1 year old Shiloh Shepherd On Lead / Off Lead
I like to allow my dog Ava (1 year old Shiloh Shepherd) a good off lead run every day. I live near a secluded beach and have a safe place to do this. These sessions are a great pleasure to both of us. My dog is not yet up to speed with off lead training and I wonder what effect our off lead sessions are having on training in general.
I’m not doing anything as stupid as using the “come” command when I can’t enforce it, but we sometimes get into a situation where Ava finds a dead fish or something and prances around playing “catch me if you can.” I try to ignore her or run the other way which often works. Often.
When we get to the beach I do some basic on lead work with her (she’s doing well), then we walk on lead to our spot. I always put her in a sit stay before I let her run. I’ve been interspersing the off lead runs with on lead training — the leash comes off, the leash goes on etc. I recently started using a long line on the beach, this way I can work with her from a distance and still have some control. Some of the old school trainers say your dog shouldn’t be allowed off lead at all until she has a reliable off lead recall. Any thoughts on this?
It seems like the transition from on lead to off lead is easier in the positive reinforcement methods, because you’re not relying on leash corrections (although the leash is still used to keep the dog near you). Any insights into this transition and how to avoid bad training when giving your dog off lead excercise would be appreciated.
I would reward her for attention to you when off lead. If she comes over to check on you – give her a treat! If she pays attention to where you are going – praise her! Make a big deal of her focusing on you when she is off lead. Allow her to play and have fun – that’s great. However, only training when on lead, then allowing her to play when off lead can be counterproductive. You may want to have her drag a line when playing so she doesn’t associate off-lead with “free to do as I please”. It sounds like you are training her that the only time she has to pay attention to you is if she is on lead. This could be dangerous! I would have her drag the line until she is consistent with recalls, etc. No “catch me if you can” when you call her. You can always step on the line to prevent that.
That doesn’t mean it is wrong to play the “keep away” game from time to time – as long as she knows a command to finish the game (enough, settle, quit, etc.) which means the game is over and now it is time to calm down and do something else.
Lynn, thanks for the good suggestions. Attention is the key. I also think a drag line is a great way to have some control while off lead. I’ve thought of some new games and excercises — I’ll let you know how it goes.