# Off leash lunge and "attack"



## Ivyacres (Jun 3, 2011)

A sound recall is very important. Honey has her moments...Good luck with the trainer, please let us know how it workds out.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Are you sure he was trying to attack? Whenever a bigger dog came near my Bichon she would scream like she was being attacked but she wasn't. I do the same type off leash play with Rukie and he is doing so much better with recall now at almost 3 years old but like Honey and Leo, I fear he could have his moments.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

As Ivyacres said, you need a bombproof recall if your dog is off-leash in public places. I sympathise with you because my last dog - who lived with a toy poodle at home - had very strong prey drive with all other small dogs (she never chased our own poodle) and I had to be very careful if walking her off-leash. I didn't take her on the off-leash trails at our club until I was sure I could call her off if she started chasing. We practised at home with the squirrels in the garden. When I could call her off a squirrel chase, I knew she was ready to go out in public! We always walked at quieter times on the trails, when we were less likely to encounter other walkers, and I reinforced the recall often (pockets full of treats). On the couple of occasions where I had to call her back, she came immediately. It's worth putting in the training time, for the peace of mind.


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

@cwag, yes I think it was an attack because all of the aggression was coming from Leo and not the small dog. In fact, the small dog didnt even seem to get what was going on. The smaller dog has always been very friendly with bigger dogs. 

From the brief conversation I had with the trainer on the phone, it looks like Leo might think that he is the alpha of the house or just trying to protect since we dont provide enough leadership for him and I agree. I will be working very hard these coming weeks and really for the rest of his life. I guess in my mind having him understand commands was enough but it isnt. I will update you on the progress that I will hopefully see


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I agree you need to have a perfect recall to be off leash in that situation. I would suggest a long line for now. They sell 20' lines on many of the hunting dog training sites. I've had better luck with thin lines. If the lines are to heavy the dogs are distracted by them. 

The other command that I really use is SIT. I also use sit whistles with our guys. To really make it simple I blow a whistle one time and they sit immediately facing me, no matter how far away they are, and wait for my next cue. There are tons of training videos for it on-line. It's used in hunt/field but I can't imagine not having a dog trained for it. I live on 15 acres and you never know what is going to entice a dog to take off after it. Last weekend my neighbors brought home a baby goat. It took me all weekend to figure out what my dogs were trying to get to. Moe's sit is better then his recall so for him I blow the sit whistle and then call him back. It works. Dukes recall is so good that I was very spoiled.

You will get it. We all get caught off guard once in a while but that's what keeps us working.


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

Sometimes dogs can be very vocal and not actually be “attacking”. Perhaps Leo was trying to assert dominance for whatever reason. If he had actually wanted to do damage he would have.

Denver can get very vocal when he plays. Especially with dogs like labs that tend to jump and leap fast and all over the place. It’s all play....though some dogs don’t play that way and you have to be a responsible owner and know when your dog isn’t getting the message. I agree with the above posters though, you need to work on recall and not let him off of a long line until his recall is 100%.


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