Dutch Shepherd Forum

I finally brought my camera with me, but the weeds are pretty dense.

Haha! Great pics!

whaha, bring a lawm mower next time!! Nice pics

Very nice! I am so jealous! I want to be able to walk my dogs off lead too! But I am too much of a chicken!!!!

they all look like they had fun!! don't forget to check for ticks...I'm forever doing that.

I always check them out. If there aren't any ticks, there are still sticks and burrs.

Lauren wrote:Very nice! I am so jealous! I want to be able to walk my dogs off lead too! But I am too much of a chicken!!!!

I always start the puppies with off leash walks with the older dogs, and we do it every weekend. Then they don't think it's anything special.

In dense vegetation, like today, the dogs don't stray far. They always try to stay within my sight. But when we go to a big open field or a beach, the boys will go farther away because they can still see me. So, I make sure I'm in a safe place and call them back to me often. I like taking them to where I work early Sunday mornings. There's a lot of grass, some trees and a little pond. I just wish Balto didn't chase the geese all the time. I'm not taking them there now because of the baby geese.

looks like good sniffing grounds.

Looks like tons of fun!!!

I think they like playing "marco - polo" is the dense vegetation!

I bet they had a blast! Sugar goes crazy when running through the tall grass, so I can just imagine your three!

CaroleBoaz wrote: I always start the puppies with off leash walks with the older dogs, and we do it every weekend. Then they don't think it's anything special.

Are the older dogs on leash when you do that? What happens if you bump into other dogs, does everyone handle it well? I don't really know of many places around here that even allow off lead dogs, so if i let them go I am worried that I could get into real trouble...

The older dogs are not on leash. They all started as puppies walking with an older dog. They are also trained to come when I call. If I see anything or anybody that could be a problem, I call all the dogs and leash them. When puppies are young, they tend to follow the older dogs and do what they do. Eventually, they learn the routine.

I look for places where I can take my dogs where there isn't anybody else around so we can all have fun. I like this new place I found with all the weeds. It's on the edge of town near an industrial park. And there are a lot of good smells there.

When I take them to my office, it's on Sunday and I usually don't run into anybody, and never any off leash dogs. Sometimes the cops drive by. When they do, I call everybody over for a sit stay practice, and the cops don't seem to mind. I have found that cops tend to leave you alone if it's clear that the dogs are trained. I practice the sit stays with the dogs 2 or 3 times whenever we go out for walks, so it's pretty routine for them. Training is always incorporated with something fun.

Here is Boaz's web page. http://clgoetz.8m.com/dogs/boaz/index.htm The 5 photos between the "6 months old" and "4 months old" titles are taken at my office. He is running and swimming with the 2 older dogs. The fluffy boy, Balto, is the leader, so if I call Balto over, all the dogs come with him. If Balto is too flighty for some reason. I can leash him, and the other two dogs will walk with us and not wander.

I also make sure I don't go where there are any deer. I had to abandon one of my favorite parks because I saw a herd of deer moving along the treeline. It was also becoming too popular with other dog owners, and the park police were doing more patrolling for off-leash dogs.

Great shots!