Dogs love and need off-leash time. Time to run, play, explore, climb, and satisfy their innate drives. They need time to just be dogs.
As much as most dog owners want to give their dogs a fulfilling life, many are unprepared for the effort required to allow a dog this amount of freedom. It can be exhausting!
I say it a lot, the more freedom Riley has, the more responsibility I have. If I’m allowing her time to go into prey drive and hunt squirrels, then I’m also accepting responsibility for all the things that she can’t and won’t see because her focus is set on whatever she is tracking or treeing.
Let me talk a little more about this.
Riley’s breed was created to hunt and to herd, so she has a very strong prey drive and to a lesser extent a herding drive. In fairness, I have seen the herding drive in action and it’s there but it’s not something I’m in a situation to facilitate for her as readily as the hunting drive, so it’s not nearly as developed.
When Riley is focused on prey, what I call being in “hunt mode”, she develops tunnel vision I have seen her run at top speed past a person with less than an inch between them and it’s evident that at no point did she see or register that a human being was there. She only saw the prey. It can be difficult for her to hear and to switch gears (we do a lot of work to help with this, and I’ll talk about that in another post).
With all that said, if she can only hear and see certain things and blocks out everything else then it is my job to be aware and vigilant for her. For me, it means I’m looking for what I call “the three D’s” – Danger, Distraction, and Diversion. This is also why I don’t have as much video footage of her as I would like to have because taking video and even photos when we’re out like that takes too much attention away from what I need to do to keep her safe.
Let’s look at each of these things
DANGER
Danger is going to look different depending on your dog, their drives, their training, and your environment. What is a danger for Riley and me when we’re hunting squirrels in a treelined business complex is different than what I would look for in an off-leash park or on an off-leash hike.
If we’re in a business area, I’m watching for cars, people, and dogs (both on and off-leash). Essentially anything that might be a threat to her and her safety. I’m watching the ground for unexpected things that could cause injury – broken glass, garbage, holes in the ground.
If we’re in an off-leash area, the danger is different. The odds of there being a moving vehicle in an open field are pretty low but there are natural/physical pitfalls – treats or food left on the ground (Riley is very sensitive to chicken), holes she might not see, garbage, broken glass and other things that might harm her. I watch how people engage with their dogs to decide if I’ll allow Riley to approach or not. Depending on where we are I may also watch for animals that could be a danger to her.
Anything that she might miss that could cause her harm falls in this category and I watch for as much of it as I possibly can, especially when I’m allowing her to hunt and burn off some energy.
DISTRACTIONS
People and dogs fall under danger and distractions I’m watching for distractions to determine if they are dangerous or not.
What does that mean?
If she is tracking a squirrel and we’re close to the street and I see another squirrel across the street, that is a dangerous distraction. If she sees it and I don’t get her attention in time, she is likely to bolt after it and not pay attention to cars or anything else that might be between her and the squirrel. I need to see it before she does, so I can redirect if necessary.
If the squirrel or rabbit or whatever she’s tracking is being “squirrely” meaning it looks likely that it’s going to bolt across the street instead of staying in whatever area it’s currently in – I will call her out.
If crows are messing with her or trying to get her attention, I’m watching to see where they are circling. They tend to follow a pattern so I can tell if they are going to stay where I want her or they are going to lead her somewhere I don’t want her to go.
Distractions could also be things like maintenance and landscape crews working in the area or construction crews whose equipment might make a lot of noise. These distractions could create a situation where she gets fearful and has an anxiety response. Not only might that distract her from what she’s doing, but it may also shut her down or send her into an avoidance response where she struggles to hear me or remember that I’m there at all. Survival mode can kick in.
There’s a lot of overlap between dangers and distractions.
DIVERSIONS
Diversions are places and things I identify in the environment that would allow me to help her switch gears from hunter-brain to paying attention to me. Something that is still stimulating and offers engagement but helps transition her from that single-focused, high-alert, adrenaline-pumping mindset to something more relational and engaged with me.
Riley loves to climb trees, go upstairs, jump on and off rocks and walls, and hop up on tables. Knowing this, I look for places where I can take her to do these kinds of things.
To help manage her energy and focus and keep her from getting overstimulated, I alternate between opportunities to run amok and chase squirrels and exercise that prey drives and other more relational activities that allow her to calm down and focus on me even as she continues to exert mental, emotional, and physical energy.
These kinds of activities also often double as confidence-building exercises; things that challenge her and make her think. So there is a lot of benefit in incorporating them in our outings.
Finding and using these diversion opportunities has made a huge difference in our walks because I walk her through some things before I put her back on leash which puts her more into a pack mentality, which helps her pay attention to me and walk with me nicely when I put her leash on to head home.
Here’s an example: A Saturday outing might include 10 minutes chasing squirrels, followed by running up and down a flight of stairs or playing hide and seek; back to hunting and chasing squirrels; then climbing over rocks or up in a tree; more hunting; then some obedience and impulse control work before leashing up and walking to a local coffee shop where we do obedience and desensitization work on the patio; then walking home.
PAWS AND CONSIDER
- What drives does your dog have that you either want to fulfill or already have ways you fulfill?
- What frame of mind is your dog in when they are engaged in that drive?
- What dangers does this frame of mind present that might not be dangers when they are not actively engaged in that drive?
- What people and things in the environment might your dog be a danger to?
- What distractions might you encounter when you’re spending time off-leash with your dog?
- What might the result be if your dog were to be distracted?
- How could you get their attention if they are faced with a danger or a distraction?
- How certain are you they would respond, particularly if they are off leash?
- What backups do you have if they don’t respond to your voice and are off-leash?
- What does your dog enjoy that provides the opportunity for them to engage with and focus on you?
- How might you blend some of these diversions in when you’re allowing them to exercise other drives?
- How can you be aware of the Dangers, Distractions, and Diversion opportunities in the environment in which you usually work with your dog?
