shelties with no leashes

[lukabear]

Does anyone here allow their shelties off leash? I would love to be able to let my dogs off leash when we go hiking in the woods, out in the big open fields around the house, and when we go to the creek! What do you think of letting dogs run with no leashes?

All of these places are out in the country with VERY little traffic. of course i would work on a very solid recall.

if anyone has any tips on getting a solid recall please share! I want to be able to call them off of a squirrel chase if necessary

We let Toulouse off leash today (for about a minute). We own a lot of acreage and it was open field. Toulouse is ace at coming back on a whistle or call, or just dead stopping until you fetch him, so I wasn't that worried.

LUKA, though. That dog. He bounded out of the car today, so quickly that his leash went flying out of my hand. He kept running (thankfully, there was my cousin's dog in a huge kennel to say HI to) and the leash got stuck on a rock.

He's awful at recall. Not so much because of training, but because of actual will to do what you want him to. He's not food or praise motivated, so i don't anticipate ever being able to let him off.

Our neighbors have a small german shepard and she's already off leash, no problem. Jealous!

 

[ruckusluvr]

I am still having a debate on rather I feel like it is worth the risk.

I REALLY want my dogs to be able to run and play in the creek leash free. I do not enjoy our creek trips while holding two flexi leads that get all twisted up. I do not get to play in the creek myself, or interact with the dogs much because I am too busy with the leads and trying to keep them untwisted and not trip on them!

Worst case scenario, they decided to get out of the creek and go up the bank.... they will just be in an open field.

Is there a way to have a great recall for them and actually allow them to do SOME squirrel chasing, but stop when you call them off, and come back too you?

 

[Justicemom]

I am still having a debate on rather I feel like it is worth the risk.
Is there a way to have a great recall for them and actually allow them to do SOME squirrel chasing, but stop when you call them off, and come back too you?

Yes, I have called my dogs Ember and Diva off of squirrels and Justice off a rabbit. With some dogs though if you let them get into the chase, it is really hard. I could never do that with my JRT mix, if I called her before her started running she would come if she was in full chase mode, good luck. The long line, auto correction and never letting them loose until I was 100% sure, taught the shelties to come immediately when I called no questions asked. Jazz was not taught like that and she always thought she had a choice.

 

[Abby's Dad]

All shelties are different and it depends on how soon the bond is between you and your dog. My first 2 shelties were bonded instantly with me and were trained off leash at 6 months. Abby has been more independent and we just started off leash last week at 9 months. I train my dogs to understand what the road is and they are not allowed in it. I train her to be focused on ME first then everything else. I had to use the "clicker" to get to that point with Abby. Everyday we walk near a road and I reinforce the "stay out of the road" drill. Abby and I walk in a park with several entrance roads and everyday we have to cross the roads. So what I do is when we approach the road I say stay out of the road. Then I pick her up and carry her across the road so she is never allowed in it. Now off leash when she approaches the road she stops and waits for me to pick her up. That is when I know she is ready to be off leash - when she knows the rules. That is one of the main reasons I own a sheltie - very trainable!!!!@ I also believe they need the freedom of being off leash to learn what they can and can not do while off leash.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

....
That is one of the main reasons I own a sheltie - very trainable!!!!@ I also believe they need the freedom of being off leash to learn what they can and can not do while off leash.

I agree!

The below is my street where I walk Toffee at night off leash, so you see it isn't BUSY, I wouldn't have him off leash on a busy street... I believe having been off leash trained at an early age makes him very reliable now, and I have immense trust in him to do the right thing. The second photo is the boys at the dogpark... I can call him off pretty off playing and over to me at ANY time, but the dogs that never go off leash run around like they will never see freedom again, lol... They also never come to their owners,lol

Just my opinion, I really do respect everyone elses, as it is very individual to each owner and their dog!

 

[labgirl]

I think is really interesting is that there is not a lot of trust between dogs and owners anymore. There are 35 different ways to restrain your dog (collars, harnesses, halters, etc.) and that dogs are not taught to be trustworthy.

Now that is really interesting and I think so true. Years ago people never even thought about a lead most of the time! Now we are so paranoid. We don't have faith in our dogs and this shines through to them.

I was a real worry-wart when Cadbury was a pup and I did wrong by not letting him off sooner and practicing his recall, hence he is dodgy off lead, though we are working on it. Interestingly when I got to my training class my trainer noted that I was using the lead to direct Cadbury constantly, hence he was not used to listening to voice commands, hence not being good off lead.

There is nothing more pleasurable than seeing a dog run loose, really pick up speed and fly. They can't do that on a lead, nor in most gardens. I am fortunate in that I have a fenced in field to run Cadbury in as I still don't trust his recall, this means I have a safe area for my sheltie pup too, but even so, as soon as injections are done pup will be at the park off lead.

I will be practice, practice, practicing that recall, but I am determined not to make the same mistakes with dog number 2, because I love having Cadbury off lead and I really wish I could give him more freedom.

 

[BarbV]

I guess that's why I love going to the cottage so much with the dogs. They are mostly free to run wild and can't get into too much trouble...

Ooops, except when Indy fell into the river and started to float downstream in the current, and Bacca wandered away into the woods and disappeared for hours....ok, so they still have to be watched!

But at least they can run without worries of cars and other hazards. And mostly their recall is good..."Did I hear "cookie?????"

 

[IrisLove]

Back home when I lived in moncton I would take Iris out to pee and stuff off leash, we lived on a very quiet street and she never went more than 10 feet away from me. I live on a super busy street now in a big city and I feel like slapping people in the face when I see them walking their dogs off leash because to me it seems EXTREMELY unsafe (because theres like 4 lanes of traffic and its ALWAYS zipping zooming.

There is a beautiful huge park across the street from where I live that I do allow Iris off leash, a command Ive found VERY helpful has been "wait" because when we see other dogs even if shes a few feet ahead of me I can tell her to wait and she'll stand there and wait. I have been able to call her off of squirrels, other dogs and she would never go very far, once when she was a bit younger she took off after a squirrel and wasnt coming on her recall. It all depends on the dog, Iris is very pack savvy where she doesnt like being far from me ever (home or out). I wouldnt think twice about it though with a dog I dont trust/know. My boyfriend wont even let her off leash unless Im with him.

If you feel uncomfortable I wouldnt recommend it, and I never ever ever let her off leash near heavy traffic (we walk 5-10 minutes into the trails of the park before shes allowed off leash and same deal on the way back) . Its true it only takes a split second and something can happen but I do trust her and shes never given me a reason not to. Recalls are crucial if you want to do this though...

 

[KarenCurtis]

Hi all,
The only time Sandstorm is off leash is at the beach (off season) and at our conservation area (63 acres). We live on a private, dead-end road, and still I will not let him off leash. I have him on a 15 foot thin lead, and on our private road let him drag it, and we run this way. I don't believe it has anything to do with bonding and early training off-leash. Anything can happen, and our shelties are loved like our children, but they are dogs. Dogs will chase and make mistakes. At the same time, teaching the "come" command is extremely important for those times at the beach and in the woods, off leash and on. We also have a leash law here too. Our neighbors across from us don't ever have their chesapeak bay retreiver on a leash, she stays with them up untill now. Once Sandstorm and I were walking and she started following us- therefore we did not go farther to the main busy road, and her owner called her back. but what if we had kept walking, and she kept following? you just never know.
Karen