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Why You Should Walk Your Dog Off Leash

December 24, 2020 by Mary Telesz

man walking his dog on a trail Walking your dog off leash gives your dog some of the most pleasurable moments of its day. Being off leash even for five or ten minutes allows your dog to satisfy many of its innate needs. In other words, it lets your dog “just be a dog.” Of course, you need to do it in a confined area such as a fenced yard or dog park, or in an open area where your dog cannot run into traffic or get into a dangerous situation with other animals or humans. Also, before you let your dog go, you need to make sure your dog has some basic training.

Benefits Of Training Your Dog To Walk Off Leash

Giving your dog basic obedience training will strengthen the bond between the two of you. This is especially true if you make the training fun by keeping it positive and reward-oriented. Basic training includes recall training, that is, teaching your dog to come to you when you call it. When your dog reliably comes to you when you call, you can begin to teach it to walk off leash.
A dog that is trained to walk off leash has many benefits, including:

Your Off Leash Dog Is Usually More Relaxed

When your dog is walking on the leash, your dog is aware that its movements are restricted. The restriction of the leash heightens your dog’s “fight or flight” instinct. Your dog knows that the leash prevents it from choosing the “flight” option. Thus, when your dog encounters a threatening situation such as another dog or a stranger, your dog will be more inclined to fight because the leash prevents retreat. In your dog’s mind, it has no option but to fight. In fact, many dogs are “leash sensitive,” meaning that their anxiety levels are so high when on the leash that they become fearful and sometimes more aggressive than when they are off leash.
An off leash dog knows it can avoid a scary situation and escape it if needed. As a result, the dog is usually more relaxed when not restricted by the leash.

Your Dog Can Get More Exercise Off Leash

a dog off leash in the park on a nice dayLetting your dog go off leash will give your dog the chance to run and burn off its energy. Dogs are athletes. They need a lot of exercise to keep themselves mentally and physically healthy. This is especially true for high energy dogs. Even if your dog is less energetic, it will burn more energy off leash when it has a larger area to explore. Off leash, your dog will roam around, retrace its steps, and cover more ground than it would on the leash.

Walking Off Leash Lets Your Dog Explore A Little More

The opportunity for your dog to get some mental release by exploring the environment is as important to your dog’s well-being as the physical release it gets from exercise. To your dog, exploring its surroundings feeds its instinct to assess its environment for threats or food. Using its keen sense of smell, your dog informs itself of what other creatures have been in the area, whether another male or female dog is nearby, and so forth. Letting your dog explore off leash gives it more freedom to feed this instinctive need than it can get on the leash.

Dogs Usually Listen Better Once Trained Off Leash

The basic training necessary for safe off leash walking spills over into many facets of your dog’s behavior. Your dog will trust you and understand the commands you use in a variety of scenarios. This comes from your commitment and consistency in good training. When you and your dog are advanced enough in your training to walk off leash, you will find that your dog will be more responsive to your voice. You will also be prepared with treats and toys as needed to regain your dog’s attention when something inevitably distracts it.
Another reason your dog listens better is because you have given it ample opportunity to burn off energy by exercising and exploring its surroundings. After your dog has been able to “take the edge off,” it will be able to better focus on you and be ready to respond to your direction.

Dogs Tend To Want To Stay Close To Their Owner

dog off leash sitting on a bench Dogs by nature are pack animals. You are part of your dog’s pack, and if you’ve done your training properly, your dog views you as the leader of its pack. Your dog’s survival instinct encourages it to stay with the pack, close to the pack leader. In your dog’s thinking, separation from the pack invites danger, while keeping up with the pack and the pack leader means safety, security, and food.
You can use that knowledge to trust that your dog probably will not venture very far from you when off leash. Even if your dog chases a squirrel, it will likely return to you once the chase is over. If you work with a professional trainer to help you with off leash training, you will learn how to minimize the likelihood that your dog will chase after something and what to do if and when it happens.

