Daisy ran off in the park yesterday! WHAT??

[Jordan & Daisy]

We finished puppy training classes with Daisy and she listens GREAT when she wants to, but the problem is when she doesn't want to!!

We take her to a local park and let her run around off leash (leash still attached but we aren't holding it) a few times a week. Normally she runs circles around us or very close to us and never goes far but yesterday she TOOK OFF! My husband had to go running after her and found her right next to the parking lot which terrified me.

She didn't listen to "stay" or "come", and she didn't care that I had treats. All the training she's had pretty much gets thrown out the window when we are in the park. She also pulls us tremendously on the leash when we go for walks.

I am at a loss, what are we doing wrong? Is this a puppy thing? She's only 4.5 months, will this just get worse?

[sandy b]

I think it's normal at this stage, all the more reason to keep training & keep her on a leash! I still have a document Max's breeder sent us before we brought Max home - puppy stages. From 4-8 months is flight instinct period: pup becomes more independent, will venture off, will ignore commands. What you can do: leash on 100% of time when not in confined area, keep training using positive techniques, make come a very positive experience. Good luck & enjoy Daisy, she's a cutie!!

[Malenie Piscetelli]

Lucy is also 4.5 months old and go to puppy training and will continue intermediate and advance training. Daisy will not get worse. She is still a puppy. Try to find a very small park and work way way up. Are you going to continue next step for training?

[Adina P]

Puppy class is to good obedience what preschool is to a college degree.  It's a stepping stone, but it is far from the end result.  A key thing to remember is that if you want your dog to behave off leash, you've got to have pretty darn perfect on-leash obedience to begin with.  If you want your dog to obey in the park, then a large amount of training needs to happen in the park.  If you're not 'working' in the park more than you're casual in the park, then it just becomes a place a dog thinks "this place is a place I kick back and don't have to worry about commands." 

What I would do is a lot of repetition in the park.  But 'the park' is different every time.  It's more distracting some times in some places and less distracting at other times in other places.  Each distraction is an added level of difficulty.  You have to consider what's going on near your pup and be able to spot distracting things before she does to a degree.  Then you can use those to your advantage and go farther or closer to the distracting things to practice sit, come, etc.

But don't get stuck in the park either.  Practice outside of the dog park.  Practice in front of Home Depot or Lowes.  Practice near houses with dogs behind fences.  Practice with toys on the sidewalk you've set up.  Dogs are distracted by a lot of different drives and the tough part of training is making sure to work those varying distractions into the training.

Ultimately, the best course of action is to continue on past 'preschool' to higher levels of obedience classes.  Good luck!

[Jordan & Daisy]

Thank you for such a detailed response! We have not done any of these thing and clearly we need to. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with Adina. Puppy class is just the beginning. Obedience training is continuous throughout a dog's life, and a reliable recall takes a long, long time and a LOT of practice. I don't even think it would be possible for a puppy. 

Work daily on loose leash walking and all of her commands.

And yes, it will get "worse" as Daisy enters her teenage phase and decides that obeying your commands is optional. Time to ramp up the training. :)

[Gem's Jewel]

This has been a huge success in our house for years - cooked chicken cut up in small pieces or cooked ground chicken/turkey and only used for "come" or whatever term you use. Make coming to you better than anything else could possibly be, start inside in a small room using an excited voice & lots of attention when she comes and give her several pieces saying "Yes good come" each time you give her a piece of chicken. After several days of the small room move to a larger room, then another part of the house & once she gets good at that move outside to your yard or small enclosed area and keep working up to larger places. At first even try a long cable on her so if she does resist you can gently encourage her to come and never fuss if she takes to long to come. She might associate coming to you as bad instead of taking to long. Make sure she only gets this for coming to you and no other command. Good luck & keep up the puppy classes.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

It only took one time for Kona to break his stay and dart in front of an oncoming car for me to NEVER let him be outside without a leash unless in a fenced in dog park area.  He was 4 months when that happened and he was extremely obedient.  I let someone convince me to test his "off leash" obedience that moment and I still get shivers thinking about how scared I was as that car screeched to a stop while I screamed in fear.  He is 18 months now and I still have never let him be off-leash again.  I'm not sure that I ever will.  He got a lot of private training after that and is much better, but I still don't trust his natural instincts to dart after something interesting like a car or bicycle in the street when I least expect it. 

[Jordan & Daisy]

Thank you all much for your thoughtful input. I did what Adina P suggested and took Daisy back to the park today ON LEASH and practiced her obedience commands there with some tasty treats. It was really great, she listened well and I specifically practiced her commands when people were around, riding by on bikes, etc. She was reluctant at first but figured out that I wasn't messing around and she listened!

I learned my lesson!!! I'm gonna keep practicing with her. Thank you all. :)

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this already but as you progress with training you can use longer and longer leashes or light weight ropes to extend her range safely.  I used a 1/4 inch nylon 50 foot rope for a while with Tara (no retractables though!). It sounds like you  have a good plan now to help her understand what you want of her-keep up the good work!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It takes a very long time to truly train a dog and even then you have to keep practicing the commands or they will forget the skill.  Daisy is still a little puppy and her skills are totally unreliable.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree that you need foolproof on-leash training before you can consider them to be reliable with distractions off-leash.  I personally wouldn't trust a puppy this young who has only had puppy classes and no formal obedience training.  The fact that she's still pulling on the leash tells me that she hasn't learned "the rules" and that doesn't bode well for allowing her to be off leash.  I really think you will need a trainer and a program and lots of work in all kinds of situations.....and gradually work your way up to off leash.  Whenever we take our dogs off leash we start with a good 15 minutes of on-leash exercises...heel, sit, stay, down.  This sets the tone for them.  When we remove the leash it's a "process".  We remove it calmly and give a down/stay command at the same time....then we make them wait a few minutes before they are released.  We do recalls the entire time they are off leash.  I find it's important for us to leave them....go several yards away....and then do recalls.  It seems to help versus allowing them to run off and then give the recall.  Keep working and you'll eventually get there...it takes time and work.