ollie went off lead today!!!! U/D Change of heart

[Oliver21508]

He does get proper exercise, he gets a 40 minute walk in the morning and then a park walk in the afternoon. He is running free, just with a piece of rope attached that's all. If he needed more exercise, i think he'd tell us by being mad/crazy/running around the house etc etc.

[cdpops]

Can I make a suggestion that may be a middle ground till you get more confidence with Ollie, who by the way sounds great with recall etc, why not just use a harness with a ver  very short lead attached so you have something to get hold of, should you feel the need too, but Ollie gets the chance to explore without dragging a lead around. I am sure he will not present you with too many problems. Have confidence in yourself you have come so far with Ollie, it would be a shame to let these niggles stop you both having soo much fun.

[Joules]

Laura, if you know best and you have already made up your mind, why did you ask the question?    Presumably there is some doubt in your mind about whether you are doing the best for Ollie.    I simply do not believe that a cocker will be happy with a couple of on lead (or long line, whatever) walks a day for the rest of his life  

[Oliver21508]

Can I make a suggestion that may be a middle ground till you get more confidence with Ollie, who by the way sounds great with recall etc, why not just use a harness with a ver  very short lead attached so you have something to get hold of, should you feel the need too, but Ollie gets the chance to explore without dragging a lead around. I am sure he will not present you with too many problems. Have confidence in yourself you have come so far with Ollie, it would be a shame to let these niggles stop you both having soo much fun.

how short a lead? I wouldn't mind that, it's just like if he rushes past me, i need something to grab hold of.

[cdpops]

short enough not to get tangled up round his legs, you can buy those short "town" leads that might do the trick. I don't think you will have any problems with him though.

[Oliver21508]

ok, i'll try on Saturday. He doesn't like his halti put on at the end, so he'll soon realise that coming back at the end means halti. Is there anyway I could get over this?

[cdpops]

I think you might find when he's had a good run you won't need the halti. Charlie pulls me to the park, but walks home quite relaxed.
Can you not leave the halti on and just take off the lead I can't remeber what they are like.

[Oliver21508]

He doesn't like the halti so i take it off so he can relax and have a good sniff round.

ETA: I may just walk him on his harness to and from the park if he's going to wear it anyway.

[SkyeSue]

Really glad you let Ollie off lead Laura and Im sure you can build up those minutes
I can totally understand your fears for Ollie, what he might do, how he might behave etc.. but I think you might be pleasantly surprised at how sociable he would be towards other dogs and people. I understand your concerns, I, too don't want a dog that is going to have bad manners and knock down wee children or pensioners  You would never know the panic's Ive got myself into when Ive thought Chloe has either bogged off or gone to cheerfully greet an old Skye lady wearing a skirt!!! But its all part and parcel of being a new cocker Mum. The more you give them bits of freedom, the more they learn, and the more you can trust them. You're doing really well with Ollie, you just got to learn to trust him a bit more 
And for what its worth, I think some posters on this thread have been somewhat harsh......I doubt very much if they would have used the same language had it been an "adult" who started this thread 

[black taz]

Make some livercake, take plenty with you and bite the bullet - it really doesnt sound like you will have a problem.  Make sure you interact with him whilst he is off the lead - just because he is off lead it doesnt mean he can just amuse himself.  Play ball, tuggy, do a bit of training, etc., and i think you will grow in confidence quickly (both of you!).

Personally i don't find there are that many aggresive dogs about (around here anyway) and dogs who appear aggresive on lead are usually all show.  We have a dog near us that is terrifying on lead, but off lead is brilliant.  I think they try and appear aggressive because on lead they know they cannot get away quickly.

Good luck

[emderpenguin]

My two run around (in open fields, so no risk of getting tangled in bushes etc) just as mad with haltis on as off. So you could leave it on if you wanted. It's actually a good way for them to get to like it more, as the then don't associate it with being on a lead all the time.

if you want to get him to not think 'halti means end of walk' I'd keep swapping.. let him run around for 5 mins with it on, call, reward, take it off... 5 mins later call, reward, put it back on... let him run around some more and so on! Particually good if 'halti on' means something fun, like having a ball thrown, 'halti off' means ball goes away and you let him go sniff around

[CarolineL]

Laura - my dog Hurley wasn't socialised with other dogs properly as a puppy (nobody's fault - he was cooped up because he had an operation) as a result he did not learn any boundaries, nor did he learn how to read other dog's body language and my did it get him into trouble. If you don't let him mix with other dogs and learn his own lessons you are creating a rod for your own back. A bit like you, every time I saw another dog I put Hurley on the lead and he never learned how to say hello nicely, nor did he learn that not every dog is a nice dog. When I finally did pluck up the courage to just let him learn his own lessons there were a couple of incidents when he was told what he was doing was rude - and it sounded much worse than it actually was - he now socialises so much better with other dogs but it took a long time to get there, he actually went to socialisation classes to learn how to mix with other dogs (and that can be a pretty expensive way to learn - especially when you have the choice to socialise your dog properly - i didn't have that luxury)

One of your very first posts was about how you didnt want to let Ollie off the lead and I thought you'd been convinced otherwise.

You must let Ollie learn to mix with other dogs and  you cannot use the longline as security forever - learn to trust him and yourself - there is nothing more satisfying that watching your dog play with other dogs - watching Hurley run round like a loon absolutely makes my day.

Read Jean Donaldson's book The Culture Clash - especially the chapter where she tries to make you put yourself in the shoes of a dog (where I think your 'master' is a race called the Gorns) it might make you think differently.

[JennyBee]

I don’t know if this will be any help, but the first time I let Brodie off of her longline (aged 9 months), her ‘boyfriend’ Rueben the westie was with us.  She had that much fun with him that she stayed pretty much glued to his side, and as Rueben has good recall, she was guaranteed to not run off and bother other people.
I hope you have a good time on Saturday, it is nail biting letting them off, but you won’t regret it

[Oliver21508]

Have you ever not been able to get your dogs back?

[CarolineL]

Sometimes he doesnt come back straight away - but I havent invested as much time as I probably should have on recall  but (touch wood) I have never had a scenario when he runs off and hasnt come back - he's very good and doesnt tend to stray too far from me anyway - once he's said hello to the other dog (or read their body language that they dont want him to say hi!!) he usually comes back