead unless he is in a completely enclosed area. He has such limited recall obedience it's staggering, he'll only recall immediately when there is absolutely nothing else competing for his attention. Any type of scent, birds, cats, dogs etc etc and he's off. I can stand there with his stinkiest favourite tripe treat, calling his name like an idiot and he'll just turn, look at me, obviously weighing up what's in it for him, and then walk off in the opposite direction! If he could stick two fingers up he would. And then, as if to make it look like it was his decision, a minute or two later, once he's finished whatever enquiries he was making, he'll come galloping back for his treat.
I've no doubt this is ulimately down to us and how we brought him up, we can't walk our Bassett off the lead unless he is in a completely enclosed area. He has such limited recall obedience it's staggering, he'll only recall immediately when there is absolutely nothing else competing for his attention. Any type of scent, birds, cats, dogs etc etc and he's off. I can stand there with his stinkiest favourite tripe treat, calling his name like an idiot and he'll just turn, look at me, obviously weighing up what's in it for him, and then walk off in the opposite direction! If he could stick two fingers up he would. And then, as if to make it look like it was his decision, a minute or two later, once he's finished whatever enquiries he was making, he'll come galloping back for his treat.
Im guessing its my thread that has inspired this thread.
I could imagine having a dog that i cant trust off lead. I spend alot of time on beaches in the summer and to be honest leads with two puppies is a pain. The only time im going to use a lead is when walking on pavements and where there isnt a road nearby. I suppose it would be different if i hadnt had them puppies and to be honest got alot of work to go!
I could imagine having a dog that i cant trust off lead. I spend alot of time on beaches in the summer and to be honest leads with two puppies is a pain. The only time im going to use a lead is when walking on pavements and where there isnt a road nearby. I suppose it would be different if i hadnt had them puppies and to be honest got alot of work to go!
Our dachshund is the same, he will chase anything and boy is he quick. We got him off a woman who could no longer care for him and she used to let him run wild. When we first went to see him he disappeared chasing other dogs and he really wasn't fond of them, she thought it was quite funny which was odd. I use a long lead when he goes out and I don't think he's any worse off for it, luckily we have a very large enclosed garden so he does get to run around a lot.
Like you, I have a hound (well four, actually, two greyhounds and two whippets).
Three can go offlead on our land, one doesn't, although when it's just OH walking them he tends to keep them all on lead. We wouldn't generally let any of them offlead elsewhere, the only exception has been an enclosed (empty) beach.
Our land is sufficient for them, but Honey (greyhound) has very high prey drive and if she saw a rabbit, hare, etc she would be off, and we are surrounded by farmland which often contains livestock. We wouldn't be too popular with our neighbours if our dogs were offlead among sheep or cattle.
Three can go offlead on our land, one doesn't, although when it's just OH walking them he tends to keep them all on lead. We wouldn't generally let any of them offlead elsewhere, the only exception has been an enclosed (empty) beach.
Our land is sufficient for them, but Honey (greyhound) has very high prey drive and if she saw a rabbit, hare, etc she would be off, and we are surrounded by farmland which often contains livestock. We wouldn't be too popular with our neighbours if our dogs were offlead among sheep or cattle.
Over the last 7 years we have had 3 rescue German Shepherds.
The first was boisyerous but friendly but was kept on a lead the majority of the time unless there were no other people about. This chhanged to always on the lead after she chased a cyclist (out of character for her) and he claismed she bit him (She didn't - he stopped suddenly and the dog collided with him. When he said he had been bitten, my wife (a nurse) who was with the dog at the time asked to see his injuty/teeth markes so she could assess the damage - he sais forget it and rode off again. My wife was devastated. This was on a local walkway/cycleway (old railway line) and she had attanmpted to put the dog on the elad as soon as she saw him coming sevaral hundred metres away but he was travelling so qucikly that SWMBO didn't have time to get her back and on the lead.
Since then we have only taken any of our dogs off the lead on deserted beaches on a couple of occasions. Since we live about as far away from the sea as is possible in UK it is rare that they see freedom.
