I have an alaskan sled dog(a generic term for a mutt with some husky somewhere in my dog’s case). I’d really like to be able to walk her off-leash, but I’m not sure how to train her to do that. She’s gotten good about coming when I call her to me, but what’s the next step? Any other training tips? Thanks!
Now play the video at the top of the page to learn some professional dog training secrets
Related posts:
- Need leash training tips for teaching my dog to walk calmly with others.?
- I feel bad tugging at my dog while training her to loose leash walk?
- Off leash dog training?! ?
- Finnish Lapphund dog fun facts?
- Dog Leash Training problems?
- Leash training an abused and neglected dog?
- Are there any sites with tips for dog training?
- What are the basic dog care/ getting a dog facts I should include in a Powerpoint presentation about dogs?
- Question about leash training a dog?
- How do I begin leash training a 9 month old dog?
With my male Dobermann I started off recall training in the back garden, then started to add distractions. First I took him to an enclosed nature reserve at "off peak" time, then gradually to busier times with more distractions, joggers, off lead dogs, dogs on flexi leads. As he doesn’t have a high prey drive it made training easier.
My female Dobermann has a high prey drive and will on occasion be temporarily "deaf" to recall if she spots a squirrel, rabbit, fox, duck before I do. That aspect of her training is a work in progress & I would consider an electric collar, if I can find a professional dog trainer to demonstrate how to use one correctly.
I would rather err of the side of caution and use an e collar short term that risk her safety runnacrossross a road if a door in the park was left open ect…….
I would NEVER walk a dog off lead unless we were in a dog friendly, contained area. In some places it’s even illegal (yes, even if you see other people doing it.)
Huskies and sled-type dogs in particular are more than likely to run, and run, and run: it’s what they were bred for. I would keep it safe and not try this – if you think your dog needs more freedom then buy one of the long leashes or the retractable ones.
In many places it is illegal to walk your dog off leash and also unsafe. I would highly recommend just having your dog walk on the leash at all times.
Unless you are in an unleash area you should never walk your dog off leash for the dog’s, safety, your safety, and the safety of others. stuff happens and it is a dog you are walking. He may come to you 99 out of a 100 times but the 1 time he doesn’t could be the one time that causes the most problems.
Enjoy your walks with him. If he is good on the leash then he will not care one way or the other weather he is on or off leash during your walk.
Once we were about that stage with our Staffordshire Bull Terrier we began to let him off to run along the beach.
Carry on practicing recall with her and when you are confident let her off, I guess. As long as you are in a safe area and trust her, you shouldnt have any problems.
If you aren’t confident still, how about using a long, training lead to build your confidence? That will give you a fair idea of how she will behave given the freedom.
yeh. just make sure you have some tip bits with you and if you let them off the lead then they will just follow the tip bits but i wouldn’t advise letting your dog off the leash on a road. No matter how well trained a dog is it can take anything for them to run into the middle of the road e.g, plastic bottle .
No you can walk your dog without a leash, But it has to be in a park…not near a road. Thers speical recreational parks for dogs, or just any park in general and many owners walk their dog without a leash. its perfectly safe, with no roads, and parks and lots of green grass. You can train your dog to walk by you through trails or just anywhere in general and practice and enjoy your time with your dog there.
hmm….. basically lke this you have a treat in your hand a you make your dog walk beside you but when she walks infront of you shout her name and make her come back too your side
give her the treat after say 30 seconds of her walking next to you or when she seems to get bored but start in a quiet area with no cars and then gradually increase until she can walk near a road on the pavement etc
hope this helped
faiiling this go on youtube and type in dog walking off leash training and it will come up
hope this helped
Take it to a dog trainer they work cause that is were I took my dog and she can heel off lead
does she trust you? and do you trust her? well start in a fenced yard and call her and walk back and forth with out a leash when walking a dog always carry a leash and trick her into thinking that she is on the leash and carry treats or bits of dog food
The second step is to add distractions. To do this go to a park or some other open busy place with other people and dogs and have her on a long lead (33 foot training lead) and a training collar. Do a recall, if she doesn’t come out of interest of other people, dogs, squirrels, a cat, whatever, correct her via a leash correction and call her again. If she doesn’t come, reel her in. The dog already knows what "Come" means, now we’re teaching the dog she MUST come even if she doesn’t feel like it, or doesn’t want to. The step after that is e-collar clean up as I call it meaning: You take her off leash and clean up her mistakes in off leash OB with e-collar corrections. Anyway, I hope I helped, good luck!
My dog walks by my left side, on and off the leash, when I ask her to "walk with me". It’s a little unconventional, but that is the way my brother trained her.
How do you mean walk her off leash? Do you mean by your side heeling, or in your general vicinity?
Where do you want to walk off leash? In a neighborhood? At a park?
To begin, your dog should be trained to heel if in a neighborhood.
When you dog leads, tell her to stop and sit. Resume walking. When she leads stop her again. You won’t get far, but it works, eventually.
