First time letting off the lead!

[ashleighelizabeth]

Our trainer had us do this too! She called it puppy relay. We mostly did it to wear off all of that puppy energy, but it definitely helped with recall too! We did this in our backyard and over time we started to add some distractions. For instance one of us opening the gate and leaving the yard (which made Sonny want to follow) while the other called Sonny. Puppy relay is wonderful!

Our trainer taught us a nice game to practice recall... it needs 2 people though. Person A holds the pup while person B shows the pup a treat and then runs away. When person B is a few feet away, he or she must shout "*dogs name* come!!" and at the same time person A lets go of the pup and lets him or her run to the treat. Reverse and repeat many times.

[cpell009]

I was so worried about letting Lady off her leash because (prior to neutering) my parent's Cairn terrier would bolt as far and fast as he could as soon as he got an opening. However, Lady is a real angel! I would never take her off anywhere close to traffic because she does chase butterflies and flies, but when we go to the forest or big parks she never strays far. Usually a couple feet behind or a bit ahead, but always stopping to check for me. I am going to enroll her in obedience soon to improve her recall, but overall Im comfortable taking her off when we are in big open spaces away from traffic.