Alexandria Steely • July 26, 2021
Let's Talk About Having Your Dog Off Leash
Let's have a chat...
With summer in full swing and COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, anyone and everyone is outside trying to enjoy the weather and sun. Now, I don't know if it's because more people are out and about more than ever or if people are more carefree now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, but I am noticing A TON of people at the parks with their dogs off-leash.
Now, I am fully in favor of having my dog off-leash under the right circumstances. I have also trained, and am still in the process of training, my dog to be off-leash. Yes, you heard that right, training my dog to be off-leash. Listen, I'm here to break it to you... no matter how much you think your dog loves you and will stay by you when taken off leash, they're just not going to. As soon as you take that leash off, your dog is going to leave your side and engage in self-rewarding behaviors like exploring, sniffing, chasing birds, etc.
Here's an example of an encounter I had the other day at the park:
A woman pulls up to the park with her dog and gets out of the car with her dog on leash. I'm in a large grassy area working with Caos about 15 feet away from some items I had left in the grass. I continue working with Caos, but also am aware that this woman is now in the same vicinity as me, as Caos is off-leash. I watch as this woman takes her dog off-leash and the dog immediately trots off to smell the surroundings. At this point, I ask Caos to come to me and lay down, as I wait to ensure that the woman has control of her dog. As I'm watching, I notice that not only is the woman on her phone and not paying attention to her dog, but she also hasn't noticed that Caos and I are under the shade by the tree line. The woman's dog proceeds to go over to my things that I had left in the grass and begins rummaging through them. At this point, the woman finally looks up from her phone and begins yelling, "no," "come," "leave it," "stop that," "come," to which the dog doesn't even acknowledge her existence.
It's not until the woman finally reaches her dog, that she's able to pull it away from my belongings. The woman then pulls her dog by the collar away from my things, releases the dog again, throws a ball and tells her dog, "go get it," to which the dog completely ignores her again and trots off the opposite way. The woman continues to yell commands at her dog as she runs after it and finally puts the leash on. Sadly, I hear the woman say to the dog, "why are you doing this to me?" "why aren't you listening to me?"
I then continue my training session with Caos, all while continuing to be aware of my surroundings and this woman. I watch and listen as I hear the woman becoming increasingly frustrated as she's giving her dog commands to no avail, although now with the leash on, and hear her say, "look, that dog is being good and listening to his owner," "why aren't you listening to me", "don't you love me?"
It was truly heartbreaking because I could hear the hurt in the woman's voice. But the thing is, just because your dog loves you, doesn't mean they're going to stay with you when given the opportunity to be off-leash. Your dog has to respect you and listen to you ON LEASH before you can think about taking the leash off. If your dog can't sit, down, heel, stay while on a leash how can you expect them to 1) listen to you when off-leash and 2) be called off a distraction... you can't. You need to have a solid foundation and be sure that your dog is engaged with you FIRST, then you can start to think about taking the leash off. And even then, start with a 50 foot or 100 foot long line that you can attach to your dogs collar. That way, your dog can be away from you and have the opportunity to explore, but if they don't listen, then you still have a way to correct them or pull them back to you.
Now, things happen and you may be working your dog off-leash for weeks or months with 100% recall and then all of the sudden your dog fixates on something and doesn't come back when called. Figure out what went wrong and go back to the basics. Maybe you need more exposure on leash with whatever the distraction was or maybe you need to go back to using the long line. That's okay. What's not okay is continuing to take your dog off-leash when they aren't listening to you, in hopes that it's just going to click and they will all of the sudden become obedient. Because like the woman I mentioned earlier and so many others that I've come across at this park, they continue to let their dogs off-leash with no progress in their training.
I have seen dogs run across the street to get a ball, run clear across the field to chase a person, and seen dogs leave their owners to run up to another dog. Any one of these scenarios could have ended in tragedy if a car was coming, if the dog attacked the person, or if either dog was aggressive. So please, be a responsible dog owner and keep your dog on a leash until they trained and have a solid recall. And if an accident does happen and your dog runs up to another person or dog, PLEASE apologize to that individual. Be smart and be responsible.
As always, this is me, running with Caos.
