Quote:
Originally Posted by Britster  Absolutely! 
I think people too often rely on gates and blocking doors and whatnot, and those are all great as added precautions, but if a dog is not trained, sometimes those won't matter. A lot of times the dogs that are never shown the proper way to behave when given 'freedom' are the worst. They see an open door and it's like 'WOW! this is a whole new world!' *dart*
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying in any way it's a smart idea to just be blindly letting our dogs off leash -- most dogs probably shouldn't be! I think in neighborhoods with roads and lots of distractions, etc, are not the place. But I think it's all dependent on the situation ... and I think training as much of a recall as you possibly can is extremely important even if you never indeed to let your dog off leash. And don't just rely on a gate to *always* be there. |
Couldn't agree more. To me, dogs are more reliable if happily and properly trained than relying on those kinds of things as all kinds of Murphy's laws exist in life and all the boundaries and gates in the world may not help if the dog ever does get out - as my sister's dog did. Sis had just told the TV repair man in her den about her dog being a doordarter, what not to do and all of that, walked to answer the phone, he opened the sliding glass door, went out and out Mindy went right after him as Billie was turning around with the phone to her ear as she heard the sliding glass door opening. She had a fence around the front door, one to the entrance to the den from the entry way, a gate into the living room that opened into the entry way and the dining room, kitchen, too, and a big, secure back yard. But Mindy followed the TV guy right out the sliding glass door, open backyard gate as he went through it and took off running off property as my sister dropped the phone and ran out of the den onto the patio. She missed her by 30 feet as she ran out that backyard gate as Sis got to the patio!
When she saw her in the vet ICU later that day, she said she didn't even look anything like Mindy. It marked my sister forever. She has never gotten over that!
I determined from that moment that I would train my next dog in what to do as best I could if he ever found himself outside alone, knowing it would take several steps and we couldn't even start the training outside until the dog was in my control and in control of himself in the house and in the back yard. But I knew with a Yorkie, if it wasn't fun in the process, really rewarding for him, it wouldn't work. And it had to be short and repetitive besides being fun.
So, if someone loves real positive-reinforcement, loving dog training and has 100% control of their dog and the dog 100% recall and impulse control, it is something worth considering. If even once in 100 recalls your dog just ignores you, don't try it! He has to come every time - every time. But only a truly dedicated person who can keep their dog as safe as possible during the training and is always prepared for Murphy's law
outside too should even try it.
It's a bad dilemma - worrying about keeping them safe outside during training dropleash/off lead vs. what they will likely do if they ever do escape that doggie gate and dart out the door. And I guess once a dog you've loved needlessly dies from doordarting, it changes your mind about what you think about it all. I've lived with my sister's "if only's" for a long time.