These are in no particular order regarding difficulty/favorites/location. All can be found on AllTrails with these exact names and I suggest using the GPS directions from the AllTrails app as well!
I want to start this blog post off by saying first and foremost - I am not a dog trainer. I have read countless articles, been in training classes, and worked one on one with trainers before....but that doesn’t make me qualified to say my method of training is the best & only way. All dogs are going have their own set of challenges (or lack thereof) when it comes to training, and therefore not all methods will work the same for each dog. I am writing this because I want to share my experiences leading up to comfortably letting my dogs roam off leash and what it took to get us where we are today. I’d also love to share tips for being responsible owners of off leash dogs. So...we begin.
I assume most of you are here because you either know me personally or follow my dogs on Instagram; but for those who may have somehow stumbled upon this somewhere else, I’ll quickly introduce myself & my pups. I’m Julie, I’m 25, I live in Denver with my boyfriend Jake, our 2 year old Siberian Husky Tucker, and our (probably) 2 year old muttbutt Leo, who DNA testing claims is half Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and other half mostly Siberian Husky with a pinch of Staffordshire Terrier (for the record, I believe this 100%). We spend a lot of our time out hiking, which is why training our dogs to be reliable off leash has been a big priority since having them. I feel it’s also important to add that we have had Tucker since he was a puppy, and adopted Leo at around a year old, which has made each of their training a little bit different.
Start Early
Something I tell people who reach out to me on instagram about off leash training is that it starts the minute your new puppy (or dog) comes home. I personally believe a solid recall is the most important thing you can teach your dog - it is for the safety of both of you; whether you want your dog off leash while you are out hiking, or just to call your dog back to you when it is time to leave the dog park. That being said, I’ll start with how I began Tucker’s foundation of a reliable recall at a very young age. We would work on basic obedience at home along with puppy classes - “sit, stay, come,” learning his name, and learning to come over to me when I called him. This happens by having a massive puppy party with toys and treats whenever he would come when called. If you have a puppy at home, I recommend always having treats on hand - you never know when there might be a positive behavior you want to reward. For Tucker, his motivation for training has always been food, and still is. But being a husky, he is picky about what he defines as a good reward. Those bags of small “training treats” just didn’t cut it for him. If your dog is food motivated, find that treat that really gets them excited. That treat that smells so bad you can’t even believe your dog likes it. Find that treat, and set it aside as your high value reward, and use it ONLY for recall training.
When Tucker was getting close to a year old (might be important to note Leo was not in the picture yet), I bought a long 20 ft lead and started bringing him out to parks in Chicago where we lived at the time, and we would just work on his recall. Not for long periods of time; I would keep training short & interesting, using the high value treats I knew he loved, and worked every couple of days to get him to REALLY understand what I was asking of him by saying, “Tucker, come.” They say practice makes perfect and I am here to tell you that yeah....it does. But practice takes patience, and patience is sooo important in training a dog. And sometimes just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you decide that another dog is just what you need.
Hello, Leo!
So, in comes Leo. By this time, Tucker was about a year old, and my crazy self was ready to introduce a rescue dog of the same age into our little family who had little to no training himself. Tucker’s basic manners and obedience were pretty solid by this time, but my confidence in his off leash skills were not quite there. While focusing on getting Leo comfortable in his new life, I’ll admit my once laser focused training with Tucker started to slack. Once Leo had mastered basic obedience, it was time for me to take on recall training for both boys so they could enjoy off leash freedom. After some research, I discovered the training tool that would solidify both Tucker & Leo’s recall: the e-collar.
E-Collars - the good, the bad, the ugly
If you’ve read this far knowing that I am now going to talk about e-collar training, then hopefully you are either in the group that believes e-collars are an amazing training tool when used properly, or you have an open mind on the matter. If you are anti e-collar, then hopefully I can at least help you understand why they can be so beneficial to others. I found this quote that pretty much sums up my opinion on the matter:
“A shock collar is a training tool which applies a negative stimulus to the dog. It can be used in the correct fashion to train a dog. It can be used improperly to cause a dog extreme pain. A leash can also be used properly as a training tool and improperly to cause extreme pain. The important word is "improperly". Used properly, a shock collar is no different than a leash as a training tool.”
