Hi..sorry to ask another question but I am new to having a puppy ( never had one before).....My labrador is 14 weeks old and loves going out for her walks but I am very unsure of when to let her off her lead. The breeder has told me not to let her off her lead until she is nearly a year old as she may return the first few times but wont after that. A friend has also said to wait until she much older. I now have my sister who trains dogs telling me I must get out now and let her off and reward her with treats when she comes back . I am scared to death that the second I unclip her she will just run off !!! I dont want to lose her but I do want her to be good off the lead when she is off it. At the moment she is looking at everything and when she sees things such as birds or anything that moves she wants to go after them so surely if she is off the lead she will just bolt !!! Please help as I havent got a clue what to do ?????

Welll i would teach her to come back when called first before you let her off the lead anywhere for a start. Take her to the park and put her on a long line or an extendy lead and everytime she goes long call her back and praise her with a treat or toy for coming back.

if she does this all the time and you are able to trust her 100% you can keep her off lead.

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Yeah, I would agree. An extendable lead is perfect to give the pup a bit of freedom, but you can be safe in the knowledge that they can't run off on you!

both my dogs have been off lead since we had them at 8 weeks, in the first few weeks the pup will follow you every where as it is finding it's feet. Keep calling it by name and praizing him when he comes back and give a treat. As ours got a little older, as we went for walks they would love to wander off a little and explore as puppies do, but i use to let them go so far no further than 20 feet away to start with and then call them back treat and good girl etc. Have had no problems with recall by doing this, yes if they see rabbits in the fields then they would run, but i try to see them first and distract them and go a different way, terriers will be terriers after all.

My advice is let him off asap, if you have a good size garden, practice getting him to come to you, then gradually let him go out a bit further.

A dog that is always on a lead, as they get older once you let them off the lead they think hey freedom and do a runner and it takes ages to catch them

I wouldn't use an extending lead myself I would use a tracking lead! Practise the recall first at home! rewarding with a treat, then whilst out increacing the distance! when you feel that she completely usderstands what yo want of her try he off lead in a safe place! Labs are often food orinated so pretty easy to train!
regards
DT

Have an extenable lead and teach her to come back, then you're good to go

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Totaly agree with this . When my JRT had her pups and were old enough to go out in the garden , a call of Pup Pup Pup and me bending down and perhaps clapping my hands would make them all come running to me, so recall as such can be put in to practice straight away with a new pup. A new pup that has just left its mum and gone to a new home tends to need security and will follow you for that, so act on it by rewarding and hopefully you will have no trouble letting it walk of the lead.

Hi there, extendable lead for a Labrador??? Personally I wouldn't, if you think about it, having any large dog on an extending lead, teaches it when it wants to go a bit further that it can and when you then use a normal lead it will expect the same thing to happen and will be an instant puller.

Recall is the most important thing, practise it wherever you can where there aren't too many other distractions (sights and smells). Its important that when you are training with a pup that you achieve the right thing, so don't make any training too difficult so that you both fail. Sometimes give a treat when your pup comes back, and as they get older, gradually reduce the treats until they're not needed.

Pups do go from being very dependent on you and having a good recall, to a stage where they start pushing boundaries, which is why its important to get the basics in early on, and you will need to train again regularly to keep those basics in place, just a few mins each day is all it takes, I do ten mins each day with my two Lab girls, aged just under 3 and 4.

I've recommended it before and will recommend it again, a book by a chap called John Weller, 'A Simple Approach to Gundog Training' - a very good book to teach the basics, even if you don't want to train your dog to compete or work, its written in a very easy to understand language, I know because even i could understand it And even if you aren't planning competition or work for her, its a good idea to follow the training for retrieves, your girl will absolutely love it, and you will never need to use treats for recalls, the possibility of a bit of retrieving, whether with a dummy or tennis ball, will be much more of a reward.

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As others said let the pup off the lead asap. If you wait till she is any older she will be far too independent. If you wait till she is a year she will never have learned to come back and will never be controllable - never heard anything like that before. Go for walks where she cant come to any harm if she wanders off a little way and let her off for short spells then on a flexi lead so you can reinforce the recall. I cant quite see why an extendable lead should teach a dog to pull. Surely you have the dog walking beside you until you release it and allow it the full length, in exactly the same way that it walks beside you until your release it for a free run.

We have always let our off the lead as soon as they ahve been able to go out, somewhere safe, they have a natural instict when they are so young to want to be with you as they are less confident when first taken out. We always called them by name even though they were inches from our feet and rewarded them, walk backwards away if they arnt walking away from you call them again and treat, yes they would want to be with/near you anyway so you are building on this "need" treat/praise all the time they very quickly realise coming to you is good.

This then serves a good grounding when they become more confident and with mine this was only a few days of going out, keep stepping away and repeating the recall always the same command, as soon as they move away shout them back repeat it as often as possible. We always found as well to step up the praise make more of a fuss and change the treat, use a different treat for this than the one you would use at home for the sit and down commands as its very important that recall is established for safety if you are wanting your dog to be off the lead most of the time which we did.

I think the earlier the better there is less chance for a pup of 3months ish to run away from you than a 6-12month confident dog.