# Good Off-Leash Dogs



## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

It seems like I only ever hear about the dogs that _can't_ be trusted off leash, or at least need more training for it. Sighthounds, scenthounds, terriers, and nordic breeds are the most common (from my observations) grouped under "never off-leash," which is like half of all dog breeds.

So I'm curious, what breeds ARE good off-leash?


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

No dogs are good off leash; they all need to be trained. Some just need more training than others.

Sporting breeds (especially retrievers) and working breeds (especially herders and "protection" breeds) are probably the easiest to train. Most of the personal lap warmer types are a cinch, as well.


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

It took a year of training, lots of training to trust our eskie off leash here at home. We've never tested her anywhere else since it really isn't safe or appropriate to have her offleash elsewhere. She does do fantastic at the dog park.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Marsh is right. All dogs CAN be taught a recall...the trick is motivation. Dogs that are very handler motivated are easier (in general) than dogs that are bred to work independently or to cover large areas of ground to hunt (retrievers,spaniels,terriers and hounds of all kinds). 

The biggest hurdle is the trainer, not the trainee. Many people don't KNOW how to teach a recall and mess it up inadvertently. What most of us say is don't let your dog offleash in uncontained areas UNTIL you have a virtually perfect recall. 

The best recall info/teaching I have ever seen is on the DVD "Really Reliable Recall". Simple, but takes some time and practice and management, but doesn't ANY training?


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## MonicaBH (Jul 5, 2008)

Out of my 4 dogs, my rottie is the best off leash. My little street urchin mutt (some sort of terrier mix) is 2nd, my golden is 3rd and my chow is the worst. They don't take off running or anything, but it takes a couple of times of calling to get the golden & the chow to come.

My rottweiler and my golden have both been in obedience classes, although my rottie had significantly more training.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

Kechara is the only dog I've had that culd be trusted 100% off leash. Jack was about 90% reliable before his hearing went and Hawk would probably be about 70% reliable but I walk him on a 50ft lead.


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Icesis is pretty good offleash, she has good recall except if squirrels are involved. =P
She really is one of the best behaved dogs I've owned.


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## sagira (Nov 5, 2009)

You forgot to mention English Setters in the "never off leash" department.

German Shepherds? Border Collies? Poodles? All with extensive training of course. 

That said, if I ever get my Llewellin Setter reliably trained to come when called, I'll let you all know.


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## TxRider (Apr 22, 2009)

Every dog I have raised from a pup was reliable off leash, and very rarely wore one.

My current two rescues are far from it, and it'll take a lot of work to get them there. Being GSDs I do have an advantage, they do not like to be out of my sight.

One of my favorite reinforcements is when I am in a place where I can have them offleash if they stop paying attention, or blow me of on a recall and wander, I hide from them. Always sends them into a bit of a panic to find me, and makes them keep an eye on me more.

So even if they aren't reliable on recall yet, they check on me every minute or two, tend to stay in sight, and if I start moving they are on my heels every time.


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## Maddie'sMomma (Mar 5, 2010)

My parent's had a Brittany that was awesome off-leash.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

sagira said:


> You forgot to mention English Setters in the "never off leash" department.


I've seen several high-drive field setters that had zero problem with recall. Not Llews per se, but the same type and drive.


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## Dogstar (May 11, 2007)

Frankly, a bird dog of any variety who is untrustworthy off leash would be pretty useless.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

TxRider said:


> One of my favorite reinforcements is when I am in a place where I can have them offleash if they stop paying attention, or blow me of on a recall and wander, I hide from them. Always sends them into a bit of a panic to find me, and makes them keep an eye on me more.
> 
> So even if they aren't reliable on recall yet, they check on me every minute or two, tend to stay in sight, and if I start moving they are on my heels every time.



I did these exact things with Wally. One time I put the little man in a tizzy. It was pretty funny to watch and then when he saw me, he CHARGED at me like he hadn't seen me in 1000 years (it was only 30 seconds....)

Wally does the "check-in" thing too.

I don't know if Cotons are "good" off-leash. Nothing in the typical "profile" mentions it, but they might fall under the "handler oriented lap warmer" dog. 

