Hi just hoping someone could give some advice. My 16 month old lab Jake is great mostly however for the last few weeks has been on lead walks due to mild hip dysplasia but the vet said he can begin off lead again just a few minutes at a time building up. The problem is if he spots a person alone or this morning a young boy sitting with his dog he runs off barking at them and then comes back. Mostly he takes no notice of people on walks but then randomly something will set him off. He did not do this previously to the on lead walking and am not sure the best way to handle this?
Hi and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about Jake's mild hip dysplasia and sympathise with the problems of gradually trying to build them back up - my girl, Juno, had surgery in March for elbow dysplasia and we're just getting back to a reasonable length walk. If Jake is like Juno just getting out and about again is very exciting, even if it wasn't before! It may a good idea to practice some recall in the garden before letting Jake off lead Juno hasn't been off lead yet because of the excitement level and didn't want to ruin my recall with her for the sake of a few weeks. Is it possible to recall him before he sees the distraction and heads off. Distracting them, if you can, is better, and some high value treats to encourage his recall in the early days of his short period off lead.
