Off leash

[Snowshoe]

The best time to start off leash is when they are very young, under 16 weeks old one site suggests. Then they are afraid to be too far from you and come on the tear when they realize you, or they, have got out of their comfort zone. It's super easy to teach recall at this time.

https://www.lab-retriever.net/board/m...teaching-come/

My pups have been off leash since I got them at 7 and 8 weeks. BUT, I have access to large places where this is allowed AND we hardly ever met anyone else. For this early, early learning it's key that you and pup be alone.


Combining whistle training with North/South fetch has allowed me to train Oban to leave high distractions like moving bicycles, snowmobiles, dirt bikes, horses alone and come to me. I barely need the whistle now. Oban was about 18 months when I discovered N/S so this should work at Diggity's age. I found N/S originally on a UK gundog site.

https://www.lab-retriever.net/board/m...h-south-fetch/

[MightyThor]

I'm really lucky in that I have miles and miles of open BLM land out my back gate. These trails are non-motorized and there are very rarely people around. I get to take my dogs out there on walks all the time and leashes aren't required. I always carry leashes with me since you never know who or what you can run into, but the dogs are off-leash 99% of the time we are out there.

Thor is very solid off leash. It came really naturally to him. He never wants to be far away from his people, so he's constantly checking in, looking back every time he gets more than ~50 ft away. His recall is solid and even if he's (rarely) out of earshot or not paying attention I am confident that he'll show up in a minute or two. I've been really lucky with him and haven't really had to train it, he's just a really good off leash dog. Worst case, I yell "who wants a cookie?" and Thor is instantly back at my side. Which has made Barley a challenge. It is very different with him because he's needed much more training. He sounds much more like Diggity - bold and curious and more inclined to set out on his own (to be fair, this is the personality I asked for when the breeder helped me pick a puppy!). He gets the GPS e-collar for emergencies (it can track him up to 2.5 miles away - I've never had to use it but he wears the collar when he's off leash), and I also always carry a ball because if he is ignoring recall, all i have to do is hold up the ball and squeak it and he comes back to me at full speed.

So, my guys haven't been as formally trained as a dog like Brooks, but for our informal outings having an emergency recall for each dog is helpful.

[bmathers]

OH and have you taught Diggity the "place" command????

I have taught him “settle” where he goes to his mat and lies down. But, this is only inside and in the kitchen, where I want him to lie down while food is being prepared or eaten. How did you teach Brooks to lie down at one whistle blow and stay until you released him?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bmathers]

Thanks for all your replies. It really helps to hear your stories and experiences.

Seems that most of you use an e-collar when your dogs are off leash. For those that use them, what ones do you use? Do you have them set for just a buzz for a recall? As I mentioned, I did look into this awhile ago and realize that you have to go through training to make sure we both understand how to use the e-collar.

Sundance, yours is what I am the most afraid of! Diggity taking off after a deer or a coyote (both around here) and being so far away from me that I can’t find him!

MightyThor, your situation sounds ideal. I would love to live in an area like you do and be able to walk without worry of traffic. Diggity definitely is more like Barley!

Snowshoe, thank you for those links. I agree about training them early off leash and I started to do that with Diggity, but even at a young age, he ventured very far off quickly and ran to anyone or anything he saw. He is so bold and curious.

Annette, that window is ridiculously small for Diggity. In fact, most of the time I don’t even see it. Not that long ago, we were at the huge soccer field and before I could even blink, he saw a guy walking his dog way over on the street and he bolted for them, leaped into the air and slammed into the fence halfway up trying to get to them!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[barry581]

I teach most commands, sit, stay, down, place, etc, that Brooks is to maintain that command until I release him. I use OK, or "touch" where he will rise up and touch my hand with his nose. Others use "free" as a release word, but you could use anything.

Sitting on the whistle start with the dog near you. Basically, "SIT" one quick pip on the whistle, dog sits, mark it and treat. Once they start sitting on the whistle near you you can start moving farther away and doing it. Brooks can be 200 yards away, I give one quick pip, and he will spin and sit looking at me. He will maintain the sit until he's given another command, or is released by me.

Brooks is training to respond to verbal commands, whistle, and hand signals. All of which are used on a daily basis doing field work and I also practice most of these commands while we are on our daily walks.

