I have had Ebba since December but havnt had the guts to let her off the lead yet :( :(
Well, tomorrow is the day !!!!!!!
I am taking her and Beano, with my mum as back up to a local canal where there are fields all around and letting her off!!!!
Going to make sure I have very tasty treats in my bum bag.
Any tips???????
She was abandoned in the middle of bradford, well trained, but picked up on the 4th November. I got her about 1st december and she stays near me at all times when I am home.
With Beano it was easier to takethe plunge and let him off as I knew his back ground!!!!!
Ebba came back to me when the gate was open less than 18 hours after I brought her home (only time that has happened)
And as soon as I open the back door she is there!!!!! She does not like being away from me or kids when we are  home!!!!
So the question is, ANY ADVICE on something I have been putting off but knowing that if she is good at recall I will be able to take her to ALOT more places LOL
Wish me luck
Lea :)

Good luck for tomorrow.  I'm no expert so all I can say is how it is with my dog. When she's on a scent and goes deaf on me I never ever chase after her as this will definitely cause her to continue moving away.  If I turn my back and start walking away from her and call her she will run towards me.  She knows the command "this way" which means I am turning direction and always abouts turn when she hears it (except when choosing not to which is not often), I also have a short sharp whistle that means the same.

She doesn't know what a treat she's in for does she?  I hope you both have a lot of fun tomorrow.

You are doing the best thing in the world in taking Beano too, she will probably have a good run and follow Beano around exploring and being one of the gang as long as Beano has good recall Ebba should just follow suit.

Good luck, report back on what happened.

Good luck, Lea :) I know what it is like, the first time we let Bramble off when we got him from Battersea :) Fortunately, he was always yo-yo dog - never went very far away and always kept coming back to check that we were still there :D :D :D

I'm sure that she will be fine :)

Daisy

Do you have any fenced in fields near you Lea? If she were mine I would try her out somewhere safe first.

That said I'm sure she'll be fine, taking Beano and tasty treats will do the trick :)

Good luck Lea :) :)

Tips...don't feed her before you go out and make sure she KNOWS that you have treats ;)

And that they are ultra tasty :D I'm sure she will be fine, call her back often, letting her free again after. If you aren't on here tomorrow, we'll be thinking of you standing shouting in the middle of a field while she runs rings round you!!!!! :D :D but if she was abandoned once she will probably stay very close to her mum - good luck!

Heading into town tommorow to get dried sausages. the other two cant get enough of them!!!!!!!
So beforwe I even let her off she will know the treats are in there!!!!
She is micro chipped and have canged her to my address but havnt got the paperwork through yet (cheque gone out)
I dreaded letting beano off but have no qualms now even if other dogs are around he is fine. I hope she is as good as she is at home!!!!!!
Lea :)

Perhaps you could leave a long line on her to start with just in case :) It is always a scary moment letting an older rescue off lead for the first time. Many years ago we had an older rescue and finally managed to pluck up the courage to let him off lead. He was brilliant - but started to follow the wrong people on the beach who then got on bikes and rode off with him in hot pursuit I'm sure he thought it was us and we were escaping.

We called and called him but he was becoming a tiny speck in the distance - just as we thought he was gone forever the cyclists stopped and as he caught up with them he realised it wasn't us and came hurtling back at the speed of light. From that day on he always kept fairly close to us and had an amazing recall.

Is the area you are going to let her off in fairly open? I have found our dog's recall is far quicker in places where his view of me is sometimes obscured, such as in the woods, and a bit slower at the beach where he can see me all the time and from a greater distance.

I am sure all will go to plan and you will come home with a great big beam on your face :) :)

When you call her back don't let her go too far & make a big gesture with your arms & loads of praise, lead on then titbits & then let her off & let her go a bit further, I wouldn't give her a treat unless she is back & on the lead, that way she learns putting on the lead means a treat. I teach this to all my pet owners & call them happy recalls. We do them formally in training(ie handler leaves the dog rather than dog leave the handler)& I've never had a failure(yet ;-) ) I learnt this from my first obedience dog who had been beaten on lead by a "dog breaker"& once let off the lead she ran away frequently(for obvious reasons)It took a couple of sessions & her recall was better than my own dogs ! I would put all the dogs back on lead & treat them if they come back when you call her BTW just to make sure they all get treated the same

Best of luck & let us know how it turns out-you will probably not have any problems :-D

WHEY we are back :D :d :D
She was a star :) :) :)
Took her and Beano for over 2 mile off lead walk, and only had one point where I thought she was going. She spotted something, dont know what, might have been a tractor and started running!!!! I kept calling, Beano came back, gave him loads of praise, Ebba wouldnt so we turned walking the other way and she cam hareing back to me :LD :D :D :D
She was even brilliant and came back when she saw 2 geese in our path :) :)
And when we came across a dead duck, they both left it!!! I expected her to grab it and walk off with it but she was great :) :) :)
Not saying she will be brilliat all the time but she didnt stray far from me :) :) :)
Now they are both exhausted so will sleep while I am off for a pub lunch LOL
Lea :)

well done lea I am really pleased for you it is great news she has been well behaved and came back

Wow - bet you are over the moon. Well done :)

Excellent, Lea - well done to you and the doggies :D :D

Daisy

Well done :D :D

Lucy
xx

Congratulations! I'm glad it was a positive experience for you both. :)

Hey great going!

( ......did I just say 'great going'''? oh Drat those US forums!   ;))

Beano is such a cool name! Love it!

Are you in Bradford then? The L-L canal? There are some lovely walks... we used to walk a lot round Saltaire and some woods near thew canal near Cottingley.  I was walking along it  today but the Leeds end. My dogs totally stink now! So do I... why do they have to shake so close! They love the water too much.

Ah the joys of having dogs..when you get excited cos they didn't pick up a dead duck! To think what all those non doggie people out there are missing out on!  ;)

Great News Lea!
Im soooo glad all continues to go so well for Ebba, its great to hear her progress :)
Well done you and the work you've put..and continue to put into her :) she's a very Lucky girl to have found you x

Well Done!! Had visions of you standing in the dark shouting for her to come ( not being able to see her of course -why do we have dark coloured dogs?  lol). Onwards and upwards now - there'll be no stopping you! Was the pub lunch good?

YOU had visions of that
I had visions of my dad picking my mum up and trawling the countryside even now shouting her!!!!!!!
Neither have really been awake since I got back!!!!!!!
And pub lunch tasted all the more sweeter that I had survived the 'letting off the lead for the first time!!!!'
So obviuosly enjoyed it and WILL do it again LOL<
Lea :)

Well done and what fun for the dogs.