Ian Dunbar, a behaviorist I like, recommends teaching puppies off-leash BEFORE teaching them on-leash. His reasoning? If they learn to enjoy walking without restrictions, they are less likely to fight you when you add the leash. Here's a video of him demonstrating.
That said, you ONLY work off-leash when you're in a controlled environment. Never take a remote chance of your puppy running away and getting into trouble.
I probably take more chances than most people off-leash, and frankly, there are some times I push it too far. But I do feel confident that 99 percent of the time they're perfectly safe because I spend so much time working with them off-leash.
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Mike ~ Doting Dad to Jillie, Harper, Molly, Cooper, Eddie (RIP), Lucy (RIP), Rusty (RIP) and Jack (RIP).
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