Enhance your self-assurance while letting your pooch roam free, with a top trainer's concise recommendations ensuring a relaxed outing. Here's their five essential strategies for a worry-free walk.
Amelia Steele, a renowned professional dog trainer and behavioral consultant, better known as Amelia the Dog Trainer, offers five key tips for feeling more confident when a dog is off-leash.
Firstly, start with loose-lead training. Establish strong engagement and attentiveness with your dog while on a leash before attempting off-leash activities. A 30-day course led by Amelia covers these basics, helping dogs listen around distractions and maintain focus long term [1].
Secondly, practice recall consistently. The ability for your dog to reliably come back to you when called is critical before letting them off leash. This is developed gradually using rewards and positive reinforcement, ensuring your dog chooses to return even amid distractions [1].
Thirdly, build trust through controlled environments. Begin off-leash in safe, enclosed spaces to observe your dog’s behaviour and build mutual confidence. Gradually increase the complexity of environments as your dog’s reliability improves.
Fourth, focus on engagement, not just freedom. Off-leash success depends on your dog remaining engaged with you, not just being off leash. Training should foster a strong bond and desire for interaction over distractions [1].
Lastly, one of the fastest and most reliable ways to build engagement for off-leash skills is to focus on good engagement on lead. Lead training and fun engagement games are important for building off-leash skills.
In addition, Amelia Steele recommends Pupford Beef Liver Training Freeze-Dried Dog Treats as a suitable size for training and a new favourite treat for some dogs. The science behind positive reinforcement for dogs can provide more information on why rewarding good choices is effective.
For more information on building off-leash skills with a dog, check out Amelia Steele's latest Instagram post at @ameliathedogtrainer.
[1] Source: Amelia Steele's official website. Date of access: [Insert date]. URL: [Insert URL].
- Amelia Steele, known as Amelia the Dog Trainer, suggests starting with loose-lead training for dogs before attempting off-leash activities.
- To build mutual confidence, begin off-leash training in safe, enclosed spaces where you can observe your pet's behavior.
- For a reliable recall and improved off-leash skills, practice consistent recall using rewards and positive reinforcement with your pet.
- Focus on engagement with your pet and fostering a strong bond during training, as off-leash success depends on this rather than just being off leash.
- Pupford Beef Liver Training Freeze-Dried Dog Treats are recommended by Amelia Steele for effective training, as they are a suitable size and can be a new favorite treat for dogs.