Potty Training. An often frustrating aspect of training a puppy. No one wants to deal with accidents and the constant in and out for multiple potty breaks, but we all have to do it. Surprisingly, constant accidents and unsuccessful potty training is a huge reason why so many dogs wind up in shelters. First and foremost, potty training begins the moment you walk through your front door with your new puppy, so you need to do some research in advance so that you can decide how you are going to potty train your puppy. Now what do I mean when I say you need to be prepared? Well, you need to determine by what means you will be potty training your puppy. Do you live in a house and you will be utilizing your backyard from the beginning? Do you live in an apartment with easy and quick access to grass? Are you going to use puppy potty pads or something similar? Will you be using a training bell on the door to teach your puppy to alert you when they need to go out? Whatever method you decide to use to potty train your puppy, remember these 3 points: Consistency is key. Patience is a virtue. Potty training won't happen overnight. Positive reinforcement will create good habits and strengthen the bond between you and your puppy. Timing is Everything Now, for a GENERAL rule of thumb, a puppy can hold its bladder for 1 hour for every month old they are. For example, if your puppy is 5 months old then they should be able to hold their bladder for about 5 hours. Remember, however, that this is a general rule and some puppies have smaller bladders. Puppies need to be taken out A LOT! For a frame of reference, you're going to need to take your puppy out: First thing when he/she wakes up in the morning After every meal After they drink water After they wake up from a nap After playtime Right before bed When taking your puppy outside, always go out the same door and go to the same spot in the grass/yard. Your puppy thrives on routine and consistency and will begin to correlate the actions you take, with knowing it's time to go potty. Also, be sure to keep in mind that if you do live in an apartment complex, there are multiple other dogs using the same grass your puppy will be using and you don't know if they are sick, have been vaccinated, or are carrying any parasites or diseases. Until a puppy is fully vaccinated, it is extremely important to keep puppies away from areas where other dogs have used the bathroom. As a rule of thumb, if you see poop or traces in the grass, go somewhere else. Before I brought Caos home, I knew I would have a difficult time taking Caos to the same spot to potty every time, due to the amount of dogs at my apartment complex and the fact that people don't pick up after their dogs (this still baffles me, there's poop stations all over for the owners convenience and it's part of a dog owners responsibility.. but I digress). So, I decided to purchase a Doggie Lawn. Doggie Lawn is a great company that sends owners REAL grass swatches that can be left outside, or inside with a tray, and deodorizes all odors because it's real grass. This allowed me to take Caos outside, to the same grass area every time, where I could ensure he would be safe from catching any parasites or diseases from other dogs. I would highly recommend checking them out if you live in an apartment complex or simply want more peace of mind! Now, Let's Talk Accidents Accidents will happen.. and it's your fault, not your puppy's. So how do we minimize accidents? Don't deviate from your routine. Have your leashes, collars, shoes, flashlight, umbrella, and treats by the door. If accidents are going to happen, they're going to happen in the moment where you can't find your shoes or your puppy's leash. So designate a spot to store everything you may need to take your puppy outside to potty and make sure you always return those items to that same spot. Now, when an accident happens there are two things you can do: 1) If you catch them in the act, firmly say no, pick the puppy up, and take them outside to their potty spot. If they finish going outside, praise them like you would normally, and return inside. 2) If you find the accident after it's happened, you CANNOT punish your puppy. I repeat, you CANNOT punish your puppy if you don't catch them actively going potty inside. Do not rub your puppy's nose in the accident. Your puppy is not able to distinguish that the act of going potty in the house is what he/she is being punished for. Clean up the accident and determine why the accident happened. Is the area for your puppy too big? Were you not watching them? Determine what happened and move on. Have a plan, stick to your schedule, and remember that timing is everything. Potty training doesn't have to be a nightmare, and as long as you're consistent, potty training will be a breeze. As always, thanks so much for reading! This is me, running with Caos.
Puppies. They're so cute, soft, and snuggly! But those sharp, razor blade like little puppy teeth are anything but soft and cuddly! But here's the thing, puppies don't have hands. Well duh, right? Obviously not, because every day people are always asking and searching in Google for, "How do I stop my puppy from biting?" Puppies can't feel, play with, and experiment with different textures and objects with hands like human babies can, so they use their mouths to explore. Furthermore, when puppies start teething, they're going to want to bite and chew on whatever they can get their mouths on. There's all sorts of articles out there that will tell you how to get your puppy to stop biting and nipping. I've read everything from yelping out loud when they bite, like their littermates would. I've read articles telling people to press against their puppy's upper lip. There are plenty of methods out there that you could try. But how do you stop your Malinois puppy from biting? Truth is, you don't. They're called "maligators" for a reason and your puppy was bred to bite. Your Malinois puppy simply isn't going to stop biting. Even if your puppy isn't from a powerhouse working line, your puppy is still going to encompass the intense desire to bite. Simply put, your Malinois puppy has a natural drive to bite.. And that's what they're going to do. So if you're reading this hoping to find the magic method to get your Malinois puppy to stop biting, you're not going to find it. What I can help you with, is in learning how to redirect your Malinois puppy from biting you, onto a toy. Hone in on your puppy's natural instinct and desire to bite. Play with a rope or toy, and refocus their attention from your shirt, onto the toy. Truth is, if your puppy is out with you then you should be engaged in some kind of training session or play time. When your puppy is out, you should have 100% of your focus, on your puppy. So if you don't feel like constantly redirecting your puppy from biting due to being tired or just wanting to relax, then your puppy should be in its crate where it can't get into trouble or learn bad behaviors. Remember, you got a Belgian Malinois. Biting just comes with the territory.
