Hello, Dexter is going on his first walk tomorrow we are very excited. I was planning on driving straight to the woods to go off lead for the first time walk and practise his recall, clip lead on and off a few times. We have been there before and we carried him around to get used to it, I must say I'm looking forward to not carrying this 7.5kg puppy anymore!! Would anyone recommend an on-lead walk for the first walk? His recall is really good in the garden, he even comes when hes doing something he shouldn't like eating all my flowers or terrorising the poor rabbit. His heel work is really good both on and off lead - although im worried this is due to the fact he can see and smell the treats whilst we are doing that. I think the harness we have him bothers him when the lead is on, the loose lead touches his back and then he thinks its a game, rolls on his back and plays with the lead, but he does stop when we tell him 'leave' When is a good idea to introduce him to walking with other dogs? We would love to be able to go out with my mums beagle (Marley) too, he is absolutely infatuated with him when we go round to visit and follows him everywhere, he is obsessed with licking his ears (??), its very cute Any other advice for the first few walks would definitely be appreciated. Daniella and Dexter
Exciting times ! I let my lad off lead on his very first walk years ago , pups will usually naturally want to stay close to owners for security , so I would say yes , plenty of treats in pockets and go for it, as long as you are away from roads . Re other dogs , same applies , let Dexter mix with other dogs as soon as possible, before any phobias set in , socialisation is key . You do right to keep calling him back , its training but seen as fun by the puppy , and all training should be fun, one big game . Good luck
At that age pups want to stay with you (though I did once have a German Pointer who just sped off into the distance!), I let my Lab puppies off and kept changing direction without saying a word, pop up different paths, turn round, come back again, pop off to the right, to the left etc. If you do this at this age, you will find the dog when adult, will always have its' eye on you and you won't be able to disappear for a moment
Thanks both, I am a bit anxious that he wont come back but we will go to a big field/woods away from other people and any roads so fingers crossed! In regards to the 5 minute rule I know everyone interprets this differently - whether its for once or twice a day etc. If I were to do 1 walk a day would you recommend splitting the week into off lead and on lead walks so he gets used to both? Or introduce the lead later when he is used to off lead? Daniella
Personally I'd mix it up between on and off lead walks or training or a play at the park etc. We like to Mox it up for Ella so that she doesn't start to anticipate what's next. We found that the on lead walking can be a painful process at the start as we had to do a lot of work to stop Ella pulling so I'd suggest incorporating on lead walks from the first week. I'm sure there are a lot more experienced people on here that can give better advice though ☺ Oh, most importantly, take photos!!
By all means, use the lead as well as off lead . Re the five minute rule , this is a general guideline , but discretion is the key word .I personally think that going over the five mins per month of age is far less important than other issues such as jumping in and out of cars , lots of running up and down stairs etc . where the impact on young bones is much more stressful than doing ten minutes per month per walk instead of five ! Its all about common sense really .
I let Molly off lead for her first walk, as I did with previous pups. The next few weeks are the honeymoon period when they soon scamper after you. I think that if you're able to drive to an off lead area then several really short on lead practices interspersed with most time off lead is a good combination. Since there's no scientific evidence about the 5 minute rule, I didn't keep to it.
He will come back, fear not. They tend to have a distance they won't go past at this age. Make sure you hide now and again so he is not sure where you are - at this age they want you always in sight. If you make sure, at this stage, that he gets into the habit of keeping an eye on where you are (by not being at all predictable) you will soon have a dog who loves to run and hooley, but won't go far. We are at the same stage with Twiglet, I hide behind a tree or wall when she's not looking, somewhere I can see her but she can't see me - it's great to see her thinking 'ooops - where's Mum?' and come haring looking for me When they 'check in' without you asking them to, always treat them. My Tatze (2 years) still comes for her check in treat at least 5 times a walk!