[Java]

It's so helpful to hear about the nitty gritty details of what recall looks like for different labs.

[bmathers]

I teach most commands, sit, stay, down, place, etc, that Brooks is to maintain that command until I release him. I use OK, or "touch" where he will rise up and touch my hand with his nose. Others use "free" as a release word, but you could use anything.

Sitting on the whistle start with the dog near you. Basically, "SIT" one quick pip on the whistle, dog sits, mark it and treat. Once they start sitting on the whistle near you you can start moving farther away and doing it. Brooks can be 200 yards away, I give one quick pip, and he will spin and sit looking at me. He will maintain the sit until he's given another command, or is released by me.

Brooks is training to respond to verbal commands, whistle, and hand signals. All of which are used on a daily basis doing field work and I also practice most of these commands while we are on our daily walks.

Thanks! Did you also incorporate the ecollar into this?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Wwwoodchuck]

I am in Snowshoe’s camp. My pups were all raised off leash in a large yard. Even exploring out back in the woods, off leash. One had 99% recall and two were 100%. Honestly, in all their years (besides the teenager rebellion stage) on verbal command they would STOP, turn to l@@k at me and wait for the next command. For the teen rebellion stages, leash on until they were over it! It doesn’t happen overnight and it takes persistence but well worth the effort. I have always had field stock labs so praise was the desired reward. I can see where the show or English would need food as a reward, I have known a few that would do nothing unless food was involved!

I start out with the ‘fear of losing me’ training right off. I think this is huge and makes an impression all their lives. After that, even as adults off leash in the woods, they get 40 or 100 feet out ahead and they keep stopping and looking back to make sure I am still there. I just have to keep reinforcing for that first year. If they do get out of sight, I hide and call them. I make them come and find me, not the other way around. There were times they did get a mite stubborn too. I would shout out “Ok, see ya later!” and turn walk away. It never took too long for them to realize I was either leaving or gone. They would come running to find me.

I make myself the most fun guy in the whole world from day 1. We go out in the yard, I let them explore on their own, but I am right there with them. They find a leaf, I am right down there on the ground with them to make it really fun! “A leaf!! Wow, that is a nice leaf! You are eating the leaf? What a good girl!!” Lots of petting and praise. I use their natural instinct of wanting to follow me and bring them to all sorts of fun, amazing things to do. “A bug! Yo, [name], check this out, a BUG!!” I use hand and verbal signals right from day one also. And I let them be lab pups too. I talk to them, a lot, while we are exploring. No matter what we are doing, it has a name. “Dirt! You are eating dirt! What a good girl!”

By making myself the ‘fun guy’, I mean I always know exactly what would be the greatest thing to do! If I call them, it is for a really fun reason. “Yo!” – Their universal STOP and look at me command. “Let’s go dig a hole!” Hey, digging sounds like fun! They run over to where I am and I direct them where to dig. “Dig Dig Dig!! Good Girl!” Heck, I even get right down there with them and help!! I am a really fun guy to be around for a pup!! I always have fun projects for them too. They never have to wonder what to do next, I am there to direct them. “I wonder where a stick is?” Hey! Sticks are fun! Off they go with a mission! This is where I start directional training: left, right, keep going, closer…. They learn that by following my instructions, I ALWAYS lead them to the goal, ALWAYS.

So, I get them to look to me as the man with a plan. There might be a squirrel over there, but if I call, they STOP, turn and check me out. A squirrel might be fun, but all their life so far, *I* have always known what is really fun. And they have to come to me to find out what it is. I also use: if they come to me, no matter what they have done, they are a good girl and all is forgiven! As they grow, many of the recalls just end up with big hugs, scritches and ‘What a good girl’ for coming.

[barry581]

Thanks! Did you also incorporate the ecollar into this?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes he is fully collar conditioned to all of the these commands. I did not use the e-collar to initially train any of these commands. I only incorporated it ionce Brooks was fully trained for each command. The e-collar is used to make corrections for commands Brooks has been fully trained on.

[barry581]

Here's a quick video of Brooks demonstrating sitting on the whistle and several other commands that were done with the whistle or hand signals. The only verbal commands were "OK" to release him, and "let's go" which I use to let him know we are moving forward.