I believe in giving dogs a chance to succeed, not fail. I want my dog to walk with me off-leash in the country; it is a different, even spiritual experience for me to walk with a dog off-leash.

I’m not sure Red was ever on a leash when we walked, the same was true of Izzy, Lenore, and Fate. It’s an unnerving moment when it first happens since I am always mindful that dogs are animals, and animals do not always behave the way people want them to (except maybe Red.)

I suppose this is another of those instincts I have that bothers some people, but I’m not running for Dog Mayor, and I don’t care what other people think about what I’m doing as a rule.

If I did, it would drive my dogs mad and me. And I would fail.

A grounded and obedience trained dog – especially an ethically-bred dog – is bred to work with people and stay close to them. I work on Zinnia’s recall six or seven times a day and whenever she’s in the house.

In therapy work, the dog must be instantly responsive, or he or she will never be certifi

On this road, I can see cars coming nearly a half-mile away, and I have plenty of time to leash up the dogs, (Zinnia, like Fate, will soon be trained to lie down on command) or if necessary, stop an oncoming car.

It an exhilarating moment for me when this first free walk happens, and today, Maria and I walked up a country road with Zinnia and Fate, and halfway up, I let Zinnia off-leash. It was a big deal for me,  a turning point, although she took it in stride. She just stayed close.

She followed Fate, sniffed along the road,  and came instantly every time I called. Fate isn’t crazy about puppies, but she is obedience-trained and Zinnie was watching her closely. That helped.

Zinnie’s recall is getting to be first-rate. I trust it and I trust her.

This is a great way to begin her training. Staying close is her nature; what I need to do is reinforce her view and reward her for it. I can tell my dogs I want to trust them all I want, making it happen a different story.

I do take precautions.

There is almost no traffic on this road, and there is excellent visibility. I wouldn’t do this on a busy highway.

On this road, I can see cars coming nearly a half-mile away, and I have plenty of time to leash up the dogs (Zinnia, like Fate, will soon be trained to lie down on command) or if necessary, stop an oncoming car.

It an exhilarating moment for me when this first free, off-leash walk happens. Today, Maria and I walked up a country road with Zinnia and Fate, and halfway up, I let Zinnia off-leash. It was a big deal for me,  a turning point, although she took it in stride.

She just stayed close, sniffed at various points along the road.

She followed Fate, sniffed along the road,  and came instantly every time I called. Fate isn’t crazy about puppies, but she is obedience-trained, and Zinnie was watching her closely. That helped

Her recall is getting to be first-rate. I trust it, and I believe in her.

I used the walk, like everything else, as a training opportunity.

Maria took a video of me working with Zinnia on her stay and recall commands. Fate came along for the treats.

Now, I use treats every third or fourth time, not every time. In five or six months, I’ll hardly use treats at all. Now, I want Zinnia to know her name, look me in the eye,  know my voice, know my commands.

This makes for a great therapy dog and also for a family pet.

There is almost no traffic on this road, but there is excellent visibility. I’ve walked with my dogs on this road 1,ooo times.

I can see cars coming nearly a half-mile away, and I have plenty of time to leash up the dogs (Zinnia, like Fate, will soon be trained to lie down on command) or, if necessary, stop an oncoming car.

It an exciting thing for me when this first free (off-leash) walk happens. It happened today.

It was a big deal for me,  a turning point, although she took it in stride. She just stayed close. She was happy to come running when asked.

She followed Fate, sniffed along the road,  and came instantly every time I called.

Fate isn’t crazy about puppies, but she is obedience-trained, and Zinnie was watching her closely.  Fate didn’t seem to mind the company, snoot that she is.

That helped. Well-trained dogs can be great teachers and models for new dogs or puppies. I will always remember the good-hearted Lenore teaching Frieda how to become domesticated, how to sit and lie down.

I love walking in the woods with my dogs off-leash; it seems so essential to our bonding and so natural for me. I can hardly imagine a life with a dog without it. I am blessed to live in a place where that can happen.

Zinnie’s recall is getting to be first-rate. I trust it, and I trust her. I want to build up on that trust every day. It’s almost my training motto. Dogs can’t succeed if you don’t give them a considered chance.