Do you let your cairn off the lead?

[keegan]

Hello all,

So, we just put down a deposit on a cairn puppy. His name is Buzz Lightyear. The last dog I had was a Jack Russell. If I let her off her lead in the woods somewhere, during a hike or walk or whatever, I don't think I ever would have seen her again. So I never really did let her off the lead unless she was in the backyard. Even then, she would pretty much do what she wanted and I'd have to trudge out to where she was to grab her.

I've been reading here and it seems people sometimes let their cairns off the lead when walking in the woods and stuff. How many people are brave enough to do this? Do you have your dog expertly trained to ignore instincts and come at your call? At what age/level of training would you say would be safe to try letting the dog off the lead? Any training secrets?

Thanks in advance for all your help, and I hope this forum will be helpful in the future!

keegan

[hallswel]

Mine are always on lead unless inside or in a fence. They love prey to much! One critter and they are gone.

[mrskti]

I'm working towards that, but I agree, i'm not sure it's going to be possible. A real long lead about 25' will probably be our best bet.

[kayharley]

I have a fence inside a fence for my Cairns...any questions?

There are probably highly trained Cairns who could possibly be let off lead safely but is it worth taking a chance?

[Tracy A.]

Off Lead? That's the stuff of nightmares for me.

[Kate]

Hello, congratulations on your new upcoming addition. Our Mila is about 1-1/2 years old. We take her to our cabin in the woods and never keep her on lead. She does just fine, however, this place is indeed in the middle of the woods with no roads nearby at all. She does go down in the woods and bark at whatever, but she always comes back when we call her, of course on her timeframe, not ours. We also know where she is by her barking and doesn't get too far away. Now, I would never and I mean never do that at home. She is always on her lead. I guess all dogs are different.

[Kramersmom]

My first cairn Missy lived ot be 17 and in those 17 years she was never off lead.

When they see a bird or rabbit goodbye they go!

Kramer is our new pup and even though he is really good and stays right by me on lead when he see's a bird he would take off if not on lead. What I do is I have a leash 15 feet long that is what he is on when we are walking or playing on the grass. O have over an 1/2 acre but never would I have him off leash due to there instinct to catch rodents. There fast. I dont trust the street's with cars going by as well. Kramer will try to catch a motorcycle as he hates them. Kids walking he is fine but on skateboards he wants to chase them thinking they will play.

I'm just to nervous to ever trust not only him but other dogs and cars with him being off leash.

[cairnrescueleague]

If there was only one thing I could tell people about cairns, it would be that they can NEVER be off-leash unless they're in a securely fenced area. Their chase/prey instinct is just too strong. I suspect that even a cairn that's won awards in obedience would take off across a street after a squirrel. A cairn off-leash is an accident waiting to happen.

[bradl]

I consider a dog outside the fence at our house a four-alarm emergency. Of our four dogs, two have obedience titles, both of those also have Master Earthdog titles; two are seeking a Master title - which requires a 'hunt-up' off-lead. I gulp every single time I unsnap the lead. For me, it's a risk/reward calculation. I ask myself, what are the consequences of failure in this situation? In this place, at this time? Am I willing to accept that this is the day/place that I killed my dog?

It's very dependent on the individual dog. I absolutely know Cairns that are stone cold reliable off-lead. Anywhere. Am I willing to bet the life of my dog that s/he is one of those? Nope. "Trust" kills a lot of dogs.

Final thought ... If I've learned anything from my (limited, amateur) experience with dogs, and years of reading email lists and this forum, it's that the single most common error - often resulting in tragedy - is either trusting a dog too soon, or underestimating the possible consequences of that trust.

[Dawnya]

Daisy is off lead most of the time. But, we're at rodeos or a barrel race, not in a public park, etc. She does real well until she starts getting tired then the 'selective hearing' kicks in.

I let it be known, no misunderstanding whatsoever, that I am Queen B* and what I say goes.

[OzGirl]

We learnt the hard way, now she plays at the park on a 20 metre rope. Its great she can chase what she wants but only for 20m.

