Walking himself

[Kittilicious]

My golden retriever is known in our small town as the "dog that walks itself", because she does. We have a leash law in town, which states "all dogs must be on a leash". Being the smartass that I am, Saki IS on a leash, only thing is - there is no human on the other end... she carries it herself. She prefers to carry it herself. I've had people ask me to teach their dog to do this When she sees another dog or person coming she comes right to my side until they pass (otherwise she is walking right ahead of me, constantly looking back to make sure I'm still there!).
Understanding that goldens and GSD's are different breeds and each dog itself is different, is this something I should also attempt to do with our puppy or should I just consider myself lucky with the golden that she's willing & able to do this?

Obviously, I've had people ask me in the last week if Knuckles is also going to walk himself.

[Lilie]

Sadly, I'm not big on a dog walking him / her self. If you've ever witnessed a 'freak' accident and seen a dog hit and killed, you might change your mind too.

However, I'm not taking away from the cuteness of your dog walking itself. I'm sure it's a sight to see.

[Kittilicious]

Originally Posted by Lilie

Sadly, I'm not big on a dog walking him / her self. If you've ever witnessed a 'freak' accident and seen a dog hit and killed, you might change your mind too.

I should have added that she'll go to my side with cars too and always the side closest to the edge of the road, so I'm towards the person/dog/car. We NEVER walk on a busy street, either. We either walk the side streets (most of our town is side streets) or the bike/walking trail. She also stops at intersections on her own and waits for me to say "ok" before crossing.
I would love for both dogs to do this on some level, but I'm just not so sure about the pup. Heck, maybe they will shock me and they will just walk each other!

[dosovm]

older dogs or dogs that really experienced almost everything and dont have much drive seem to be fairly safe off leash(still a bad idea) but younger dogs or dogs with a lot of drive, even the once you think are perfectly trained, can see something they want like an animal running and will take off and wont listen to you not because they are not listening but because they cant hear you, they are to fascinated and the adrenaline is pumping and the mind is running.

kind of like 2 man fighting, even the guy that would never hurt another human being will grab a brick or whatever is around and use it as a weapon because you dont really have a mind of your own at that moment, animal instincts always win in certain situations

[Gretchen]

That sounds so cute! My shepherd likes to walk herself too. There was nothing we did to train her, one day she just grabbed the handle on our retractable leash and led the way. However, she is very prey driven and I do like to have control, so I let the leash out about 6', put the handle in her mouth and hold the belt part, so she is still not too far from my side. I do like to let her lead, when hiking, she seems to know if we are going the wrong path and guide us to area we really wanted.

Now my dog likes to walk my daughter's new dog. She just rescued a smaller herding breed mix and came by for a visit. So my shepherd grabbed the leash from my daughter's hand when we were walking in our neighborhood, then walked us back to the large lawn area of our condo complex so we could all sit in the shade and hang out. Then I said it's time to go home so I could make dinner, and my dog brought my daughter's dog to our front door and invited her in.

[Salix]

Denver is corrected if he attempts to lead. He is only permitted to shoot off (when off leash) after a command from me. Otherwise he sits and waits for my command. Under no circumstances is he permitted to walk himself or roam around as you have described.

[Kittilicious]

She doesn't "roam". Basically think of her walking on leash ahead of me about 2 steps, but she's not on her leash. She won't go more than a few steps away from me. I could reach my foot out and kick her in the butt she stays so close