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- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!wums.wustl.edu!trimpe_b
- From: trimpe_b@wums.wustl.edu
- Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
- Subject: RE: thoughts on off-leash play
- Date: 3 JAN 93 16:31:52 GMT
- Organization: MIT PLASMA FUSION CENTER
- Lines: 32
- Message-ID: <3JAN93.16315217@wums.wustl.edu>
- References: <laird.725899671@stable.ecn.purdue.edu>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: msnews.wustl.edu
-
- In a previous article, laird@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird) wrote:
-
- [intermittant paragraphs deleted]
-
- >I don't chase Greta. Ever. She either comes when called, or hits the
- >ground when she sees me coming. (Then we go to where I was telling her
- >to "come" to. Nothing harsh, just consistent.)
-
- >I start play by dropping the leash when she's sitting, then running away.
- >I find that running backwards and jumping to one side and spinning
- >around when she approaches keeps her running lots more than me, and it
- >keeps her running at me.
-
- >When I'm ready for her to come in, I pause, wait to see if she seems
- >ready to come in (no need to make it hard), then crouch and say "come".
- >She normally bolts at me, darts to my right and circles up on my left.
- >Then she gets some belly-attention. This repeats several times.
- >--kyler
- This sounds similar to our off-leash play. I've started taking our
- lab to a large fenced in field. I'll unhook the leash and tell him to
- "go play". He'll usually bound off towards the trees at the perimeter-
- I usually sort of stroll after him just to keep an eye on him BUT then
- I'll start walking in the opposite direction. At some distance apart
- (Seems pretty consistant-determined by him) he'll start sprinting towards
- me. I'm of course *very* happy to see him. I'll tell him to 'go play
- again and the whole process repeats itself. Okay okay... my point is
- 1-this gives him a great deal of exercise without killing me and
- 2- NOW he doesn't roam so far to beggin with. He keeps a much sharper
- eye on my whereabouts than he used to.. a fringe benefit in my mind. I've
- noticed this 'keeping closer' after about 8 days of 2X a day walks like this.
- Your mileage may vary.
- BT
-