My wee sausage is growing like a weed. Went out today and bought a medium sized collar to replace his small one. We also bought a comfy fit harness for him as he can go out from tomorrow
Oh, so gorgeous! I still remember my first walk with Willow. It was so exciting! Do you have somewhere safe you can take him to let him off the lead? I was so, so nervous, but it was absolutely the best thing I could have done with her. Take lots more photos - we love photos. PS in that first photo it kinda looks like he's pooped that purple fluffy thing. If only the reality was quite so nice
What a cutie Hope you have a lovely time tomorrow! Just a tip - use a whole bunch of treats when putting the harness on so he sees it as a nice thing. And you can never take too many treats with you on an outing
We don't have any dogs parks or anywhere full enclosed, but we do have a harness and a training line. We have a large field out the back, but it's not fenced in. We had been talking yesterday, trying to remember what we did with our first dog Murphy, we took him to the town wood, took a deep breath and let him off. He was a Cavalier though and always chose to remain close, he would go so far and check to make sure we were still there. I'll stick to the training line with Jake
Willow moved about ten feet away from me on the first outing. Even now, they don't really wander. Shadow (who we got later, even though he's the same litter) is a bit of a chaser, but has a strong stop and recall whistle. I bit the bullet and let him continue running a couple of weeks ago, in a place I could see him. He was only chasing a smell, but he stopped himself and was back by my side within thirty seconds. They're all very different, though, and I have done a lot of training on staying close. It seems so alien to me that there are places that dogs aren't allowed off-lead except in designated areas - it's just not our culture
I know, it's strange. With us being rural I think we are lucky, there's only one place in town that the council ask you to keep your dog on a lead, and that's a large play park by the river. We're surrounded by forests, hills and coast in Dumfriesshire, there's always somewhere to go, I can't wait until he gets older and we can go miles. I really miss out long walks, but with Misty's health we can only go a mile and a half max.
I wish it wasn't like that here but we live in a city where your dog is to be on lead unless there is a sign to say that they can be off lead. However, I have noticed that there is an unwritten rule that, as long as you have control of your dog, it doesn't really matter if they are on or off lead. The risk is if your dog does a runner and jumps all over someone (not that Ella would ever do that ☺) you are technically in an 'on-lead' area so could be in trouble. PaulaG one of your photos reminded me of one I have of Ella at a similar age ☺
Enjoy your first walk!! But be brave and let him off the lead if you are far enough away from roads - he wont go far away from you. It's much easier to start training recall at this age than later!
Karen Would you forgo the training line at this stage? Not sure whether to always use it, or only use it if recall becomes a problem.
Lovely pics! There is an article here about letting your puppy off the lead: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/let-your-puppy-off-the-lead/
I have never used a training line with any of my dogs. When they are little puppies, they are desperate to stay close to you. If you think of it from their point of view, being separated from you is very frightening, so they stick close. As they get older they become more independent, so now is the time to make use of this compulsion to stick right by you. Julie has linked a very good article above. I also found that Poppy wanted to stay close by my older dog as well, and this helped with her recall - maybe this will be the case with you too. So, my advice would be to try it without the training line
