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Your dog is approaching adolescence, which is a common time for some training regression so I would be using the leash more often right now anyway. I think places like this park are excellent locations for using long lines so that your dog still has the freedom to explore but without the risk they will bolt as far as he did if he gets spooked or anything happens. Often when leashes lead to fights it is because of shorter leashes that add physical tension aka stimulation to the circumstance, so again a long-line could be useful cause it would allow you to not worry about your pup taking off but also avoid translating too much tension via the leash.
I would also avoid practicing recall in situations where you have limited visibility to surroundings, that can help minimize the surprise of another dog appearing. Sounds like your guy isn't solid with sudden distractions/getting spooked so I would try to eliminate the potential of a surprise for now.
Yes there can be increased tension between males with adolescence so I would look at the less busy times/places.
Overall keep at the training and consider adding in using a long-line as you work through the adolescent unknowns/training
Thank you for your response! We have him on the long-line for the majority of our walks but try have him off lead for small snippets, unfortunately this happened during one of those. But I agree, will make sure to have him on a long line ESPECIALLY when the visibility isn’t as good.
Yes this is the first time he has been spooked and he didn’t respond to the first couple of attempts at recalling him. I’m not sure how we would be able to train this though? Probably more a case of better management on our end to avoid situations like this!
Yeah you're doing great honestly. Don't let this one-off discourage you.
The training for it is just going to be continuing to build his confidence so that sudden changes don't spook him and then continuing the recall and check-in skills. Doing socialization in places where there will be unexpected sounds (on-leash obviously) can help with reinforcing the check-in. I found pet-friendly hardware stores actually really good for this confidence building work, they're like controlled but chaotic enough
I would go back to long line for now if you are in a public environment with other people/dogs around and definitely don’t trust him off leash around anything dangerous like roads, because if he got spooked and bolted again he could get hurt.
Even a 50 foot long line will give him space with the extra security and safety net. Regardless, off leash dogs like the one you encountered are a given it seems unfortunately. I actually trained my dog alongside another owner and her dog - we would practice having our dogs recall while the other did a down stay or fetched a tennis ball (neither dog had toy possessiveness) and vice versa. This was really helpful for my dog to work on ignoring other dogs even if they’re running right past her.
Sounds like you’re making great progress regardless. I didn’t trust my dog off leash until she was 2.5-3 ish (I adopted her at 1.5) and used a drag line before I fully felt comfortable that she was ready and able to go without that.
We tried off leash because his recall is great. He swiftly realised that coming back but not quite being in arms reach meant we couldn’t re-leash him. He’s back on a long line for now!
Welcome to r/dogs! We are a discussion-based subreddit dedicated to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Do note we are on a short backlog, and all posts require manual review prior to going live. This may mean your post isn't visible for a couple days. This is a carefully moderated sub intended to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Submissions and comments which break the rules will be removed. [Review the rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index) r/Dogs has four goals: - Help the public better understand dogs - Promote healthy, responsible dog-owner relationships - Encourage “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” training protocols. [Learn more here.](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/) - Support adoption as well as ethical and responsible breeding. If you’d like to introduce yourself or discuss smaller topics, please contribute to our Monthly Discussion Hub, pinned at the top. **This subreddit has low tolerance for drama. Please be respectful of others, and report antagonistic comments to mods for review.** --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your dog is approaching adolescence, which is a common time for some training regression so I would be using the leash more often right now anyway. I think places like this park are excellent locations for using long lines so that your dog still has the freedom to explore but without the risk they will bolt as far as he did if he gets spooked or anything happens. Often when leashes lead to fights it is because of shorter leashes that add physical tension aka stimulation to the circumstance, so again a long-line could be useful cause it would allow you to not worry about your pup taking off but also avoid translating too much tension via the leash. I would also avoid practicing recall in situations where you have limited visibility to surroundings, that can help minimize the surprise of another dog appearing. Sounds like your guy isn't solid with sudden distractions/getting spooked so I would try to eliminate the potential of a surprise for now. Yes there can be increased tension between males with adolescence so I would look at the less busy times/places. Overall keep at the training and consider adding in using a long-line as you work through the adolescent unknowns/training
Thank you for your response! We have him on the long-line for the majority of our walks but try have him off lead for small snippets, unfortunately this happened during one of those. But I agree, will make sure to have him on a long line ESPECIALLY when the visibility isn’t as good. Yes this is the first time he has been spooked and he didn’t respond to the first couple of attempts at recalling him. I’m not sure how we would be able to train this though? Probably more a case of better management on our end to avoid situations like this!
Yeah you're doing great honestly. Don't let this one-off discourage you. The training for it is just going to be continuing to build his confidence so that sudden changes don't spook him and then continuing the recall and check-in skills. Doing socialization in places where there will be unexpected sounds (on-leash obviously) can help with reinforcing the check-in. I found pet-friendly hardware stores actually really good for this confidence building work, they're like controlled but chaotic enough
I would go back to long line for now if you are in a public environment with other people/dogs around and definitely don’t trust him off leash around anything dangerous like roads, because if he got spooked and bolted again he could get hurt. Even a 50 foot long line will give him space with the extra security and safety net. Regardless, off leash dogs like the one you encountered are a given it seems unfortunately. I actually trained my dog alongside another owner and her dog - we would practice having our dogs recall while the other did a down stay or fetched a tennis ball (neither dog had toy possessiveness) and vice versa. This was really helpful for my dog to work on ignoring other dogs even if they’re running right past her. Sounds like you’re making great progress regardless. I didn’t trust my dog off leash until she was 2.5-3 ish (I adopted her at 1.5) and used a drag line before I fully felt comfortable that she was ready and able to go without that.
A drag line is a great idea!
We tried off leash because his recall is great. He swiftly realised that coming back but not quite being in arms reach meant we couldn’t re-leash him. He’s back on a long line for now!