From: jkjncs@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Subject: Re: Loose Dogs -- kinda long
Reply-To: jkjncs@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 20:31:22 GMT

In article <287@mindlink.bc.ca>, Valaria_Vorlop@mindlink.bc.ca (Valaria Vorlop)
writes:
>Stepen Rowat writes:
>> .... stuff about walking his dog Cato off-leash and the dog running 50
>> yards ahead of him deleted...
>
> ... excellent post from Valaria about the dangers of loose, out-of-control
> dogs deleted ...

I just want to add to Valaria's points. I have no problem with trained dogs
off-leash (as long as they are under their owner's total control).
Unfortunately, it's the untrained dogs that are making it hard for those of
us who train our dogs.
Here in Rochester (NY), there is legislation being proposed that all dogs
be leashed at all times unless they are in a fenced yard - ie, your dog
must be leashed even when it is on your property if you don't have a fenced
yard; the proposal also includes a limit on the # of dogs you can own.

>I believe that other people have the right not to be sniffed, touched or
>directly bothered or frightened by my dog.

Absolutely - I may tell my family "love me, love my lab" but I don't
expect total strangers to feel the same.

I *do* enjoy walking my dog off-leash (we live near a canal with a 
towpath that's great for long, relaxed walks), but I think the dog
must be under complete voice control to earn the luxury of off-leash
walks. The most useful command I use (even more useful than "Come") is
"Down". I never let Murphy get too far ahead of me (50 yds is way too
far) and I constantly look around for joggers, bikers, other walkers.
If I spot someone, I drop Murphy; he drops in place and stays until
I release him. This works better than "Come" I think, since I don't want
him interfering with someone as he heads towards me (and I also think
a moving dog is more intimidating to someone that a downed dog). An
added plus is that this totally impresses people and, I believe, leaves
them with a better "dog-attitude" - sort of a Canine Good Citizen-at-large
:+)

BTW, this was not difficult to train. When Murphy was a puppy, he was
walked on leash and downed whenever someone went by (I often had to 
stand on the leash back then :+); once he was good on a long leash (a
30' flexi), we moved off leash but kept him in close range and practiced
dropping him whether or not there were people around. The few times he
tried to take off on me, I would get him (just calmly follow the dog,
eventually you'll catch up), give him a shake-down as we returned to
the point where he took off, praise him for being where I had originally
called him too ("Good Dog, wouldn't it be nice if you came on your own
without me dragging you, sweetie pie"), and put him back on leash.

Murphy had the most trouble with other dogs approaching him (he loves
to play), so I was very careful to always get to him (in the downed
position) before the other dog so I could reinforce his down if he
broke (I still try to do this, since some people can't even control
their dogs *on-leash* and the dogs jump all over poor Murphy who's
not allowed to get up). 

BTW, I call this the "Emergency Down" and practice every day ("this
has been a test of the Emergency Down; if this had been an actual
emergency, I would have screamed DOWN in a much louder voice" :+)
during our walks, in the yard, in the house, with voice or hand-signal,
etc. An added benefit is, if you do obedience, this helps with the
learning of the Drop on Recall (although dropping in place is different
than dropping in the middle of a recall, according to Murphy anyway!)

************************************************************
* jane jackson and murphy b. lab, Am/Can CD, WC, CGC, TDI  *
* jkjncs@ritvax.isc.rit.edu                                *
*                                                          *
* standard disclaimer applies...                           *
************************************************************

Organization: Graduate School of Industrial Administr., Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA