Are we teaching our babies to bolt?

[Brookef18]

I am beginning to think I want to train my two to be off leash here and there. Because Chewy has always been on leash, my fear is if he ever got FREE I might never see him again!
I let him off leash at the beach one or twice and he came back when I called him. He loved it to run really fast. I see vidieos where Yorkies are off leash and I wonder if they were used to being off least they might listen better in an emergency.
Does this make any sense? Some of you who let your dog off leash what do you think about this????

[chachi]

I think it is good for them too be taught off leash even if you really dont let them off leash much. Jewels I have always been able to take off leash she always stayed with us. Chachi started doing it on his own at 1 1/2. Before that he would bolt.

[alaskayorkie]

Do it! The most important commands are "stay" and "come." They are essential. Do whatever it takes to teach your dog those commands.

That said, you can never be 100 percent certain. I've heard of an akc champion show dog who ran out in the street and was hit by a car.

But you can definitely cut down on the risk by teaching your dog to obey the stay and come commands. Eddie, now 3 1/2 years old and the graduate of about six or seven obedience classes, is now 100 percent on stay and maybe 80 percent on come. I'll take it!

[Brookef18]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

Do it! The most important commands are "stay" and "come." They are essential. Do whatever it takes to teach your dog those commands.

That said, you can never be 100 percent certain. I've heard of an akc champion show dog who ran out in the street and was hit by a car.

But you can definitely cut down on the risk by teaching your dog to obey the stay and come commands. Eddie, now 3 1/2 years old and the graduate of about six or seven obedience classes, is now 100 percent on stay and maybe 80 percent on come. I'll take it!

When I wrote this post I had you and Eddie and Jack in mind. I would love to let my two run free... I never knew how fast Chewy was until he went wild on the beach. The only problem with the beach is there are almost always big huge dogs running at top speed at us! I have no problem with big dogs, but I like to know they are friendly first.
At the vets yeaterdays I was weighing Sadie, (The scale is on he floor) This guy comes in with a huge dog... and let it run right up to Sadie.(She is 20 weeks and 3 pounds) I asked him to please hold his dog, and he goes on and on about how his dog WOULD NEVER hurt her. She got scared and peed all over the place!!!! (More then I ever saw a 3 pound puppy pee in my life!) Some dog owners don't have the brain they were born with!
I'm gonna try to work on the off least and stay come comands... Thanks!

[tjdmom]

Originally Posted by Brookef18

When I wrote this post I had you and Eddie and Jack in mind. I would love to let my two run free... I never knew how fast Chewy was until he went wild on the beach. The only problem with the beach is there are almost always big huge dogs running at top speed at us! I have no problem with big dogs, but I like to know they are friendly first.
At the vets yeaterdays I was weighing Sadie, (The scale is on he floor) This guy comes in with a huge dog... and let it run right up to Sadie.(She is 20 weeks and 3 pounds) I asked him to please hold his dog, and he goes on and on about how his dog WOULD NEVER hurt her. She got scared and peed all over the place!!!! (More then I ever saw a 3 pound puppy pee in my life!) Some dog owners don't have the brain they were born with!
I'm gonna try to work on the off least and stay come comands... Thanks!

I know what you mean. At Petsmart this woman came in with a big german shepard and had no control over the dog, he was walking her, whe wasn't walking him and he comes over to Zoe and she says, oh, don't worry he's friendly. I just think dogs can sometimes be unpredictable, you just never know and it makes me nervous. As for come... I agree, work on it with your baby as it can sometimes save their lives but be careful of those big dogs.

[Kelz]

Parker and Star are fine in the front yard off leash.. she usually listen unless they see a bird so it has it's pros and cons.. the nice thing is tho.. they do not dart out the door.. if ANY of mine go out the door.. they just go on the porch to greet whoever. Bentley and Karlee have a mind of their own..sometimes they listen..sometimes they don't..so they usually do not go out front w/o a leash

[janelles]

I honestly don't think I could ever let either one of mine off leash. I think they would be gone in a flash. I wish I could sometimes, though. All it takes is once.
Janice

[My Baby- Jazzi]

I am calling around looking for a serious trainer for my puppy. In my post showing now under new posts, I almost lost Jazzi to a Van as he thought it would be fun to run across street to see neighbors. Never again I will pay dearly for training , and me from another heart attack moment I will still use leash, carrier.

[Patti]

My pom can be off leash. I took her to puppy classes and the every spring I would take her into our big back yard and with her on a long tie out, so I could easily grab a end, practice her staying at one end and walking to the other side and calling her. We did this for a few days for a 1/2 an hour and she will sit out with me while I do gardening and not wander off. I live on a very quiet cul de sac. If I was on a busy street I would never let her loose. Also if I see someone near I pick her up. But my Yorkies would be long gone if I tried that. I am looking into training classes for Roxie.

[ali]

I let my boys (a yorkie and a boxer) off leash when ever we are not in a public place. I have a large yard (about an 1.5 acres) only the back is fenced. Our house sits in the middle of property so our drive way is up a hill and off the road, we also live off a court. Because of the way my house is I don't use a leash that much. The only time I use one is if we go to a park or playground. There are too many other dogs and children running around. Snickers gets a little scared. If we go on a walk in the fields or trail I will let them of leash they always come when called even when they are after a bird of squirrel (they think I have food ). I hate using a leash, but in my case they can use some training on a leash . My boxer is well behaved no matter what,but Snickers pulls like crazy on a leash , they do much better and listen better off a leash.

[Potter]

Personally, I would prefer to be safe than sorry. I would only let mine off leash only in fenced area and where there is no other dogs. I am too chicken to off leash him.

[Brookef18]

We live where it is very quiet, not many cars at all... even if a car was coming they would see me from up the road... so even if Chewy or sadie was running free and I had a problem I could more then likely flag a car down and stop them... But I am so chicken to try letting chewy off the leash.
My biggest worry would be they would go under brush or run in the woods and I would lose them. So I think when it warms up I will go to the beach to practice off leash. Chewy hates the surf, scared to death of it so there is no worry he will go in the water! As long as there are no big dogs around it is about as safe as you can get. There's just no place to go. There's a huge cliff on one side they couldn't scale if they wanted to and water on the other side. I might start with a long rope and just bring one dog at a time. But I think I want them to feel a little freedom so if they ever had the chance to really RUN they won't feel the need to.

[flutterby]

my girls are trained off leash and i love it! they are up my butt 24/7 and i wouldn't have it any other way.. when we go our local state park, they love running along the beach part of the lake.. They rip and run and just love kicking up the sand! They dont usually go any farther than about 5 or 6 feet..

[jrincon17]

well i have never had mine on leash and i think it could be bad as well. well trained in both forms would be best. I have seen so many horror stories on here not on leash and get hit by a car, it made me so angy. Although i dont let ziggy out n the front yard period !

[flutterby]

Mine have never really been on leash either... But we have a fenced in yard and they feel "free" in a sense because our yard is so big and theres so much to do.