Monday, April 17, 2006Off Leash Control
It's very tedious, time consuming and, unfortunately, hard...sometimes near impossible, pending on the dog, but the end product is so worth it. I am talking about having total off-leash control. You really do need to be devoted and consistent for it to work.
Dogs are so distracted. Remember when I said they only do things for themselves? Well, here is a prime example. When you let your dog off of the leash at a park, you are basically saying, "ok, go be a dog". I mean, that is what he is thinking anyway. Then, when its time to call him back, you yell and yell and yell and he continues to run around the park, disregards your commands and embarasses you infront of the dog park regulars. It happens a lot and people don't understand that you have to TEACH him to be off-leash.
Basic obedience always starts on a leash. You have to master all commands on-leash before you can venture out into the off-leash world. When your dog is on the leash, he starts to realize he has to behave and do what you say because he knows you control the other end of it. Once you master everything 100%, that is when you start with off-leash training.
You have to be patient because you are still at the point that once you take the leash off, all bets are off. Therefore, you need to have an area that your dog can't escape from while you are teaching him everything. I master the commands from a 6ft leash to a 30 ft leash. Once you get 100% control 30 ft away, I would say you are ready to either go back to the 6ft leash or make a tab, which is a one foot leash that he can't trip on, but one that you can hold on to should you need to guide or correct him.
You will also need to change the places you train every so often so he thinks he has to listen everywhere and not just home in the back yard.
A couple of tips:
Tags: off leash, advanced obedience, come, recall
Dogs are so distracted. Remember when I said they only do things for themselves? Well, here is a prime example. When you let your dog off of the leash at a park, you are basically saying, "ok, go be a dog". I mean, that is what he is thinking anyway. Then, when its time to call him back, you yell and yell and yell and he continues to run around the park, disregards your commands and embarasses you infront of the dog park regulars. It happens a lot and people don't understand that you have to TEACH him to be off-leash.
Basic obedience always starts on a leash. You have to master all commands on-leash before you can venture out into the off-leash world. When your dog is on the leash, he starts to realize he has to behave and do what you say because he knows you control the other end of it. Once you master everything 100%, that is when you start with off-leash training.
You have to be patient because you are still at the point that once you take the leash off, all bets are off. Therefore, you need to have an area that your dog can't escape from while you are teaching him everything. I master the commands from a 6ft leash to a 30 ft leash. Once you get 100% control 30 ft away, I would say you are ready to either go back to the 6ft leash or make a tab, which is a one foot leash that he can't trip on, but one that you can hold on to should you need to guide or correct him.
You will also need to change the places you train every so often so he thinks he has to listen everywhere and not just home in the back yard.
A couple of tips:
- One mistake that people make is constantly saying "come on" to their dog not realizing they are ruining the come command. When it's time to teach them it, they have no clue because they've heard it before but it was never reinforced.
- Always reinforce commands you happen to shout out, otherwise, you will never have the off-leash control you have always wanted. If you can't get up and follow through with your command, don't say it at all. It's only setting your dog up for failure.
Tags: off leash, advanced obedience, come, recall
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