It doesn't help that the lastest rescue is stone deaf (pardon).
The first was boisyerous but friendly but was kept on a lead the majority of the time unless there were no other people about. This chhanged to always on the lead after she chased a cyclist (out of character for her) and he claismed she bit him (She didn't - he stopped suddenly and the dog collided with him. When he said he had been bitten, my wife (a nurse) who was with the dog at the time asked to see his injuty/teeth markes so she could assess the damage - he sais forget it and rode off again. My wife was devastated. This was on a local walkway/cycleway (old railway line) and she had attanmpted to put the dog on the elad as soon as she saw him coming sevaral hundred metres away but he was travelling so qucikly that SWMBO didn't have time to get her back and on the lead.
Since then we have only taken any of our dogs off the lead on deserted beaches on a couple of occasions. Since we live about as far away from the sea as is possible in UK it is rare that they see freedom.
It doesn't help that the lastest rescue is stone deaf (pardon).
Deedee can be off lead, she's very clingy out, rarely leaves your side (sometimes she'll be so close to you that almost trip over her) and isn't interested in other dogs.
Benny is a belligerent little d
head who knows exactly what you want him to do recall wise but just finds everything more interesting than you, smells, bushes, other dogs etc.
He'll come back once he's done what he wants to do, I've tried treats and toys etc over the years, hiding in bushes, silly high pitch squealing, running in the other direction but no joy. I keep him on a long tape Flexi (on a harness) if he's around other dogs until they're far enough away for him to lose interest.
Benny is a belligerent little d
head who knows exactly what you want him to do recall wise but just finds everything more interesting than you, smells, bushes, other dogs etc.He'll come back once he's done what he wants to do, I've tried treats and toys etc over the years, hiding in bushes, silly high pitch squealing, running in the other direction but no joy. I keep him on a long tape Flexi (on a harness) if he's around other dogs until they're far enough away for him to lose interest.
Tyre Tread said:
It doesn't help that the latest rescue is stone deaf (pardon).
We have a rescue, stone deaf Staffy cross and just not worth the risk of having her off the lead in public as there's no recall unless she is looking at me. Even on the flat, empty expanses of the beaches along the Formby coast in winter, there's no way I'd let her off and use a 10 metre long line like they use with Police dogs instead. She can run a lot faster than I can and no amount of Team America secret signal waving would get her attention if she went off chasing something. If I leave the room and she wakes up, the first thing she does is come looking for me but out on a walk, she's far more interested in the smells and sights than me.We have a big back garden though and I don't care about the grass, so she gets a lot of exercise off the lead with me chucking stuff and chasing each other around, (I'm sure that I'll appear on the crazy neighbours thread one day).
Edited by Fugazi on Tuesday 13th January 15:30
When we had my best mate 
We used to struggle with him off the lead. Not that he was aggressive, just clumsy and used to scare people / other dogs by his sheer size. As a puppy (same size as our Retrievers !) he was great, but as he got bigger he still thought he was 'small'. It was easier to keep him on his lead or walk at certain times to avoid busy times.
The fact that when he built up speed running, he couldnt turn left or right lol and once took out a local legend, Ex PUFC boss Chris Turner made it a event every time we took them.
RIP Barney
We used to struggle with him off the lead. Not that he was aggressive, just clumsy and used to scare people / other dogs by his sheer size. As a puppy (same size as our Retrievers !) he was great, but as he got bigger he still thought he was 'small'. It was easier to keep him on his lead or walk at certain times to avoid busy times.
The fact that when he built up speed running, he couldnt turn left or right lol and once took out a local legend, Ex PUFC boss Chris Turner made it a event every time we took them.
RIP Barney
moorx said:
Funnily enough, the two best-behaved offlead dogs I've had were both deaf. I think it's because they wanted to keep me in sight.
