Allowing the Dog Off Leash
In Step Four, you work on gradually increasing the amount of off leash time that the dog has, until they are able to spend longer periods of time without supervision. Starting with short periods of time, now you can let the dog be off leash. You will be working up to letting your down remain unsupervised in the yard all day long.
During the first few days, it is important to keep a closer eye on the dog to make sure he isn’t breaking through. However, quickly moving to unsupervised off-leash time shouldn’t be an issue.
Training
Begin to allow your dog to be in the yard, off of the leash. The sessions should be short and supervised at first. However, if you see that the dog is observing the boundary, then extend their sessions. Begin going inside for short periods of time and leave the dog unsupervised for several minutes. Watch them through your window to see what happens.
Should you get any breakouts, you will need to move back to Step Two. If there is a particular trigger causing the breakouts, move to Step 3 to test the dog.
Once your dog stays within the boundary no matter what, pat yourself on the back for a job well done!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. After being contained for a year, my dog is going through the boundary. What is going on?
A. Watch the dog as he goes through the boundary, paying attention to his reaction.
If there is no visible reaction, then the dog isn’t getting corrected in the first place. Maybe the collar is too loose around the dog’s neck and the probes are no longer making contact with the dog’s skin. If this is the case, fit the collar correctly and go back to Step two of training.
It is also possible that the collar is no longer working. In this case, you can walk the collar over the wire, holding the contact points in the palm of your hand. Now you can feel for yourself if the collar is correcting at all.
Another possibility is that the dog is flinching or yelping as they cross. In this case, they are feeling the correction. For this situation, it is important to go back and do some basic training, such as in Step Two. Increase the correction level and increase the width of the boundary so that crossing the boundary is harder for the dog to do.
Q. My dog appears to be getting bored outside, and he is digging up the flowers. How can I make him stop?
A. Keep this in mind. You could always create a circle of wire around your flowerbeds, to keep the dog out of them. You would then connect your smaller circle to your larger circle using twisted wire. The smaller circle becomes another area that the dog cannot cross.
After Training: Removing the Flags
Remove every other flag
About 2-3 months after your dogs have had some time to get used to the system, you can begin to remove the training flags. You can take out every other flag in the first week, and remove every other flag the next week. By the third week, you can remove all of the flags.
Taking Walks
While your dog is being trained, you should completely avoid crossing the boundary lines. During this time, if you need to take them for a walk, you can put them in your car and drive them over the boundary line, or if your dog is little, you can carry them over the boundary line (with the collar off of course.)
After a couple of months have passed, you can help them walk through the boundary, doing the following exercise.
Begin by removing your dog’s containment collar. Next, put your dog on a leash. Pick an exact spot in your boundary where you are going to both enter and exit. This is called your “invisible gate.” The idea is that you are letting the dog know that at this point you have chosen in the fence, that it is okay to enter and exit the yard, when you are with them.