Hiking in is a WHOLE lot slower than hiking out!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I've been taking Yogi hiking on a few trails near us. On the start of our hike he has to smell every blade of grass, tree stump, horse poop, etc, but on the way out he's all business :-). I noticed several hikes ago he seemed to know the way out because these trails have many forks and options of ways to head, but he consistently chooses the right path.

So now when we head back he leads the way, not stopping for anything, he's going at a pretty fast walk, I have to run a fair amount of the time to keep up (good exercise for me). He pauses and glances back at me a lot to see if I'm keeping up (on a 12' lead we use for hiking).

But I just have found this pretty cool that he knows the way out. He's my little compass. You guys find this to be true? Is it the retriever part of them?

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

I have been letting Maserati off leash since he was 6 1/2 months old. He has an amazing recall that we have worked really hard to achieve. Bentley, wasn't allowed to be off leash until he was 1.5 ish and even then he had more boundaries in place than we need with Mazi.
I really think it depends on the dog. Our middle dog cannot and will not ever be an off leash dog unless she's in an enclosed area despite numerous training styles and methods.

[Julie and Max]

Max always knows the way home from wherever we are. I also hide on him all the time, it's pretty funny to watch him from my hiding spot, his head goes up, he looks around for about five seconds with his mouth kind of open, then he runs right at me. It's weird how he always knows just where I am. 

Leslie I know off leash is kind of a touchy subject for some here, but I think it's just knowing your dog, and knowing that you have a very consistent recall.

[Kelly]

Skeet walks ahead of me at our lake cabin but always circles behind me or looks back to make sure I am there.

He is a creature of habit. Always wants to take the same path. He used to roam around the cabin perimeter on

his own but something spooked him so now he must have a chaperone. He always knows the way home.

 

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Jack does just what you said, stops and smells the roses all the way there and is all business on the way back. He knows when to turn, etc too! Jilly let's say is just a rose smelling kinda girl! : )

[Miss Ellie]

Ellie could probably do our walk without me LOL...I am always pleasantly surprised at how she knows which driveway is ours...it really is truly amazing...and yes definitely think it is the retriever in them...our golden retriever was the very same way:)

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I have also found that Ragley learns directions very quickly. We recently went to visit my younger sister and stayed in her dorm apartment with her and it only took one trip up and back for her to learn how to wind through the halls to get to the correct room. She would initiate each turn and then she just stopped right in front of the apartment door. Pretty cool how fast she learned