Check Out This Weeks Featured Post! :

Flashy Friday Week 2!

Flashy Friday! Week 2 -  "Spin" Whew! A whole week between posts, sorry guys! Like I've mentioned before we're pr...

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Unleash the Hound!!

Release the Hound!

I realized it's been a while since I've done a Jack update, shame on me! We've been doing so much!

Jack has made great progress from his initial runaway risk status to now being allowed off-leash in low distraction environments. I'm so proud of him!



He still struggles with focus when we are around other dogs, I recognize this is mostly a lack of exposure - we live just far enough out of town that he only really encounters my neighbors dogs a couple of which are not very friendly so we just watch them from a distance.  What he really needs is more distraction training and working him up to those higher stimulation environments. He's already proven he can do it by our walks, we just need to be a bit more consistent with the walking.

Off Leash!! Can you believe it!


To set Jack up for success I take all the dogs out every morning, this is usually our "hard" playtime, I run them hard, then they chill while I finish getting ready for work and eating breakfast.

Usually by the time i'm done getting ready for work they have had a good hour to cool down from their play time, this is very important so that you don't run into tummy twisting issues!

Then I feed everyone breakfast, potty the dogs, and head off to work while they settle in to sleep. At this point we are still crating Jack - he's the instigator and I worry he'd wind everyone up and they'd destroy something for fun if I left him un-crated.

On a good note, Jack loves his crate. As soon as they've pottied he knows the routine, he runs right in and lays down awaiting his precious cow horn that I give him to chew when I leave.

In the afternoon when I get home I take the dogs out again for some more playtime, and then we train. Depending on how ambitious i'm feeling we'll do a group walk, but more often then not I feel like I can accomplish more with just one dog for a training walk at a time.

When we do training walks my neighborhood is really busy, all the kids are usually home and playing basketball in the street or riding their bikes and scooters up and down the sidewalk. It's the perfect place to train and since we're hoping to send Jack home in a week I've been spending a bit more time on his training walks than on Dante and Ziva's... Naughty me, they've gotten a bit lazy when we go for walks.

Off-Leash Playtime!

During a training walk I bring tons of treats and Jack is really learning to ignore the distractions and he can now walk past almost anything without an issue. We can even walk past barking dogs 80% of the time without him trying to engage!




Yay Jack!  

In the mornings and the afternoons when we play I've worked Jack up to being off-leash. I'm always careful to watch my surroundings, his recall isn't perfect, but at least now I can retrieve him if I need to rather than him just running away. I never take him off-leash if their is another dog around, not because he's reactive but because he is that rude dog that would run up to another dog and we all know how I feel about those kinds of dogs/I do not want to be THAT person.  Dumb Ass Dog Owners - HERE

Jack the #offleash wonder dog! On a more serious note.. Please don't just let your dog off leash, if you can't control your dog then they do not belong off leash. A leash is not only for their own safety but for the safety of other people and dogs. We have worked long and hard on this with Jack, and I only let him off leash in environments where I know we can safely train/play. He can't resist other dogs yet so we play super early in the morning and I'm always careful to watch for anyone with a dog. Having a reactive dog (Ziva) I know how frustrating it is when another dog runs up on you when you are out on a walk minding your business. I don't want to be THAT person. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 #dontbeajerk #dontbeirresponsible #beresponsible #trainyourdog #positivedogtraining #positivereinforcement #playtime #offleashtraining #offleash #jack #happyhound #houndmix #mutt #brindleicious

A video posted by DZ Dog Mom (@dzdogadventures) on




Way to go Captain Jack!


In case you need reminders...
More of Jack's Shenanigans HERE:






22 comments:

  1. Sounds like great progress and those are some fantastic photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sue!! It's been hard work but it's fun seeing it paying off!

      Delete
  2. We echo that these are great photos!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jack is beautiful and he looks like he's doing great. Off leash is not something Cocoa can do yet. We take her to the puppy park so she can run free and let loose there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a good way to start, definitely better safe than sorry! And some dogs just can't do off-leash, I think Jack is one of those dogs that may never be 100% good for off-leash, but at least he no longer runs away. :-)

      Delete
  4. He is a beautiful dog and you have done an amazing job setting him up well to fit into a forever home. We are working on distractions too, and mine are getting good about walking past dogs in yards, walking past dogs walking though, well let's say we are still working on that. LOL

    Thank you for joining the blog hop!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations Jack - sounds like you're making good progress...you know that just leads to more freedom, right!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Slim!! That's the goal if he keeps being a good boy. :-)

      Delete
  6. Jack is seriously the cutest dog. I'm glad he's doing so well!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thrilled to see the Jack update. Sounds like he's doing so great. Any adoptive family would be lucky to have him.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Brilliant photos! Such a blissful pup.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congrats! That's fantastic success! Makes all the hard work worth it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is nice to be able to see how far we've come. :-) In the beginning I was certainly concerned.

      Delete
  10. Jack looks like he is doing great. You have done a great job with him. Thanks so much for joining the hop.

    ReplyDelete
  11. PepiSmartDog: so happy to see you back in our blog hop! Missed you buddy!
    Jack is doing great - and off leash too. Beautiful photographs.
    Thank you for joining our Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. We love your posts and always enjoy reading them.
    Hope to see you back in our hop this week too. *waves paw* :=o)

    ReplyDelete

Barks & Howls are always welcome!!

Share Me