[nagdu] Question about fenced in yards

[Julie J.]

I would absolutely keep your new dog on a long leash or flexi until you are 
110% sure he/she has a rock solid recall, and then use caution.  My 
understanding is that most of the guide dog programs advise strongly to not 
let your guide off leash ever.  I'm not sure what training the dogs get in 
off leash recall and obedience.

Some dogs can be off leash in a manner you are describing and some just 
can't.  I currently have one of each.  My current working guide has an 
amazing recall.  I live in a very small town and do have a portion of my 
yard fenced.  However the garden and most of the yard is not fenced.  He 
comes out with me to those areas frequently.  the area of the yard big 
enough for games of Frisbee isn't fenced.  My husband is a farmer and I take 
Monty out to the farm fields when the weather is nice.  I trained him to 
come to a whistle because sometimes there are motors running or the wind is 
blowing like mad and the whistle works better than me yelling for him to 
come back.  I put bells on his collar so I can keep track of him also.  He 
never, never gets to run off leash in an unfenced area without a person to 
supervise.  The only kind of bad thing he'll do is to jump into the farm 
pond.  It makes for a mega muddy mess, so I don't like him to do it.  There 
are cows  in the pasture adjacent.  He has only given them a glance.  the 
cows will occasionally snort or stomp a foot, but they don't seem overly 
agitated.

Now contrast that with my older retired guide, Belle.  she used to bolt out 
the front door at every opportunity.  We sorted out that issue with 
intensive training, but I still don't trust her when we are bringing in 
groceries or the like.  She is absolutely not trustworthy off leash.  She 
only gets to run off leash in fenced areas.

HTH
Julie


-----Original Message----- 
From: Danielle Burton
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 9:19 AM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] Question about fenced in yards



Hi, everyone. I have just found out that Guiding Eyes may have found a good 
match for me. I am eriting on the final word from the instructor. I do have 
a question though. When I'm not at school I live at home with my parents. We 
live on a farm with a garden and pasture for cattle. We live right by the 
road with no sidewalks. Also, we do not have a fenced in yard. Should I keep 
my dog on a long leash while outside? We have 2 Austrailian Shepherds 
outside as well. I would like for my dog to have some time to be a dog with 
other dogs we have but I am worried about not having a fenced in area. Any 
advice would be appreciated.  Sent from my iPhone
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