off lead training advice please.

[ditavonteesed]

the only place I can really take puppy out is the local park and her recall is really good but she does run up to people, how can I train her not to do this but still allow her some time off the lead, and when is it ok to have her off the lead, I clearly have done this too early., TIA

Have you tried using tuggy toy? Keep it for special exciting games when out walking, get her almost obsessed with it, but never let her keep it, it must stay in your pocket as a reward for fast recalls.

she does love toys, I have beenb using a treat bag so I constantly recall her and give her a treat the second she comes, thing is I can't work out how to do recall training without letting her off the lead in the first place iyswim.

You could use a long line (not extending lead) until she gets the message.
Once her recall is fast and reliable she can be off lead whenever it's safe and sensible.

You are doing fine all you have to do is to build up the distractions.

I guess to most dogs the best thing in the world is to play with other dog or meet other people so this is the hardest recall you will get.

If you can build up to this so in the garden can you call your dog away from your children if she is playing with them. If you can get a 96% recall in this situation up the anti.

Can you call her away from sausage on the floor?

You will have to think of stages of distraction as I do not know what gets your dog going but some I have used in the past are:

Can you recall your dog from visitors in the garden

Can you recall your dog from visiting dogs in your own garden

Can you recall your dog in the park when there is noone about

Can you recall your dog when there are people in the distance etc etc

So gradully get each stage of recall done and then make the distractions harder.

Can you recall your dog from a dog that it knows well.

Can you recall your dog is the other dog is on a lead

If in the meantime you do come to a situation when you want your dog to come and the distractin is too difficult (and it is safe to have her off the lead) do not call her. go up to the situation and collect her. That way she does not get used to ignoring the recall.

Your dog may prefer to recall for treats - it is easier if a dog will recall for toys as the reward lasts longer and does not get affected by how hungry the dog is (not usually a problem for labs etc!).

Also do be prepared to work harder if the recall from a great distraction so lots of excited noises and running away from the dog can help.

Just remember that recall to the dog must not be the end of something fun but the beginning of something even more fun - then you have a dog with 100% recall.

But it sounds like you are doing fine