Contact The Dog Walking Experts At Paw Pals For Help

Get help with your dog walking and training from the professionals at Paw Pals. They are experts in walking dogs and understand how to help owners achieve their off leash training goals. Contact them today for more information about their dog walking services.

Filed Under: Dog Walking

Contact Paw Pals for More Information

Paw Pals specializes in professional dog walking, dog sitting, and pet sitting services. One of our reliable, adult staff members will keep your pet safe, while providing your pet the love and care they need when you are away. Contact us to learn more!

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Paw Pals Pet Sitting, LLC
14001-C Saint Germain Drive #213
Centreville, VA 20121
(703) 345-1695

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9am - 5pm
Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Centreville – 20120, 20121
Chantilly – 20151
Clifton – 20124
Fairfax – 22030, 22033
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Google Rating
4.9
Paw Pals Pet Sitting
Paw Pals Pet Sitting
4.9
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith
21:22 03 Oct 21
I never worry when Mary and team take care of my dog!
Michæl Silva
Michæl Silva
21:38 01 Jul 22
Mary at Paw Pals Pet Sitting is the greatest! She has helped me train my pooch Chico how play nice with other dogs and for that I am extremely grateful! A+A+A+A+A+A
Kwi Kim
Kwi Kim
22:37 17 Jun 22
I hired Paw Pals based on my sister’s referral. Meet & greet was very thorough and detailed. I was surprised that my finicky cat came to check the sitter out. Subsequently, a sitter watched my cat over several separate visits, and it was clear through the visit reports that my cat loved the sitter. All the visits were completed having followed my directions & with professionalism.I would highly recommend Paw Pals to anyone who’s looking for a dependable, personable, & professional sitter.
Joseph Walter
Joseph Walter
19:55 13 Jun 22
Paw Pals provided a large number of photos of our pets along with a personalized message on how our pets were doing with every single visit. I would highly recommend using Paw Pals, we'll be continuing to use them whenever we go on vacation.
Ashley Manning
Ashley Manning
09:50 11 Jun 22
Highly recommend as pet sitters!Initially, a sitter from the company will visit the house to meet the pets and learn where everything is. Tatiana took careful notes and we got her some spare keys.While we are away, Paw Pals sends sitters to come and look after our boys. They feed them, scoop litter, bring in mail and packages, and they will even manage trash, recycling, blinds and lights so that everything is comfortable for our kitties. Each time they check in, we receive an email message with updates and pictures, which is so comforting when we are on the road.Also, if you don’t let Paw Pals know when you are home, they assume something has happened and will continue to care for your babies. If something were to happen, I know they would be okay.Five stars for Paw Pals!
Brian Wood
Brian Wood
04:08 22 May 22
We have used Paw Pals for a number of years now and would highly recommend to anyone looking for help with their pets. Great communication from owner Mary and flexibility to make adjustments in schedule as life changes over time. Have had a consistent set of walkers who have gotten to know our pup and the various walking routes around our neighborhood quite well.
Lesley Bush
Lesley Bush
13:58 18 Mar 22
We can't rave enough about Paw Pals. They took care of our 18 year old Cat and 20 year old Chinchilla while we were away and when our flight got cancelled, they were so accommodating and available last minute for an extra day. We worked with Jen to coordinate visits from Miko and Danny. I loved the pictures and updates on how our Lil geriatric guys were doing. Thanks a million, Paw Pals!! Our special pets were so well cared for.
Sebastian Barnes
Sebastian Barnes
01:06 17 Jan 22
I have used Paw Pals for several trips over the last few months, and they have been phenomenal every time! Mary is extremely kind and responsive, and she makes sure that my cat and dog have the care that they need every time I am out of town. All of the pet sitters that I've had have been incredibly sweet to my pets, and they treat them like their own! Will gladly continue using Paw Pals every time I need a sitter.
