Wanting your dog to be off-leash is not just some power move to show your neighbors you are better than them. It can actually be life-changing for your dog and save them in case of emergencies. However, there are a few things you must teach and get out of the way before you embark on this new adventure of off-leash training.  In today's episode, I go over exactly what you need to teach and feel confident in before unclipping the leash for the first time. You will also learn exactly how I have taught over 12,000 dogs and their owners to have reliable dogs that they can trust off-leash wherever they go.    Here is a free PDF download on stopping bad behaviors without punishment to get you started in training and succeeding. https://www.matadork9.com/resolvingbadhabits If you want to work one on one with me schedule a discovery call here and let's make sure this is a right fit for you. https://www.matadork9.com/coaching   Episode Transcript 00:00:35:12 - 00:00:59:05Michael J. AccettaWhat I want to talk about today is off leash training, off leash training and the prerequisites that are required in order to have an off leash dog. It's not as simple as just unclip the leash, although a lot of people just do that. That actually gives me anxiety. That makes me nervous when someone just unclip the leash. And I've been around enough trainers and enough individuals that I know. 00:00:59:10 - 00:01:20:04Michael J. AccettaSome people just do it. They just go, Oh, it's going to be totally fine. Let me just unclip my dog's leash. And, you know, they're not going anywhere. I know they're not going anywhere. Great. Okay, that's wonderful. But for me, I need to have some reassurance. I need to know that there's been training involved. I need to know that I have multiple boxes checked off before I unclip my dog's leash. 00:01:20:14 - 00:01:42:10Michael J. AccettaSo we're going to go over those things. What do I need to check off? In order to make sure that my dog's ready to have the leash taken off that are we can start having off leash adventures that we could go into the woods and go for hikes or in the event of an emergency. I know that I can call my dog when I need to if the leash breaks or the harness snaps or I trip and I dropped a leash. 00:01:42:10 - 00:02:01:13Michael J. AccettaI've seen all of these things happen when your dog's running away. How do you get them to come back? Now, I was thinking the other day was walking with my family of a three year old son and my significant other. We were just walking. We were kind of enjoying our day. We had the dog with us, and I started thinking my son has never worn a leash. 00:02:02:01 - 00:02:24:12Michael J. AccettaMy three year old son has never worn a leash, but my dog has. They've always worn leashes. And I started to think, what if society said dogs can't have leashes? Like we don't put leashes on kids, okay? There's a certain prerequisite to a child being able to walk around, right, without being carried or put in a stroller. They have to listen. 00:02:25:01 - 00:02:41:11Michael J. AccettaThey have to understand what you're saying and they have to have some type of engagement with you. They want to walk with you. They want to hold your hand. Right. They want to ask you questions. So they're engaged with you. And we don't even think about that when it comes to our kids. But we never think about it. 00:02:41:11 - 00:03:06:05Michael J. AccettaWhen it comes to a dog. So I was really thinking about it and I was like, okay, let me let me look at this from a scientific perspective, because that's what I do as a dog trainer. Our dogs get used to having the leash on and we get used to the leash being there. We've essentially become dependent on the leash keeping our dog at a certain distance, it being, you know, six feet or ten feet if you have a long legs or 30 feet, if you have a really long range. 00:03:07:00 - 00:03:26:14Michael J. AccettaI like to walk with a four foo