I took Ziggy out yesterday on his lead. We had a short walk around the block and then popped into the pub where he made lots of new 2 and 4 legged friends. Ziggy is not that good on the lead yet and struggling a bit with heel but I hoped that exposing him to the exciting stuff beyond the front door would make him keener to have the lead on at home and practise, especially now I have a clicker which he is learning quickly from. His "walk" was a mixture of pavement and my arms (he's only 5.6kg so not too much to carry). He was a little freaked out by the traffic although not as freaked out as I was by the prospect of him breaking free. The whole experience was obviously exhausting. He had so much fun and his little tail was going like the clappers but he slept well afterwards. It may not have been a traditional walk but getting out into different smells and sounds was a sensory treat. I hope to make it as far as the park at the weekend although I will probably carry him most of the way there so he can make the most of his 15 minutes on the grass rather than the pavement. PS he pinched a couple of rotten tomatoes from a neighbour's tomato plant. I'm not looking forward that re-emerging at the other end
Reading these posts is making me very excited for tomorrows walk! I will definitely try the hide and seek game and encourage the checking in by treating him when he does it. Boogie I have just been reading your blogs for Twiglet and Gypsey - I loved all of the pictures! salieri75 did you carry Ziggy around to see things before his first walk too? We have introduced Dexter to some outside environments by carrying him around - hes okay with traffic in general but not keen on busy roads or motor bikes, I guess we will take the same approach as you and expose him to those environments a bit more while he is young so he gets used to it. I knew Labradors like to put everything in their mouth but I didn't realise it was EVERYTHING! rotten tomatoes must be appealing to a Labrador pup along with other equally baffling things (plant bulbs, leafs and rabbit poo )
How very exciting I don't have any extra advice to add. I let Mabel off on her very first walk. Loads of treats lots of turn about walks. I live opposite a green with trees and a brook, for the first three weeks we never lost sight of the house. We did a little lead walking only so she got used to the lead but no plodding about. It wasn't so much of a walk more like a play away from the house. Have fun. Xx
I've carried Ziggy out twice before yesterday's little walk, both times crossing the same main road past some bus routes. He looks so sweet with his big ears flapping in the wind. Have a great time out with Dexter - hope you both enjoy the first of many nice visits to the woods!
The only advice I have is relax and enjoy . At that age I would walk Harley to the park (5-10 mins), let her play off lead for 15-20 mins, then walk back home (5-10 mins). The 5 min rule is mainly for lead walking
Thanks for the advice everyone, Dexters first walk went really well we drive to the woods and was off lead straight away there wasn't anyone else around so no distractions at all his recall was perfect and he walked to heel nicely too. This morning we went to a different field and decided to do a short lead walk from over the street so he gets used to the lead and pavement/traffic. A bit harder for him as plenty of distractions he's not keen on traffic at all. He sat nicely at the zebra crossing but some rude ignorant woman in her car was revving her engine as we were crossing and then once I had passed her car (still not reached other side of the road) she started to drive forward even though Dexter was behind me and still in front of the car i was furious people are so rude and impatient! Anywho Dexter met another lab on his walk and greeted him nicely then came to stand with us (on lead at the time) other dogs he would pull a bit in the lead and try to look at them/approach them. What do I do in this situation? Should I let him just gaze at them or should I be encouraging him to ignore them? We haven't met any other dogs whilst he is off lead but I feel like he would run towards them if we did?
How great you had a lovely walk with him. I'd encourage a puppy to return his attention to you (for some scrummy treats) when he saw another dog. Some dogs benefit from being socialised with lots and lots of other dogs. Mainly though, most owners of friendly Labradors who do this find that by the time the dog is not very old at all it's "other dog mad" and then spend months and months getting their dog not to run over to every other dog. There is a great article along these lines here: http://www.wylanbriar.com/behavioura...versocial-dog/ I have a dog that was completely over socialised (not over faced, nothing really would over face him) and in some ways, not knowing the future at the time, it later got him through long periods of isolation and he came out of the other side with no problems - plus, he walks in an incredibly busy place and has to cope with a huge number of dogs approaching him. But even so, with my next pup I'll do as much or more impulse control as socialising, for sure.
No gazing, especially on lead When we are at puppy class gazing is very much discouraged as it's an invitation to play/argue.
Myles can be a big time starer/gazer. I nipped this is the bud early by doing a "look at me" any time there is a distraction that may cause him to stop and stare. So now when he sees people across street, or another dog, or hears a dog bark... he automatically looks up at me and I give him a treat. I don't think anything good comes from allowing your pup to gaze/stare. Almost all of our walks are on-lead (I'm in the US), and I've seen so many dogs that will be across the street on lead with their owners and they will be barking lunging at us from quite a distance. I didn't want Myles reacting to this so the "look at me", click and treat works very well.
