I was thinking back to my own dogs tonight, mostly rescues over the years.
Sometimes I could tell almost immediately that it was ok to let them off the lead, they would have a sniff around but not go far, and come back when called. One or two I was not so sure about, so waited until I got to know them. One spaniel, in particular, I had strapped to my wrist for 5 years. Great dog. but just didn’t trust him to come back.
When you do a house sit, are you worried that a dog may “do a runner” as we say in Scotland.
I have looked after almost 50 dogs now, house sitting.
If the owners tell me to keep the dog on the lead I do. But there have been some, where you can just tell that they will follow you, even on the first walk.
Sometimes it almost feels as if the dog becomes yours for a few days. One of my favourites was on Lama island in Hongkong last year. Within minutes I knew she would follow me anywhere.
As a Housesitter, my philosophy is simple: to ensure homeowners come back to happy, healthy pets. When it comes to doggos, I always encourage their owners to take them out on the walk together with me (as part of the hand-over before they leave). It helps to gather a lot of information about potential walks and get useful tips only a dog owner can give. My golden rule is never to let doggos off the lead unless we are in a safe, fenced area where they can play.
@anon36831737 I’m in the leashed school of pet sitting.
Main reason my own Springer gave me enough moments of “OMGoodness we’ve lost her” good on recall, in the open countryside once she had the scent of her “quarry” … deer especially … she was gone and no amount of recall training worked.
Like @Jenny0 my golden rule is off leash only in a fully secure space with no possibility of escape. For energetic breeds I always make certain they have enough physical exercise and mental stimulation.
I never want to be the one to have to make that “Lost Dog” call …
This is a good topic and I think it’s best to do whatever you feel comfortable with alongside following the owners instructions. One of my top questions about dogs is ‘what is their recall like?’ (though some owners like to think it’s better than it is!) and I tend to go from there along with the instructions from the owners. I feel like I can get to know a dog pretty quickly so how soon I let them off the lead is based on that judgment. Some dogs it’s straight away others I hold off and only pick certain areas.
Saying all that though I have had a few racing heart moments where for a moment I wondered if i’d see them again! The “best” one was a young Golden Retriever called Beau. The owners did say that at a particular wood he liked to run off chasing rabbits and could disappear for a bit… So we’d been past this wood a couple of times and sure enough off he’d go into the thick pine trees and i’d stand and wait and then he’d reappear further up the track about 5/10 mins later…
Part 2/2 On this late afternoon walk he disappeared and after about 10mins I was starting to get slightly concerned as I couldn’t hear him and there was no chance of seeing him with the dense pine trees and the darkness encroaching. At that point I looked at my watch and took a note of the time and continued walking up the track alongside the wood calling his name and whistling…still no sign! I was definitely getting more concerned as time ticked on but in the back of my mind I thought of my own GR and he would do exactly the same, run off, chase rabbits, ignore any calls and then eventually come back in his own sweet time! So I kept calling and whistling to make sure Beau would know where I was when he was ready to come back. After 30mins and it getting darker I admit I was running through my mind what i’d do if he didn’t return… Then behind me down the track he reappeared, absolutely exhausted, panting away and headed for the biggest, dirtiest puddle he could find and promptly laid down! I did let him off again afterwards…when I had time to wait!!
@PetsSit Ditto story and pics.
I had a very similar situation with Woody a Springer I sat 3 times for 3 months at a time … the South Downs is a very large and remote area to find a Springer on a mission … a springer with “perfect recall” he was a trained ex army sniffer dog …
I have always used a leash, but am now on a sit with a semi-feral senior rescue dog who will not walk on a leash. She lived outside most of her life before being adopted and will just sit down and not move if you try to put a leash on her. The location is in a quiet neighborhood on a dead end street with little traffic and she is really old, but it still makes me a bit uncomfortable. The owner keeps telling not to worry, but that is hard for me.,
We’ve always kept any dogs we’ve looked after on the leads as my worst fear would be having the dog do a “runner” and never return! Only once did I let a dog off and it was our second time looking after the dog who I knew just wanted to run around the park. I brought treats with me to entice her back in case she did take off. I slowly took the leash off expecting her to bolt off running in joy of her new found freedom and she sat down and looked at me as if to say “what do you want me to do now”! It was a relief and I know if we look after her again I’ll have no qualms about letting her off the leash.
Hello
I was just wondering what your approach to walking dogs off lead when you first meet them is? I explain to owners that it would be a few days until the dog it use to me and will come back. This sit the owner wants me to let cocker spaniels off the lead straight away, I’ve said no and would appreciate your feelings on this subject.
