Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Work your recall, OP! Off leash walks/runs/hikes can be incredibly valuable and enriching for dogs, but you need to be able to do it safely. My rule of thumb is you shouldn't let your dog off leash until you are willing to bet $100 he will come back when you call him.

You need to work up slowly to off leash on the beach/in the woods. Can you play check in games in the fenced in yard when he's off leash? As soon as he gets distracted sniffing something, walk away and call him--does he come? Reward with treats or play! If that's too hard, play it in the house. If you are successful at least 90% of the time, move to a friend's yard with novel smells, a fenced in tennis court or baseball field, an open field on a long line that you can step on if he chooses to run.

Call him when he's already looking at you so you are reinforcing what he wants to do. Don't wait until a squirrel is in his sights--you will not win. You need a really solid history in the easy situations before you add distractions.

--Trainer

Are you seriously presenting yourself as an expert, while suggesting people take their unleashed dogs to tennis courts and ball fields?


This is why people hate dog owners. Ugh.

+1. The PP “trainer” probably particularly loves baseball field and tennis courts with “no dogs” signs on them. SMH.

My dog has good recall. I let him off in the woods all the time. I would not do it near a busy road though, or like walking on a sidewalk even.

I live near a park and can't tell you how many times a year we see some trashy family chasing after their off leash dog while it runs after a fox near the highway.

Anonymous wrote:Dogs on leashes can act very defensive when confronted by other dogs off leash, and if that ever happens by definition it’s the unleashed dog owner’s fault.

Our large dog (no, not a pit) literally killed a small dog with one bite when it ran up to and jumped at our dog unleashed on a city street. It was awful. But even the unleashed dog’s owner knew where the fault belonged.

I am no proponent of off leash dogs. But if your animal killed a dog with one bite, I would not walk him anywhere near other animals or anyone else. What if a small child came running near your dog? Still the child’s fault if your dog bites her? No. Your fault. If your dog is that reactive on a leash you need to adjust.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never had a problem unleashing my dog..when I last had a dog. She would be off sniffing everything in sight, but all I had to do was call her name, then pretend to walk off in the opposite direction and she would run after me.

I can't believe that some of you have dogs that have never been off leash.

You sound dumb. You can’t believe that other dogs might be different from yours?

PP here, I sound dumb? You sound as if you deserve to be slapped. Why the insult? I am just putting forth my personal experience.

You might want to work on your anger management.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never had a problem unleashing my dog..when I last had a dog. She would be off sniffing everything in sight, but all I had to do was call her name, then pretend to walk off in the opposite direction and she would run after me.

I can't believe that some of you have dogs that have never been off leash.

You sound dumb. You can’t believe that other dogs might be different from yours?

PP here, I sound dumb? You sound as if you deserve to be slapped. Why the insult? I am just putting forth my personal experience.

So say that. What’s so unbelievable that other dogs might be different? That’s what makes you sound foolish.

Anonymous wrote:It's illegal to walk your dog off leash on trails.

It's also incredibly, incredibly selfish of an owner to do so. If any strange animal approaches me, I will not hesitate to pepper spray or hit/kick it right away, and am not going to wait until a lazy owner comes along saying their dog is "friendly."

There was a case locally a few years ago, where a man shot someone's off leash dog, and he was cleared, because he had a right to protect himself and his family without waiting for the lazy owner to make some excuse.

This totally depends on where you are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never had a problem unleashing my dog..when I last had a dog. She would be off sniffing everything in sight, but all I had to do was call her name, then pretend to walk off in the opposite direction and she would run after me.

I can't believe that some of you have dogs that have never been off leash.

You sound dumb. You can’t believe that other dogs might be different from yours?

PP here, I sound dumb? You sound as if you deserve to be slapped. Why the insult? I am just putting forth my personal experience.

Anonymous wrote:I never had a problem unleashing my dog..when I last had a dog. She would be off sniffing everything in sight, but all I had to do was call her name, then pretend to walk off in the opposite direction and she would run after me.

