Leashing

[Joanie]

Hi :)  Ok, I have a question.  I personally always leash my dogs.  I live in an garden apartment, and we have lots of woods and open space, but we also live on a main road.  Even if I go somewhere with one of my babies like to the park I always always leash unless we are in say the tennis courts where I can close it off and don't have to worry that one of my babies will run away.  Our neighbor has three dogs and doesn't leash them.  They do amazing off leash, but personally it makes me nervous.  Today over at my friends house he took Lani off her leash and I mean she did alright, but it really did make me so nervous so I put her back on leash.  Am I just being over protective?  Am I babying her too much?

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I am very over protective of my doodles.  They are never off leash unless they are in a fenced in area.  Sasha has great recall and Oliver does too but I just don't trust them.   I'm so afraid if Ollie sees something that he wants to chase he is just going to bolt.  I live in a well populated area and would not even think of taking them off leash.  They both love people and other dogs and would run to great them which I am afraid of if they would run up to a not so friendly dog.  I know Sasha would stick by my side because she does at the dog park but I just can't bring myself to let her roam at the park at the end of the street - I just can't!!!  There are major highways around my house so I would rather be safe than sorry.  I always say if I could keep my doodles in a bubble I would - LOL

 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I also see people with their dogs off Leash and  I keep thinking how do they do it?? But like you I am too nervous to let Riley run free even if it looks like a safe place.  The possibilities of something bad happening are too many.  I do use a long line (40 feet) when we go to forests or big parks and that lets Riley run and scramble around and I can pull him back if needed.

[BG and Gavin]

This is a great compromise Nicky!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I have Cooper off leash in our yard which isnt fenced ONLY when my MILs dog is out there too. Abbey is attached to a long line, and they play together. Im pretty confident Cooper will not run off, but im always abit concerned. As soon as she starts to wander towards the back of the house (away from the road but still wandering) I end play time. When its just Cooper and I she is always on her long line.

 I have Cooper off leash on off leash hiking trails and she stays pretty close. But I would never have her off leash near a road. no matter how well trained, something could easily distract a dog (bird, person, car, rabbit) and they could dash off into the road.

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin is allowed off leash in a few areas.  We have two parks that we go to that are fenced on three sides.  As well when we go to the beach and at the cottage.  The deciding factor for me is that there are no cars around any of these areas.  I do not fear that he will run off very far, but he would bolt after another animal and I don't think he would consider a car coming.  Just like Donna we play hide and seek a lot.  I duck behind a tree or a groin at the beach  and he goies on high alert to find me.  Hit by a car is my number one fear!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

My rule if " if in doubt---leash stays on". I have to be 100% certain there is no way they can run after something and in the path of danger or lost. I have had one too many times of allowing my "trained" "attentive" and otherwise loyal dogs go running after a cat, squirrel or bird and not look back for me for a very long distance. I don't think I will ever get to the level of training it would take to stop that behavior, so I will always be " in doubt and leash".

[Leslie and Halas]

I agree with what some of the others have said:  You have to have a 100% reliable recall in order to let them off leash in an area that isn't fenced.  Halas' recall is very good, and he doesn't wander too far when he is off leash, but I can't be sure that he wouldn't chase a critter if he saw one, so I keep him on leash when we go on our walks in the field behind our house.

There also may be critters out there that could hurt Halas, so I'd rather have him close to me on-leash, in case I need to get him away from an area quickly.  Here's an example, although this doesn't apply to most of our doodles because of their size:  Our obedience club sent out an e-mail warning the other day saying there have been a lot of eagle sightings around the club.  An eagle could easily pick up a small dog, so they wanted to remind people to keep their dogs close and keep their eyes open.  I figure if my dog is on a leash, I can grab him more quickly and get him inside the building if I see eagles flying around.  If he's off leash, I have to rely on his recall when I see the eagle, and hope the eagle doesn't see him as prey when he runs to me.  So leashing can be for the dogs' safety in some cases.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

In our area it's coyotes, scorpions, snakes. All of which can even get into our backyards I know, but I can see them easily in the yard.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna goes off-leash in an unfenced dog park near our house, but she is only allowed off-leash far away from the parking lot.

She is good at coming when called when we're leaving (she doesn't try to "run away" to avoid being leashed again) - otherwise I would be wary to let her off leash at all.  There is a busy road nearby, and I have seen many dogs run onto it when they aren't leashed far enough away.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I feel the same as you-would love to do it but too scared. Even if they were the best trained dogs in the world anything can happen and I could never live with the guilt. If you have the time to train them to you are positive you can trust them in any situation that would be great, until then I think you are correct!!