Off Leash Training.....I Can't Wait!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thursday is Murphy's first off leash training session.  I'm using the private trainer who has been working with us for the past few months.  I think having the right trainer will be critical - this is definitely not something I would ever consider trying to do on my own.  I chose him because I know that he has successfully off leash trained his own dog. The training center where I took Murph for his "behavioral" classes doesn't even offer of leash programs.  It's really amazing to me that my trainer's dog behaves off lead exactly the same way as if he were leashed.  So, I talked with him last night, and he asked me to start thinking about my "expectations" for Murphy.  Apparently off leash reliability can be pretty narrowly defined to mean something as simple as a consistent recall in any situation to things like being able to put your dog in a down stay while they are across an open field from where you are standing.  He said, of course we'll break it all down to manageable exercises, but he wanted me to be clear about what I'm looking for ultimately.  I think I want it "all".  What's most important to me is that in the Summer when we're at the beach that he can be trusted.  We go to a private beach, and dogs are allowed to be off leash.  Right now that would never work with Murphy.  He said that he decides whether a dog is ready for this before he will even accept a client.  His opinion is that focus is the base for the training, and without that it just won't be successful.  He feels that Murphy does have that focus.  He said that he has noticed that Murph always is conscious of exactly where I am and that is a critical foundation.  His opinion is that this came from the early focus work that we did (thank you for that, Adina) and the daily "heel" training.  He reminded me that we will have to continuously reinforce ALL of the work that has been done so far "on lead"....that doesn't stop because it's critical to the next step.  I'm not sure exactly what that means yet.  So, to me this is all very exciting.  Many months ago when I was in the trenches with Murphy, I watched a young man with his dog training off lead.  It was a beautiful thing to see.  This dog was so totally in sync with his owner that there was absolutely no need to have a leash.  When I watched that I knew it's where I wanted to go.  So now we're on our new journey.  I'll continue to update this post as we go through our sessions.  Anyone who is also doing off leash training, please post here as well.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I should have said...please post here, or start your own discussion on how you're approaching the training along with any input for others (like me) who are just beginning.

[Adina P]

It's so exciting that you've gotten this far, Jane :-)  I look forward to hearing how the next few off leash sessions go for you.

 

I'm still trying to decide WHEN to start Boca on off leash work.  I know she needs more practice while leashed (not that leash work has to stop) still to improve her focus around distractions.  However, when we do move to off leash work we start with about 100 feet of very light line and that will be gradually reduced in length over time until it's not there any more.  I know the protocol I will be following, but it still intimidates me to a degree.

[Jennifer & Kai]

Oh how I wish I could be right there with you to do that with Kai.  I am going to start searching for someone here in Richmond...that would be wonderful to accomplish that with my dog.

[Kyoko]

Good luck!! I hope things works out for you...... I was totally criticised by Charlie's trainer last night, so I am a bit bummed out.  In our Rally II class, we had moved on to off leash training, and I told her that I was not comfortable, because of her still exisiting reactiveness, and would like to participate still with lead. Eventually as the time went on, I was told to pull my registraton for the trial even though she can do all of the exercise in the ring, and last night ended with heavy criticism, such as " You don't even have a fast sit" , " She can't even go 10 steps without dropping her eyes", and " She is a danger to the community" - Because she gave another dog a direct eye contact, then that dog barked and lunged at Charlie.-  " Danger to the community?" I asked her how is that when Charlie did not even move, and Finn was the one who barked and lunged at her? She said that Charlie was giving Finn "threatenning look".... Whatever.... Charlie is reactive, but has never attacked any one nor has never been in dog fight. She is more afraid than anything else. I even help for her co-trainer's CGC class!!!   I started to think about changing the trainer once this series is over. Because it did not make sense.... I know my dog is reactive, isn't that why I am there? Sorry for getting off the subject......

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I can certainly understand why you were "bummed out".  I can also understand why this would be very confusing feedback.  How fast does the sit have to be?  And "danger to the community"....WTD?  Do you have a strong enough relationship with this trainer to sit down and talk about this?

