Should I Let My Dog Walk Without A Leash?

I was having breakfast in Woodstock last week when a customer at the next table leaned over to me.  He said he had seen me pull up and park my car with the “Home Dog Training” signs on the side of the car.  He had a Golden Retriever and loved to take him out and walk around the neighborhood.  He mentioned that when he walked down the street, he saw people letting their dogs walk with no leash.  He was thinking about walking his dog without a leash.  He was just wondering how good an idea this might be…

I told my fellow “Breakfast Friend” that the question of walking your dog on or off the leash is a question I am often asked.  I decided to tell him about a client and her dog that I had just trained the prior evening.  She told me that she would often let her dog off leash in the front yard.  Things were normally fine, but that morning her dog suddenly took off down the street chasing a the school bus.  Luckily there wasn’t any other traffic and the school bus had another stop just a block away.  With the help of a neighbor, she could retrieve her dog.

“This kind of thing has never happened before”, she told me.  “He plays next door with the neighbor’s Labrador and I can play fetch with him at the park across the street. He always walks right back into the house after me when we are done.  He has seen the school bus before and he has never gone after it in the past.”

To cut to the chase, we do not approve having dogs off leash at any time.  The reason is that the real world is full of thousands of distractions that will engage your dog.  Since we can’t plan and train for each of these unique distractions, we can’t unequivocally state that your dog won’t take off down the street. Since we can’t guarantee his safety, we strongly encourage our clients to always have their dogs on a leash when outside.

Although North Georgia used to be very quit, it is obvious that “suburbia, home communities, and city life are quickly coming.  In many places, they are already here.  This means that things are getting busy with crazy drivers, trucks, bikes, motorcycles, joggers, golf carts, and a whole bunch of other things.

Please call Robin or myself at (770) 718-7704 if you are in need of any dog training help.  We have a lot of good dog training advice at Best Dog Trainers Woodstock Georgia.  Find all our phone numbers, text addresses and email contacts at Dog Training Help Center Woodstock Georgia.