But I figure if a timid dog like Wally can learn to be reliable off leash just about any dog can


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Dogstar said:


> Frankly, a bird dog of any variety who is untrustworthy off leash would be pretty useless.


Sporting breeds inhabit the easier end of the scale, but they have (or should have) a high prey drive. That can complicate things a bit. Ya just have to teach them that they hunt for you; not for themselves.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Papillons in my experience and shelties are very easy to teach to be off leash. Papillons are so easy it's almost like cheating, I think. I think you'd have to pay them to run off.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Cadence never wants to follow me when he's off leash  I'm only comfortable enough now to let him off leash when there's other people around so that they can help me catch him if he decides to run off. He's always distracted by other dogs, people, random smells, sounds, animals..... the list goes on. 

It's a good thing that although his "come" is a 50-50, his "stay" is at 100%, so I know that if anything goes wrong, I can just yell STAY!! And he'll stay nicely at that spot.


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## Smithcat (Aug 30, 2008)

RaeganW said:


> It seems like I only ever hear about the dogs that _can't_ be trusted off leash, or at least need more training for it. Sighthounds, scenthounds, terriers, and nordic breeds are the most common (from my observations) grouped under "never off-leash," which is like half of all dog breeds.
> 
> So I'm curious, what breeds ARE good off-leash?


A stuffed toy dog is very good off leash.


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## Karinia (Oct 5, 2009)

We haven't taught Porkchop to come directly to us when we call him offleash. We're still working on that, BUT if we call him when he's too far away at the dog park he will come to our general area. Same goes when we go to our state park and keep him off leash when the park is empty. He likes to wander and sometimes a little too far but if we call him he will come closer to us.


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Britts are known for being difficult to train to be offleash. As Marsh Muppet said, they need to be taught to hunt with the handler, and not for themselves. Libby is now 2 and a half and I would say that she is 98% reliable offleash. We can call her off toys, dogs, food, squirrels, people, birds, rabbits, and groundhogs... but we haven't met a deer yet.


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

I personaly think any breed can be trained of leash.

All the dogs we have owned have been perfect off leash. aside from when the one got older and went deaf off course, and was almost blind, so couldn't do hand signals. and our other girl who went blind at 6. but if you took her to a empty field she would run around and come to you still.

I know tons of breeds who are always aid to be terrible off leash. Blaze and I's daily walking partner is a Irish wolfhound. she is never leashed. we know tons and tons of northern breeds (very popular here) who are all off leash and good. tons of scent hounds. Including my Bucky dog I walk, who is mostly hound. never taught a recall in 5 years. And I have taught him it, he is doing pretty awesome at it. he saw a squrrial a few days ago and took of, I almost had a heart attack, but after 3 or 4 calls of his name he came running and got a handful of treats. yea it took me a few calls, but I got him, and this is a dog who has never been taught anything.


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## sagira (Nov 5, 2009)

Marsh Muppet said:


> I've seen several high-drive field setters that had zero problem with recall. Not Llews per se, but the same type and drive.


Looks like there's some hope for me after all. Our dog is going to be a pet. Wherever I read descriptions about English Setters, it is cautioned to never let them off leash as they will take off after birds, not hear you, etc. It's good to know that with training, this natural tendency can be discouraged.

Interesting thread.


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## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

Tankstar said:


> I personaly think any breed can be trained of leash.
> 
> I know tons of breeds who are always aid to be terrible off leash. Blaze and I's daily walking partner is a Irish wolfhound. she is never leashed. we know tons and tons of northern breeds (very popular here) who are all off leash and good. tons of scent hounds. Including my Bucky dog I walk, who is mostly hound. never taught a recall in 5 years. And I have taught him it, he is doing pretty awesome at it. he saw a squrrial a few days ago and took of, I almost had a heart attack, but after 3 or 4 calls of his name he came running and got a handful of treats. yea it took me a few calls, but I got him, and this is a dog who has never been taught anything.


1+ on this. I see huskies, a very popular breed up here too, off leash all of the time. I also see GSDs, Berners, Brittanies, and the odd bloodhound all off leash. They all seem to have great recall. It's the time and effort spent training the dog that counts even more than the breed. (On the other hand, a good friend of mine has a Golden that can't be off leash at all, even after 11 years. But she's put NO time into training him at all.)


