Freedom!

kitchen window? now that sounds like a story!

 

You motivated me to try this with Benson in a safe spot. Although the breeder warned me he was a bolter, he now cowers behind my legs at the dog park so I thought would give it a try.
He trotted ahead on the path till he couldn't see over a rise, then stopped and came back to me on his own. This may work out well since Fillion is so freakin slow now! He wants to smell every bush.

 

You guys are brave!!!!! I have anxiety about losing Brodie when I have him on a leash! He has freedom in my yard, but I'm too scared to try anything else. When we brought him to the beach, even though we were the only ones walking, I had him on 2 very long tie outs attached to the belt loops on my pants. It was a pain, but I stressed over losing him.

 

I guess we've been lucky that all our dogs have graduated to off leash, some sooner than others. Since we have multiple dogs, that helps keep the new ones with the pack I think. That said, last night at Nosework class, Elijah got startled at something as my hubby was putting him back in the car and pulled right out of his collar again! Luckily he ran to the front of the car where I was and he came when I called him. No idea what scared him, there was a big GSD next to another car, otherwise, nothing. His heart was just pounding when I picked him up. Looks like we will have to use a slip collar on him when we are out and about because if he did that next to a busy street.....

We only do off leash in natural areas away from streets, like our daily path and the beach.

 

When Fillion was very small I would walk the abandoned golf course with him off lead. Then one day his drive kicked in and he started running after cars he saw on the road two holes over. Got him back with a cookie, hooked him up and he hasn't been off lead within sight of a car since. Benson has no drive for anything! Cars, trucks, bikes, boards--heck a BUNNY ran right in front of us and he didn't even react. Fil was going crazy LOL.

Today's off lead was just me and Benson. He did really well. Came if I called him, trotted ahead a bit but always stopped and waited for me to catch up. Every time his line of sight was obstructed going forward he stopped and waited for me--except once. He went around a slight bend with big bushes on the right. Just for yuks I stopped walking and crouched down, to see what he would do. I could make him out through the branches. He stopped and waited. When I didn't immediately round the bend, he came flying back down the cart path. He jumped all over me. Good. LOL
However at one point a small tree branch had been blown off in the recent wind storm and was lying next to, not on, the path. It stopped him cold. He was afraid to walk by it. That makes me wonder how many things are scary to him when he's on lead and I am oblivious to it.

 

This is why I practice recall over and over and over again. Of course it's not a guarantee, but it certainly helps. I never let Minnie off leash if there is a road nearby, but where I live there is so much conservation area that allows dogs. When we use them and Minnie is off leash, we practice recall. Every dog is different, but I think Minnie now is so used to being off leash in these areas, it's no big deal and she does come 90% of the time. No dog is 100%. We don't have a fenced in yard because we have a small property consisting of two hills, and we live on a dead end private dirt road, so we are playing fetch on this road all the time, while practicing the recall. It also helps to have a dog that stays with me!!

 

He looks like he's having a great time, and is a very well behaved pup! We like giving our dogs time off leash too, especially if we can find a path with dense foliage on each side, then my husband and I run away from each other and the dog gets to run between us. I do prefer instead of unclipping them completely from the leach, using a light one that they won't notice trailing behind them though. I like the extra security on catching should anything spook them. We've had deer pop up unexpectedly before!