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Today, I took Bandit to my dad's house to play with their 7-year-old, extremely well-trained black Lab. They owned 2 dogs until recently when the older one passed away, and their remaining dog is greiving, so we decided that a playdate with Bandit might help to lift her spirits.
They got along right away, and soon they wanted to play and run in the 2-acre back pasture. It's fenced, but only with a tall horse fence that wouldn't contain a dog at all. I brought a 30' training lead along, so I snapped that to his collar and was following him around giving him as much room as possible. We practiced some recalls and he passed with flying colors - came running back to me every time. So, finally - with a bit of anxiety I just let the lead drop. This is the first time he's been allowed to play in something simulating true off-leash time, and he did absolutely great - still came running every time I called, and I sent him out to play some more. He was terrific! It helped that the Lab has perfect recall, so I knew he would follow her back if we called her, too. (Kind of a nice backup.)
I never thought I'd be able to have any of my dogs off-leash since I am a huge Northern breed fan, but I really think Bandit is an excellent candidate for off-leash time in the future, once I've trained a really solid "normal" recall, and an emergency one. He is completely different than Willow and Jasper - a true "velcro dog" and so handler-oriented. Unlike my other two, he frequently "checks in" when on the long line, and doesn't like to range far from me. His prey drive is nonexistent as well - he could just about care less. He is Shepherd/Husky and I really think he ended up with the Shepherd willingness to please. He's still young (about 15 - 17 months), so I know that may change, but at this point I highly doubt it.
Anyway, just wanted to share what a neat day it turned out being, and how happy I am with how he responded for me today.
Amazing how nerve-wracking that first intentional drop of the leash can be, though!!
They got along right away, and soon they wanted to play and run in the 2-acre back pasture. It's fenced, but only with a tall horse fence that wouldn't contain a dog at all. I brought a 30' training lead along, so I snapped that to his collar and was following him around giving him as much room as possible. We practiced some recalls and he passed with flying colors - came running back to me every time. So, finally - with a bit of anxiety I just let the lead drop. This is the first time he's been allowed to play in something simulating true off-leash time, and he did absolutely great - still came running every time I called, and I sent him out to play some more. He was terrific! It helped that the Lab has perfect recall, so I knew he would follow her back if we called her, too. (Kind of a nice backup.)
I never thought I'd be able to have any of my dogs off-leash since I am a huge Northern breed fan, but I really think Bandit is an excellent candidate for off-leash time in the future, once I've trained a really solid "normal" recall, and an emergency one. He is completely different than Willow and Jasper - a true "velcro dog" and so handler-oriented. Unlike my other two, he frequently "checks in" when on the long line, and doesn't like to range far from me. His prey drive is nonexistent as well - he could just about care less. He is Shepherd/Husky and I really think he ended up with the Shepherd willingness to please. He's still young (about 15 - 17 months), so I know that may change, but at this point I highly doubt it.
Anyway, just wanted to share what a neat day it turned out being, and how happy I am with how he responded for me today.
Amazing how nerve-wracking that first intentional drop of the leash can be, though!!
