Off-Leash Adventures: Is Your Dog Ready?

Are you among the many people who want their dog to be off-leash reliable?  Numerous training options exist for people to train their dogs to be off-leash. The idea is that dogs can be off-leash if they learn specific skills.  Those skills usually include look or attention, recall, heel position, and possibly a leave-it cue.  People are led to believe that if their dog knows these skills, they are ready to be off-leash in the wide world. But skills are only a (small) part of it. There are other things to consider before going on a leash free adventure.

Skills Do Matter…But What Does Being Off-Leash Mean?

What off-leash means to you and what it means to your dog are different.  When people think about letting their dog off-leash, they often mean getting to a park or being in the neighborhood and letting their dog free to roam or run without wearing a leash. They also assume their dog can make appropriate choices based on human standards and cultural norms. This is where the problems begin. What is normal dog behavior may not be suitable or tolerable to you or others in the community. For example, your off-leash dog may approach other dogs who may be on or off-leash. Or your dog may approach strangers out of curiosity or friendliness. This may not be appropriate or safe for many reasons. But how would a dog know how to tell the difference? Obedience class doesn’t cover this. Your dog is 100% dependent on you to help them interpret the situation and then help them choose appropriate responses. This is particularly true for adolescent dogs (6-24 months old).

Off-leash dogs will behave like normal dogs – sniffing, exploring, wandering, and possibly greeting others, including people and dogs. When we take the leash off the dog, we are saying, in effect, go, be a dog, live your best life. Being a dog is fine, most of the time. This works if it is just you and your dog out in the wide world or if you and your dog are on private property. It gets more complicated when you and your dog are surrounded by other people and animals in the community. Dog guardians may feel upset, embarrassed, or angry at their off-leash dog when their dog is just being a dog and doing normal things. This is not fair to your dog. Becoming upset with or punishing your dog for behaving like a normal dog doesn’t make sense to your dog. And it erodes your dog’s trust in you. When trust diminishes, the off-leash experience becomes more difficult and frustrating for you and your dog.

Your Dog Loves All People…But Do All People Love Dogs?

When you and your dog are out for a leash walk, and you encounter a person, your dog has limited ability to greet that person. The leash prevents your dog from getting too close. For people who are afraid of dogs or are allergic to dogs, the leash lets them know that your dog can’t get too close.

What about when your dog is off-leash? When your off-leash dog runs toward another person, that person may have a strong emotional response. Previous negative experiences with dogs can be traumatic. That person may have been bitten or even attacked by another dog. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, an estimated 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs yearly. Children are the most common victims of dog bites. Your friendly dog may be seen as a threat. It doesn’t matter whether your dog is friendly toward people; in that situation, your dog is not viewed as friendly. If the person your dog approaches yells at or shoos your dog away, or worse, hits your dog, your dog doesn’t understand why the person behaves that way and may act defensively – and rightly so. Your dog may become afraid of that person and other people. If your dog continues toward the person, further escalating the emotional response, your dog is not at fault. Your dog may not know what to do in that situation because that’s not covered in obedience class. Your dog is left in confusion – are people safe or unsafe? Why is my person angry? What just happened? Your dog’s takeaway may be that people are unpredictable and potentially dangerous. Not an outcome that benefits anyone.

What about the person who is allergic to dogs?  According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, approximately 10-20% of people are allergic to dogs. It’s important to understand that there are no actual hypoallergenic dogs. People have allergic responses to proteins found in dander (dead skin cells), saliva, and urine, not fur. Your “hypo-allergenic” dog who gives kisses to a person who is allergic to dogs can still trigger an allergic reaction because of the protein in the saliva. It doesn’t matter how friendly your dog is; your dog's greeting is unwanted for the person with a dog allergy.  How are you or your dog supposed to identify someone allergic to dogs? You can’t. And neither can your dog.

If you want your dog to be safe off-leash, she must know what to do when she sees someone. Allowing your dog to run up to greet a stranger is unacceptable, and your yelling that your dog is friendly is insufficient. Honestly, when an off-leash dog is charging toward me, hearing their guardian yelling, “He’s friendly,” doesn’t endear your dog to me. My takeaway is that this poor dog has been set loose in the world without the skills he needs to be safe and successful. What should your dog do? The most straightforward skill is teaching your dog to return to you whenever she sees someone. Simple, yes. Easy, no. This is what I call an environmental cue. If your dog sees someone, then she returns to you. It’s straightforward because your dog always knows what is expected. She doesn’t have to guess what to do whenever she sees someone, whether a friend, family, or stranger. What should you do when your off-leash dog charges toward someone? Call your dog back, attach his leash, and apologize for being inconsiderate and not ensuring your dog has the needed skills to be off-leash in the community.