Many thanks
Sarah
In my experience it is better to walk a dog on a lead the first few days. It gives us both time to get to know each other, my voice is unfamiliar to the dog and the dogs reactions are unfamiliar to me. Once trust has been established and you are confident that you can control the dog then thats the time to let the dog lose.
It is very irresponsible of the pet parent to insist.
Thank you for sharing your experience, these are 2 cocker spaniels and where she has said to walk have pheasant coops and cattle so I think it’s safer on the lead. It’s only 3 days so 3 walks on the lead a day should keep them happy and healthy.
Many thanks Elsie, I’m new to sitting so it’s reassuring to know others experience and give me the confidence to stick to what I believe is right for the dogs, other walkers and me.
Our experience seems to be different from recent posts. We always ask at application stage if the dog(s) is good off lead and only take on the sit if the answer is Yes. We let them off lead on the first walk, always calling them back with training treats. If we come across sheep or cattle we quickly put the lead back on.
Dogs are so quick at adjusting to their new owners as long as they know that food and love is there.
You have to be confident though !
On our last dog-sitting, as usual, we did a walk in the neighborhood with the OH before they leave.
The lady told me “ Yes they are good on recall, no pb, as soon as you’ve reach this point you can take their lead off, it is safe, no car. » So she did. 2 dogs run away like bullets.
And she kept on talking : « Oh once, Brown-dog didn’t came back. I found him chasing the cows. But he eventually came back. » I though the farmer was probably not happy his cows being chase ?…
Then walk was finished and it was time to go back to home. She called. And no dog came back. It took 10 long mins for the dogs to come back. So I always took both them on the lead, all the time.
I could see they wanted to be off the lead but I didn’t trust them.
Then, we went back to this sit 4 weeks after. And I went walking a lot with black-dog : everyday we did a 3-4 h walk, about 15-20 km long. He was totally fine and loved it. And I could notice he was very attached to me. Following me everywhere, like my shadow. So I tried to let him off the lead. First on a beach, far away from any car and where I could see him from far away. He was happy to run but always kept an eye on me. And came back to the lead as soon as I call. We did it again on other place : on a lane along a river, I knew it was far away from roads. And he was fine.
So this long story just to say that, generally speaking, I tend to keep dogs on the lead. But when I feel a strong connection with the dog and when I’ve been told he is generally good on recall, I have a try.
Because what I like the most is when I can go walking in the countryside with a trustful dog running freely around : what a great joy !
Of course as soon as we are back on the road I put a lead on, of course…
Hi @sat0763 Welcome to our community forum, thank you for joining.
This subject is always a great discussion and one which has had many sitter’s input, so I have moved your question here.
As a full time sitter I do ask this question along with many other pet related questions prior to confirming a sit.
I am a “On the Leash” carer, unless there is a fully secure area where I can safely let the dog off. If it’s a high activity breed, Springer Spaniel etc., I will always make sure they get the stimulation and exercise they need in other ways.
I have been on long sits where I have done off the leash walking once I established the connection, got to know the dog and knew its behavior well but even then I had a ex army sniffer dog (highly trained on recall) 2 months into a 4 month sit, who took off over the South Downs in Sussex, no amount of “Woody here” had any effect, he finally returned of course but it took my heart a while to recover, did I let him off again? No. … (Even my own Springer did the same, but that’s another story)
Animals don’t always behave in the way you expect or the way they do with their owner.
Have the discussion with the owner and explain that your priority is their dogs care and safety after all you are not their owner and they could behave differently with you. You have to be comfortable and feel in control.
You are getting some great advice and support from our experienced members, which I hope helps, if you have other questions please ask and also take a look around the forum at some of the other topics which may be of interest.
If there are pheasant coops and cattle I would definitely keep dogs on the lead!
Otherwise a lot depends on the location. We always prefer to walk dogs on the lead and only let them off if we are sure they can be trusted, and in a safe area. We recently did a sit which had direct footpaths from the garden into the woods. The immediate area had just one very quiet dead end road and a few access tracks to properties. We started with all 3 dogs on the lead but later let 2 off the lead in the woods. The one we kept on the lead had an issue with one other local dog, so we played it safe.
Apart from that we had been warned that one of the dogs was prone to go off for a wander from the garden if she encountered an interesting smell or noise and return a couple of hours later. The owners said this was nothing to worry about, as she did always come back eventually, and the neighbours were used to seeing her. However she would sometimes do this at 10pm when they went out in the garden for their final wee before bed, requiring someone to stay up until she returned! Needless to say, she was never allowed in the garden unchaperoned! Every evening at 10pm we were out in the garden with our headtorches and a clear understanding of who was responsible for watching each dog to ensure they didn’t wander!