[toomanypaws]

For me, it's a risk/reward calculation. I ask myself, what are the consequences of failure in this situation? In this place, at this time? Am I willing to accept that this is the day/place that I killed my dog?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Brad sums it all up! I seriously doubt that Hannah would run off, but I'm not willing to take that chance. Even one time Kiara did take off in the N.C. mountains, she never got out of sight, BUT just running ahead like that could have been dangerous if she met up w/ some wildlife, especially venomous snakes. I'm more than content to have my three come when called in the backyard.

edited to add: Last year my friend was out w/ his friend running their Beagles. My friend's Beagle was voice/hand trained, excellent young dog. While the dogs were running, a horrible yelp echoed through the woods. My friend feared the worse and raced toward the sound to find his prized Beagle taking his last breath. A rattle snake had struck him right in his jugular and the poor dog didn't stand a chance. My friend told me he cried.

That's a risk I myself am not willing to take.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I would never let Riley off lead - - - he is just too unpredictable - - and the worst is when he sees children!! He is very people-oriented and I could never trust that he wouldn't take off on me - - - as good a dog as he is!!

[Teri9672]

NEVER with my two

[Lisad]

I let my dog off lead. We are in the Maine woods and far away from any traffic and/or houses. I am constantly aware of my surroundings. I watch the dog for signs of "hightened excitement" (raised tail, raised hackles, ears straight forward) and then I act accordingly. I've worked with my pup since he was very young and although he response very well off leash, as with any dog, there may be a situation that comes up that you never expected and that may be the test that he fails and the one that you forever regret. I am in the minority but that is the risk I take every day when I go off into the woods with my dog. It is a personal choice and one I do not take lightly. I have had other dogs but none have been so difficult to train on the recall as my little cairn. My honest and very amateur opinion is to be very careful and soberly weigh the risk before doing anything. The results could be everlasting. That all being said, for me, there is nothing more enjoyable than to watch my little guy free to run up and down logs and rocks looking for varmits. There is a bonding that happens for us because we spend so much time out there alone together. There is nothing that makes me so proud of my little dog when he response to my command and comes to me when there are more tempting things for him to do. I really feel as though I have been blessed.

[Maggie15]

we dont trust maggie off a lead, and use the 'loose rope' trick to give her freedom when we are walking or hiking like you say... i find that she has never taken off too far yet, but the rope is there just in case... she gets a surprise if we accidentally step on the rope!

to share an anomoly, theres a cairn in our neighbourhood (that is related to maggie) and he is left loose in their front yard all the time!!...he's learned to not cross the sidewalk and has been this way for several years now without incident! ..truly amazing... i personally wouldnt even trust a well trained dog, especially with car traffic... they do and so far its working for them!

if you want to test your dog loose while hiking, try the long rope trick, its 60+' long and i just leave it loose on the ground... maggie runs around in the park this way and i always stay close to the rope...lets us practice recall commands when she is a long way away and she does it (9 out 10!haha!)

a

[tena]

Sophie has been off lead a very few times, in really selective situations like

completely isolated WV woods, that I am intimately familiar with, or at a friends cabin which sits on 100 acres and I am walking with her.

Our biggest scares have been when she does something unpredictable, like jump out of the car when I opened the door in a parking lot, or "fall out" the screen door that was opened before we realized she was standing up propped against it. During those times she has come to me, without hesitation.

That said- I do not trust Sophie to overcome her instincts and am not willing to take the chance.

[binkyrab]

We would never ever let our two off near roads , but when we go to the woods or country side areas there off all the time, Rufus cant come off in the park as he will chase other dog's but Rosbud will just stay with us at all time's.

Rufus will chase Rabbits and some time's it takes an age to get him back.

They went to training class But were always the worst behaved and got board after 10 mins Cairn's have a mind of there own and cannot be fully trusted no matter how well trained they are! Good Luck im sure you will love being owned by a cairn.

Binky

[purebella]

NO WAY!!!

Bella would just go! She has escaped from the house twice and she is gone like the wind!! She can run so fast, that we dont have a hope in hell of catching her.

She is always on the lead and always will be. Even when we get to the stage in dog training when she needs to learn to be off the lead and come......she will be on a lead for that!!!!

I just dont want to risk her running off and the worse thing ever happening to her.

I was warned that Cairns should never be off the lead as they have a mind of their own!