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## JLWillow (Jul 21, 2009)

My only experience is with Willow. She just has the temperament that lets her be a trust worthy dog off-leash, and just in general. If she didn't have that temperament, I'd probably never bother to train her off-leash.

And she's supposed to be a terrier mix.


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## JohnnyBandit (Sep 19, 2008)

Actually, for all their hard headedness, OCD, Drive, etc. ACD's tend to be VERY good off leash. Its almost like the come command is hardwired into them. 

Of course you have to strengthen it because their drive. But with a little work they becomes VERY reliable. With Merlin a leash is basically for looks. Anything I can do with him on lead, I can do with him off lead. He can be going full bore after anything (livestock, a guy in a bite suit, etc.) and I can "out" him and then recall him and he comes every time. It was harder go get him to stop slamming into me full speed when he got to me than teaching him to come. 


I just picked up a dog I am going to be handling in conformation. Betty is a six month old ACD. I am not one to push myself on dogs. I rather show them the food, water, and affection comes from me and if they want it, they have to reach out. I am not going to beg them or plead with them. In any case, I have been walking around with treats in my pocket. If I say Betty Betty(which is what I have been calling her) She comes running. She has figured out the game in less than a day.


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Laurelin said:


> Papillons in my experience and shelties are very easy to teach to be off leash. Papillons are so easy it's almost like cheating, I think. I think you'd have to pay them to run off.


It's a built-in feature of the 'velcro' breeds, I think.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Jonas won't walk off leash. Literally. I put a leash on him and it's go go go, but off he looks lost and just stands and stares at me. Jack has fabulous recall, but a squirrel will get him. He won't go for them if I can get his attention first, but I can't always see the animal first. Magpie is a wanderer and so far our recall work does nothing for her. Smalls is smarter than I am and will only come if whatever I have to offer is better than what she is going for. 

We live next to a busy road, though, so I always leash and would never consider letting them off around here.


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

The off leash breeds that we had, and took on long trail rides, were one golden retriever and a few aussies.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Pai said:


> It's a built-in feature of the 'velcro' breeds, I think.


Yep. Summer especially has always just naturally followed me around outside. I never trained her to be off leash or heel, she just naturally stays so close I bump into her on occasion lol. I have to have a command to get her to GO AWAY actually lol!


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Nash so far has an almost perfect recall. The only 2 things I can't 100% call him off of are Julie and and Lloyd, lol. Everything else, from squirrels, other dogs, deer, birds, rabbits, other people I have been able to call him off of 100% of the time so far. I trusted Nash off leash at the park after the firs week I got him. He is obsessed with knowing where I am at all times, so teaching him a recall was easy. The first month or two I had him I would often hide when he wasn't looking at me. He would panic and find me, and learned to always keep an eye on me. He also pretty much keeps a 30 foot radius around me. He is a german shepherd. 

Lloyd has a pretty good recall. Our issue is his prey drive. If I can get his attention before he goes into the "zone" we are good, otherwise his ears are off and he is after what ever it is he saw. He comes back about a minute later usually, he won't go to far (he isn't really off leash much anymore because of this issue). I think we are going to be going to an e-collar to get that recall better. We have been training recall since I got him using positive methods. Indoors his recall his 100%. He is a big black mutt, probably some mix of retrieving type dog and herding dog; my boss thinks he has berner in him . . . everyone has a different guess.


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## SuperMomma (Mar 14, 2010)

I never really had to train my dog to be off leash, he just stays right with me. He's a jack russel terrier mix and about 4 months, so because he's still an ADD puppy, I keep him on a leash when we're in an area that I feel will have too many distractions. Otherwise he stays by my side.

He's also very good with recall and he doesn't like to get farther than about 30-40' from me. Even if we're playing fetch, he won't go get the ball if it's too far away from me. For a puppy I'm very impressed. 'come' was the first command he learned and he's got it about 90% of the time.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

SuperMomma said:


> I never really had to train my dog to be off leash, he just stays right with me. He's a jack russel terrier mix and about 4 months, so because he's still an ADD puppy, I keep him on a leash when we're in an area that I feel will have too many distractions. Otherwise he stays by my side.
> 
> He's also very good with recall and he doesn't like to get farther than about 30-40' from me. Even if we're playing fetch, he won't go get the ball if it's too far away from me. For a puppy I'm very impressed. 'come' was the first command he learned and he's got it about 90% of the time.


