1st time off lead

[marie_231]

we took benson out for a walk this evening , he's  12 weeks old now ,
we were in the middle of a field and he slipped his collar , i was terrified
 but all he did was run a few yards ahead , then he sat and waited for me , there was no danger from any cars as there is a marina  one side and a river the other ,  it was wonderful to watch him running and hunting in the long grass, i was so proud of the way he kept looking out for me after about 10 minutes of   running a few feet ahead of me  he was walking very sedately to heel , i have to tell you all , im a first time puppy owner but i wished id done it years ago hes fantastic                    

[PennyB]

Its great fun isn't it.

One thing you may have to start is making sure he comes back on command, as they get more confidence to go away from you. I periodically practise recall with mine even now as they push the boundaries every so often. When Wilf hit 7 months he began doing runners and following a scent and disappearing way beyond his normal range. Panic struck after a couple of days of a wayward spaniel I began recall training again just to remind him. Now he's back to running ahead and then running back to see if I'm catching up. But I'm not going to be complacent about it!