Hi All

I've been going to puppy classes for 2 weeks now, and yesterday the trainer was surprised to hear that i've not been letting Rupert off the leash when on walks.  We tend to walk across the downs and racecourse near where I live and at the start we are quite close to roads, then woods, with lots of other dogs offleash and a fair few horses.  I'm very nervous about letting him off the leash as he's only 13 weeks old and hasn't really mastered recall, it's more on his terms at the moment if there's something exciting out there to investigate

What should I do?  Bite the bullet and let him off and see what happens?!  He is a typical velcro dog and will always come back eventually when off leash in my parents massive 2 level garden which backs onto fields etc, and will follow me EVERYWHERE about the house.  Am I being a total wuss?  He's walked on an extendable leash so he gets a good run about and it keeps me happy that he's not going to run for the hills never to be seen again!!

On a different tack, he sleeps with us in bed, which my partner and I are totally happy with for the time being, but he's started to growl at my partner if he tries to pick him up to take him out for a wee, but never does this with me.  I'm assuming as I spend so much time with him he's either being protective over me, or sees himself as second in the pack and higher ranked than my partner?  We scold him for this and immediately banish him from the bed, but any tips or ideas how we really should handle this as I don't want him to start getting snappy?  My partner has started doing some training with him as at present I do it all, to try and assert some dominance etc.

Help

Oh the joys of puppy training eh! 

I was the same with my girl at the same age when i took her fishing and as long as there are no roads about go for it , otherwise you will never let her off.

my ruby always comeback, 95 pc of the time when i want her to , the other 5pc is when she is playing with another dog and at 27 weeks old you gotta let them play !!

First, is there anywhere you can let her run off leash in a fenced area that is safe from traffic, etc?  Baseball diamonds, tennis courts, some nature areas, etc. are all good for this if you live in an urban area.  In my opinion, if you don't have a very reliable recall with distraction, I wouldn't let your dog off leash anywhere near traffic.  13 weeks is WAY too early to expect reliable recall.

Second, one of the best tools for training your pup (and giving yourself a little piece of mind) is the check cord.  Get a really stiff rope that will stand on end when you hold it up...This is a good one.  These are great because you can let her drag it and it won't snag on trees, branches, etc.

The check cord is an invaluable tool.  One, it allows you to let her run "off leash" but if you really need to catch her, you have an extra 20-30' of leeway.  Second, it allows you to reinforce recall EVERYTIME.  My pup dragged around the check cord for the first 7 months of her life.  I would let her run and run and run...then step on the cord (with slack) and say COME! (only once)  If she complied, I would give lots of praise then release her to play again...if not, I 'd start reeling that check cord in as fast as possible.  When she "arrived" to me I gave lots and lots of praise then released her again. 

Hope this helps.

Oh...if your pup is playing with other dogs...take the check cord off.  It can be a little dangerous with other dogs (rolling around, etc).

For your first question, do what you are comfortable doing as far as off leash.  You know your dog best and what she is apt to do.  I know allot of folks will let their dogs drag a check cord like one of the posters said.  That is a good option. However, you do not want to call your dog if you can't reel her in as that will be counter to training your recall.  My first GSP was easy off leash, but my second was a nightmare.  I train obedience so all my dogs are trained with a recall.  This ones recall was great 100% until we were in a field and I would let her off leash.  All I would see was her butt flying away from me and I wouldn't see her again for at least an hour.  I often sent my oldest girl to get her and she always did. After a couple of times of that I would never let my runner off leash.  We continued training the formal obedience recall (come) and I added a second recall (here) which meant come and check in with mom, but no sit in front.  Every where we went we practiced here with her on a flexi leash.  People I am sure thought I was nuts.  Eventually she got to where she would turn on a dime and return to me all on leash no matter where or what was going on.  At that point I started conditioning her to the ecollar, then once we were through that I took her out hiking with the ecollar on and let her off leash.  She behaved just like she always had and started flying away.  I called here, she ignored me, so I used the ecollar.  As soon as she turned to come to me I released the stimulation.  I only ever had to use it once.  Now she is totally trustworthy (although she still loves to run), comes whenever I call immediately.  My dad was amazed the first time he saw this as he thought she would never make an off leash dog.  So, it can be done with patience, perserverence and hard work. 

As for the growling at your partner, you have a pack order problem developing.  First, do not let her sleep on the bed with you.  After that letting your partner do the training is good.  I would also let your partner start feeding her too as he who controls the food is in charge. 

Good luck with your new pup.  Sounds like you are already having lots of fun. 

With a young puppy, I let them off the lease right away. No, not in the middle of a busy highway. I like to condition them to being off leash with me when young so they don't think it is a big deal when they get older. When young, you should be able to catch them easily, you have much longer legs. To me, it is using psychology - if they never get to do it, when they do get off leash, they will go wild and explore everything. If being off leash is an everyday occurance, it is no big deal to them and they stick with you. You *do* have to do this in an appropriate place or time. I might start out letting the pup off leash late at night in my front yard (not behind a fence) when there isn't much traffic. It also depends on where you live, what's around and what kind of land you have access to. If you have national forest access or just vacant land, take the pup hiking off leash. Parks aren't good as dogs are always required to be on leash in a park. If you live in a high rise in Manhatten, this won't work. If you have adopted an older, rescue dog, this probably won't work either. A young puppy - it works great.

