Never off-lead U/D on long line

[Joules]

Well done for giving Ollie his freedom - you just need to train him well now to come back when you call/whistle and then hopefully when he hits his teens he won't be too much of a problem.  Young pups do tend to stay fairly close but when they get to adolescence and get a bit more confident..........    My trainer always said " do not mistake the puppy's need to follow for good recall" - how right she was.  At 7 months Coco seemed to forget all her training and decided to do just what she wanted.  I still gave her as much freedom as possible but it was hard work at times   The early training is crucial though so that when they gets over the teen phase they remember their training.  

As for picking up trash when out walking, it is a tricky one.  You got off lightly with a lipbalm   - Coco usually finds revolting stuff usually like a full poo bag, condom or a deer's leg to give a few examples    It is great treasure to them so you need to teach Ollie to swap his find for something with you.  Never chase after him as he will think it is a game but teach him a reliable "give" or "leave" and swap the offending item with a treat or a toy.  It may not always work but most of the time - you really need a high value reward with you at all times to make it worth swapping.  Coco was not about to give up the bag of poo though - would need to carry a whole roast chicken in my pocket all the time to get total reliability from her!  

Keep up the good work - sounds like you are doing a great job and I am sure Ollie is loving his freedom.

[Oliver21508]

He does do a very good drop command with a toy. Like if we are playing tug of war, and I say drop, 9 times out of 10, he'll drop it instantly. Think I need to work on other things though. Will hopefully get a whistle soon, so I can do recall with that. I do say come as a command if wanders too far, and he does come. Is that proper recall, or just puppy following?

[Karma]

I found that, if Honey picked up something she shouldn't, if we ran away or looked really interested in something on the floor she would soon come over to see what was happening - she wouldn't necessarily come close enough for us to get whatever she had from her, but close enough that we knew she was safe.
These days a ball or something is normally enough to get her attention back on us... 

We just got back from camping and most of the time even on the site she was off lead (she did have the long line on just in case, but it wasn't needed) and she stayed close and came running whenever we called, and that was in an unfamiliar place with lots and lots of interesting smells.  We practice recall every day on walks.... and try not to recall when there's a liklihood she will ignore us (this just teaches them to ignore you!!!).

[Oliver21508]

Today went really good, made up quite a distance before calling him, and he came. Except at the end, he found a REALLY interesting smell, and just ignored all my calls. So I hid behind a fence, and waited for him to come. He did, but nearly ran straight past me, but I just grabbed his long line. Love that long line. Best thing we ever bought.

[CarolineL]

Today went really good, made up quite a distance before calling him, and he came. Except at the end, he found a REALLY interesting smell, and just ignored all my calls. So I hid behind a fence, and waited for him to come. He did, but nearly ran straight past me, but I just grabbed his long line. Love that long line. Best thing we ever bought.

That's great news - well done to both of you 

[Cath]

Soundsl like you are doing absolutley fantastic, keep up the good work and enjoy.