Puppies off lead

This is quite an immotive subject I know but why do people with very young pups let them off lead??

Puppies have the attenton span of a millisecond and it only takes the slightest hint of something interesting for them to go off and investigate so why allow them to?? Put them on a long line to give them some freedom but don't let them off!

The other day we were coming back from our walk so both dogs were on leads. All of a sudden this tiny little BC pup comes hurtling towards us, I didn't even have time to warn the owner that my dog isn't safe, I was terrified BUT thankfully my big boy decided this pup wasn't a threat so didn't attack him. The lady finally caught up with us and tried to catch her puppy, it barely knew its name let alone how to recall!!So it begs the question why on earth was it off lead!!!!!!

There has been a topic on this forum about a puppy that sadly died after approaching another dog and whilst my heart goes out to her I cannot for the life of me work out not only why her pup was off lead but why it was allowed to meet a strange dog??

Until a puppy can recall it should never be put in to a situation where it could get harmed. We all know how friendly and excitable young puppies are so why put them in that position?? Not only meeting other dogs but just the fact that they could easily run off and get lost or run onto a road.

Had my ON LEAD dog attacked and killed the puppy that ran up to him would I be to blame and have to have my dog pts??

If your puppy can't be controlled or recalled don't let it off the lead and then maybe these awful tragedies can be prevented??

I understand where you are coming from, but young puppies often do not have the confidence to go up to other dogs and teaching them to be off lead from teh word go is often a good thing. IME 3-4 months is the age when pups start to get the confidence to rush up to other dogs, if the pup has been off lead before this and learnt to stay around its owner often you will not have this problem.

(Siren the day after I got her at 7 weeks..)

I have to say, I totally agree with Tassle here with this one. I let my puppy offlead from the first week I had her at 10 weeks old, in order TO train her to stick with me like glue. I would never have let her approach another dog though until I knew I had the recall sorted or the with me, and if I saw one coming before she had learned, then she would go on the lead, OR, I would get her attention and run off on a detour around the dog, which again would reitterate that she would be looking to me, not the other dog. Then you've got the devil and the deep blue, because you HAVE to socialise the puppy don't you, you HAVE to let it approach other dogs that are heading towards you, and how are you going to know that the puppy will stay with you when you walk past onlead, as opposed to leaving it offlead?

It's all a matter of common sense I think, I agree with you that nobody in their right mind would let their puppy run up to another dog, especially onlead, but once again, I think we must be dealing with numpty owners yet again in your case?!

Much as it annoys a lot of people, I'm afraid I was always guilty of calling out to anybody approaching me with an offlead dog bouncing around when my puppy was offlead, asking them if their dog was friendly, and if so, then I'd just leave her off, hoping upon hope that she'd listen to me, watch me, and just walk on past most of the time, unless it was dogs I knew, when she was allowed to play. A lot of new puppy owners are under the illusion that no dog would attack a cute little puppy, but sadly, they're wrong, but using your common sense makes it possible to socialise them well without putting them at risk, but some people don't have any do they!

Whilst I appreciate (and, believe me, I really do) that other owners should control their dogs and not allow them to approach other on-lead dogs without agreement if your dog is not safe then it should be muzzled, if only to protect other dogs from their own numpty owner's lack of care.

I let my pups off in a safe area, and agree most pups usually stick to their owners like glue til they get the confidence to roam a little further, once this happens unless I had fantastic recal the dog would be on a long line, knowing my dogs NOW I wouldnt allow them off lead unless I was in a fully enclosed area they do have very selective deafness and I have learnt over the years to accept this as part and parcel of me owning my dogs.

Mo

We let Amber off her lead at 12 weeks old, we took her to the park and after a nervous decision we let her loose, she run a round for a minute or or two then came back to us no problem. It would help to have a favorite squeaky toy just in case.

If you have trouble with the recall, never run after a puppy, run in the opposite direction calling them and squeaking the toy, at that age they will think you are leaving them, run to them they think it's a game.

i still use see ya as a command for meg when she won't come in from the garden, because thats what i used to say to her as a pup and walk off, always guaranteed to get her to come running to my heels. she was another one off lead at 10 weeks, and we have never had a problem with her recall, in fact when it came to working her we had to teach her to go away

My puppies have been off lead from day one. Rio and Dan stay reasonably close to me anyway. I have to agree with Johnderondon - if your dog could potentially kill a puppy that approaches it, it should be muzzled or walked where it won't meet other dogs.

It's a pet hate of mine that those with dog aggressive dogs walk them in popular dog walking areas. If a dog can only be lead walked - walk it round the streets and leave the open spaces for sociable dogs.

(and yes I have had experience of walking da dogs - and it's about being considerate to other dog walkers.)

I have always let my puppies off lead from day one. As others have said, they stick with you until their confidence grows. If you teach them good habits early on they generally continue with that.

If you NEVER let a puppy off lead 'just in case' it doesn't recall, you are making a rod for your own back. The people I know of that have done this (kept puppies on lead for fear of losing them) now have young adult dogs that cannot contain themselves when they actually are let off lead because it is too exciting for them. Their recall has SUFFERED because they actually haven't had off-lead experiences early on.

Besides, I don't believe that any dog has a perfect recall. You can have a pretty darn near perfect recall, but I don't believe in perfection 100% of the time...they are animals after all. So where do you draw the line?

As for the owners of aggressive dogs, if the dog is aggressive to the point where it would attack (and kill) a puppy then IMO it should be muzzled. In a perfect world, everyone who let's their dog off lead would have complete control of them. Of course, the reality is far different. The average dog owner has an average recall on their dog and if you have your dog on lead for whatever reason, right or wrong, you are going to have off lead dogs coming up to you sometimes.

I agree with this! My dogs have reasonably good recall, but will never have 100% recall. I shouldn't have to keep mine on lead all the time because other people have dangerous dogs with them.