People Who Are Dog Friendly…But Are Unknowingly Rude or Scary to Your Dog

Too often, we expect our dogs to tolerate people's rude behavior. What do I mean by rude behavior? Touching, petting, getting close – exactly the kinds of things that we would find creepy if a stranger greeted us that way. We expect our dogs to let strangers invade their personal space and touch them without resistance. Do you enjoy random strangers coming up and touching you?  If a stranger gets close to me, I back up or walk away. Why should I expect my dog to tolerate a handsy stranger when I wouldn’t? Some dogs tolerate this, but most do not enjoy a stranger’s attention. Some dogs do like being fondled in public – but they are few and far between. Do you know what your dog looks like when feeling cornered, frightened, or tolerant but would prefer being left alone? Some obvious signals are turning their head or body away, ducking their head, crouching or trying to make themselves smaller, moving away, or ears down or back. Those are the significant signals. Many other microsignals are unique to each dog.  People routinely ignore dogs' signals of discomfort or stress. Often, it’s out of ignorance. When a dog’s body language is not understood or ignored, it puts the dog in a terrible position. Tolerate the stranger's rude and potentially frightening behavior OR protect themselves from the stranger. This is often the tipping point where a dog will growl, nip, or bite. A negative interaction between your dog and a stranger can happen quickly. If your dog is off-leash and at a distance, you may not be close enough to intervene and protect your dog.

Your Dog Wants to Make Friends…But My Dog Does Not (or May Not)

If your off-leash dog is running toward another unfamiliar dog, that is not a friendly behavior. It is impulsive and may be perceived as rude, inappropriate, or even threatening by the other dog. There may be snarking. It might get ugly. Adolescent dogs (6-24 months old) tend to get very excited and greet other dogs a little too enthusiastically. Not all dogs enjoy those over-the-top greetings, especially if the target of the unwanted greeting is painful, fearful, or restrained by a leash.

Neither you nor your dog may know that the dog your off-leash dog is bounding toward has hip dysplasia, an ear infection, or spondylosis. When your dog gets near, the other dog may bark, growl, lunge, or be snarky. That is not aggression. It is not reactivity. It’s a reasonable response because the dog is trying to prevent feeling pain. This exact scenario has happened to me on several occasions. The most frustrating incident occurred in a pet store. My dog and I were standing at the counter paying for our purchase. A person came in with their off-leash dog (the sign on the door clearly stated that leashed dogs were welcome). The dog ran toward us. Melody, my then 8-year-old Great Dane, barked and growled at the dog when he got about 2 feet away from her. He continued coming toward us, oblivious to her signals, as many adolescent dogs are. I did not scold her. I did not apologize for her response; it was reasonable. I did place my body between her and the other dog, which calmed her down. Did the other guardian put his dog on a leash? No. Or apologize for his dog’s behavior? No. He yelled at me for bringing an aggressive dog into the pet store. It was quite a scene. His voice was so loud that people stopped and stared at us. Why did Melody respond so strongly? She did have arthritis; even though she was on a pain management regimen, she could still feel pain when jolted. Any exuberant medium or large dog running into her would be painful. She clearly and reasonably let the other dog know she was not interested in meeting.

More recently, Ursa, my 5-year-old Great Dane, and I were hiking on a trail. Where we live, dogs are legally required to be on leash in public places except where off-leash is specifically allowed. Ursa is timid in new places or wooded areas where she can’t see all around her. This is understandable, knowing that she is generally wary and was attacked by another dog when she was younger. Things were going well. She was sniffing and exploring, and we were practicing parkour. And then an off-leash dog popped up. Ursa alerted, moved closer to me, and then I saw the dog. There was no growling or barking by either dog. Knowing that Ursa was uncomfortable, we continued our walk down the trail. The dog didn’t follow. No big deal, I thought. Ursa quickly relaxed. Everything was fine until the dog popped up again a few minutes later. Ursa froze before I saw the dog. So, we turned around and went back the way we came. This time, the dog followed us. Ursa kept looking behind her, keeping an eye on the dog. We turned the corner and found the dog’s guardian, leash in hand. I asked him to leash his dog while I walked Ursa away. When he tried to leash his dog, the dog ran the other way. We didn’t see the dog or guardian on our way back to the car. I wonder how long it took the guy to get his dog back.

Pandora, my 6-month-old Great Dane puppy, is learning about the world around her. I take her on one or two field trips each week. She is not allowed to greet other dogs while she’s wearing a leash unless I know the other person and dog. And then it still depends on where we are (is it safe), what skill we’re practicing (greeting others or just observing), and how she’s doing (calm or excited).  If an off-leash dog rushes up, Pandora is in a difficult situation because she is learning what to do (ignore the dog or get behind me) and, depending on the dog, it could frighten her. She might come to the conclusion that dogs running up to her are scary and begin showing leash reactivity. From a distance, Pandora doesn’t look like a puppy. Even though she weighs 83 pounds, she’s just 6 mos. old and very much a puppy. She’s still learning whether to world is a safe place full of adventure or a scary place where bad things happen. Can a single event like this cause leash reactivity?  Yes, it does happen.