I can't believe that some of you have dogs that have never been off leash.

You sound dumb. You can’t believe that other dogs might be different from yours?

I never had a problem unleashing my dog..when I last had a dog. She would be off sniffing everything in sight, but all I had to do was call her name, then pretend to walk off in the opposite direction and she would run after me.

I can't believe that some of you have dogs that have never been off leash.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's illegal to walk your dog off leash on trails.

It's also incredibly, incredibly selfish of an owner to do so. If any strange animal approaches me, I will not hesitate to pepper spray or hit/kick it right away, and am not going to wait until a lazy owner comes along saying their dog is "friendly."

There was a case locally a few years ago, where a man shot someone's off leash dog, and he was cleared, because he had a right to protect himself and his family without waiting for the lazy owner to make some excuse.

Would you attack a dog that is walking along minding its own business?

Of course not. A dog running up to or towards other people is not "minding its own business" though.

A dog could run up and still not bother you

I remember reading this a few years ago. A Labrador got loose from his owner in a NoVa park and ran in the direction of a couple, with his owner frantically chasing behind him. The man calmly pulled out a gun and shot it dead.

I am not the OP but could be. DH thinks it's fine for the dog to be off leash and that she'll never learn to be off leash unless we let her be off leash. He fails to accept that she could be dead instantly if she runs into the road and that other people do not want someone else's dog wandering around in their yard or coming up to them or their children. It's like he thinks we live in a small town in the 1950s when dogs roamed freely. It's a major source of conflict between us, so I am glad to read the responses on this thread to validate my opinion.

Anonymous wrote:Your dog needs to have excellent recall, not be near a road, not near unfamiliar dogs/animals, etc. Its really never a good idea to have your dog off leash unless you're completely fenced in. If my dog had an unleashed dog approach she is likely to be defensive and fight.

Agree, I would only let a dog off leash with excellent recall. I'll bet your husband hasn't experienced the panic that ensues when you lose a dog, even just temporarily. It's pretty awful. Often, people who get a dog as an adult have this fantasy of a dog gamboling faithfully at their side, and they don't realize that dogs get lost fairly easily. Even 90% recall isn't good enough. It has to be 100% and it has to be a dog that isn't terribly scent driven. Beagles and scent hounds often get carried away following their nose. I let our last dog off leash often on local trails because he always came when called and he never wanted to be more than 20-30 feet away from me. But even so, when he was younger, he once got spooked in a park while off leash and ran out of the park, across a very busy road (with double decker buses) to the front step of our apartment building a block away. This was not in the us, where off leash dogs in the parks were allowed and very common. It was really unexpected and he never did anything like that again in his next 10 years, but I never let him off leash within 200 yards of the park entrance after that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's illegal to walk your dog off leash on trails.

It's also incredibly, incredibly selfish of an owner to do so. If any strange animal approaches me, I will not hesitate to pepper spray or hit/kick it right away, and am not going to wait until a lazy owner comes along saying their dog is "friendly."

There was a case locally a few years ago, where a man shot someone's off leash dog, and he was cleared, because he had a right to protect himself and his family without waiting for the lazy owner to make some excuse.

Would you attack a dog that is walking along minding its own business?

Of course not. A dog running up to or towards other people is not "minding its own business" though.

A dog could run up and still not bother you

Holy crap are you truly so self absorbed to think that letting your dog go up to people, doesn't bother them??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's illegal to walk your dog off leash on trails.

It's also incredibly, incredibly selfish of an owner to do so. If any strange animal approaches me, I will not hesitate to pepper spray or hit/kick it right away, and am not going to wait until a lazy owner comes along saying their dog is "friendly."

There was a case locally a few years ago, where a man shot someone's off leash dog, and he was cleared, because he had a right to protect himself and his family without waiting for the lazy owner to make some excuse.

Would you attack a dog that is walking along minding its own business?

Of course not. A dog running up to or towards other people is not "minding its own business" though.

A dog could run up and still not bother you