hi, we have a 17 week old border terrier and we were thinking about letting her off her lead when we take her for a walk. We have a field near us which is pretty enclosed and when we walk around there it just seems a shame to have her kept on the lead. Her recall in the garden is always very good she always comes straight away when we call her in. This is our first dog and we are feeling fairly confident that she would be ok off lead just wondered what most people do with their pups. Dont want to risk losing her but I guess you have to start somewhere.

Try buying/using a long thin lightweight rope to start with if you don't want to risk letting her off completely....see how she goes and decide from there
Archer

With all of mine I have always allowed them off lead, away from roads, livestock etc from the day I first take them out.  When they are little they have neither the confidence nor the desire to wander far from you and I think that works towards building a "habit" to do the same.  Of course that is not to say that I haven't had "incidents" with all of them when they hit the adolescent phase but all of my adults, terrier included ;) have been pretty good within the limitation of only allowing free running where it is likely to be safe to do so.

go for it.
take some really tasty treats - sausages/cheese
give her a piece as soon as you get there
if you can go with another person if possible and stand about 30m away from each other.
call her to each of you back annd forth - ie ping pong puppy, treating her every time she comes to you.
walk about and hind behind trees if possible (always keeping an eye on her) and call her to you. this will keep her busy looking for her.
also continue to change directions so she always has to look to you for the next direction to go.
continue to call her to you all the time - always treating her.
best to let her off as soon as possible as she should be quite nervous.
if you are still worried about it attach a long line to her collar so if she does ignore you, you can step on the end and reel her in.
hth
anna

I would advise letting her off as young as poss. I left the lead on mine at first so that I could step on it if he got too far away and I think Archers idea is great. I would make sure that there are 2 of you there the first few times too as you can get her to run between the 2 of you while she gets used to the novelty and before running longish distances to fetch a toy. Make sure you keep practricing recall and giving lots of praise when she comes back and take lots of her favourite treats to encourage her. Im sure she will be fine and you will all have a great time.

I've always let mine off lead as soon as they could go out. With the proviso that this is in the fields and far from any traffic, livestock or distractions! I've also spent the time before they could go out doing some very basic recall training in the garden. When they are very young they tend to be keener on keeping a an eye on you than they are disappearing so it's well worth getting them off lead while they are still at the Velcro stage.  At 17 weeks I'd advise getting your pup off lead as soon as safely possible.

Hi, Thanks so much for all the quick responses I didn't expect so much good advice so quick, so thankyou. Anyway we went for it this morning and took our pup out for a walk and let her off the lead using treats getting her to go back and forward from my husband to me. She was brilliant and came everytime and never strayed too far from us. It was lovely to see her having a really good run about.  Luckily this time there were no other dogs or people about, which brings me on to my next question. She does get very excited when she sees either of these (obviously till now she has always been on a lead) so what is the best way of dealing with this, should I always call her and put her on the lead when I see others approaching ?

Personally, I would put her on the lead as soon as other dogs are sighted (by you not her ;) )  it would be awful if she went bouncing up to a dog and that dog wasn't dog friendly :(  try make sure she has as many positive doggy experiences as possible ;)  for this to happen she must be under control ;)  Once you know the other dog is friendly and the owner is willing, then they can play together :)

It depends on your neighbourhood.  I know most of the walkers on my patch and I know they are, for the most part, tolerant and understanding of youngsters, as I am with theirs, so when I meet these people I tend to let them socialise with the dogs off lead.  The one or two that I don't know, or who I know will not appreciate any boistrousness due to temperament or infirmity I would slip mine on the lead but I think in general off lead interaction with other dogs of all sizes and ages is something to introduce if you possibly can.

we have always let our puppies off as early as possible but it is a worry that they wont recall.

So we get them obsessed with a ball so much so that they have little or no  interest in other dogs or people ...just thier ball and if they do decide to wander I say"wheres your ball" and give it a quick bounce and  back they come! always take spares....
Saying that not all dogs are interested in toys we have been lucky on that score but we have always taught recall from a young age practicing in the house all day long even when they are in thier beds they will always come to see what you have!
I use proper sausages or meat something with a definite strong smell even salmon goes in my bag trouble is you can get mobbed !

HTH

Roni

U'll be suprised that her recall and ability to stay by you at this age is excellent , but start with the long lead because when she gets independant your going to hate her!

hi sam dis

i had the same problem with my pup who is now 18 weeks (ish).  I let her approach other dogs as theyre better meeting other dogs off lead than on it.  They react in a different way.  I take her to our locl park where I know its fairly quiet.  You will be amazed how many people (and dogs) you get to know and youll find they see a lot of the same dogs every day.  Its much better for them to be off lead as soon as poss rather than leaving it till later.   Start by letter her off just for 10 minutes or so where its quiet but also where there is a few dogs for her to play with.  Do you have friends with dogs?  Get then together for half an hour - its all experience for them.  Good luck - but you wont need it im sure:-)