Oh Deer! Off-leash hiking and the joy of the chase...help!

Runswithdogs · 10-31-2011, 04:18 PM

We've discovered that off-leash hikes are the best way to get the dogs some morning exercise, stimulation, and adventure to tide them through the work day. Each morning around 7 a.m. I take the dogs for about an hour long hike in the foothills.
They both have great recall of the useless variety, which is with no distractions. Both dogs will always come quickly when called on a hike...if there are no rabbits or deer to be found.

However, because of the shift in daylight, we are often hiking now when the deer are grazing. When they see a deer and I don't catch them alerting to it, they will NOT come back until they've had their chase- and they will run far away, far enough that I couldn't catch them if I wanted to.

The obvious solution is to not let them off leash- which is what I have started doing now that we are out each day at the same time that the deer are. But how can we train them to stop this? The dogs are noticeably more anxious and high-strung when they only get 2 hour long leashed hikes a day (and who can blame them, even my brisk hiking pace is nothing compared to their running pace).

For those of you who do daily off-leash hikes in the woods/mountains, how do you deal with this issue? Do you let your dogs chase rabbits and deer?

Super frustrating...all of us have more fun when they can hike off-leash, but I don't want to worry that they will get lost, hurt, shot, or worse...

sharkey19 · 10-31-2011, 04:21 PM

Dax definitely chases deer he sees. We are lucky that the woods off the path are rather dense, and he realizes fast enough that he hasn't got a chance in catching them, so he stops, lol.

Unfortunately I am still trying to work on his recall and high prey drive, so I can't really offer much advice on this...

RocketDog · 10-31-2011, 04:25 PM

I will be watching this closely--we live in the mountains and have deer everyday in our yard. Rocket will give a bit of a chase in the yard, but as the deer can quickly hit the fence and bound out, he stops. Only once or twice has he seen them on the trail, and we were lucky to have really high value treats and distract him quickly long enough so that they ran off. He's also only a pup, so I don't know what will happen as he grows.

Good question though.

wyominggrandma · 10-31-2011, 04:41 PM

I can't imagine anyone would answer this yes."Do you let your dogs chase rabbits and deer? "
Where I live in Wyoming, dogs can and have been shot on sight for chasing deer, elk and any game animals. If your dog takes off and runs game animals, it is only a matter of time before it will be shot.
Why would you let your dogs off leash if they are not reliable on recalls chasing game? I guess I just figure it is smarter to keep my dogs on leash, then worry about them getting shot. Oh yea, have you ever seen the damage a pissed of deer, elk, moose can do to a dog? You might watch your dog take off chasing one and when you find the dog , it might be dead. They are deadly with their hoofs and horns.
My advice, keep your dogs ON LEASH while in the woods.

Lilie · 10-31-2011, 04:46 PM

While I have no real advice I can provide, I can assure you dealing with two (or more) dogs in prey drive will be double difficult to control.

If it were me, I'd keep them on a leash at least till after deer season. Work very hard with recall including distractions. When I started them back on the trail, I'd have one on a leash at all times until both of their recalls were rock hard.

I don't think at any time would I allow them to chase any type of wild game. There are just too many things that can go wrong. Including, but not limited to, the chance they never return and are lost.

Shaina · 10-31-2011, 04:52 PM

I never, ever, ever let my dogs off-leash unless I have an e-collar on them (they are trained with electric for recalls) because of their high prey drive. I would rather not risk it. Otherwise, a leash is going to be the best option.

RocketDog · 10-31-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyominggrandma

I can't imagine anyone would answer this yes."Do you let your dogs chase rabbits and deer? "
Where I live in Wyoming, dogs can and have been shot on sight for chasing deer, elk and any game animals. If your dog takes off and runs game animals, it is only a matter of time before it will be shot.
Why would you let your dogs off leash if they are not reliable on recalls chasing game? I guess I just figure it is smarter to keep my dogs on leash, then worry about them getting shot. Oh yea, have you ever seen the damage a pissed of deer, elk, moose can do to a dog? You might watch your dog take off chasing one and when you find the dog , it might be dead. They are deadly with their hoofs and horns.
My advice, keep your dogs ON LEASH while in the woods.

