This page on Working Off-Lead is part of the Auxiliary Section
of the Beginners Course of the D. S. Dog Training Workshop
Page One of a two-page article:
Teaching Your Dog to Behave and Obey Off-Lead
Go to the index for this article
Sidestepping the Issue of Legality
These days, pretty much everywhere, it is against the law for anyone to walk their dog off-lead almost anywhere on public property. But that is an issue of legality, while this page focuses only on matters of safety, practicality, and feasibility.
Specifying the Degree of Control Required
When it comes to managing their off-lead dog in public, many people say that they are "in control," when what they really mean is that their off-lead dog is not doing anything to cause a problem at that particular moment. But to truly control an off-lead dog, you need to know that he will always immediately follow your verbal instructions, even when the unexpected happens and both of you are greatly distracted.
If your off-lead dog sees a cat or a squirrel, can you keep him from running after the animal just by speaking to him? If he sees another dog on the opposite side of the street, are you going to be able to keep him from racing across the roadway to greet the other animal, or worse yet, to attack it?
When another canine challenges your off-lead dog and his every instinct tells him that it is time to fight, can you override those thousands of years of genetically-ingrained belligerence by way of verbal instruction alone?
One of our sister websites features a page called Four Levels of Licensing. That article describes a new animal control system that, if adopted, would allow you to become licensed to walk your dog off-lead. To get an idea of the level of control that you will eventually need to achieve in order to manage your off-lead dog safely in a public place, please read that page.
Controlling the Distraction Factor
The general rule is that the more distractions there are when you are working with your dog, the less chance there is that he will learn what you are trying to teach him. Also, the more distractions there are at the moment you issue a command, the less chance there is that your dog will obey you.
Therefore, it is usually best if your start off spending much of your time together training your dog indoors while the two of you are alone, since the outdoors tends to be maximally distracting, especially if other animals are present. Then over time, you can gradually teach him and command him in other places, and in the presence of other people and other animals as you slowly and incrementally fade him into environments that are more challenging.
If you are practicing obedience skills with your dog, and you find that he is inattentive or unusually sluggish obeying commands that he usually executes in better fashion, shift back to a less challenging environment, where there are fewer distractions present.
When to Get Started
Whenever possible, it is best to start training your dog for off-lead work while he is still very young.
There are several advantages to starting your off-lead training early on. For one thing, obviously, for a new puppy, finding himself outdoors and off-lead for the first time is just one more new experience in an unexplored world of first-time events. So the young pup will take it in stride.
In contrast, a dog who finds himself off-lead for the first at a more advanced age may well become so overwhelmed with excitement that his behavior could become problematic.
Also, older dogs are larger and faster, so if one does take off on you, or races off into the distance to do God knows what, you could have a major problem on your hands. Whereas, with a small pup toddling on little legs, you can outdistance him so easily that a sudden breakaway escape would seem extremely unlikely.
To add to the argument, pups lack the capacity for belligerence, so having a very young dog off-lead represents little in the way of a serious bite danger to unknown persons or pets, which is always an important consideration. By starting outdoor work with your little pup early on, you can ensure that, by the time he is old enough to want to deliver a serious bite, you will have had plenty of time and many opportunities to bring him to an understanding that such behavior is simply not acceptable, and will not be tolerated.
If you are thinking that you want your dog to be vicious, then, boy, are you on the wrong website! A pugnacious dog is a blight on the species, and good for nothing other than being held as a prisoner in your backyard. If you fear the people around you and want your dog to serve as a buffer to any possible aggression, then, my advice to you is to acquire a dog that is descended from a guarding lineage, and then interact with him lovingly as you raise him to be gentle and train him to be under perfect verbal control. For some reason, most people seem to fear perfectly trained dogs as much or more than attack trained dogs. Therefore, both can serve as a deterrent to aggression. But the former will always remain a source of security and a constant joy to his owner, while the latter will forever be a ticking time bomb, a continuous catalyst for anxiety, and the potential source of a financially ruinous lawsuit that won't quit.
Click here for more information on attack training, and an explanation of why it is almost never a good idea to foster belligerent behavior in a canine.