victor well on his way

Just want to celebrate. This is the fourth time today Vic has gone outside off leash to hike..OFF LEASH with no fence. I stand there and he looks at me like your kidding..and i say yes..it's ok..go ahead..and he says ok mom..walks out to his place and looks over to me saying i will be right back..and i say i know..then he RUNS to the door all happy and so am i. This is such a big step!! Especially for a one year old pointer pup that loves to run and run and run. yesterday he took big looping cirlces around the yard, but kept his eye on where he was going and didn't leave the area. He is watching Mary careful now..he is noticing where she goes is ok for him too. HE is going to the car and from the car to the door..OFF leash. When i get to my mom's i open the car door..both dogs stand there..i say on your mark..he looks like a runner setting into the blocks..and then when i say go he flies out of the car, runs thru mom's gate..big loopy circles chasing Mary and then skids to the front door. I feel like having a party i am so happy. By the time he is two..i expect he will be 100 percent trustworthy. This is the same dog that took off like a flash 3 months ago at every opportunity.

that is great smkie !!!!! Is'nt it great when you finally get a break through? I know what you feel like wanting to have a party lol i feel that way everytime i work with a dog and something just clicks and it all starts working out.

That's great! Give Vic a big hug for me.

I seriously doubt either one of my girls will ever be trusted off leash off the property - it's just too risky if someone acted aggressively toward them. Plus I don't trust either one of them not to forget and take off. They'd each have totally different reasons - Shiva would fixate on something and just HAVE to go see; Kharma would have to go herd something - but the results would be bad whatever the reasons!

Bimmer just likes to know he's connected to me. The only time he's liked being off leash is at the high school track where we used to walk every day. There's a soccer field in the middle and he'd find a plastic water bottle and take it out on the soccer field and play with it until he was ready to drop. I think part of the reason he was okay with it though is because it has a fence all the way around it.

Victor and i have an unusal situation. I am able to take him with me everywhere i go 24/7. if i have to leave him, my Mother is home and they go there. Victor loves to go to her house too. He can be a yard dog for an hour or so getting to smell all the good woods smells. When we go outside.it hasn't just been opening the door, but going out with him and standing beside while he hikes. What i want is what i have had before..i just prayed that i could have it one more time. That incredible connection you get when you and the dog become a team. This will be my fifth..no matter how many trials and tribulations i have had to face in life..there has always been a balance..i was allowed to be a part of relationship like this. Picky the little dog that rode my horse ws my first..Charlie i have written about..Bronki was the same way. mary is a dream of ladylike manners.I didn't think i would get another chance,all the others i had been with practically from birth. victor came 5 months old and wild as a march hare. When victor rolled those eyes up at me and said your kidding..the walked over..looking over his shoulder at me..then ran back saying gosh mom lets go in it's cold out here..I could have shot off fireworks. I only tried it like that because i had just taken the artful dodger dog home and Knew she would be in her house for a little while. It is not something we will do everytime because of her, and i don't totally trust him yet..but if he can do this now..i am sure he is going to mature into a dream of a dog. i have been blessed one more time.

awesome! How did you manage to train him? Mine will hike offleash on the trail, and stay very close but I think some of that is that he is still new to the area and wants me for comfort. Is there a spacific way to train or is it just a gradual trial and error kind of thing? Congratulations anyway that IS an awesome step.

i think it just clicked in his head..we will keep on practicing in safe zones and not trust broad daylight full of squirrels and such yet. Little steps make big progress.