You could also try using treats. Hold the leash in your left hand, the rest of the leash goes into your right hand. Hold a treat in your left hand and walk. The dog should nuzzle your hand. When you feel she walked well enough, say heel and release the treat to her. Continue until trained.
To train at a park off leash, use a long 10 – 15 ft training leash. You have to make sure she will return to you no matter what the distraction.
When she achieves this, let her zip around with her 6 ft leash on at the park. They are easier to retrieve when they have their leash on. They seem to behave.
Play the hide and seek game. Free your dog and let her drag her leash. Run in an opposite direction and hide nearby. Call your dog and when she arrives, treat her. Repeat.
Whenever you walk your dog at a park, you should call it from time to time to reinforce how much fun it is to run back to you.
It isn’t a good idea to walk any dog without a leash attached. So what if she comes when you call her? What happens if she sees a rabbit or squirrel or something else to chase? She’s probably going to take off and completely ignore you, and that’s not good. If she loves people like my dog does….she might see somebody new and be like: OOOOO pet me!! Pet me!! And if that person/people is/are across the street, she could run over and get hit by a car, and either seriously injured, or killed…plus there would be an accident. If she does manage to make it to the person, what happens if they don’t like dogs, are afraid, or are allergic? They’re going to get mad that you let your dog come after them like that.
But anyways, I wouldn’t even think of walking my dog without a leash even if she was trained properly. I would suggest you just use a leash.
Train her to walk on leash first. Teach ALL of the basic commands. Only once she does well with ALL KINDS OF DISTRACTIONS do you start giving her a little more slack in the leash. Eventually you get to the point where you are not holding the leash but it is still there. From there you remove the leash.
I am able to walk my dog but only because his temperament is so submissive that he won’t leave my side with out permission. There are very few places where this is safe and most places have laws against not having your dog on a leash. Not to mention many parks are limiting or even banning dogs. There are NO parks within 40 miles of my home that allow dogs off leash and only one that allows them while on a leash.
Neither Rin Tin Tin nor Lassie could be walked off leash safely. If a dog sees a rabbit or a cat at the opposite side of the road, it will want to chase it.
Although I see some people doing this, their dogs often end up dead. Keep your dog on the lead until you are in a safe place, hopefully a fenced area.
My dog is obedience trained, she does agility and heel work to music. Nevertheless she is not expected to walk unleashed unless we are a long way from traffic, or in a fenced area.
Get a "long line" lead if your in an open area [like a feild] or they will tangle it. its about 20-30 metres long so it gives your dog freedom while your in control, as if they go to run of, a gently tug on the lead will show them you have a long reach =]
Practise with that, [be careful if people are aroudn as it could be a tripping hazzard]
goodluck =]
You do realize that by training your dog to do that you are in violation of the leash law and can’t ensure that if something distracts your dog he won’t run off and could possibly get hit by a car or attacked by another dog as she will not be under your control. If you want to risk getting a ticket for not obeying the leash law fine do it. But I suggest that you ask yourself two questions: "Am I prepared to pay a fine if I get caught walking my dog without a leash even though there is a leash law?" and "Am I prepared to for my dog to be injured or even killed because I thought I was too good to obey the leash law?" which will be a lot more than just a fine. If the answers to both questions are yes then go ahead and break the law (which the last I heard was nationwide). Think about it young lady because I know that if your unleashed dog (who can get distracted and if she gets into a fight will not come despite how well you think she is trained to come, since she will NOT obey your come command if she is in a fight so don’t fool yourself), I will expect for you not only to pay MY DOG’S vet bills but to be having to pay a nice big fat fine since you apparently think that you are too good to obey the leash law like me and the rest of the United States of America.
I hope you make the smart choice.
once she understands recall, then you can move onto the next step, I found a retractable leash best, and it is better to start in a quieter park or early morning. Just let the dog use the extend of the leash, call her to you every 5 minutes, get her to sit in front of you, pat her neck and tell her she is good (this gets them used to you putting your hand near there collar), give then a very nice treat, such as cooked sausage, then release her (mine is off you go). The learn that even though they get called, it is for a treat and for a short period of time. You also want to teach your dog a word for waiting or staying, in-case they get to far ahead, just hold the leash& say your chosen word, and shorten the leash as you walk towards your dog, when you get close use your release word and release the leash again. You will also have to teach "leave", this can be used for leaving food scraps, other dogs messes, and even other dogs. Teach them Stand, in case bikes are about, heel off the leash, in case small children or aggressive dogs are about. I also teach my dog right and left, so if a small dog is on my right, I can send my dog to the left so they miss each other (this is really useful).
Eventually though, when you think your dog is ready, you just have to let them off the leash and hope all that training works. However, all this can really only be used for a friendly dog, if you dog is not friendly to people and other dogs, keep them on the leash. One last thing, your dog must be trained not to approach roads without heeling
Edit: Dorothy, my WGSD is off leash every single day in our 2 km dog zone, we see cats all the time and she knows not to chase them, and not to cross the road, and she is just 2 years now and has been off leash for well over 6 months, it depends on the dog and the training.