All of the others have had 'selective deafness'
When we got her I did a lot of reading about deaf dogs and it seems they either end up at one extreme of the other - Clingy as hell or off into the distance. A lot depends on how they were trained when young and whether they were born deaf or went deaf.All of the others have had 'selective deafness'
We shall keep working on her.
I've got 2 scent hounds, one is mad for birds and squirrels there is no way I could let her off. She'd be gone in seconds. She might come back if she caught something, but I'm not going to take that chance. The other is daft for dogs and people, he'd be the same - off until he had a play / fuss.
I love them to bits but don't think I'd own another scent hound, to be honest, I miss throwing balls and all that malarkey.
I love them to bits but don't think I'd own another scent hound, to be honest, I miss throwing balls and all that malarkey.
Fugazi said:
Tyre Tread said:
It doesn't help that the latest rescue is stone deaf (pardon).
We have a rescue, stone deaf Staffy cross and just not worth the risk of having her off the lead in public as there's no recall unless she is looking at me. Even on the flat, empty expanses of the beaches along the Formby coast in winter, there's no way I'd let her off and use a 10 metre long line like they use with Police dogs instead. She can run a lot faster than I can and no amount of Team America secret signal waving would get her attention if she went off chasing something. If I leave the room and she wakes up, the first thing she does is come looking for me but out on a walk, she's far more interested in the smells and sights than me.We have a big back garden though and I don't care about the grass, so she gets a lot of exercise off the lead with me chucking stuff and chasing each other around, (I'm sure that I'll appear on the crazy neighbours thread one day).
Edited by Fugazi on Tuesday 13th January 15:30
She came to us at a year old, completely untrained, she is getting better however I've given up with trying hand signals apart from a few basic ones that she doesn't always obey, I have started to let her off the lead as we get to my dads, when at the bottom of the drive, she bolts up to the front door and waits for me so I guess in that respect it is a bit of progress.
We have a large ish garden too so she can run around it and wear herself out, we are also getting a puppy tomorrow so when he's a bit older they can wear each other out in the garden, hopefully.
Also I have heard that if you have a deaf dog and a hearing dog then sometimes the hearing dog will keep the deaf dog in check and keep an eye out for them and as long as the hearing dog is good off the lead then they will make sure the deaf dog is good off the lead too and doesn't run off.
My sadly departed Pug could be off the lead all the time, he would never leave my side, he would even refuse a walk from anyone else if he knew I was about, he would sit on the front lawn watching me do the gardening or mowing, he would walk to my heel when out for a walk and if I let him off the lead on a big field he would still run about but would always stop every so often and turn around to check that I was in site and as soon as I called him he would bolt back without fail, odd how good he was as we never trained him to do this. On a lead though he was a b
d!!Edited by HTP99 on Tuesday 13th January 16:18
blueST said:
Sort of inspired by the first time off the lead thread going on... Who has never walked their dog off the lead in public?
I've no doubt this is ulimately down to us and how we brought him up, we can't walk our Bassett off the lead unless he is in a completely enclosed area. He has such limited recall obedience it's staggering, he'll only recall immediately when there is absolutely nothing else competing for his attention. Any type of scent, birds, cats, dogs etc etc and he's off. I can stand there with his stinkiest favourite tripe treat, calling his name like an idiot and he'll just turn, look at me, obviously weighing up what's in it for him, and then walk off in the opposite direction! If he could stick two fingers up he would. And then, as if to make it look like it was his decision, a minute or two later, once he's finished whatever enquiries he was making, he'll come galloping back for his treat.
