# 4 month old pup freedom?



## meg10oh8 (Jun 15, 2017)

Hello! I am heading for a week long camping trip right now and I'm wondering what everyone's opinions are on how much freedom my puppy should get.
She just turned 4 months old (17 weeks). I've been doing tons of training with her and she does listen most of the time... But not all of the time. My plan is to keep her leashed at all times either on a short or long lead but I know everyone were camping with will say "just let her run, she's a puppy!" and all of that... 
All opinions appreciated  












Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

That is right; she is a puppy. One you know doesn't listen all the time. Long lead will keep you and her happy and safe. Once she is 100% listening will be the time to reconsider offleash.

And she is a cutey!!


----------



## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

Go with your gut. If your pup has a tendency to run off or not listen, keep her on lead. How often do you have her off leash? I live in the country so my boy was use to off leash walks around my property. So for him being off leash was not a big deal or a cue that I was no longer in control of him. If you don't feel 100% comfortable with her off leash then don't do it and ignore your friends. Unless they are actual dog trainers their advice doesn't mean much. Unless you are in a super safe area where she can not run off, keep her on lead. Dogs get lost during camping trips a lot. They catch a new scent and race off after it and get lost in unfamiliar territory. If she gets found by another camper then who knows if they would actually return her, or decide hey cute free puppy. Not worth the risk IMO.


----------



## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Long lead at the campsite. Regular leash walking around. Off leash on trails.


----------



## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Bramble said:


> Go with your gut. If your pup has a tendency to run off or not listen, keep her on lead. How often do you have her off leash? I live in the country so my boy was use to off leash walks around my property. So for him being off leash was not a big deal or a cue that I was no longer in control of him. If you don't feel 100% comfortable with her off leash then don't do it and ignore your friends. Unless they are actual dog trainers their advice doesn't mean much. Unless you are in a super safe area where she can not run off, keep her on lead. Dogs get lost during camping trips a lot. They catch a new scent and race off after it and get lost in unfamiliar territory. If she gets found by another camper then who knows if they would actually return her, or decide hey cute free puppy. Not worth the risk IMO.


Good point about being off leash. Most dogs never learn to be off leash. Then once that leash comes off, they take off. 
I could never own a dog if I had it on leash everywhere. What's the point?


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I teach a new pup to walk with me off leash first, using the clicker. Once they learn this, leash walking catches on much faster. Young pups follow naturally so it is easy to maintain this as a normal routine part of life, along with being on leash (in unsafe areas or when the laws requires leashes).


----------



## jasonmj58 (Apr 18, 2017)

Our pup is 17 weeks old and we rarely had her on leash. She had a blast running in and out of the lake and just being a puppy. We had almost no neighbors so it gave us more freedom to let her roam. 

I hope you enjoy your camping trip!


----------



## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

meg10oh8 said:


> Hello! I am heading for a week long camping trip right now and I'm wondering what everyone's opinions are on how much freedom my puppy should get.
> She just turned 4 months old (17 weeks). I've been doing tons of training with her and she does listen most of the time... But not all of the time. My plan is to keep her leashed at all times either on a short or long lead but I know everyone were camping with will say "just let her run, she's a puppy!" and all of that...
> All opinions appreciated
> 
> ...


Man ... look at those ears! be careful in high winds! 

That said your puppy your responsibility, if your puppy runs off to be never seen again by you ... how will you feel??? That said I've always taught "Stay and Down" first. I'm a Boxer guy first and I've found with those guys a recall takes to much processing??? Recall means ... stop doing whatever it is I'm doing ... turn around and go to owner??? To much processing, I prefer to keep it simple "Stay means Stay" stops the forward process and then recall. Worked for us in the beginning.


----------