I don’t exactly like that they used the term “shock” collar, because in itself that sounds abusive, but I can move past that because the point is simple. I’ll also admit e-collar training is not going to work for every dog, especially those who may have a rocky or abusive past. But as I mentioned at the beginning of this, I am only sharing my experiences and what has worked for me and my dogs.
That being said, here is where I want to share my mistakes in hopes that those of you reading will not make the same ones. Yes, I did my research on e-collars and made the decision that this would be a great way to solidify my dog’s recall training when distractions were present. What I did not research was e-collar brands - I simply did what any person this day in age would do: got on Amazon, found something affordable, skimmed a few reviews, decided they look good, and pressed order. Well, I am thankful for the “vibrate” mode these sh*tty, $75 Petrainer brand e-collars had, because after feeling the shock mode on myself there was no way I would be using that on my dogs. After training them on these collars using the different levels of vibrate (I’ll get into the training method I used soon), I made the mistake of leaving the remote out in the rain while camping one night. This broke the remote, leaving me in need of a new set of collars. Thankfully by this time I had heard of brands that yes, were a little more expensive, but it is because they are the real deal. My advice when selecting an e-collar? If it is under $100....it is too good to be true, even for one collar. Do not make the same mistake as I did and buy something because it is cheap; spend the money for a quality product that will last (oh yeah, and one that won’t harm your dog).
For those interested, the collars I currently use are here, and you can check out my full review on the Mini Educator collars here.
Training
My plan was to take this on myself, using resources I had found on the internet (great idea, Julie). Thankfully this worked out well for me; one google search, picked the top article, read it three times, and off to the park I went with the boys that afternoon. By then, both Tucker & Leo had a solid “come;” just needed reinforcing when we were out and distractions were present, which was why I made the decision to e-collar train.
I don’t feel there is a need for me to go into great detail about e-collar training for recall when it is all in this lovely article that I will link below. Maybe this entire blog post just needed to be a link to this article, so here is what you’ve been waiting for!
This is not an article for skimming - if you are serious about e-collar training yourself, please read it through and through again. And if you feel this isn’t something you want to take on yourself, I highly recommend hiring a professional trainer to help with e-collar training.
Link: Lou Castle - Training the Recall
Keep in mind this isn’t something that will be picked up overnight. It takes practice and patience to perfect (say that 3 times fast) and some dogs may catch on faster than others.
I am lucky that Tucker and Leo both responded well to e-collar training, and most of the time now I can trust them without using the e-collar at all. But, when we are out and I have them off leash, their e-collars are on for that extra safety net. When it comes to recall, and ALL training in general, training never ends.
After practicing recall with the e-collar in safe places like large dog parks, we slowly started bringing Tucker and Leo out on hikes and letting them off leash. Honestly I couldn’t believe how well they responded to the training - all of the time spent and smelly treats given were finally worth it.
Don’t be that person
So maybe you’ve reached the point you believe your dog is ready to be off leash and will come back whenever you call them, wherever you are. YAS!!! This is one of the best and most freeing feelings for both you and your dog! But of course, being with a dog off leash brings it’s own set of new responsibilities.
This mostly applies to hiking with your dog, but these tips can be beneficial in any situation where your dog might be off leash.
Do not let your off leash dog approach any person OR dog without permission. Sure, your dog may be the social butterfly who can play well with any person or dog, but that may not be the case for all. The last thing you want is for your dog to approach a reactive dog and a fight to begin. It is YOUR responsibility to keep your dog under control at all times, and if you don’t think they can pass another group without having to say hello, leash them up as you pass. Most of the time when I am out hiking and see a group ahead, I will holler, “are your dogs friendly?” or “do you guys mind dogs?” which can keep potentially bad situations from happening.
Be aware of wildlife and how your dog may react. This is kind of self explanatory. If you are in an area where wildlife may be present, stay on alert and have a leash handy at all times. If your dog has a high prey drive, working on “leave it” alongside training recall will create a solid combination to keep your dog from chasing those damn squirrels.
Batteries can die - have treats along just in case. We all know batteries like to die at the worst time. I have never had a problem with my e-collars battery lasting, but in the event it does, or some kind of malfunction (like, idk, leaving the remote in the rain), bring along those high reward treats in case.
So...
For those who are STILL reading (hey hey!!!) I really hope you found this informative. I love being able to let my dogs enjoy life off leash and I would love if it could be that way for everyone! If there is anything you believe I missed, would like me to go into more detail about, or if you have a questions please feel free to shoot me an email - [email protected]
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