Good afternoon! Fitz our 14 week old is coming along nicely. He seems to have a pretty good recall (tested in a large enclosed field with few distractions but obviously we've not been able to do this around lots of people). He walks reasonably well on a short lead, (with food and a clicker!) we were just wondering at what point do we bite the bullet and try him off lead during a walk? We tend to take him out at about 6am through the local woods so there are limited other people /dog walkers around. Are we best to do this as soon as possible or continue on lead until he's had more opportunity with other dogs /people? Thanks. Laura , Andy & Fitz
A good strategy with a dog this age is to look at each off leash period as a training session. Focus on the puppy and work hard to keep the puppy following you and guessing where you are going to go next. So walking in zig-zags and changing direction every few steps. Stop every now and then and engage your puppy with treats / toys, etc. Lots of effort at this stage to keep your puppy focused on you will help keep you out of trouble later when the puppy is more independent and confident, and is inclined to go further afield.
If you are not totally sure about his response, use a light-weight 5m puppy houseline, clipped to his harness - so you can grab this easily if a distraction appears. Little puppies don't tend to go too far from their people, so it's a great time to be really practising your recall for tasty treats each time.
Hi Pippa, thanks for your response. We had a great time this morning zig zagging through the woods and across a stream . Happy to say that after some play time with another dog and owner he shot straight back to us when called for his Chicken reward..
Hi Jo, Thank you for your reply. We did think about a training lead but were worried about him getting tangled in the woods if he ran off. Fortunately all went well and he definitely likes his tasty treats! Laura, Andy & Fitz
