excerising off lead(dog)

blushingbride_3

hi everyone

how are your dogs off lead? i have a little jrt & he is cutie pie but i cant let him off lead. it makes me feel bad because he loves running around

How can i find somewhere safe to let him off? i.e. a fenced park or just wide fields where if he runs i can just wait for him to come back?

I was thinking of asking on freecycle if anyone has a field/ large garden, do you think this would be ok?

Only place i dare to let him off is the beach.

BB

puppychick79

Hi there

If he's ok on the beach whats concerning you about letting him off in the park etc??

What about getting a long washing line or piece of rope and taking him to your local park or somewhere away from the road and letting him run leave the long piece tralling behind so if you feel he is about to run off its easier to grab it or step on it.

Does he run far from you on the beach??

picklepick

Yes id also get a long training lead. You can let go and you still have a really long trail of lead to catch him again.

Is it that he gets excited by other dogs, or smells, or people?

blushingbride_3

he's a jack russel so he wants to find rabbits, runs over to play with other dogs etc
i wonder i might call some kennels to see if i can use there excercise fields.

ddebski_us

I have this problem with my pup - she's 5 months old and a Lakelandx. If there's no-one else around (people or dogs) she's fine and will come back to me. As soon as she gets a whiff of another dog or worse still, a person (she's a people dog!) she's off. No amount of recall will get her back; have to run over to other person and grab her. She's only playing so no worries on the agression side and just loves a fuss. If it's just me and DH in the field, she'll happily run between us and not an inkling of running off.

Guess a long lead is a good idea for us too, but how to train her not to go?

xDx

blushingbride_3

He doesnt go to far at the beach but there are no cats & i go to quiet beaches, i couldnt risk him running too far.
Just feel with a lead & rope he doesnt run like he would off lead.

Also cant get him interested in fetch, how does everyone do this?

Myrtle0204

Hi Hon,

Sorry if this is abit simple but have you tried working really hard on his recall, if he is food motivated it should make things easier. There are plenty of books / websites etc out there with advise how to go about it - find a method that suits you. The key is perseverance - if at first you dont succeed just keep trying - he will get it eventually and you will have a happy life together. The problem at the mo is he is obviously a bright woof who needs the mental stimulation of running around finding things. If he only gets off lead every so often he is taking advantage of it and run off :0) Good luck :0)

blushingbride_3

yes i do practice we went training etc, you think maybe i should just let him off more & hope he comes back?
i've only had him a yr he seems much better than when i got him as he's settled with me now & knows he isnt going anywhere else.
Just lots of the times i have let him off he just ignores me.

blushingbride_3

i dont mind letting him off just hate it when people think i am a rubbish doggie person because he ignores me etc & dont want to loose him/ he get hurt

tizerbelle

I would second the long training line and working on the recall. Make sure you are the most interesting thing in the park and if this means calling him back in a silly voice, jumping up and down like a lunatic or even rolling on the ground with him when he returns - do it! Okay people might think you are an absolute nutter but so what. If it develops the instinct in him to come back to you when you call him, who cares.

Using the long training line means that at first if he does ignore you, you can give a little tug on the line to refocus his attention on you and then give the recall command rather than just shouting it out non-stop as he runs further and further from you. That way, he associates the command with returning to you and then being praised for it, rather than she's still yelling that word at me so I'll keep running in the opposite direction because that's what I always do when she uses that word.

minimad1970

HI, I'm no expert but I don't think many terriers, I've got a border, play fetch. Mine will run after a stick or ball but won't bring it back to me, he leaves it about 2 metres away or just keeps it.