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I overcame the fear of taking my dog off the leash in three key stages, here’s how
Taking your dog off the leash for the first time is a scary moment. What if they run away? What if another dog comes over? What if they dont listen to me?
They’re all thoughts I had this week before letting my six-month-old puppy run free – but it was totally fine, and I’ve done it three times since. Here’s my advice.
Build up trust with your dog
I spent months building up the trust with my puppy before even considering letting him off the leash, including teaching him recall and heel. That way when I did let him loose, I could trust he’d come back when I wanted him to and stay close to me while we were walking.
The American Kennel Club recommends beginning recall by showing your dog a tasty treat as they are coming to you, then giving it to them. After a few repetitions, you can introduce a verbal cue like “come” or “here” and reward when they walk over.
I started doing this inside the home first and then moved it outside with a long line leash. These are usually around 10 meters in length and allow your dog to feel like they’re running free while still being attached to you.
If you start doing this as soon as you bring your puppy home, they will have nailed it after a few months. However, it’s never too late to start teaching a dog recall – it might just take older dogs a little longer to grasp.
There’s really no perfect time to start taking your dog off the leash, but whenever you feel like you’ve built up that mutual trust is a great place to begin.
Choose a really quiet location
Once you are ready to take the plunge, make sure you choose a really quiet location. Your dog’s recall might be excellent, but as soon as you bring in exciting things like other dogs, birds, people and even just nice smelling plants, it can all go out the window.
You want to give your dog the best chance of success, so taking them off the leash in a quiet park with little around will ensure they have no distractions and listen to your instructions.
The American Kennel Club notes that you also need to consider your dog’s breed, temperament and behavior when choosing where and when to take them off the leash.
For example, Terriers and Sighthounds naturally have a high instinct to chase and hunt. This means they are likely to run away when they see or smell small animals like rabbits or squirrels, and it may be tricky to get them back.
Lots of treats and regular check-ins
After you’ve picked the location, it’s time to trust your puppy and take them off the lead. Make sure you’ve got loads of treats with you and do regular check-ins with your pooch.
That means don’t let them run free for the entirety of the walk and only call them back when you need to put them on the leash. Instead, test their recall all the time. Every few minutes if you want to! Even when you don’t need them to come over, it’s important to keep checking in.
You can even make them sit down every once in a while, and also test other commands like “drop” or “leave it” if they pick something up that they shouldn’t. Checking in regularly will build that trust further, and teach your puppy to listen to your commands.
I was terrified, but my puppy trotted along happily next to me the entire time and came back almost every time I called him, he just took a little more encouragement when he was sniffing an extra nice smelling patch of grass.
Make sure you remain calm, as the puppy will feed off your energy, but also be assertive and show them you are the one in control. If they do start running away, don’t chase as this could make them think you want to play, so theyll run faster.
Do all of those things and you’ll see that letting your dog run free isn’t so scary after all.
