Off-lead Training Tips for Better Walks

Dogs tend to be inquisitive and energetic and like us, our furry friends need to stretch their legs and explore. Long lines can be useful for dogs that simply can’t be off lead, but being off lead is a more enriching experience for a dog. It is our responsibility to ensure that our dog is trained not to be a danger to themselves or others, nor a public nuisance!

In this article, we’re going to talk through tips for off-lead training, helping you keep your dog, other dogs, and anyone else you see on your walk, safe.

Getting Your Dog Ready for Off-lead Walks

You can’t expect your pup to learn off-lead walking overnight. It’s something that requires a bit of effort. Before you start off-lead training, think about whether:

Your dog responds well to basic obedience training/commands
Do they have good recall?
Do they have good impulse control?
Do they interact well with strangers, other dogs and children?
Have they got a microchip/ID tag – just in case you lose track of them?

If you can safely answer yes to all of these questions, your dog might be ready for off-lead training!

Off-lead training: Getting started

Step 1: Basic Commands

Before you properly get into off-lead training, your dog should respond well to basic commands such as:

Wait
Sit
Down
Heel
Drop
No

The outside world is full of interesting sites, sounds and other distractions that will compete with you for your dog’s attention. You want to ensure that the basic commands are well understood. You might also want to incorporate hand signal, clicker or whistle training, to go with these commands. Above all – keep it simple and consistent

Step 2: Understand Competing Motivators and Limitations

Your dog may have excellent recall in the garden, but that is without the interesting distractions of the outside world. Ultimately your dog will return to you if what you offer (praise, reward, excitement etc) is of more interest than what the surrounding environment has to offer. As much as we would love our dog to never chase a squirrel, the reality is that some dogs will never achieve complete reliability with this or other interesting obstacles. Perhaps nothing you can offer provides sufficient motivation, in that moment, to overcome the impulse. Knowing your dog’s limitations and walking off lead, only in areas where, for example, chasing a squirrel is unlikely to present a danger will help to keep your furry friend safe.

Step 3: Using a Long Lead

Before ditching the lead completely, use a long extendable lead, to get your dog used to the feeling of freedom. As they roam on their long lead, practice all your commands repeatedly. Always praise required behaviour.

After experiencing long-lead walks, you’ll have a better idea of whether your dog is ready to go lead free.

Step 4: Testing in a Safe Space

If you think your dog is ready, you should practice in a safe space first. Try to find a fenced location, or somewhere without too many distractions/obstructions. Make sure you praise your dog if all goes well.

Step 5: Knowing What to do if Your Dog Runs Away

No amount of training will guarantee that your dog will never run away! So, you need to know what to do if they start running away.

Ideally you will have whistle trained your dog. If your dog knows that they get their favourite, tasty, treat, only when the whistle is blown, you have a much better chance of recalling them in a difficult situation.
Use treats: You should always have treats with you when walking off-lead, use these to get your dog’s attention if they start wandering.
Stay calm: Call the dog loud and clear but not excessively or angrily.
Don’t chase: This could backfire, as they might think you want to play.
If you can gain your dogs attention from a distance, running in the opposite direction while being loud and ‘interesting’ (wave your arms, zig zag etc) can cause them to give chase to you, diverting them from danger or trouble. You may just look a little odd to other park users!
In addition to its microchip endure your dog has a visible id on its collar.

Want to Know More?

We maintain a high standard of behaviour through dog training at our doggy day care service, working hard to ensure our pups are always on their best behaviour. We don’t offer specific dog training, but our doggy day care dogs are some of the most sociable and well-behaved dogs you will ever meet! This is because we create a calm and structured environment for your fluffy friends. Our friends ck9training will be more than happy to assist you and your pup for one to one recall training.