[Lesley]

The criteria for "off lead" is will they come when called??? - not immediately, but within reason. If not - which is the case with Rusty - error on the safe side. The nose and instinct over rules - the upright command - my experience.

[Cairnmania]

I let one of mine (Abby) off lead and the other (Rudi) I'm still working on the recall command. The only place I let Abby off lead is in our local common area. It's a small wooded area and a large open field. The only time Abby suffers from SDS (sudden deafness syndrome) is when there is another dog in the field chasing a ball. She's ball mad. Apart from that she is one of the most laid back dogs I've ever owned. Even at that I wouldn't for one second think of letting her off lead near a road.

Rudi I am not sure I will ever trust off lead. He is critter crazy, faster than lightening, and I doubt he would ever be reliable. Although I expect one day I will give it a go.

My local common area is prime dog walking territory. It's unusual to see a dog on lead. Jack Russell terriers, Yorkies, a few Cairns, lots of Westies - all of them are off lead.

Stacey

[ParNone]

Maddie, I use to let off leash quite a bit. She was never very fast, even as youngster, so I always felt like I could run her down if need be. But I really never had to. She liked to stay close. When we stayed in Florida for a few months, I'd take her down to the beach and let her off leash. She'd run and chase the birds into the surf, but she always kept me in sight. If I called her or turned and went in another direction, she'd come running. She was somewhat of a velcro dog for a Cairn, I think.

Murph, however, was always a vedy fast dog, so I was always afraid to let him off leash. The few times he accidently got loose though, I have to say, he didn't run off from me like I expected. On one camping trip, he managed to unzip the tent and take off in hot pursuit of stray Labrador, passing through our camp. They were heading for the woods and I had a momentary thought, that I'm never gonna see him again. But we called out his name to stop and he put on the brakes and waited for us to go pick him up. He's never done "Come", but he's always had a really good "Wait".

Now that he's old man and I feel like I can chase him down, I've been a lil' more open to off leash with him. I also discovered that he absolutely doesn't like leaving the trail path out on hikes, so that's made me even more bold. Guess he figures they made that path for reason, so why struggle through the undergrowth. 'Sides there's plenty of good trees and stuff to pee on from the path.

Les...

[Deasta]

We too live in a very remote area and have raised all of our doggies, Oakie Dingo and Bubba off lead. Since they were mere pups we have taken them out in the woods.I think having them exposed to this type of enviroment day in and day out has lessened their inant excitement to chase and go insanly wild. In fact our dogs WILL indeed STOP in midstride if we command them to EVEN when attempting to chase something!

I run the dogs on a wooded trail and love to see their excitement and love for the outdoors. I too am seriously aware of my surroundings, and take them ONLY where we have run before. I will say, I HAVE run into animals on the trails, ecspecially deer..but my dog's have learned from years of attmepts...they aint getting these critters...so they just keep on running more interested in this..then that!

I could never imagine cairns like ours being on lead, at least not after raising them the way we have. They run until total exhaustion, and really bring joy to us when they are able to experience the outdoors the same way we can. I know we are the exception to the rule here. But we are also in the minority in where we live. We are very lucky we are located in a area that allows our boys to run a little more free-er then the average dog.

We do have our backyard fenced in though. We did this when we are unable to take the dogs when we go on a camping trip for a day or two. That way they can still be outside but be throuroughly safe.

Below is Oakie and Dingo during our spring scouting for deer horns..they found one! Look closely!!

[tlwtheq]

Like Stacey, we let out pups off lead when walking in the woods where there's absolutely no chance of being anywhere near traffic. We always keep the leads ready to be "reapplied" should we spot other dogs coming our way. Plus, unlike when they were younger, Olie and Teddy actually stop and/or come back when we ask. In cases where I was afraid that wouldn't happen I used my drill sergeant voice and DH used his "between-the-teeth" high pitched whistle. That gets their attention every time. Keep in mind, though, that there isn't a lot of trouble they can get into in the Maryland woods vs. other parts of the country. Additionally, they are 5 and 4 respectively, so we're not living with the Cairn Teenage Blues like a lot of you guys out there.

That's just what happens in our family.

Tara, Olie and Teddy's Mom