Don't be surprised if that changes in a month or two. Young puppies are basically hardwired to stay with the adults/caretakers for safety reasons. Usually around 5 to 6 months old this starts to change, their desire to explore increases.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Laurelin said:


> Papillons in my experience and shelties are very easy to teach to be off leash. Papillons are so easy it's almost like cheating, I think. I think you'd have to pay them to run off.


Mine think so too, lol  Dude practically is glued to my leg when he's offleash outside. Tag keeps me at about a 4 foot radius the whole time. Tag started off-leash agility at 6 months old, and that (I think) helped increase his motivation to stay with me. I also didn't train him with a leash (I didn't use the leash to guide him, and he didn't get leash-wise because he has never been leash-corrected). It was (and still is) a safety strap. Of course, they're absolutely perfect (but I'm not biased!)
Auz was a different story. I started him off leash with a good recall and a toy he would absolutely do handstands over. I kept that toy with me for weeks whenever he was offleash. After that, it was like he had his "border radar". I could send him on a dead run across the pasture. When he hit the field, he'd do a 180 and come flying back. 
A good recall is needed, but IME a drop on recall is just as important (and a great way to show off to your friends ) And a dog who is in tune to your motives and moods is very fun to work with. When Auz would do something funny and I'd laugh, I'd try to get him to drop on a recall and it was like he knew I wasn't serious, and would hop a few more steps, lie down, then flop on his back and bark. More laughing from me. The few times I've NEEDED him to lie down, it's like he could read the fear in my voice and he slammed so hard into the ground he could have driven in a railroad spike!!


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

melgrj7 said:


> Don't be surprised if that changes in a month or two. Young puppies are basically hardwired to stay with the adults/caretakers for safety reasons. Usually around 5 to 6 months old this starts to change, their desire to explore increases.


So true. Tag was a shadow of a puppy, always following me. When he hit that 5-6 month old period, he would glance up at me (while he was in the yard) and think "ehh....naahh..." and go back to what he was doing. Thank God with training and time he pretty much gave that attitude up, and I've got my Tag-A-Long back


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## SuperMomma (Mar 14, 2010)

melgrj7 said:


> Don't be surprised if that changes in a month or two. Young puppies are basically hardwired to stay with the adults/caretakers for safety reasons. Usually around 5 to 6 months old this starts to change, their desire to explore increases.


I'm expecting that, but at least he has the 'come' command down for now


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

SuperMomma said:


> I'm expecting that, but at least he has the 'come' command down for now


Haha, like Lazy said, expect the come command to fade for a while. Frag had a 100% recall until 6 months, and now that's gone and he's kept on lead. He'll come about 50% of the time now, just because he doesn't want to, for no distraction reason at all. I actually think I'd be able to control him better verbally if he was after something than if he was just having fun wandering.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Laurelin said:


> Yep. Summer especially has always just naturally followed me around outside. I never trained her to be off leash or heel, she just naturally stays so close I bump into her on occasion lol. I have to have a command to get her to GO AWAY actually lol!


Oh man, Dude is like that. I can't count how many times I'll come inside from being outside with the dogs, and Auz comes along after me, followed by Tag. But...where's Dude?
"DUDE, COME ON!"
::nothing::
"DUDE!"
::nothing::
::I start to get panicked::
"DUDE!!!!"
::something paws my leg::
There's Dude standing at my feet, staring at me like I've got 3 heads. He's an EXPERT at sneaking inside/outside with me because he's like a little barnacle, stuck to my side when he thinks he's going somewhere with me.
Auz is like a cat. He'll walk about 6 inches in front of me, and for no reason at all turn towards me and slam on the brakes, usually sending me overtop him and onto the ground (this has happened quite a few times). And, like a cat, he doesn't move (unless I say "MOVE!") if he's in a doorway. He'll turn his head and curl up into a 2x2 inch cube, and pretend like maybe I just won't notice  And again like a cat, if I *do* say "MOVE!" he goes flying at the speed of light. 
Too bad I didn't stud him out. I could have gotten a lot for a GSD/Cat Hybrid


