Question about trusting your dog to run free for exercise ...

[Sophist]

My Duke cannot be trusted to be off lead. Being half bloodhound, once his nose catches a scent, he is gone, no matter what!

Same problem, my beagles normally have excellent recall, but once a scent catches their attention, they go deaf .

As for my big mix, she's got even better recall, but I think if coming back to us meant leaving 'her' beagles wandering alone, she'd stick with the beagles.


That aside, in the areas around here that are rural enough to go off-leash, coyotes, mountain lions, skunks, and rabid wildlife are a concern (rabies is a concern due to aggression, my dogs of course have their rabies shots), so it really isn't an option.

I still work with all of them on recall though, and would strongly encourage you to follow some of the recall training suggestions given here. Recall is super-important to try to instill and periodically reinforce, even if you don't plan on using off-leash. Accidents happen, and it could be a life-saver.

[cali]

I teach grass barriers, I start with a long lead or a flexi and play loads of chase games(AKA dog chases ME, never ever ever the other war round) when the dog gets near the edge of the grass I ran away bouncing and calling lik "oh happy day!" lol when the dog comes running(placing front paws ON me) I praise and praise like no tomorow, play tug and such. once the dog has that down at least 99% of the time I start letting the dog off leash for short periods, when apporching the edge of the grass, run away calling and bouncing, when the dog comes a running more praise and games. eventually they figer out that edge of grass mean run back to mom! I have never had issues with this, and I have done this with 3 dogs and it has yet to fail. it was pretty funny how impressed people were when a biker went by on the other side of the street and Misty went galloping and barking right to the edge of the grass and went right into a U-turn back to me as soon as she reached the edge lol

[bckrazy]

You should look out for off-leash Obedience classes, with an Obedience club. Gonzo has a very solid recall & stay after going through a few months of classes and practicing a lot.

I also don't recommend bringing him off-leash in any unfenced area until you've practiced a lot in fenced areas with distractions, and you're fully confident. I would never let my dogs off-leash near any cars, ever.