The advantage you have at this age is that they still stay pretty close and they can't outrun you yet, but soon she will be starting to venture out and get really fast, and that's when the problems start. I actually think it's easier to have a puppy off leash than a young adult with some recall (because once the drive kicks in you will need a way to enforce the recall from afar if needed - that's where the e-collar comes in (later on, not now)).

That said, no way I would have a puppy or dog off-leash where it could be harmed and if my gut feeling suggests to keep pup  on a leash that's what I'll do.

At the same time, you want to give the pup an opportunity to develop a range. As said above, the check cord is a great tool. I would suggest you find a fenced place where your pup can be off-leash as often as possible, and for the not-so-safe areas keep her on a check cord. I don't have a yard so Tessa practically grew up on a 30-ft check cord (50-ft would be better though) unless I had her in safe area.

For a puppy I recommend the lighter Mendota one - it's not stiff but doesn't tangle up. I love it:

www.gundogsupply.com/tcc-4506.html

Later on, I started using this one, it's very stiff but find it pretty heavy for a puppy. It floats though, which is nice for water work:

www.gundogsupply.com/checcorcorby1.html

The check cord gave her a lot more freedom while I kept my peace of mind.

BTW it's also perfect for teaching the recall.

In regards to the growling, I second what Bev said. No more sleeping on the bed and more work on the pack order...the little things work wonders:

You go first: Never let the dog go through doors, down stairs, etc. ahead of you.
You control the food: Make the dog wait for the food (sit-stay or whoa)
You control the toys: Put up all toys and hand them to the dog to play, rotating them around. Don't all of them available to the pup at all times. You control the bed and all furniture: Pup not allowed on furniture. That's tough, I was never able to take it that far, and you probably won't have to, unless she starts growling at you on the sofa too.
Etc etc.

 

Once again,thanks for your great advice and prompt replies!

I just bit the bullet and took him out.  I keep my horses on 8 acres, and whilst it's not exactly puppy proof fencing, the worst he can really do is go into the fields next door.  So I let him off the leash with a pocket stuffed full of biscuits and we went for a wander.  There's woodland and long grass so it's very exciting.  He was great.  He never strayed too far and if he did, or he couldn't see me, he'd come racing back to me (and got praise and a treat) and about 80% of the time would come with recall!!  So cue lots more praise and treats. 

I'm in england and don't really know of any specific dog fenced areas as I live in a rural part.  And all tennis courts are private member clubs so i'm sure they wouldn't appreciate me rocking up which is really annoying as that would be a fab option.  So I think i'll stick with him on the horse land until we (by that i mean i!) get a bit braver. 

I'll also investigate what types of chceck cords are available to buy over here.  I'm using a flexi lead which gives a good 25-30ft of run length but the longer the better really.

Also, does anyone have a dog that barks and pulls and howls if they're tied up a short way away from you, and can clearly see you, but can't get to you?  I'm still trying to figure if he has proper separation anxiety or is just a really whiny dog.  However, absolutely love him to pieces, they're such a fab breed.  Can see us ending up with another..but shhhhhhh don't tell the OH

Phew glad the whole barking thing is totally normal.  It's just so tough to get him to stop so that i can go and untie him and not reinforce his bad behaviour. *sigh*  You'll see from my other thread he's a total barking monster and won't be left on his own, hence being now in the bedroom after 6hrs non stop barking at night!!

I'll get Mike to work on his pack order with Rupert.  He respects me, and never goes in front etc, but i'm with him during the day and constantly training him, Mike gets home and plays with him and ignores me when i tell him how to play etc, i did warn him this would happen. lol.  He's now googling like crazy to get tips on how to nip it in the bud.

Don't need telling twice to post pictures, here's the little monster

Wow, he is a very handsome young man. Love his ticking and dark brown color.By the way, I am still getting used to seeing GSPs with tails.  In the US we still dock.

Thank you, I think he's gorgeous, but then i'm a little biased.

It's funny, I like them both docked and undocked, he has such a whippy tail once he's table height there are sure to be many accidents!

Just a little update for you.  I met up with a lady from my puppy class today and we took our dogs out together.  She has a 5 month old lab bitch who she has off leash a lot of the time.  We went up to the downs, and i had a pocket full of sausages!  It was great, he had a ball playing with the lab, met lots of other dogs (all off leash!) and came back every time he was called.

Not sure i'd be so brave on my own, as the other dog gave incentive for him to return when she did and as they were playing his attention was on her and not running off exploring, but some of the time he was leaving her and coming back to me on his own.

We're going to make it a weekly event, or more frequent if we can fit it in as the socialisation will be great for both of us.

Very chuffed with my boy.