“OMG! I Saw Someone Walking Their Dog Without A Leash!!”

When I first started training dogs years ago, it was taken for granted that every dog in our groups would be heeling *off-leash* by the end of a ten week class.  Anything less than that would be considered a training failure.  The odd thing is that most dogs were able to accomplish this goal.  I say this is odd because these days, between strict leash laws and the changes in training expectations and philosophies, it is rarely a consideration to teach off-leash reliability in a dog.

     As I’ve watched things slowly change, I can see that the role of the dog itself has changed.  Owners today rarely think of their dogs as a “working” member of the household, one who should be “obedient” (though they often wish they were!).  Instead, dogs are now treated more like eternal toddlers, a loved member of the family, a friend, or a child.  

Today we have retractable leashes so a dog can taste freedom without the need of being off-leash; we have dog parks and all sorts of tools that negate the need to really teach a dog to walk nicely without pulling.  But we also have a behavior modification protocol which gives us the ability to train to incredibly high standards if we so choose:  however, these concepts are usually not used for basic obedience commands but rather more for specialized activities such as agility, rally-o, and tricks of different sorts.  

Can a dog be trained to be reliable off-leash if they never know there could be a consequence for following an unexpected distraction?  Is it fair to set up such a consequence?  Is it fair to set up distractions?  Such a consequence in training might come from the surprise of an owner walking in the opposite direction; outside of training it might come from the surprise of being hit by a car… And what if your dog gets out accidentally without the retractable or the head halter, what then?  Shouldn’t we train for the unexpected?

    We have a sensibility which says, “do not hurt your dog” – and who could disagree with that?  We have trainers who say, “There is no reason to teach off-leash reliability, after all, there are leash laws, you know!”  We have trainers in our recent memory who trained too harshly and make us all cringe at the way they “correct” a dog.
    
So it leads us to ponder:  What is right, and what is wrong?  Is it ever okay to physically correct your dog?  Is it right to demand that a dog obey without question? Is it possible that there are reasonable and acceptable gradations in a training scheme?  
    
These are questions that each owner must research for himself or herself.  In my eyes there is nothing more graceful and sweet then the sight of a dog walking alongside their owner because that is the place they want to be, sans leash. For most dogs, it is also the place they have learned to be until the wildness of adolescent puppy hood has calmed.  It takes work, commitment, creative sensitivity, and most importantly – a strong and trusting relationship between human and dog.