Without a leash?
 

Okay.. So I let Ella my 5 month old yorkie off her leash for the first time today in my fiancées parents yard. I have let her walk without a leash in a fenced area and inside of course.. But we are working on training and this is the first time I have let her off her leash in an open yard. She was with my Fiancees parents jack russel who is fully trained. My question is.. How many of you let your yorkies do this? I have a friend who has a 12 week old and he will go outside without a leash and potty and come right back to you. Should I have done this at an earlier age!!? I hate to say this because I am so over protective of her but I was terrified to let her off the leash...

Jut basically looking for some feedback thanks:)

i agree....cedric is 8 months and he just gets so distracted. i never let him anywhere w/o being leashed cause its to dangerous and hes bloody fast! lol princess is 8 yo and she stays right with me with no leash in the yard. she comes when she is called even when distracted but this took two years and i have only had her almost three. good luck and merry christmas!

I don't and never have after many, many years. People often learn under the most tragic circumstances that what works some of the time doesn't work all of the time. They are terriers and all it takes is a rabbit or squirrel to come along to distract them and they're off and running. Some people can manage intensive training, but they are few and far between. There are so many predators as well, such as coyotes, big dogs running loose, hawks and owls that these little one's need protection from. Be very careful.

I feel the exact same way. Recently, a co-worker of mine's dog was hit by a car!! She said that he always was off leash, and never got distracted...until then. So sad, and preventable!:(

There are a lucky few who can have their yorkie stay at their side walking down busy streets off-leash. They are rare. My boys would be under a car in seconds flat. :( The risk isn't worth it to me.

Bubba would run if off leash. Sissy stays right by my side. Would I ever trust either one outside off leash in an open space? Never, ever!

Yeah I didn't just walk away from her I followed her the whole time and it's out in the country and I know there are so many risks but it's good to know I'm not the only one who keeps mine on a leash the whole time!! Haha thanks:)

The chances of running and disappearing are great -- they are fast! :) Better safe than sorry.

I thought I could have my Jewels off leash and was walking her on the sidewalk when all of a sudden she ran out in the street in front of a car and was almost hit. Since then never again not worth it

wow i didn't realise so many yorkies don't get the freedom of going off the lead. Im from the uk so maybe we do things different here. I daily walk my two and they get to go off the lead in the field everyday to chase their balls. I admit it took a bit of training in the begining but now they always stay quite close to me. When someone else comes into the field I leash them first, let them meet the dog and nine times out of ten they usually all run around together.Olly used to chase the birds in the field but that was before he found that a ball was more exciting lol. At the weekends me and my hubby take them both on long country walks and they are off the lead the whole time.I would never have either off the lead along the roadside that would be irresponsable

My house is on a few acres, but I never let ZoE off leash even in the far back, as it's on a main road, and who knows what "could" happen. It's just not worth the risk. I do have two 20ft puppy training leashes and requently take her out back with the two of them tied together, so she feels like she's running free, but in reality she's still attached to me.

My parents house is on a tiny city lot, but it's completely fenced in. That's the only place ZoE is ever off leash.

I live in a development where many of my neighbors have Yorkies. One of them lets their little one out to potty without a leash. EVERY SINGLE TIME one of us is out with Roxie and they let their little one out, she runs across the street to say hello to us. I am so scared that this little one is going to get hit by a car one of these days!

I won't let Roxie out without a leash. Even when we go to my parents house, I have a really long leash that I put on her so that she can still run around in their yard, but there's no risk of her escaping.

My Kiwi was a year and 2 months old, he was fully trained and was only allowed to be unleashed while in our backyard. He never ran away from us (my husb especially) until Sept 21, 2011 when he was out back with my husband and Lola playing in the backyard, he ran away from my husb and out into the street and got hit by a car and was killed instantly, we live in a quiet neighborhood and it turned out our neighbors accross the street had come outside with their dog who Kiwi loved. It only took that one time and one instant that a car happened to be comeing down our street...

We have since become very big advocates for ALWAYS keeping your dogs leashed, it could save their life...please learn from my story, its not worth it to take such a big risk!

Like toddlers,there lil guys need to be protected. Either there is a fenced in area or there is a leash.

I think it completely depends on the dog and the environment that you live in. Some dogs are just natural "off leash dogs" and some, including most terriers, simply are not.

Jackson would be fine off leash 95% of the time, but the other 5% couldn't be trusted. So he's not off leash anymore. Well, I'll drop his 6ft leash and let him drag it on certain occasions. He's trustworthy for the most part and hangs around. But we live in the country... no roads close by, farmland all around us, so it's a different thing. I let him run into my dads house when we first get there off leash... there is absolutely no road nearby (well, of course there's a road to get down the street, but there's literally one car every hour, if that, lol). If we lived in a subdivision, townhome, etc, no way would I allow it.

But yeah, depends on the environment, where you live, the dog, the human. There are so many factors.

With me, I think most of the time, Jackson would be absolutely fine. But the 5% risk to me isn't worth it. However, he gets loads of freedom... fenced dog parks, huge fenced in football field close by, dads big fenced in yard, and 50-100ft ropes in the 90 acres of farmland behind our house.

I never let mine of leash unless she is in a fenced in yard or a fenced in dog park and I never will. Even the best trained dogs can decided not to listen or there instincts can get the best of them and they can take off. Also if another dog comes over when they are on leash they are close enough to scoop up. It takes just a second for them to run into the road and get killed, so not worth it to me.

I have a neighbor with a tiny yorkie just like that one. We live in a development, too. The house is several houses south of here, but if that little one is out and we're walking, she runs out to greet us. I'm so afraid a hawk will get her or something else. She's only out for a few minutes occasionally, but doesn't need to be out front. They have a fenced yard! One day she started following us down the road. I picked her up and carried her back home. Her mom was busy in the garage and hadn't noticed.

Dinky loves to sit on the porch in the sun with us since we have moved to the south. I like to say he is a "dawg" now! Anyway, we don't leash him on the porch, and he has never even tried to go down the steps alone... until today. He walked down the steps, pottied on the grass, and came right back up. So today, I spent time on the Internet looking for extra wide gates for the porch.:)

Couver and Khloe get lots of off leash time in our backyard, front yard and dog park. Every once in a while they are off leash like on the beach (once a year) and are always leashed up when we see people coming towards us. They are never anywhere near cars, and I know their recall is great. I haven't ever had them not come to me... but I would never risk it walking near a street. It just isn't worth it!

I have seen your videos and your kids are great with recall and staying close. My boys would be off like a shot and get lost in the woods and say, "Where's my mommy?" :rolleyes: When Max was a tiny pup, I dropped his leash and he ran about 100 feet straight to my father on the front yard. More recently, I have accidentally dropped the boys' leashes several times and they have thankfully stayed by my side.

Of my 4 girl- Only Roxy is allowed off leash most of the time in mine or my parents yards- Open areas but only with Supervision of coarse to protect her from bigger animals ie neighbors cats who hit in the buches. Cozy can be off leash but only when by herself she does like people near her adult babies. Lucy and Zoey are never off leash. Zoey runs like the Gingerbreadman. My brother and dad can have Lucy off leash at my parents house only. Every daog is different you must make sure they will be safe.

Bailey is allowed to be off leash in the back area, but it's for short periods. However, with that said, one day he saw a dog and darted off. So, we are very cautious these days. Otherwise, it's leash city!

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.

Dont do it! The risk out weighs any reason...maybe get one of those retraceable leashes that extends quote a distance, but I wouldnt do it. Plus out in public, there are many towns with leash laws and such...just toooooo risky!

Bobbi