While I agree with everything in here, it IS POSSIBLE to have a dog that is 100% rock solid trustworthy. I should know--I spend several months a year in Montana and we live with deer, moose and the occasional elk, plus all the raccoons, porcupines and critters that live in the woods. (I live in the woods). My labrador NEVER ONCE kept chasing if I said "NO" or "Come". Not once.

In fact, we had to make him chase them off the plants in the yard, lol.

wyominggrandma · 10-31-2011, 05:17 PM

I am sure it is possible, but doesn't sound like the OP's dogs are even close to that.
I live in the woods, year round and even though my girl is very very reliable on recalls off leash, I would NEVER just turn her loose on the trails to be free. Besides the fact that there is wild game, there are also horseback folks who do not appreciate a loose dog to come running up to horses with no owner in sight, plus the fact that there are plenty of wild game that would be more than happy to eat a dog. When riding my horses in the hills, I never take my dog with me, but it make me angry when somebody elses dog comes flying up the trail barking and snarling to my horses that are under my control. Dogs that are not directly within eye contact are NOT under control of their owners, running 100 yards, 200 yards ahead is not under control.

Just common sense not to let your dogs run loose on forest trails in my opinion, no matter how reliable they are. In all my years of training dogs, I have NEVER seen one 100% totally reliable off leash dog when deer, elk, etc are running. Glad your dog is a huge exception to the rule.

**jocoyn** · 10-31-2011, 05:30 PM

My dog is reliable offlead in the woods. We jump fawns and deer fairly frequently and he does not take chase. He has to be to do the cadaver work.

My other dog had to be conditioned with an ecollar. I am working with the puppy while he is still young (no ecollar) and not as inclined to leave me.

If the dog is not reliable they would not be out without the lead. nothing is 100% that is correct. NOTHING. But you can get pretty darned close.

Sapakus · 10-31-2011, 05:39 PM

I hope someone has a way of correcting this.

due to lack of dog parks around my area, I took mine to a tennis court last week, somehow there was a back door that was left open. Ice got out of it and took after a deer completely ignoring my recalls :/ he ran into the trees and i lost him in the darkness. Took me and my friend more than an hour to find him, about 2 miles away!! His recall is good without distractions, but when there are distractions its almost imposiible to get him to listen to me.

I am really thinking about going the e-collar route, but haven't educated myself enough on that to do it!

10-31-2011, 04:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Runswithdogs Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: New Mexico Posts: 383	Oh Deer! Off-leash hiking and the joy of the chase...help! We've discovered that off-leash hikes are the best way to get the dogs some morning exercise, stimulation, and adventure to tide them through the work day. Each morning around 7 a.m. I take the dogs for about an hour long hike in the foothills. They both have great recall of the useless variety, which is with no distractions. Both dogs will always come quickly when called on a hike...if there are no rabbits or deer to be found. However, because of the shift in daylight, we are often hiking now when the deer are grazing. When they see a deer and I don't catch them alerting to it, they will NOT come back until they've had their chase- and they will run far away, far enough that I couldn't catch them if I wanted to. The obvious solution is to not let them off leash- which is what I have started doing now that we are out each day at the same time that the deer are. But how can we train them to stop this? The dogs are noticeably more anxious and high-strung when they only get 2 hour long leashed hikes a day (and who can blame them, even my brisk hiking pace is nothing compared to their running pace). For those of you who do daily off-leash hikes in the woods/mountains, how do you deal with this issue? Do you let your dogs chase rabbits and deer? Super frustrating...all of us have more fun when they can hike off-leash, but I don't want to worry that they will get lost, hurt, shot, or worse... __________________ Regen, rescue female GSD born 4/09, adopted 4/30/2010. Wendi vom Melanchthon aka "Osa," WGSL GSD female born 7/08, brought home 12/24/10.

10-31-2011, 04:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Lilie Crowned Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: South Texas Posts: 6,289	While I have no real advice I can provide, I can assure you dealing with two (or more) dogs in prey drive will be double difficult to control. If it were me, I'd keep them on a leash at least till after deer season. Work very hard with recall including distractions. When I started them back on the trail, I'd have one on a leash at all times until both of their recalls were rock hard. I don't think at any time would I allow them to chase any type of wild game. There are just too many things that can go wrong. Including, but not limited to, the chance they never return and are lost. __________________ Hondo Von Dopplet L Bauernhof "Hondo"- GSD Lilie's Tug McGraw "Tug" - Golden Retriever Maggie - Mini Dachshund (Rescue) Lonestar - Texas Blue Lacy Funyon, Ashe, Soot - Barn Cats Scooter /1/2 Arabian, Shadow, Katie / APHA