Your Dog Needs to Know What to Expect…and How to Respond

What should your dog do when they see another dog or person? This is foundational. Whatever the answer is, it needs to be simple, repeatable, and proofed. This will take time.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. It does mean that whatever the behavior is, it needs to be something that makes sense to your dog and can be done automatically. Right now, I’m spending a lot of time teaching my puppy how to greet people.

I want the greeting ritual to be repeatable. What I chose can be done in various places with any kind of person – young or old. The sequence is this: Pandora sees a person and then looks at me. If I say, “Do you want to say hi?” then she is learning to move toward the person calmly and boop the person’s hand with her snout. Then she must return to me. That last part is critical – she must come back to me. This prevents her from jumping up on people. It also keeps the greeting short, which prevents people from getting too handsy with her. And it makes sense to her. She can opt out of greeting anyone, too. I don’t make my dog interact with strangers if she doesn’t want to.

At this point, Pandora is young, just moving into adolescence. This means she will not be 100% consistent. Knowing this about her means I need to be aware of her energy level and body language. If she’s being silly or distractable, it’s not the time to greet people. I couldn’t predict how she would respond with any certainty. And this is where proofing the skill comes into play. Pandora needs to practice greetings in a variety of places with various people. We’ve been practicing this greeting for about three months now. She is pretty good with the actual greeting ritual, but many things can derail it.

• She’s young. I don’t expect a puppy or adolescent to be as consistent as an adult dog. An immature dog will have inconsistent responses regardless of skill, knowledge, or proficiency. If she has an off day, there’s always tomorrow. Does this mean that I might be embarrassed by her behavior? Yes. Every dog I’ve ever shared my life with has, at one point or another, made me cringe.
• She’s growing and changing daily, so she might be hungry or tired one day when we’re out. This will affect her behavior. It’s no one’s fault, and she isn’t being stubborn; she could simply be physically or mentally uncomfortable in the situation. If I’m hungry or unusually tired, I’ll be crabby, too.
• Other people may get too close too fast or ignore me when I tell them to stop coming toward us. I can’t control other people, but I can advocate for my dog, which builds trust between Pandora and me. If a person causes Pandora fear, confusion, or concern, I want her to feel confident that I’ll have her back.  

We also spend a lot of time simply observing. Time spent letting Pandora watch from a distance is critical for success. Whenever she sees another dog, person, stroller, wagon, car, or something new, the correct response is to look at me. I reinforce this as much as possible. Why? If she’s pulling at the leash or rushing toward something, she’s not thinking; she’s being impulsive. If she’s being impulsive, she’s not likely to make good choices. When she sees something new or interesting, checking in with me gives me a moment to decide if or how we should proceed. What I want her to learn is to think first and then act.

You Need to Know Your Dog’s Capability…and What to Do When Things Go Wrong

Even with the best planning, things can still go sideways. You can’t control the environment or other people, but you can prepare yourself and your dog. This is an important fact to internalize. Have a backup plan and be prepared to use it.

One of my hopes is that Pandora can do things in the community with me, like patio dining. However, her size will limit the places we go and the patios we visit. But right now she is relatively small (80 pounds or so), which means there are more options now than when she’s full grown. My best guess is that she’ll be roughly 150 pounds at maturity. Now is the time to practice! She knows several foundation skills and is fairly consistent at home or my training facility. When we’re on the road, things are less predictable.

Recently, Pandora and I met up with a friend and her pup at a local brewery. The patio is large enough that Pandora can visit when she’s fully grown. Things were going great, exceeding my expectations on almost every point. I was feeling very good about myself and my puppy, until the train incident. It never dawned on me that a train would fly by, horns blaring, at 6 PM on a Monday. My poor puppy freaked out! I walked with her, talked to her, and gently touched her, but nothing helped. Even after the train was gone, she was still unsettled. We cut the evening short.

You Need to Know What Community Expectations Are…and Be Prepared to Adhere to those Standards (Laws)

Your dog might be a canine good citizen, but part of being a good citizen is adhering to community standards. Negative interactions with off-leash dogs are common. That’s often the reason that leash laws are enacted. Most communities have places where off-leash dogs are welcome. A quick internet search will help you find areas where off-leash dogs are allowed. And check state and local leash laws. The state where I live has general leash laws, but a few communities have additional rules or ordinances, too.

Off-Leash Adventure….Are You AND Your Dog Ready?

Off-leash adventures are about the relationship and trust between you and your dog. Your dog may excel at recall, heel, or leave it. But there’s more to a successful off-leash experience. Teach your dog what to do when he sees another person or dog and be consistent. These skills take time, repetition, and maturity for your dog to be consistent. When things don’t go according to plan, have a backup plan. Know that other people and dogs may not want to interact with your dog. That’s fine. Your dog may not want strangers touching them. That’s reasonable. Wherever you choose to go off-leash adventuring with your dog, check ahead to confirm that dogs are allowed to be off-leash.

Paws up!

Delores

Pet Allergy - https://aafa.org/allergies/types-of-allergies/pet-dog-cat-allergies/

AVMA – Nearly 90 million Nice Dogs…but any dog can bite https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/dog-bite-prevention