Does your doodle run away?

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Is it a doodle thing to not run away? Maizy didn't. Sky doesn't either, she darts outside to play with the kids but sticks close. And I've been trying her off-leash at the tail end of our evening walks (only when we're on our street). And she does great. I actually think it's helping her listen to me better.

What about your doodle?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I have one Doodle (Murphy) who sticks right with me.....partly from training and partly because he gets worried if he can't see his Mom.  I trust him not to "run away" even with distractions.  Guinness is really good 95% of the time, but that's just not good enough for me to fully trust him.  If the distraction is exciting enough to him he will go for it, so he's still a "work in progress".

[Ginny Nightingale]

I am sure mine would come right back to me--they are very devoted to their momma---but i am too worried to try it unless there is a large fenced in area like a dog park--they are too precious to me. I see signs about lost dogs all over my area and the dog always took off during a hike when the dog was allowed to be off-leash...

I did have one of my doodles staying with a friend and she let my dog off leash on a hike--she told me later that the dog did fine--I was a bit perturbed since I was never asked about whether or not she should trust my dog--but it went well, thank goodness. I agree with you that MOST doodles are very tied to their owners--but you never know what could come around the corner--a car, something to chase, or another dog that is not trustworthy--I am such a worrier!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think it varies with the dog, it's definitely not a "doodle thing". There are lots of doodles who run away every chance they get, often with tragic consequences. 

It has to do with how bonded the dog is to you, with training, and with the individual dog's temperament and prey drive.

JD is very bonded to me and would not run away; but that doesn't mean he wouldn't run across the street to say "hi" to another dog if he had the chance, maybe right in front of a moving car. :)

[jenn D]

Two of mine would come back reliably about 90% of the time. Jake however I'm pretty worried he wouldn't. We work very hard with him alot on recall training. But I would say 50/50 for him. He has a very strong prey drive.I'm not sure if that's due to he is 75% poodle or because we are still bonding with him, or because of his life before us. I adore Jake but I can't see him off lead at least at this point in his life. He WOULD be the doodle who would, in his excitement get hit by a car. He is too fast and impulsive. Having said that, I do believe he would want to come back to us after his prey chasing was satisfied. Brisby's and pickles would probably come. Their prey drive and sense of adventure is lower.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If Jake has a very high prey drive, that's most likely from both sides of his heritage, but I think Retrievers generally have higher prey drives than Poodles. :D

[Breanna]

Our front door only shuts when you SLAM it or push it and lock it after closing it. It is a problem when guests come over and forget (and my boyfriend and I have been guilty once or twice). She has gone out but didn't leave our yard or the next door neighbor's yard. She was trained as a puppy not to walk out the door without me but she has before. She just doesn't dart for the street and run off. I think the only way she would is if she started sniffing around, got distracted, and lost her way. I do feel that if I left her in my backyard while we were at work (which I would never do), she may dig out trying to find me and get lost. 

[Tammy and Violet]

I would not trust Violet at all off leash ....not sure if I ever can ?

 I live in a town home ,no fenced yard ,,,I wish I could trust her..

[Moe]

I've been walking my dog offleash since I got her. We only walk offleash on footpaths in the woods and it took a ton of training. She is reliable 100% of the time. She's never approached people or other dogs offleash. If she sees people in the distance she runs back to me to have her leash put back on. It annoys me when I meet people out hiking in the woods who let their dog run up to us. They'll yell - don't worry he's friendly. Sometimes I want to yell back - Mine's not so you better be careful or mine has highly contagious disease. People shouldn't assume every other person / dog wants to meet their dog. The dog may not run away but if you can't call the dog back 100% of the time I don't think you should walk them offleash.   </end rant>

[Jennifer Tramell]

Not running away is definitely NOT a doodle thing - I wish it were!  I think it is 1) and attentive owner thing and 2) and individual personality thing.  I've had 5 dogs so far and the most reliable dog was my first no kid non-doodle.  The more kids in the family, the less attentive I've been for the dogs.  My doodles are extremely devoted but they will run off if given the chance.  My first 2 dogs never ran off, however I've spent many on hour on a wild doodle chase with my current 3 dogs. 

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Both of our doodles have wonderful recalls and are off leash whenever they're allowed to be. However, it has nothing to do with being a doodle but lots of recall training on our part! Bentley did not have a solid recall until he was about 3 years old. He was good about 90% of the time, but that was 10% of the time not good enough for us to allow him off leash until about 3. Maserati on the other hand has been off leash since about 6 months. Recall was our number 1 goal when he was a pup. Living in Alaska it was an imperative skill he have. He is now 10 months and I can't think of a time I've doubted his recall since about 6 months. 

Porsche, our Chinese Crested Powderpuff is only allowed off leash in fenced in areas. She does not have a reliable recall therefore no off leash time for her. She is almost 7. We tried all of the above training methods w/ Porsche that we used with Bentley (who is almost 8) with no luck. We tried other methods also, but she just wasn't ever going to achieve a reliable recall in our opinion. Luckily, she enjoys going with us and the boys happily frolic around us all. :) 

[Julie and Max]

Max was great until he hit 10 months and the bunnies started coming out to play so now he can't be off leash until I can trust him again. He is wonderful like Jane said 95% of the time but that's not good enough. If he sees a bunny he goes completely deaf and I really don't want to deal with dead bunny!

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

Off leash is not something I'm willing to test yet, George is very obedient, but still only 7 1/2 months old. That being said, there were two incidences this weekend when I realized she would never leave my side (I think! You can never be sure) the first, I was going to the front yard to do some gardening, I set her E-Collar boundary to the edge of our front yard and figured she could be with me outside while I gardened. She wouldn't come out the front door. I had to leash her to get her to walk out. We've trained her to that, but I guess I didn't realize how well we had done. She knows that no matter how long the front door is open she's not to walk out until she's released (you're free!) but even after saying the release command multiple times she still thought I was testing her I guess. The second time was on our walk this afternoon, there were a couple neighbors outside and she REALLY wanted to say hello. Her collar slipped off her head. As soon as the collar slid over her ears I kind of started to panic, she ran immediately to my side and sat until I got her collar on.
I was trying so hard to get her collar back on that I didn't even think to reach into my pocket and "click and treat" BAD MOM. Missed such a good opportunity to reward. Sooo based on this weekends experiences I don't think George would ever run away, but she will never get the option!!! And I think it's probably still a little too young to tell.