# Obedience off leash



## GoochyGoo (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi everyone! I have two male Havanese, Petey (2 yr old) and Teddy (1.5 yr old). I find it impossible to get their attention when they are outside playing. They don't respond to their names and just generally ignore me. If one of them is out alone, I have no problem, but when they are together, I may as well be invisible. I've had dogs my entire life and have never had one that would not respond when called. I would love to be able to let them off leash (supervised, of course), but I just don't ever see it happening; I think they would just run off and never look back. I've heard that some breeds cannot be trusted off leash. Do you think this is the case with Havanese? Any tips?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

GoochyGoo said:


> Hi everyone! I have two male Havanese, Petey (2 yr old) and Teddy (1.5 yr old). I find it impossible to get their attention when they are outside playing. They don't respond to their names and just generally ignore me. If one of them is out alone, I have no problem, but when they are together, I may as well be invisible. I've had dogs my entire life and have never had one that would not respond when called. I would love to be able to let them off leash (supervised, of course), but I just don't ever see it happening; I think they would just run off and never look back. I've heard that some breeds cannot be trusted off leash. Do you think this is the case with Havanese? Any tips?
> 
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.


 My two go off leash all the time. Maddie will run ahead about 20 to 30 feet turn around and come back. Zoey is still shy and stays next to me most of the time. I go places where they are safe from cars. I am interested to here if other peoples Havanese run off . I started both of them on our walks like that so maybe they are just used to it. Sounds like yours are just so excited to be together running and playing that they are not tuned into you. Maybe a whistle?


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah unless you know that they will come when called, I would be very cautious. You have to first work with them individually. Get each one next to perfect and then start introducing the other. Many great books on the topic. Here's one http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB810PBut here's a bit about it. http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/three-d’s-dog-training-and-why-you-need-know-about-them Havs should be no different than most dogs. It's generally believed that hounds and terriers are more difficult to teach the recall.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Well, I think you should atleast have them to where they can respond to an emergency 'word', something that will make them coming running to you and drop whatever they are doing, In this house, the emergency word is "CAR RIDE", she'll run right up to me and turn around for me to pick her up, lol ALthough, to keep it working, I will have to go drive around the block and keep my word.

I am afraid to have her off leash, even in the front yard, sometimes when we get home, I will let her go sniff and mark the front yard but I am always SO paranoid she'll see a bunny and run in front of a car, those things happen and even then, the emergency word would be too little to late.

And yes, I have been ignored. They are smart and a bit bullheaded and adventurous, those can be endearing personality traits at times, and annoying ones at others. ound:

Kara


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

GoochyGoo said:


> Hi everyone! I have two male Havanese, Petey (2 yr old) and Teddy (1.5 yr old). I find it impossible to get their attention when they are outside playing. They don't respond to their names and just generally ignore me. If one of them is out alone, I have no problem, but when they are together, I may as well be invisible. I've had dogs my entire life and have never had one that would not respond when called. I would love to be able to let them off leash (supervised, of course), but I just don't ever see it happening; I think they would just run off and never look back. I've heard that some breeds cannot be trusted off leash. Do you think this is the case with Havanese? Any tips?
> 
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.


I DEFINITELY think that Havs can be taught to respond off leash. But it takes time and effort and MANY repetitions for a dog to be reliable off leash. You have to make responding to you be more rewarding than anything else in the dog's life. Make sure that being with you is the most fun your dog can have.

A lot of people make the mistake of only calling their dogs when they want to put them on the leash, bring them back in the house, brush them, give them a bath... you get the idea. Until your dog has a REALLY reliable recall under less challenging circumstances, DON'T call them under more challenging circumstances. Go and get them, or if this won't be possible, don't let them loose.

When you start to expand the places/times where you practice your recall, be 90% sure that your dog WILL come before you ask him to come. In the beginning, to get your 90% accuracy, you should ONLY give your recall command when the dog is already coming toward you at speed. Later, when you are pretty sure your dog knows the command, and will come when called practice many, MANY, MANY repetitions of calling him to you, giving him a treat and lots of praise when he comes to you, then releasing him immediately again. Every one of these "recall and release" practices is "money in the bank" for the time that you URGENTLY need the dog to come to you RIGHT NOW!!! Like when he's heading toward a busy street!

