Off-Leash Work

I've been trying to get up more confidence to do some truly off-leash recall work. But at the same time, there's a huge risk in unclipping that lead... Even in places where there's woodlands for miles, I can think of a million things that could go wrong if Macy chose to ignore a recall. So to be honest, we do a lot of long line work...but it's rare I ever even drop the line, let alone unclip it.

I'm really hoping Susan Garrett opts to do another Recallers course this Spring/Summer, because I think I need the confidence building that would come with the class. Especially consider I really would like to let her loose in some of our wood walks...our backyard is rather small and so it's rare she really gets to stretch out and run.

However, knowing today was supposed to be a sunny, nice day I opted to try taking Macy to nearby abandoned football field with the goal of working a few things: Recalls, tugging in a distracting environment, and just getting her to play and engage with me when she has the complete option of leaving. This is a field I used to use regularly with Toby, back before other people discovered it and started using it as a dog run, because for the most part...it's completely fenced in.

There are holes in the fence in some areas, but they're small, and the gates don't close all the way (though I cheat and use the old chain left behind to tie it closed...that way I have warning if anyone else is trying to bring their dog in). So it gives me the option of letting her off leash, but the safety blanket of knowing she can't go running through the city. (Toby was always on a long line here. The fence line butts up against a sidewalk on two sides, and I was never brave enough to move to no safety net).

But I did it today. I got in, secured the gate behind us and unclipped Macy's lead. She surprised me by wanting to play with our Chuck It and Whistler balls the moment I pulled them out of the bag. After she'd fetched out all her ya-yas, we moved right into tugging. I brought two different tug toys: a braided fleece, leopard print tug I've had for years. It's about 3-4 feet long, so I can zig-zag it around to keep her attention. It's one of both of my dog's favorites. And a piece of bunny fur, the ultimate tug reward, originally purchased when I was first trying to get Toby to enjoy playing in distracting environments. It was the first toy that worked with him. I bought them both off Clean Run years ago. She was more the game to tug on both, and I actually didn't end up needing the bunny fur, which is good, I like to try and save that one as much as possible.


We ended up getting several really good recalls in, I was getting some great tugging (way more than I expected), and despite the fact that 'fetch' isn't one of her favorite games, she seemed to really enjoy digging in and getting to really run down the balls. I was really pleased with how it went. We did have a few glitches. Like I said above, the fence butts along the edge of the sidewalk and she did take off towards the fence towards some people strolling by a few times. Thankfully, both times she turned and came back--though they definitely weren't her strongest recalls. I do want to go back if we can catch it empty again. It's a nice place for me to practice having her loose, but without her truly being loose.


We left early enough in the morning too, that when we got home I was still able to her out for her normal morning walk, as well as get Toby out on his.