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I've had three shelties and all were able to be offleash. One of my fox terriers was okay offleash, so was my foxhound. All my other dogs: no way.
That being said, mine are only allowed offleash when we are out there with them. Our neighbors across the street let their black lab wander, so does the golden next door. Tucker, our 10yr old sheltie, is very dog friendly and he'd be happy to wander with the lab but I don't allow that. Not to mention it's against the law here. The lab owners have a dirt road between their house and a pond, that they also own. The dog was by the pond, he had no collar on and got picked up by the police, they had to pay to get him out at the shelter. They were mad, they said, he was on our property but I told them, a collar would have prevented him from being taken by the cops, probably and I also reminded them that we do have an ordinance here where dogs must be seen by the owners and be under their verbal control. Hard to do when you're inside


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## lauren17 (Apr 14, 2009)

sagira said:


> You forgot to mention English Setters in the "never off leash" department.
> 
> German Shepherds? Border Collies? Poodles? All with extensive training of course.
> 
> That said, if I ever get my Llewellin Setter reliably trained to come when called, I'll let you all know.


I doggy sit 4 Llewellin Setters and they are amazing offleash. They go on two offleash walks a day and are trained with a whistle. They are used for hunting so they are very well trained dogs.

My three are good offleash. Boomer, my aussie, has a great recall and stays within eyesite of me at all times. He goes on trail rides with me and sticks right with the horses. He will chase after geese, deer, turkey, even a coyote once, but turns back to me the second I call him. Duke my lab mix has just recently gotten good with recall. He got to go on his first trail ride this winter and did great! Preston only gets to go offleash when we go on walks in the woods. He is too small to go on trail rides lol but he's pretty good with recall now that he's older.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Kit has pretty good recall and I think she sticks close because she knows that as soon as she gets off leash, I plan to work with her (ball, frisbee, obedience, whatever). That's way more interesting to her than running off. We go for off-leash hikes all the time and she stays within sight. 

I've noticed recently that Kit has better behavior off leash than on. She loves to jump on people, but rarely tries it when she's off leash. On leash, it can get rather embarrassing (yes, we've worked very hard on this). She also heels better off leash. It's puzzling because it seems like the opposite would be more likely. Anyone else ever experience something like this?


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## lauren17 (Apr 14, 2009)

GottaLuvMutts said:


> I've noticed recently that Kit has better behavior off leash than on. She loves to jump on people, but rarely tries it when she's off leash. On leash, it can get rather embarrassing (yes, we've worked very hard on this). She also heels better off leash. It's puzzling because it seems like the opposite would be more likely. Anyone else ever experience something like this?


Boomer is like that too! He heels much better offleash than on and listens better too. On leash he wants to walk in front of me and pretend i dont exisit lol. He's always watching me when he's offleash, somewhere other than home, like he doesn't know what to do without being told lol.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

lauren17 said:


> he doesn't know what to do without being told lol.


Precisely. I feel like telling her "don't eat the daisies". Maybe it's a herding dog thing.


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## sagira (Nov 5, 2009)

lauren17 said:


> I doggy sit 4 Llewellin Setters and they are amazing offleash. They go on two offleash walks a day and are trained with a whistle. They are used for hunting so they are very well trained dogs.


Thanks for the info! I appreciate it


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## Tofu_pup (Dec 8, 2008)

I couldn't get rid of Kaki if I wanted to.
(Guessing she's ACD/Catahoula)
She rarely has a leash on. If she is wearing a leash, it's probably because I spotted the leash police and panicked. She knows to ignore everything(dogs, furry critters, food, etc). She has to wait for the release words.
Release from heel="Go ahead"
Permission to chase a squirrel="Git 'em"
Permission to greet a dog="Kick some a**"
I learned that she'll jump a 6ft fence if I call her from the other side.
We've put in a lot of training but I still can't get over how perfect she is. Just phenomenal.


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