Off Leash Training--How do you do that?
 

Sophie is 9 mths old today and I would love some advice how to work at getting her off a leash. I was just looking at all the pics from the MD meet-up and it appeared that non of the dogs were on a leash? Is this something a Yorkie can accomplish, or are they too prone for mad dashes?

I did off leash training with Buddy in doors first, however, outdoors
he forget's everything ever taught to him. If I had a back yard
I know things would be different but walking him on the street with
other dogs is too distracting and dangerous but it was fun teaching him.
He's amazing indoors. He walks next to me, stops when I do, lays down
when I tell him and when I start to walk again he's up and walking
right along side of me looking up at me for instruction and step for
step he's right along side of me.

Now take it outdoors he's dragging me down the street:eek:

They learn fast and love new challenges. Have fun with it.
Good luck,

Quick & Easy answer......FENCE!! HAHA. It was a dog park so the area was fenced in. They have a nice sized area fenced off for small/medium sized dogs and adjacent to that there is a larger fenced in area for larger dogs. If you go to an official dog park, there should be a fenced in area where you should be free to let them off leash while inside the fence.

I do have a couple that do very well & are trained off leash outside. I know with my older girl, when I first got her as a puppy, I used to take her outside late at night(I'm a night owl so it's not uncommon to catch me on the porch at 11PM at night sometimes), or really early when I knew noone would be out & about to distract her and we used to walk up & down the street. She doesn't use one to this day...she stops at curbs until I tell her it's okay to cross. When she see's people, she gets excited sometimes, especially if one of the neighbors calls or starts talking to her but she will not go to the them unless I say it is okay. She's more of a people person than dog person so if there's another dog, she will not go anywhere...she doesn't even chase birds, squirrels, etc. just looks at them as they go by...LOL

I do however, put a harness on her when we go to the vet & unfamiliar places of course...you have to b e very careful with that.

You need to find a large park, so they don't really realize there is a fence, but actually I would never take the chance with Joey. He pretty much always stays by my side, but all it would take is one time he got distracted and a tragedy could happen. With a leash and a harness, I can get him into my arms in no time flat should an unleashed dog come our way. Yorkies seem to know how to bring out the worst in other breeds, we call it a big dog attitude, but maybe is should be called a Napoleon complex. They're little, and try to intimidate other dogs by barking at them. I rarely see a big dog doing that, they don't have a need to intimidate. Also, if he were to run in the street, it's so hard for drivers to see a small dog, so for me, I feel better to always use a leash. What you teach in one space doesn't always transfer to another space, where sites sounds and smells are much different.

Practice makes perfect lol. In fact Tia is brill off leash. When we go for our long walks she is off more than on.:p

Lovin' the "Napoleon Complex" remark! :p
I've got mixed feelings on this myself. I don't feel comfortable letting her off the leash, yet I walk down two houses to my neighbor who has a toy poodle (about 5 lbs) and it runs the yard, but never leves it. Although I wish Sophie could do this, you still have to keep a constant eye on them so they don't eat things they shouldn't. I suppose I'm forever confined to a harness/leash. Unfortunately, we have many parks in our town, but none that are dog parks (fenced). :(

I took Penny to a large, open area in a park and attached a rope to her harness. I'd let her run for a bit on the rope and then call her back. I started with a short length of rope, then gradually increased the length until I felt like I was absolutely positive that she would come back even if she saw other dogs or people. It only took about two hours to reach that point.

I only walk her off leash in dog parks (we have an absolutely huge dog park here in Redmond, so the fences don't really factor in much) or on isolated trails in the woods. I don't allow her to walk off leash in town, or even in my apartment complex. As good as she usually is, she can get very excited if she sees a child or another dog, and I worry that she could dart across the road to try to say hello.

I guess I'm just trying to get to the point that I can sit on my patio or work in my yard and have her stay by me. I don't even need to have to walk her around the neighborhood. I'd be happy to get her to stay in the yard. I too thought of using a retractable leash with her harness and start that way...or tie a rope around my waist and attach to her leash and work her that way. She could go off a bit exploring but not out of eyesight and then I can continue to call her back. You guys are giving me a lot of good ideas...thanks!

I am lucky that Thor is somewhat timid, so I actually had to teach him to leave me to go play. We don't go to dog parks, but we go to parks that are very large and stay away from the edges, or places that are mostly fenced in.

I just sat on a picnic blanket and let Thor walk little bit away. Every time he came back, he got a treat. He caught on very quickly. When we walk around a park, I still treat him every so often for coming back. Usually he runs in big circles and makes sure he always ends up back near me. I ALWAYS treat him for returning when called. It's actually a fun game. He gets so excited running back to me, it makes me feel like my heart will just jump out of my chest.

I think he has excellent recall. He will ignore me occasionally, but it's usually because he's bugging people with food or something like that. If that happens, I carry him back to the spot where I called him from, put him on the leash, and make him Sit/Stay to regain his freedom. Two infractions, and we leave the park.

Is your yard/patio fenced? Honestly, I would be a little worried about that. I don't let Thor loose unless he's really far away from the road. Maybe you just need a very long retractable leash. You can get one over 20 feet long.

Joey's unlike any dog I've ever had, and I had way more time to train and work with him, but he really has a mind of his own. Some dogs are into that "You are my master" mode, and love it. It's not that I think I spoil Joey, I'm fairly firm with him, :D but he doesn't always do what I tell him to do. He seems to think about it, (you know the little head tilt) and decide for himself whether he wants to or not. Anyhow, I don't trust the little bugger.

I think all the advice given was good I just wanted to add that mine were 1 1/2 before I was able to trust them off leash. Before that they would become distracted and run off. As they get older they calm down quite a bit

I had Lexi at the offleash park at 5 months ago, armed with a hardful of treats. I would treat her, and make a big happy fuss everytime she came back to me (even if I didn't call her). Now was can walk offleash, and she stays close.

I like the idea of attaching a long rope, they can be a bugger to catch sometimes! If your little guy is prone to running away - make sure you attach one of these!

I don't walk Lexi offleash on the road, or any area I'm not sure off.

Nope...my yard isn't fenced in. I am on the outskirts of the city, but not totally rural. It's not a good situation to let her off, it appears. I do have a tie out that I use with her harness. It is 20 ft. and seems to work for her. However, the hook on the tie out leash is heavy and pulls her harness to one side. It doesn't seem to bother her, but it bothers me plus it tangles her hair. Geez....I'm whining, aren't I? Anyone got any cheese to go with that?

Yep Nancy...Sophie is this way too. I just don't have total trust that she won't run off. She's like a bullet with fur when she takes off in my house, let alone a free range area. She ran out the door one time. She took off at warp speed, down my driveway, into the street and turned immediately up along the split rail fence back into our property, crossed back over the driveway and into my husband's arms as I was screaming BLOODY MURDER! I believe I'm going to go with the retractable leash for when we are walking on quiet streets and the tie out for the back yard. I suspect some can stay close and others, like you say, have a mind of their own from time to time. :)