WOW Ruby IS good on the lead!!

At the weekend she broke her extending lead so since Saturday her walks have had to be on normal lead, and well i am so impressed with her. She has suddenly worked out how to walk 'close', other than when we walk past people or she sees a cat she has been walking brilliantly by my side. Just a gentle tug and a 'close' at her and she is trotting along by my side with a totally slack lead

She has been on an extending lead since she was about 5 months (she is 10 months now), as were i live 95% of her walk she can be extended on, so she had got used to being able to roam around, so for the 5% of walk that she was supposed to be by side she used to be awful!

So im going to wait a while before getting her another extender and then it will not be used half as much so as she carrys on the good work

Now just to get her recall sorted and she will be on her way to being an A* doggy

Yay!!

Well done to you and Ruby!

So glad she is walking well on the normal lead for you!

Good luck with the recall, I started off with a training lead for Monty, a huge 10metre one and used hot dog sausages (he now only gets these for recall - and only then on occasion just to re-inforce the recall from time to time) ohh and a dog whistle!

Do you mind me asking how bad Ruby is off-lead at the moment? Does she pick up a scent and then run off or is it other distractions? Just with Monty he hasn't got to the running off after a scent yet, he just doesn't like coming back when he is with another dog!

I dont let Ruby off lead very often at all, i mainly work on her recall in the garden or other peoples gardens, and as she still quite often goes temperarily deaf i dont chance outside to often. When she had the extender i would often stop and call her back, and it was 50/50 she would come!! We to have used hot dogs but she soon gets bored of them (she really isnt a typical beagle as she doesnt live for her stomach)

When she has been off lead i have had mixed results! I find when im walking round fields if i take her off lead (there are only certain places round the field i feel ok to take her off) she generally just wonders round fairly close to me, when she starts smelling and falls behind i give her a whistle (from me not an actual whistle) and she generally catches up. When she gets to far ahead i tend to tell her to 'wait' and she slows right down and i catch up. About 2 months ago she ran off at these particular fields, i had got close to the farm track that i cross to get to the other field, and when i told her to 'wait' she ignored me, she also ignored me whistling and calling her back! She then shot of really fast down the farm track, she didnt have a scent (thank god) as she didnt have her nose down. I got her back by running onto the next field calling her, and she then ran after me.

My main problem with her recall is the actual coming back for lead on, when we are doing a walk she generally follows me, but what i cant do is take her to a field for her to run around because she just goes deaf, and then when she does come towards me she just thinks its a game and does her play stance and runs off again

I must say she has got better as shes got older, and i take her with mums dog sometimes and feel more comfortable with her off lead then. I honestly think alot of the problem is me being nervous!! As soon as shes more than 5 metres or so from me im worried and i know she picks up on it!!