At around what age are Labs sensible off leash in busy places?

Just wondering because we took our lab to a busy place, it was an outdoor ruins with loads of people and dogs, many of them off lead and behaving themselves. We had a lovely Lab come up to us to say hi (off lead), very calm, meanwhile our dog (soon to be 9 months) was very excited and bouncing about and basically not being calm at all (he was on lead). I'm wondering when this sort of behaviour can be expected to die down? So far his recall training has been in fields with no one really about. Eventually I want to proof him off lead around other people/dogs but I'm worried he will bolt off and reinforce bad habits, as he's super excitable. So for now I let him off lead when there are no people about, but in busy places I pop him on lead. I'm wondering when a sensible age would be to proof him off lead around other people/dogs?

I'm new to Labs and new to training so please excuse any ignorance in this question!

 

It depends on the dog. My Tatze has been quite hopeless but is just about reliable at four years old. I have to watch her with certain people (usually those who don't understand dogs and talk to her in an excitable voice)

Her recall is excellent thanks to Total Recall ------>

 

You can start proofing immediately, and it'll be easier if you start sooner rather than later. But, you can't proof in a highly exciting place. You need to start doing this with only one dog, at a great enough distance that Beau can maintain focus on you.

 

Absolutely depends on the dog, but also on your training opportunities.

Some dogs are just calm dogs - my younger one is like this. Some dogs are just nuts - my older dog is like this.

Betsy is pretty reliable off lead in busy parks and on Wimbledon Common at 11 months. Charlie is too, but he's 4 now and he wasn't remotely reliable until he was 3 - and he is still a bit of a liability on a busy beach and needs very careful management.

It's also the case that dogs get good at what they get to do everyday. My dogs walk in busy places everyday and have done since they first went out on walks. Because I knew the problems this could cause with my younger dog (having ended up with a total hooligan with my first dog) I managed Betsy very carefully, but she was still off lead in busy places from the get go.

 

Anyone who knows Pongo knows that when I saw the title of this thread I just snortled into my coffee.

 

Same

It's a good job they're lovable nutters!

 

Different breed, but I was very lucky in that if bouncing teenage Brogan went off on a tangent, I could tell his Mama Jodhi to go round him up and she would. It helps to have a personal dog nanny.

Actually, I wonder if it has less to do with the breed and more to do with experience and (as already mentioned) just the individual dogs? I always took mine to the off leash dog beach with gobs of other dogs from the time they had all their vaccinations, and they never went bonkers as they were just used to it.

On leash, however, was another story.

 

Me too

 

I think Mabel will be about 12. Joking apart, on our local walks we may see an occasional dog or two and that's all. Which sounds ideal as the walks are always beautiful and peaceful but I actively seek out busier places, at the moment I'm working on calm around children at two parks within a half an hour drive. I can now have her off the lead in various situations but if children happen to have scooters, bikes or a ball I always pop her on the lead as I know she will want to join in. I also find the change in seasons effects Mabel too and I have to re-proof certain cues that she found easy during winter.

 

Sam became quite bombproof at around 2/3 years , he is coming up to 6 years old now and, when the mood takes him, he still has his moments

 

Well I don't know whether to take heart or lose heart from some of these replies my Lab being just 9 months, I'm not sure how much is being a hyper hoolie teenager, and how much is his personality. I don't think he's a calm boy by any stretch though I'm going to continue on with proofing and working on different situations with the hopes of having a calm boy down the line.

I did a bit of what you suggested @snowbunny on our walk today. Saw a German Shepherd a ways away, it was on lead, my dog was off. The GS was eyeing him but wasn't reactive at all, my lab basically ignored it (maybe the distance was a bit too great but the other person was walking away so was a bit difficult to work in stages). But I guess all in all a successful first step Later on I saw the GS again, much closer this time, and in a busier area, so while he was on lead I had him do some simple exercises (sit, down, wait, etc).