Oh yes! Chester is a Basset(ish) and is, or rather, was, an absolute bI've no doubt this is ulimately down to us and how we brought him up, we can't walk our Bassett off the lead unless he is in a completely enclosed area. He has such limited recall obedience it's staggering, he'll only recall immediately when there is absolutely nothing else competing for his attention. Any type of scent, birds, cats, dogs etc etc and he's off. I can stand there with his stinkiest favourite tripe treat, calling his name like an idiot and he'll just turn, look at me, obviously weighing up what's in it for him, and then walk off in the opposite direction! If he could stick two fingers up he would. And then, as if to make it look like it was his decision, a minute or two later, once he's finished whatever enquiries he was making, he'll come galloping back for his treat.
d for recall. I got so frustrated with him one day I was seriously tempted to leave the sod! I#d left the car with the roof down and when we were a fair distance away, it started to rain. I wanted to get back to put the roof up, he wanted to smell everything in range. He did the 'looking at me, sticking two fingers up and then wandering off' thing. I hated him for it (though I adored him the rest of the time of course).In the end, after trying all the things you have, I resorted to an extending lead, which worked well. Then, one day he got attacked by a greyhound that was running wild and was determined to 'have' every dog in the park. I shooed it away twice but the third time it blindsided me and got him. To make it worse, they got tangled in his lead and he couldn't get away.
Daddy (sic!) had to step in and beat up the greyhound (and I really did - it was a right nasty sod and had no objection to biting humans either, the owners couldn't have cared less!) and I rescued him. I was soooooo much his hero! From that day on, there was a marked improvement in his behaviour and I started to let him off his lead. Over a few weeks, it got to be more and more time off the lead and after a couple of months, I don't even take his lead with me any more!
He still has one deeply irritating foible though, when we get back to the car, he scarpers! He sees the car, thinks to himself 'walkies are over... oh no they're not!' and trots off! I used to get really annoyed about this, but now, I just use the time to get my other dog in the car and dry her feet etc, by which time, he seems to think he's made his point and comes back.
Bassets, buggers all the way through!
Just to make you even more depressed, Phoebe (the other dog - black lab) NEVER goes on a lead. She pulls like a train on a lead as she's used to walking with my wife who goes at breakneck speed everywhere when walking and I can't do that speed. So now that I have to walk them all the time, I can't deal with her pulling, took a couple of hours to train her to walk off the lead, under control at all times of course and she's a pleasure to walk.
There seems, whenever I talk to someone who can't let their dog off lead, to be a lot of assumptions...
a) that their dog should have instantly known how to behave when they let them off. Then when they don't, they're not trusted again.
b) That that breed can't be trusted offlead.
c) Both of the above.
YOU have to TEACH your dog how to behave off lead. YOU have to TEACH it to pay attention to you, even when it's doing something else. YOU have to TEACH it to recall off lead. That takes time and patience from YOU. Being off the lead in a big open space is not the same thing to a dog, as in the garden or on a long lead... So just because he's OK in the garden don't expect him to be in a field; Give him time... and just shouting it's name isn't a recall command. OK, so there's a risk he might get lost or hurt while you're spending a few weeks teaching. But he might do that any time for the rest of his life should he slip the lead and not know how to behave.
As for b) I've yet to hear it said of any breed that I don't actually know of at least one that is off the lead regularly. If you do it early enough it's easier. Sure some might take more teaching than others and there may be some that will never get it but I think they all deserve a chance.
It really can't be that difficult; I'm a first time dog owner and managed it with a Weim FFS.
a) that their dog should have instantly known how to behave when they let them off. Then when they don't, they're not trusted again.
b) That that breed can't be trusted offlead.
c) Both of the above.
YOU have to TEACH your dog how to behave off lead. YOU have to TEACH it to pay attention to you, even when it's doing something else. YOU have to TEACH it to recall off lead. That takes time and patience from YOU. Being off the lead in a big open space is not the same thing to a dog, as in the garden or on a long lead... So just because he's OK in the garden don't expect him to be in a field; Give him time... and just shouting it's name isn't a recall command. OK, so there's a risk he might get lost or hurt while you're spending a few weeks teaching. But he might do that any time for the rest of his life should he slip the lead and not know how to behave.
As for b) I've yet to hear it said of any breed that I don't actually know of at least one that is off the lead regularly. If you do it early enough it's easier. Sure some might take more teaching than others and there may be some that will never get it but I think they all deserve a chance.
It really can't be that difficult; I'm a first time dog owner and managed it with a Weim FFS.
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