So today was the day that we could finally take Ella out and about after her vaccinations. We thought the park was a little too far to walk to at this stage so popped her in the car and drove there. Once we had walked into the park we asked her to sit and let her off the lead. Scariest moment of my life!!! Even though I had crammed my pockets with enough treats for a thousand labs and had her favourite toy, I was convinced this would be the last time I'd see Ella when we unclipped that lead! She began by running, well actually it was more of a stupid bunny-hop bouncy thing until she got about 20m away and then looked up and came running back! She never got more than about 10-15m away from us after than. Even more to my surprise, when we decided to leave we called her and asked her to sit and she actually came running and sat at our feet so we could put her lead on and walk to the car! Thank you so much to everyone on this forum for convincing us to try this as I'd never have thought it was possible. We both had the best time (and I was sooooo proud) and I can't wait to get out and about again tomorrow! Em and choccy baby Ella
Well done to you and Ella, it's always scary letting them off lead the first time but the earlier you do it the better as they are not going to stray far from you. Good idea to drive to the park as it gives Ella longer to experience the park rather than just the walk to and from. Also it's a good idea to have her walking in town when she's very young, at a quieter time to get her used to all the different noises and experiences at ground level. Keep up with the good work
Yey!!! It's terrifying, isn't it? But SO worthwhile. You probably already did (it sounds like you had enough treats to feed an army), but I ensure I always give a treat to my two after clipping their leads on. This way, they don't build a negative association with the lead going back on. I also ask them to sit before unclipping, then I click and treat them before releasing them. This means that I don't have the scenario where they hoon off immediately they're unclipped. Sounds like little Ella had a blast. You'll have to get some pictures of her first off-lead walks for posterity - and for us to go gooey over!
Thanks for the advice ladies, I'll definitely put it into practice. Yep, scariest moment ever but so worth it! We're taking her to the local shops tomorrow so she can get used to the cars/people/sights and smells. Our vet gave us a check list of all of the situations we should try to get Ella to experience in the next few weeks so we'll work our way through that. I'll definitely take the camera along next time so you can have a little look ☺
Well done for letting her off so soon! I'd read everything on here and in Pippa's books and articles, but it still took me a week or so after she was on the ground to build up the courage... Glad you had a good experience and enjoy your trip to the shops That's great to have a checklist, we also had one from our vet and it was really useful, we also found it useful to sit down and go through it and add on a few extra things that weren't on the list but that we knew she was going to encounter due to our location and lifestyle, might be worth doing just to check you have all bases covered
One of the things I've always done with Juno is to recall her, give her a treat, and clip her lead back on and then walked on for a couple of minutes then asked her to sit and released her again to continue her off lead walk. I've found that by mixing up the walk she never bothers about having her lead back on or really bothers as to why she is being recalled - quite handy for when you spy joggers or cyclists approaching. One situation that may be not be on your llst is an umbrella - Juno wasn't too happy when she first saw an umbrella when walking around the local lake and gave it a good stare. When we got home we got the umbrella out and just let it up a few times with her sitting and she's never bothered since.
Oh, a very long, traumatic story, but two ladies with large umbrellas scared them, the dogs barked at them, they were scared in turn and ran into the sea to get away from them. Distressing for everyone concerned So we've now done some umbrella desensitisation....
Shame there's no video of the run into the sea . Think umbrellas see something we never think to introduce - until we get a reaction.
That fab news about her recall . I think it really is best to let them off asap. One of the places I walk, there us a 14 month old boxer called Bella. Her owner was told by the breeders to not let her off until she was at least 12 months old! It took several conversations with him for him to believe that it wasnt the right decision. Over the past 6 months he has had Bella on a long line and it's getting better, but she will run off at any opportunity! I think it's so much better to do it from day1 as they are more likely to stay closer to you
Oh no, that does sound quite traumatic. Luckily it's winter here so Ella has already seen a few umbrellas and hasn't been worried. I've posted a couple of pics from today's walk. Naya, that's interesting that a breeder said not to let a dog off the lead as our breeder actually told us not to put her on a lead for 12 months! Unfortunately we don't live on 120 acres so the lead was a necessity
Aw, she's lovely. Interesting conflicting advice on the off lead walk. We live on quiet rural roads where the main traffic is tractors but I wouldn't have Juno off lead - it only takes a split second distraction for an accident to happen.
