Online Resources Providing Off-Leash Joy
This story is such a lovely reminder that when you stick with it and make the most of the online resources, real-life change and connection really do follow. That feeling when you are all finally able to genuinely enjoy walks is like no other and these guys are even based all the way in Australia! 🫶🐾
We’ve been working on our off leash walks for the last two years, but were feeling like we weren’t really getting anywhere and were struggling with the confidence in our relationship and engagement. It felt like all we were doing was recalling all the time and not walking together. This was causing a lot of frustration in the dogs and us.
Since we joined Honest Hounds earlier this year, we’ve been working hard on increasing off leash walks as well as our partnership through play and engagement games.
This week has felt like a huge milestone where I’ve been able to walk with both of the dogs for long offleash walks on my own. I’m having to recall them way less and by giving them more time to do their thing, I’ve found they will more regularly come and check in with me. They are so happy with themselves when they come running back to me!
A huge part of being off leash safely where we live is being able to ignore/coexist with wildlife, this is something I found very stressful with two dogs off leash. I feel like we have really found our rhythm where the dogs will stop and look at wildlife but then happily ignore them because they are more interested in exploring or searching for a treat that I’ve tossed into the bush.
What’s really interesting is since we’ve been spending more time off leash, the two dogs are playing with each other less but when they do play it’s much calmer and balanced play - chasing and tugging with a toy rather than the rough, tumbles and tackles.
We’ve also gotten the confidence to return to our local dog club for some agility training. During our sessions, I have been able to have each dog off leash on the agility course, and they are totally engaged with me despite the other people and dogs all around us.
We’re still in the phase of off leash walks in known areas where we only see the odd person and other dogs, but for the first time, I feel confident that we’ll get there one day.
This is a super long post, but I just wanted to share how much the Honest Hounds resources have helped us increase off leash freedom and improve our overall relationship!
