Letting your puppy off the lead for the 1st time?!

[Lovemypuppy]

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I am so nervous about doing this! My puppy is 14 weeks old and I have been told it's better to let them off when they are younger as they are more likely to come back!

Does anyone have any tips or advice?

 

[goldenbear2013]

First off it's thats the little guy in profile picture..soooooooo cute!

And don't worry too much about letting him off the lead, he will stick to you like glue.

He may wander a little about 10 feet or so but he is at the stage where he is fixed on you not so much the sites and smells around him.

Mine never left my side up until 6 months old and now he is back on a long lead practicing recalls again as he is in the wonderful stage of life called adolescence! oh the joys!

Anyway, if you are slightly concerned get a long lead. You can buy a 10 meter nylon lead from pets at home for approximately £7.

You can keep him on that and see how he does for the first few times. If he doesnt wander off then let him off his lead.

You can also practice their recall with them too; try take someone with you for that and they can run from one person to another.

And the best thing about letting them off their lead and run around for a bit is they sleep for AGES afterwards so you actually get some peace and quite! lol

Good Luck

Sophie x

 

[Lovemypuppy]

Thank u so much for the reply

We did buy a long lead and have been practicing recall and today I finally let her off....... But it was in an enclosed children's play area (empty might I add and she had already poo'd)

She did stay quite close but I'm still nervous to let her off in the park bit!!!

Is your pup a lab? Xx

 

[Paws Couture]

Hello there,

It is a very nervous time when you let your Puppy off the lead for the 1st time, but I do agree that it's best to do it early, I let my 2 dogs off the lead the 1st time they went up the park as they feel nervous so want to stay near you. I also suggest taking some yummy treats and when you call them and they come to you or look at you say 'good boy/girl' and treat them straight away as this teaches them it's good to come to you when their name is called.

Hope this helps,

Paul.

 

[goldenbear2013]

Hi lovemypuppy!

Yes our puppy is a lab!

He is a crazy boy at the mo as he is now 8 months and in full swing of his adolescence!

He never comes off lead or his long lead.

His recall was perfect up til 6 months as and now he is interested with interacting with other dogs and found his nose we are reinforcing his recall as he hardly ever comes back!

Keep powering through and you will be fine

sophie x

 

[dottydiva62]

Hiya

I have a four month old labradoodle puppy and I was very nervous about letting her off a few weeks ago but it was fine. I had been doing alot of recall work at home; blowing a whistle around the house and in the garden and then rewarding her with a treat and she never failed to come back. Also I know it sounds stupid but quite often if we are walking and she is not looking I hide behind a tree just to keep her on her toes! Good Luck.

 

[Rileytess]

it also depends on the pup's personality, one of mine i let off pretty early and she was fine but i kept my other dog on lead when he was a pup at first as he was a bit too confident and completely forgot about me!

 

[MikeAnnand]

What a great looking Puppy,the method I use is to let them off the lead in a park where you have a good space in so they cannot get into too much puppy trouble. I keep walking without stopping they usually follow and keep with you to start with but as they get more confident they stop for a sniff around, at that point I keep walking and just call once. I found by keeping walking they had to keep up all ears flapping and bounding. As they they got more confident to stop I got more confident to occasionally trot off after calling them, its a game of nerve in the early stage and as they say "who dares wins". I would get to puppy classes and above to socialise as this will help in the future when you can both enjoy walking and behaving.

 

[poppy2714]

What beautiful dogs!! would anyone recommend clickers for training?? I have a cockapoo and I want to know what ideas people have for training them

 

[Blossom_Beagle]

Clickers are a fantastic aid to training but firstly you must train yourself to use it correctly otherwise you will be throwing it away after a week. Read the instructions properly and you wont go far wrong.