[Kyoko]

She wants immediate drop down military type of speed. Which her dog does and so is co-trainer's dog. Charlie will give you pretty fast sit, down and stand 85 % of the time. And I am happy with that. I totally did not understand that " Danger to the Community" part, and as she was speaking, I started to try to understand her underline motive for saying this. We did have a pretty good relationship, to the point she asked me to assist with basic and CGC classes... until, she sugeested we do "Flooding" with Charlie to address her reactiveness, so I watched "Flooding" on you tube to see what it is. I came across Cisar Millan's Flooding which scared me and brought the concerns to me. I spoke with her that I am not comfortable with this, and if hers were any different, to please let me know. I think I really pissed her off then, as I questioned her credential or something. Since then the relationship has not been too good. I am just feeling really targetted in that class and not encouraged.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think there are a few types of "flooding" exercises.  We used this technique with Murphy at the very beginning...when his dog reactiveness was completely out of control.  He was so "crazed" at that point that we (the trainer and I) weren't effectively able to train around most distractions.  So, we used to sit right outside Petco on a bench with Murphy and let all the other dogs parade by.  We started out by distracting him at the point we first noticed another dog getting out of a car with treats.  We would just calmly feed him the treats as the dog passed us.  Even with the treats there were some times where he would react (especially if the other dog was reacting to him), and then he would get a verbal correction and I would block him from viewing the other dog with my body.  He was on a leash and choke collar during this exercise, and if the treats and body blocks didn't work he did get a collar correction.  The idea was to change his mindset from "all other dogs are bad and I need to react to them" to "oh boy, another dog....treats".  We did this exercise several times and I do think my trainer referred to it as flooding.  I guess it was helpful because after a few weeks we were then able to take Murph to the Park and expose him to other dogs in a working setting.  He was still reactive, and needed (and will probably always need) work with this issue, but it was manageable.  I didn't see anything that I was concerned about with the process.  Maybe you need to talk more with the trainer about exactly what she had in mind.  There are some types of "flooding" that I would never consider, but I'm not clear about what she had in mind.

[Kyoko]

Thanks Jane. I went to the class tonight, really anxious and nervous that I would feel singled out. But I made up my mind that I will not let that bother me, and learn what she had to offer, after all I have been with her for a year and half, and I believe that she is a good dog trainer. ( Just not a people person, I think)

We did something similar to what you are saying, we called it "look at that Game" from Leslie McDevitts's book " Control Unleashed". Basically the counterconditioning , pairing the uncomfortable sotiation with good stuff... But she said she didn't want me doing that anymore... :-(  So, I am confused. Sigh. But it went OK tonight and I was not miserable.... I will just keep working on it!! :-)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Hmmm, I would be confused too.  As long as you believe she's a good trainer, that's the important thing.  You've come so far in your training....I think you're doing such a great job.

[Adina P]

Flooding sometimes works.  Basically you immerse the dog in the thing that makes it uncomfortable or stressed or fearful until it realizes everything is actually fine.  I have no idea what she had in mind, but you might ask her exactly what SHE had in mind for the steps to flood Charlie.  It could backfire but it could also work, but it would be better to know exactly what SHE means vs. what videos you saw. 

I certainly wouldn't want you to do something you believe is wrong.  But sometimes we react emotionally to things that aren't really harmful and could help. 

[Kyoko]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Whe I saw that video, ( I now cant find it ) I was really horrified, but the trainer got upset and was not willing to explain things to me... :-(

[Carol Brand]

 We have been doing off leash work for a while in terms of RECALL, STAND FOR EXAM, and SIT/STAYS.  We recently graduated to off leash healing in preparation for our upcoming show.  I'm pretty happy with our results, but she gets a tiny bit laggy on the "fast".   Our figure eights are also laggy but they will be passable. Really I'm just trying to slap what I call a Gentleman's CD on her before I breed her this summer/fall.  I'll put more effort into polishing her Open training.

 

The biggest danger with off leash work is that some dogs learn very quickly that once off leash they can't be corrected.  I know that the Beagle woman I train with does not ever have her dogs off leash for at least the 1st 10 months of their lives.