I really want Bella to go off lead but how do I train her recall and at what age/stage do I know it is right for her to go off lead? She is good at recall when she is out on the flexi lead and in the house/garden. She is 5 months old and there are so many interesting distractions for her (sometimes much more interesting than me)
I am scared she will see a rabbit for the first time and be off!

You just need to keep practicing in loads of different places with her recall.
Make the reward really good (ie not just dry food, or the everyday training treats.. something like smoked ham, or cheese)
Start of in a secure area letting her off that way she won't secape. And getting a longline is a good idea except I used a washing line it was much longer and really easy to jump on the end of if the dogs bolts.

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We have a 1 yr old and we are training her to recall. We have used a long line to train her which is useful. A 30ft long line. She can still have a wander but we can try and recall her when we want.

We have also read on this forum that someone suggested taking dogs into tennis courts as they are secure. We have taken Honey into the tennis courts and its a great environment to train her to recall. We use treats to reward her and lots of fuss.

We also keep training recall in the garden and the house. After a walk we make her sit at the front door and walk through to the kitchen and make her stay sitting at the front door. Then call her through when we decide which is a good way of using recall training in the house as well as sit.

Hope this helps a bit

go to some training lessons they will be able to help you loads

All our dogs have been off lead from the time we collect them at 8 weeks, in the first few weeks/months they will follow you all the time as they don't want to lose you. this is a brilliant for reinforcing good recall. I would always advise having pups off lead from day one. at 5 months you need to be letting him off asap, have some nice intresting smelly treats, liver cake, cheese or sausages etc, let the dog off the lead and let it wander for a little while and then call it back, always be encouraging with the voice when calling back, praise and give the treat. Our dogs are terriers and i know what you mean about them seeing a rabbit and being off like a shot, but they are 99% reliable when out in the fields with me, it's just if a rabbit surprises us when on a walk. If i see the rabbit first i make them sit and wait, or use a distraction until the rabbit as gone. good luck, let us know how you get on

my dog was let off the lead early (at 12 weeks) and had brilliant recall until she hit 7mths and then became a different dog. Spent 1 1/2 hours one evening trying to get her back. Having to start at the begining again to train her in recall. Now dont let her off the lead at all which is a shame for her but I just cant trust her.