We took Loki on his first short walk round the block now it's been 10 days after his last vaccination. Kept him on the lead and harness to go round the block just to get him used to the area. He had a great time wagging his tail and sniffing about. I gave him treats some times for waking close to me without pulling. After that sometimes he started sitting or laying. Not sure if he was waiting for more treats or getting tired? Is that usual for a puppy. We want to let him off lead but so scared he will run off! We live opposite a woods so could let him off in there, however there's lots of dogs about and I'm worried he would run off into the trees and not come back.
You need to let him off the lead sooner rather than later. Look at this thread for more advice: http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/attention-new-puppy-owners-let-your-puppy-off-the-lead.1333/ He's a real cutie
Such a sweetie! I'm glad I let Judy off lead when I did (around 15 weeks) even though her recall has never been perfect. She just wanted to stay close to me and still does, even though she's getting bolder.
I read that link above and so let Libby off from her very first walk and it's absolutely true they don't run off at this young age, they're just too scared to. Whenever people or dogs were near Libby came scurrying and cowering around my legs. She's getting much braver now but still checks I'm close by and follows wherever I go. Almost by accident her recall is excellent. She's barely on the lead at all, only by the road. Do it as soon as possible, it was the best advice I read.
Best advice is to let them off, preferably where there are no other dogs and then keep changing directions so that the puppy has to keep his/her eye on you. This means that in the future, they are 'programmed' to watch where you go and want to be with you.
If there really are lots of dogs around, and you don't have the choice of a quieter place, put a light line on your puppy's harness. The advice to let your puppy off the lead early is excellent, but I don't think it really anticipates the problems of being in a busy place when you do it, because you have no choice. The line does not have to be very long at all, but if he runs over to another dog, then you can just walk up and quietly pick up his line. It does depend on the puppy - some puppies won't leave their owners at all. Other puppies are super bold, curious and will explore new things, run up to people and other dogs etc. Both my puppies were confident enough at just a few weeks old to go say hi to anyone or anything they met. Which might not matter at all, but it's best not to allow bold puppies to start running over to other people and other dogs - and then have a great time jumping up and playing - if you can help it. Edited to add: be careful with the line, work out what you are going to do with it in advance (it's best to just use it as a lead you can pick up) and watch it doesn't end up wrapped around ankles etc.....
Ours sits or lays down after a while as well. I think they just get tired at this age, which is fine since they aren't meant to be out walking about for too long this early anyways. It's funny because he used to abhor being carried (pre-vaccinations), and now that he *can* walk around freely, he now often wants me to pick him up and carry him So whenever he gets sick of walking and sits, I just pick him up for a bit to give him a rest.
It was off lead immediately for ours too, at 7 weeks old and 8 weeks old. We also have bush areas to visit but I did try to use areas where few other dogs would go. One, the vaccination safety aspect. And two, it does work better if you are the only possible haven of safety for them to run to and thus learn their recall. Mine both knew COME reliably in two weeks and when we were finally safe to mix with other dogs still heeded it. I did this before I ever heard of anyone else doing it but when I did read about it, in Champdogs, they suggested that by 16 weeks old most puppies are getting braver on their own and it won't work then, they might just run off into the woods. How old is Loki now? He's so cute. I think there can be many reasons for them to lie down. Tired, overwhelmed, hot (Oban would lie down and roll in the snow, still does) just want to look at something from a different angle, displaying submission if another dog is in sight. Watch though, it is easy to overtire them
Xena's early off lead (started at 11 weeks) was all done at empty schools, it was perfect. Even now at 23 weeks she still keeps quite close (not always!), but so far she's not a bolter. I like to think that heavy reinforcement has helped (I still reward heavily for her checking in with me, if she trots along next to me, if she responds to my attention noises etc). I'm just nervously waiting for it to all go tits up when adolescence kicks in.
When I first took Harley out I got my daughter to come. We both had treats on us and would call her back and forth (about 10ft apart). Once she got this we moved about 20ft apart, then when she was on route to one of us the other would run away then call her. She loved this game and has always had a good recall which i attribute to playing this with her. Good luck tomorrow
I took olly out for his first walk yesterday and it was interesting and today it was a little better but I had him in his harness with a chain lead but today he was on a retractable lead but I couldn't let him off the lead as the park is next to a busy road and there were to many other dogs around and I was wondering is a chain lead better or a retractable lead
The whole "letting them off the lead when little" is such a new idea to me and I really am looking forward to trying it. The last time I had puppies I had the advantage of having a large fenced garden so of course we practiced recalls there, but I never just let them off completely beyond the garden until they had all their vaccinations and could go to the beach. Where I live in Germany, I've seen quite a few people have tiny puppies off leash in the old medieval centre of town, particularly on a Sunday when there are very few cars. Honestly, it freaks me out a bit, but I really am amazed how these pups happily toddle off right behind their people.
Definitely let them him off the lead. I made the mistake of not doing that with my other dog and he gets so excited when he's off leash because of the 'freedom' that I can't trust him. But Axel I let off right away and now at 9 months he's still great off lead and always checks in. We still to this day will turn on a dime on him so he knows he has to check in with us often and once he notices that we aren't following him anymore he races to catch up with us.
Bailey's first walk was off lead as we were in a safe area - he was (and still is!) a bold pup and very, very nosy! However worked hard at his recall and it is 80% there...at 7 months he is becoming selectively deaf, and I can actually see him weighing up is it worth coming back to mum, what treats has she got, or shall I carry on with "insert something likely to give me heart failure" or go and get a treat. I now have very smelly hot dogs with me on all walks!
Thanks for all your advice. So we let Loki off the lead this morning in the woods by our house. We did meet other dogs but it would be hard to go anywhere around here without other dogs. He did what you said and followed us about. He liked sniffing other dogs, not all of them liked him. We met a 2 year old male yellow lab and Loki was very bold jumping up him trying to play. I'll try and post some pictures later. Just a quick question, is it still okay to walk him on the lead most days for his usual walk if he goes off the lead at other times when we have time to do it?
Definitely walk him on a lead. I meet so many pet owners (I live in a busy dog walking place) who say 'oh, she/he is terrible on a lead, luckily she/he never has to be on it much'. I always think if you want a young Labrador to walk nicely on a lead, then train lead walking every day. Without fail. The advantage of being able to have them off lead is that you don't have to exercise them on lead, and that's great, you can just train lead walking, then let them have a scamper round off lead.
