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does anyone let their dog off lead?
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Yes, I have had my dogs off lead; they both spent 3 years of their life off lead more than on lead. They always returned when called every single time. It took a lot of time to get them to this point regardless of the distraction. Once they knew the command we working on proofing them by increasing the distraction levels one step at a time. I have to disagree with Spidey about it being impossible to have a 100% reliable dog. I feel that on the recall my dogs are 100% reliable. They have returned to me immediately even with heavy distractions: running deer, squirrels, rabbits, etc.; sometimes while in midchase of the distraction. No they aren't robots but when they hear their name and the command come their response is so automatic that is shuts off any other action than to return. They were trained to respond immediately so they don't have time to process any other action than the command. Having said this, I would never ever take my dog(s) off lead around heavy traffic. Their recall is great but in a heavy traffic situation you cannot keep recalling your dog and keep it safe. In this context you need to have a great off lead heel in order to ensure your dogs safety. We actually found and enrolled in a class around us called Leashless which works on this particular topic. We hope to improve off leash commands beyond the recall but even so I doubt I would ever have my dog off lead in heavy traffic. The risk in this context is extremely high.