Real Off-Leash Obedience

What you're seeing

Shawn Hines works a whole pack of dogs off leash outdoors. They move with him, stop with him and hold their positions while he walks away, with no leashes, no treats and no e-collars on any of them. This is the clearest short demonstration on the site of what we mean by off-leash obedience: genuine, based on leadership, trust and affection, and holding up in an open field rather than a fenced training hall.

What "real" means

A lot of what is sold as off-leash training is a dog wearing a remote collar, or a dog that stays close because the treats are in your pocket. Take the collar off or empty the pocket and the training leaves with it. Real off-leash obedience is a dog that stays with you because of who you are to it, and that is the only version that works at the trailhead when the collar battery is dead and the treats are in the car. It is also the only version that works with a pack, because you cannot bribe or shock five dogs at once.

How it was trained

Every dog in this pack got there the same way: leadership, trust and affection, in that order, through the P.R.I.M.E. framework. Proximity, Resources, Interactions, Movement and Elevation are practised every day until following Shawn is simply what the dogs do. The pack itself does part of the work, because dogs copy the group, and the group's habit is to stay with him. None of it requires equipment, which is why the video is shot with the dogs wearing nothing, and why what you see does not change when the camera is off.

Get this with your dog

This is the result of our off-leash dog training program, delivered through in-home sessions or a board and train stay. Read Dog Training Without Treats some ideas, and get a free phone consultation.