When one writes a column about dogs and dog training, one tends to give a lot of advice.
Emails from people asking why their dog exhibits a particular behaviour and what they can do to "fix" it are common.
Oftentimes my advice is to contact a professional trainer because unless I am able to witness the behaviour and all of the factors involved - the dog in question, its surrounding environment, including other dogs, people and the owner - I am unable to give a fair assessment and therefore the advice could be incorrect.
But there are times when the "fix" is so obvious that I don't need to witness a darn thing.
For example: how does one teach a dog to stay close so that is stops running off and will come when called when one walks on trails?
The advice may seem rather simplistic but the training technique has been around probably for as long as dogs have been domesticated. It does involve a tool. This tool has evolved right alongside dogs over many thousands of years. This tool is called. .. a leash! Yup, that's right. A leash will solve that running away problem lickety quick! At one point in time the leash resembled nothing more than a piece of twine that was probably tied around the dog's neck with the other end tied to the owner. These days it has become quite sophisticated in design, yet the premise for its use is the same. It is a tool to not only keep the dog secure, but to teach the dog to stay close.
As far as I am concerned, dog owners are far too quick to allow their dogs off leash. I am not sure if it is an ego thing, pressure from other dog owners, lazy training or simply wrong information, but the leash is an incredible training tool for setting boundaries, establishing leadership and preventing undesirable behaviours.
When a puppy or adolescent dog is given offleash freedom along walks, it is also given the ability to choose its own course of action along the walk. Dogs are free will thinkers, just like you and I. And until you have established yourself as a competent leader and the dog has been given proper boundaries to live within, it will choose to set its own boundaries and make choices that please itself instead of the owner.
These undesirable yet self-pleasing behaviours will be displayed along a walk when no boundaries (leash use) are established. The result is a dog that will run off because it has never been prevented from doing so; a dog that will not come when called because it doesn't have a reason to; or a dog that keeps itself at arm's length, thus giving itself the ability to never be caught because it has never learned the value of staying close to its owner.
Off-leash time should be a privilege that is earned for good behaviour, not a right that is assumed by a dog with no boundaries.
Is your dog allowed off leash because you are using an excuse such as "the dog pulls when on leash?" Lazy training causes dogs to pull on leash. If you have a pulling dog that won't come when called when it is off leash, there are a plethora of humane, no-pull training tools available. They are not magic and don't work on their own. You do have to actively implement the training techniques, just like you should have when you first introduced a leash to your then puppy.
Ideally, leash training should start in puppyhood and, depending on the dog's personality and the owner's leadership ability, will probably last until the dog is well over a year old. But like always, age is not a determining factor in the success of the training. Consistency and patience is. This also does not mean that the dog is leashed for an entire year or more. It does mean that the sequential training techniques involved to establish leadership and communication with your dog lasts that long.
The end result will be an off-leash dog that is far more reliable for its entire life and far less frustrating for the dog owner.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