Julie Shildt
Julie Shildt
17:45 14 Nov 21
It has been a pleasure doing business with paw pals. We have used this company for several trips we have taken over the past 6 months. They have been wonderful caretakers for our 2 cats. Anytime there is ever a question they don't hesitate to give us a call and they leave the best notes and pictures in the emailed report of each visit. We are so glad have found such a great company.
Andrea Hall
Andrea Hall
22:45 03 Oct 20
I wasn't sure about hiring a new doggie walker service... after all they are our kiddos... my babies were in great hands and I felt relaxed having them in their care. Thank you for everything!
Katie McCune
Katie McCune
19:19 15 Jul 21
I honestly cannot recommend Mary and her whole crew enough! We started using Mary originally about 7 years ago to stop by occasionally when our Aussie Lana was younger. Over the next couple years Lana stayed with Mary and her family for a couple weekends when we went on vacation. When we moved to our new house in Manassas, Lana stayed with Sam, who lives in Manassas, overnight for moving day, and did great. Right before the pandemic, we adopted our second Aussie, Goose, and Mary recommended a fantastic trainer for him.We now have weekly walks for the dogs, and they love all of their walkers! Trevor, Paul, Hazel, Sofie, and probably a couple others have helped Goose get used to more people, and have helped my husband and me when our schedules are crazy.Paw Pals is our go-to for any help with our dogs, so I highly recommend them!
Alexandra Hill
Alexandra Hill
22:43 23 May 21
I was a nervous mommy to leave my cats with a sitter service for the first time. Paw Pals went above and beyond to care for my cats and ease a nervous mommy. I already made a reservation to use them again!
Cindy Welgoss
Cindy Welgoss
13:12 27 Nov 20
We have been using Paw Pals for several years, and through a variety of pets that we have loved. Mary and her team have always been *exceptional* in every way. They are professional, courteous, and truly love our fur family! Mary herself is an organized and stellar administrator of her pet care business, keeping detailed records of our pet’s needs, scheduled pet visits, payments, and balance due easy to keep track of as the pet owner. The pet caretaking team is reliable and trustworthy. When our dogs see any of their Paw Pal friends, they get SO excited to see them! Follow up comments are left via text to keep the pet owner informed of the visit and how the pets are faring. Paw Pals has allowed our family the peace of mind to leave our pets at home, for work, weekend getaways and longer times away when necessary, where they are the most comfortable and familiar. We are grateful to Mary and her team for giving us the ability to enjoy pet ownership without feeling tied down. The responsibility of having pets comes with the need to keep them safe and comfortable at all times, and Mary and her team affords us this when our family has to be away.
Dr Tammy Cashion
Dr Tammy Cashion
21:11 12 Mar 19
We have used Paw pals pet sitting on multiple occasions for our bunnies while we are away. Many pet sitters are not interested in small pets however; Mary and her team, are amazing and we trust her implicitly! We are very happy with the outstanding service we have received from her team including texts and photos of our pets when we are out of town. They always go the extra mile and we highly recommend them!
Kristin Conrad
Kristin Conrad
16:00 16 Nov 19
We are so grateful we found Mary and her team at Paw Pals. They are exceptionally responsive, amazingly organized and detail-oriented.We have such peace of mind when we travel knowing our home and pets are so well cared for. Paw Pals is the best pet sitting service we’ve used, and we’re so happy we found them.
Katie Russell
Katie Russell
15:01 17 May 20
Paw Pals is fantastic! I have had a great experience with Mary! Compassionate, professional, responsive, and prompt! Thank you!
Phillip Evans
Phillip Evans
14:38 11 Jul 20
When we adopted our new dog in January, Paw Pals agreed to walk her and give her some outside time so she wasn't in the crate all day. She loved her dog walker and you could see her excitement every time the walker showed up. We moved out of the area but would recommend Paw Pals to anyone needing someone to care for their pets.
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