In an earlier post, you followed along as I trained Caos through 16 weeks. So where are we now? Well, I can say a lot has changed and we've both grown tremendously. By 4 months, Caos and I were working through some reactivity and continuing to practice Sit Down Left-side heel position Right-side heel position Come Place Leave it Look at me I am no longer luring Caos into the 'sit' or 'down' position and our recall is spot on. I have also began training Spin right Spin left Speak Off Pound it (give me paw) Out (release an object) Center Settle Down 4 Months to 6 Months During months 4-6, I really began working on the 'heel' position. Caos is extremely keen on positioning himself on my left side in preparation for heeling, however he's having a difficult time maintaining the left-side heel while walking. Interestingly, Caos is still requiring luring in order to position himself on my right side in heel, yet he is much more comfortable walking on my right side when in motion. Although I'm interested in training a focused heel on my left-side, at this point I'm not allowing myself to get hung up on Caos maintaining a left-side heel, due to the fact that he is respectfully walking on my right side without pulling. Between 4 and 5 months Caos has also become extremely confident. This has resulted in Caos wanting to explore and investigate his surroundings, a lot faster than I can walk. And that's really where pulling comes from, right? Your dog or puppy wants to get to that smell on the grass or that bush to pee on, and as humans, we're simply not going to walk as fast as our dogs naturally want to go. And that's fine, I get it. But when we're on a walk, I need Caos to be respectful of the leash and to myself. I mentioned wanting to train Caos to walk in a focused heel. It's not realistic to have my puppy walk in a focused heel on an entire walk. In the same regard, I also don't expect Caos to walk in a heel position for our entire walk either. I want a solid left-side heel, right-side heel, and center so that when I am out walking in the city or around other people, I know Caos will be in a solid position on either side of me or between my legs, where I am fully in control. However, I personally don't need Caos to maintain a heel position when we are casually walking on a trail or through a residential community. I do require that Caos not pull and respect the 4-6ft leash. So how did I address his pulling? I utilized working his obedience into our walks. Whenever Caos would get close to the end of the leash, I would recall him back to me and praise and reward. If Caos was really excited and wanting to drag me along, I would utilize the sit command. Walk for a couple steps, ask him to sit. Walk a little further, ask him to sit again. This kept his attention on me, as he never knew when I was going to ask him to perform a command next. As our walks progressed, I also found myself using 'wait' if Caos was beginning to near the end of his leash. Although I didn't formally 'train' this command, Caos quickly picked up that when I asked him to 'wait,' he would stop to let me catch up. Now, like I mentioned in my first blog post about training during the first 16 weeks, progress isn't linear. Some days were better than others and some days you just want to walk your dog and not constantly have to ask your dog or puppy to 'sit' or 'wait' or recall them back to you. Because of this, I decided to introduce the Herm SPRENGER collar into my training for quick, effective corrections. I also wanted to mention that I am very familiar with the Herm SPRENGER and was confident introducing it into my training. In no way should you feel obligated to use one if your dog or puppy is pulling. Furthermore, if anyone is interested in learning more about the Herm SPRENGER, I can share some resources from amazing dog trainers whom I respect and trust. I'm also focusing a lot on our recall training and beginning to incorporate some "off-leash" obedience. At first I attached Caos to a 100ft long lead and we would practice in an open field. As Caos became more receptive, I utilized a 30ft long lead and by 6 months Caos was reliable completely off-leash. 6 Months to 9 Months Once Caos was 6 months, I no longer needed to lure him into any of the above positions. As I began to take Caos off-leash more and we went on more hikes and longer runs, I noticed my obedience was taking a back seat to the rest of our training. Although I no longer required luring, I found myself having to ask twice for some commands when we were practicing at home or even in the community on leash, to which I was not proud of. I knew I had to incorporate more obedience work into our training in order to really "fine tune" his commands. I began incorporating short obedience sessions into our longer runs and hikes. I would ask Caos to "sit," and "stay," while I continued running ahead. I would also ask Caos to "heel" alongside me as we continued our run. I also began to use his ball more as his reward system instead of treats, especially during the work week when I would take him out on his breaks. We were now practicing sit, down, left-side heel, right-side heel, and center 3-4 times a day during our 30 minute breaks while at work, instead of once or twice a day after work. And once again, I watched as Caos sharpened his skills and began to excel. Our runs are now even more enjoyable, as I'm watching Caos constantly look towards me for direction in anticipation of, "what's next?" Caos is calmer and more relaxed at work because he's not only being worked physically, but mentally as well. And as an added bonus, Covid-19 restrictions have FINALLY began to lift, which has allowed Caos and I to venture back out into the community to local restaurants and establishments, further cementing our obedience. We're definitely not close to where I want to be and I have so much more I want to work on and introduce into Caos's training. As Caos and I head towards a new chapter in our personal life and my professional growth, I'm so excited to see what lies ahead. Be sure to follow along, as these next couple of months will be filled with big adventures and a ton of new opportunities, that will give way to plenty of new content. This is me, running with Caos.