Hey,
Just had an extremely frightening experience with my puppy , what happened was we went on a walk to a wooded area near us and we let him off the lead. We always let him off the lead on that walk as we met a dog walker on our first walk there and she said that if we let him off the lead now while he is young then he will get used to it and will be less likely to run off when he is older. So we let him off the lead and he stayed right near us the whole time and when we called him back to us he came back almost every time. We only let him off the lead about five minutes into the walk though and put it back on him about five minutes before the end so he is never really near the road while he is off lead. But today when we were in the middle of the walk a big bunch of people turned up and there were loads of dogs , he was fine with it all until two dogs had a little snap at each other and ran off , their owners were shouting for them and all the dogs started to get a little excited. This scared Theo quite a bit and he ran off towards the road!! I chased after him but he was running flat out and he is really fast eventually I caught up with him and just leaped for him and grabbed him about 10 meters away from the car park and the busy road. I was trembling I was so scared. We went home after that and on the way home he threw up !
Was I wrong to let him off the lead on a walk ???, he usually does stay right near me but he got really scared. I'm going to keep him on a long line for the next few walks there just to see how he is but do you think I shouldn't let him off the lead now? and what should I do about him throwing up in the car??
please help
thanks

Has he thrown up in the car before? Its a neccessity to have areally reliable recall before letting a dog off lead. This is achieved by recalling him from distractions. Thebest way I have seen this done is in Jean Donaldson's book Training like a pro. She shows the exercise in the DVD thatcomes with the book. Can I suggest you buythe book and carry out all the exercises with your pupster..

Pups do often stay with you when very young as they are more dependant and reliant on you,so that much is true, however once adolescence starts and the hormones kick in its usually another story even ones that came before start to assert their freedom, also depends on what breed you have some have a high prey drive and hunting instincts, or are scent hounds so again that plays a big part, so that was absolute rubbish what the walker said, if anything come 6mths or so its mostly a different story. Also pups go through several fear periods too, when even a confident outgoing pup previously starts to react to sights sounds and situations again with uncertainty, as a dogs first instinct is usually flight ie to run when spooked, it was all very bad advice. She may well have a velcro dog and been lucky but doesnt mean every dog will be like that.

I would deffinately keep him on a long line, and not let him off until you have perfected proper recall training and you can be assured its reliable. Even then, if he does go through the stage when he doesnt start to come back or starts to miss recalls or starts to mess about before coming back and not listening I would put him back on a long line again then, keep training throughout the period of adolescence and only let him off after its passed and he is reliable again. If you want tips for recall training just ask. I would also consider puppy classes too if you dont already, this teached obdience and focus on you with distractions and is good for socialisation too in a controlled environment.

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Now I know where the lady was coming from because I do let pups off the lead pretty much straight away but this is only in a secure field where there aren't any other person about the distract so normally in a private field that I can use. It does work and makes it easier to work on recall straight away but I wouldnt do this in a general pet walking field or woods etc. too much can go wrong. in that case its a harness and longline until I have a wonderful recall.

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I have always let my pups off the lead from day one. I agree with what the dog walker told you. Your mistake was probably not to put a lead on when you saw a crowd of dogs - very scary for your pup.

Yes, you should have put him back on the lead or walked away with him. Although I too go for off lead from day one, I wouldn't walk any dog off lead within easy running distance of a road.

Same with us, we've had our dogs offlead the first day we brought them home.

However with our newest pup we have the lead off all the time, walking, etc. UNLESS we see something as a potential hazard. Which for Bailey isn't much as he's too lazy to run.

Continue to let him offlead, but just be aware of your surroundings and try and think how your pup will react to these distractions, you know now to put a lead on if you're approaching a group of people. For now, I'd put the lead on when going past or meeting more than one person and one dog.

Sounds like he needs more socialisation. Have you a friend's dog you can walk with. My youngest and a friends Akita were playing on the park and they're both young and these two westie owners came on, one with 1 and the other with 2. The man with two let one off and left the other one on. And our guys as we got closer went to say hello to the offlead one. This one started running off towards the road.. and the pups thought it was a game, they recalled anyway and the man managed to get his dog back too. But started on at us saying it was our fault, yet the way he was talking to the dog, you knew it was babied and not confident - my issue was - why let a dog that could and probably has done that before, offlead? But that was my issue.

I would say your pup needs more socialising - a class would be great for this, I would also invest in a harness and long line. And also don't be scared - I know it's hard and you fear the same will happen again. But if you encounter anyone, ask if you can walk with them and their dog - that way your dog will socialise and play and learn to be a dog, you won't have to worry and you make some friends in the process.

My pup has never been on lead (been on long lines during recall training) when in a place he can be offlead. I understand your fright and how you are feeling but you need to let it go otherwise your dog will never be able to socialise because of your fear he will run off again.

Ginger biscuits are good for car sickness. HTH and apologies if it repeats what others have said - great minds must think alike

P.S, try not to put him onlead everytime something is approaching, practice putting it on and taking it off regardless of whether something is coming or not - or just recalling him. My pup has learnt that if I recall him, there is usually something coming or around - so now I'm having to recall him, put his leash on for 5 minutes and take it off - when there is nothing there, otherwise it gets a habit of him not coming back when there is something there - I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense..

I think that was just an unfortunate situation that went from good to bad very quickly. I think when you are training this can often happen and it leaves us (as training owners) nervous about the whole off lead thing...but sometimes you just have to go with what feels right at the time....or not... and then try not to beat yourself up about it if it doesn't quite go as planned. The only thing I would consider is the location and think what are the risks prior to you unclipping the lead. I have this issue here with my 10 month old lab who is so inquisitive about all dogs and humans and runs up at any opportunity we also have alot of horses around the fields here which if he met offlead with a rider onboard I'd totally freak as I think he'd run right up and possibly jump up to say hello

As for the car sickness just keep trying it out and you'll (one day) go from a unco-operating pukey puppy to one that's grown used to it and gets over it. This is what we found. We have just done a 12hr round trip to France and he was fine Prior to this he'd had many trips out and been left for a few mins in the car (increasing slowly) as that makes him realise it's not so awful if he can have a quick nap in it. I think this all helps when they're tired and not having had food prior (particularly to start with - or it ends up back in the car ).

Hope things improve and take stock - you've had a nasty fright all of you BUT you're ok and pup will be too x

At the risk of contradicting some people.. use a long-line and harness for a while. You can't always react to things first when the dog is off-lead and if he's prone to bolt it only takes once. If you're worried it will also make you more relaxed since you know the safety net is there ( I'm talking about me there ). When you can see for miles around you can always drop it.. it tends to just drag and rarely catches.