10-31-2011, 04:52 PM	#6 (permalink)
Shaina Master Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 753	I never, ever, ever let my dogs off-leash unless I have an e-collar on them (they are trained with electric for recalls) because of their high prey drive. I would rather not risk it. Otherwise, a leash is going to be the best option. __________________ "In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." - Edward Hoagland

10-31-2011, 05:30 PM	#9 (permalink)
jocoyn Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: South Carolina Posts: 8,048	My dog is reliable offlead in the woods. We jump fawns and deer fairly frequently and he does not take chase. He has to be to do the cadaver work. My other dog had to be conditioned with an ecollar. I am working with the puppy while he is still young (no ecollar) and not as inclined to leave me. If the dog is not reliable they would not be out without the lead. nothing is 100% that is correct. NOTHING. But you can get pretty darned close. __________________ Nancy www.scsarda.org Grim (Grimmy Bear) & Beau (Bo-dee man) Waiting at the Bridge: Cyra, Toby, Rainbow, Linus, Oscar, Arlo & Waggles

10-31-2011, 05:39 PM	#10 (permalink)
Sapakus Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Gaithersburg, MD Posts: 122	I hope someone has a way of correcting this. due to lack of dog parks around my area, I took mine to a tennis court last week, somehow there was a back door that was left open. Ice got out of it and took after a deer completely ignoring my recalls :/ he ran into the trees and i lost him in the darkness. Took me and my friend more than an hour to find him, about 2 miles away!! His recall is good without distractions, but when there are distractions its almost imposiible to get him to listen to me. I am really thinking about going the e-collar route, but haven't educated myself enough on that to do it! __________________ Ice - 06/02/2010

10-31-2011, 04:21 PM	#2 (permalink)
sharkey19 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Guelph Posts: 321	Dax definitely chases deer he sees. We are lucky that the woods off the path are rather dense, and he realizes fast enough that he hasn't got a chance in catching them, so he stops, lol. Unfortunately I am still trying to work on his recall and high prey drive, so I can't really offer much advice on this...

10-31-2011, 04:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
RocketDog Elite Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Eastern Washington Posts: 1,268	I will be watching this closely--we live in the mountains and have deer everyday in our yard. Rocket will give a bit of a chase in the yard, but as the deer can quickly hit the fence and bound out, he stops. Only once or twice has he seen them on the trail, and we were lucky to have really high value treats and distract him quickly long enough so that they ran off. He's also only a pup, so I don't know what will happen as he grows. Good question though.

10-31-2011, 04:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
wyominggrandma Master Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 985	I can't imagine anyone would answer this yes."Do you let your dogs chase rabbits and deer? " Where I live in Wyoming, dogs can and have been shot on sight for chasing deer, elk and any game animals. If your dog takes off and runs game animals, it is only a matter of time before it will be shot. Why would you let your dogs off leash if they are not reliable on recalls chasing game? I guess I just figure it is smarter to keep my dogs on leash, then worry about them getting shot. Oh yea, have you ever seen the damage a pissed of deer, elk, moose can do to a dog? You might watch your dog take off chasing one and when you find the dog , it might be dead. They are deadly with their hoofs and horns. My advice, keep your dogs ON LEASH while in the woods.

10-31-2011, 05:17 PM	#8 (permalink)
wyominggrandma Master Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 985	I am sure it is possible, but doesn't sound like the OP's dogs are even close to that. I live in the woods, year round and even though my girl is very very reliable on recalls off leash, I would NEVER just turn her loose on the trails to be free. Besides the fact that there is wild game, there are also horseback folks who do not appreciate a loose dog to come running up to horses with no owner in sight, plus the fact that there are plenty of wild game that would be more than happy to eat a dog. When riding my horses in the hills, I never take my dog with me, but it make me angry when somebody elses dog comes flying up the trail barking and snarling to my horses that are under my control. Dogs that are not directly within eye contact are NOT under control of their owners, running 100 yards, 200 yards ahead is not under control. Just common sense not to let your dogs run loose on forest trails in my opinion, no matter how reliable they are. In all my years of training dogs, I have NEVER seen one 100% totally reliable off leash dog when deer, elk, etc are running. Glad your dog is a huge exception to the rule.

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