 

Like @Emily_BabbelHund I have taken Axel off lead to dog beaches where it is busy busy since he was fully vaccinated. Now he cares more about where I am than seeing the other dogs, and has for some time now. Probably since about 7 months old.

Now my problem is that because I took him off lead everywhere, now walking on lead is a nightmare.

I feel like I need to go get another puppy asap because I have learned so much from Axel- with what to do and what not to do. Etc etc

 

Moo is getting wobbly she can't hear and she's partially sighted and I would still never ever trust her off lead in a busy place. It's not the dog (in moos case it probably is) it other people. None dog people are weird

 

I've been taking Finn (Now 23 weeks) to a very large off leash park with trails and beaches since he had all his shots. I think it was a good decision because he is impeccable in off leash areas now.

But, I didn't do this with a ton of prior training. I just kind of risked it, which might be frowned upon by some. He really needed a place to run around and stretch his legs though, since I don't have a yard, so I didn't have a lot of other options.

I always brought a bag of treats, and started off at uncrowded times by always giving a treat if he so much as looked at me or came over to me. Treat. Treat. Treat. Now his recall is 99% in the park. It's actually his best quality.....he will go sprinting towards another group or dog, but if I whistle or call him back he will throw on the brakes and come sprinting right back.

At the moment I'm taking his entire lunch to the park and feeding it to him by hand for recall, sit/stay, water retrieves, and dropping weird things he picks up. The park is big and spread out enough that bringing food/treats is not a problem with the other dogs around as they have so much room and aren't on top of each other.

HOWEVER - on leash, Finn will bounce around and pull. I prefer him off leash to be honest!!! I just took him to daycare and while in the lobby he was bouncing around like a nut. On his usual walk through the neighborhood he is fairly well behaved on leash, but I'm currently trying to proof against other new areas on leash and it's hard.

 

Yes, yes, yes. Coco is nearly 3.

 

My big struggle is other dogs. Apart from dog training, we just don't come across many dogs on our walks. And none of my friends or family have dogs so I don't have ready access to another dog for distraction training. *sigh* we got there with THE PEOPLE, we'll get there with DOGSDOGSDOGS, it'll just take a lot longer.

As for being off-lead in busy places, leash laws take care of that. Dogs are only allowed off in certain areas, off-lead. We've got a long, LONG way to go before she can cope with being in a busy place, on lead, though

 

I think lead walking depends on the dog too. Betsy at 11 months is unbelievably good on her lead. Sure, I knew much, much better what I was doing this time around, and no-one but me has ever walked her on lead and I've been 100% consistent from her being 8 weeks. But, I also think she just does not have Charlie's desperation to access the environment and she just has bags more impulse control.

 

Me three - Charlie! x

 

Bit of a spin-off question...

Today my dog was on lead when two big dogs came bounding up to him (off lead). They seemed adolescent, still quite hyper. Well when they had reached us my lab started lunging to play with them and it took all of my strength to keep him from pulling me over and also to keep him in some semblance of control. It was basically me trying to hold back a 30kg puppy straining with all of his might, not a calm or under control situation at all. The owner came over after a minute and shooed them away, and we walked off, at which point I treated my dog for coming away with me.

Should I have allowed him to go up to the dogs without trying to hold him back? In puppy class we were taught to have a calm meet and greet and then move the dog away after a few seconds. That's what I was trying to do but it was a complete fail as he was very difficult to keep under control So the "calm" part was completely out the window from the get go, and as it was the other dogs bounding up to us I had no time to try to get my dog focused on me first before attempting to pass the other dogs, and I had nowhere to go to try to put some space between us as we were on a narrow path bounded by thick shrubs.

I'm not sure I did the right thing but I'm not sure what the right thing is?

 

@SilverFalcon , might be worth you having a look at my thread from Sat pm "oh I'm so upset" about my shenanigans with my neighbours deaf terrier pup, similar circumstances, and some interesting replies