Kodi has a very reliable recall, and has had for well over a year. (He'll be two at the end of April) We regularly go for off-leash walks in the woods, but even though I totally trust that he will come back to me when I call, I regularly call him back, give him a cookie and a pat and send him off again. I'm sure I will continue to do this kind of "proofing" through his entire life. Good recalls are something you not only have to train, but also maintain.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thumper said:


> Well, I think you should atleast have them to where they can respond to an emergency 'word', something that will make them coming running to you and drop whatever they are doing, In this house, the emergency word is "CAR RIDE", she'll run right up to me and turn around for me to pick her up, lol ALthough, to keep it working, I will have to go drive around the block and keep my word.


Ha! Ours was "Wanna cookie?" when Kodi was little.:biggrin1:



Thumper said:


> I am afraid to have her off leash, even in the front yard, sometimes when we get home, I will let her go sniff and mark the front yard but I am always SO paranoid she'll see a bunny and run in front of a car, those things happen and even then, the emergency word would be too little to late.


I think that's really important to remember to. A 90% or even 95% success rate is NOT good enough if you are near anything dangerous to your dog! We happen to live on a large property, WAY back from the street (you can't see the street from our house) so it is safe for Kodi to be loose on our property. (supervised, of course!) Likewise, when we go for our walks in the woods, he is on leash any time we are near a road. While I am continually impressed by how well he will leave off what he's doing to come back to me, there's no way I'd take a chance on him choosing to come back to me rather than chase a squirrel across a busy street!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Kara ..." I am always SO paranoid she'll see a bunny and run in front of a car, those things happen and even then, the emergency word would be too little to late." Yeah I hear you there. That' s why most trainers talk about achieving 98 to 99 percent reliability. There's always the possibilty that something will be more rewarding to the dog than coming to you. And if you are near traffic , forget it. It's not worth the gamble. Molly loves chasing the bunnies too. And it takes a couple of calls sometimes to get her off the chase. LOL And one thing about dog parks. If you can't call your dog to you, reliably, don't go there. JMO


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lynn said:


> I have two havanese, Casper 4.5 and Missy 3.5. I can not have both of them off a leash at the same time. The are too implusive, see a cat, a car, someone walking down the street and one of them will take off with the other one following.
> 
> I think it would be easier with only one to be able to walk with off leash, but not two. It also would depend on the dog some you might be able to train, and some you could not.
> 
> I think a havanese dog in general is a dog that should be on a leash at all times for their own safety.


I don't agree that Havs need to be kept on leash all the time, and Kodi regularly goes on off-leash jaunts with other dogs (that are ALSO well trained to come back to their owners when called!) so I know that it can be done safely with more than one dog.

HOWEVER, I don't think that "loose dog" (of ANY breed) "cars" or "street" should EVER be in the same conversation. I don't care whether your talking about a Chihuahua or an Irish Wolf Hound, the possibility for the animal to get hurt or killed is just WAY too great for them to be loose where there is any chance of traffic. If a car can kill a deer, it can kill ANY breed of dog.

There is a BIG difference between letting your dog loose in an urban (or even suburban) environment, or letting them enjoy the freedom of running back and forth and just being dogs when you are out in a state park or on the beach.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I agree it is all in the recall. I can walk with all three of my dogs off leash. It took lots of training and training them one at a time. They will all heal off leash even the blind one although if he can not hear your steps or sometimes make contact with your leg he will just lay down and bark until you reasure him. I do not walk them in the neighborhood off leash too dangerous. They do enjoy off leash in a safe area beach, park, a large property. It can be done but you need to really work at it.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

krandall said:


> I DEFINITELY think that Havs can be taught to respond off leash. But it takes time and effort and MANY repetitions for a dog to be reliable off leash. You have to make responding to you be more rewarding than anything else in the dog's life. Make sure that being with you is the most fun your dog can have.
> 
> A lot of people make the mistake of only calling their dogs when they want to put them on the leash, bring them back in the house, brush them, give them a bath... you get the idea. Until your dog has a REALLY reliable recall under less challenging circumstances, DON'T call them under more challenging circumstances. Go and get them, or if this won't be possible, don't let them loose.
> 
> ...


 Karen's post for teaching recall and release is a very good suggestion for you to try. I do not know where you live and what the weather is like right now. I work for the parks department here in rainy Oregon and right now no one is playing tennis. I always see people taking their dogs in the court. It is a good safe area to train. you could use a ball if your dogs retrieve say the command when they are coming back to you bring a lot of treats. At least this is a safe place to let them run free.


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