Quote Originally Posted by critter crazy
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.