The word “training” is perhaps too much in this case; if things went good so far, then there won’t be the need for any additional training. Before you take the leash off of your dog, make sure to consult steps 1, 2 and 3 of our wireless fence dog training guide.
Preparing For Supervised Off-Leash Training
Preparation is very simple in this case; obviously there is no need to attach a leash. Just make sure the collar is fit properly and that the correct static correction level, as determined during previous training phases, is set. As always you want to make sure the receiver probes come in contact with your dog’s neck skin, though without digging into the skin; otherwise the collar will fail to deliver the correction pulse.
Let Your Dog Run Loose!
There are no real steps involved hear. All you have to do is remove the leash and watch your dog run around. At this point, you should not be leaving your dog alone – stay in the yard and keep an eye on your pet, though do not accompany him at all times; just keep the dog in your line of sight. At this point, you should also not be trying to come up with any distractions to see if your dog will obey the boundaries. Right now you are only an observer.
Start with 20 minute supervised off-leash sessions, followed with a few hours spent inside the house. Do 3 to 5 sessions a day.
My Dog Is Respecting The Containment Boundaries. What Now?
If your dog never goes out of the Pet Zone during the first day of off-leash supervision, feel free to extend the duration of each training session to 30 minutes on day two of the training. Keep extending your dog’s off-leash time daily, as long as no breach of the wireless containment area occurs – add 15 or so minutes per day to each session.
My Dog Breached The Boundaries. What Now?
If at any point during this phase of training your dog ventures across the training flags, go up to your dog and walk it back into the Pet Area. (Remember to remove the receiver collar so that your dog does not get corrected on the way inside; unless you have the Havahart Radial 2 model, in which case this step is not required as no correction is delivered when entering the Pet Area.)
Next, you will want to revert back to Step 2 of this training: static correction training. Spend 3 to 4 days training your dog, or as long as you need to make sure your dog is respecting the static correction and never crossing the boundary when it shouldn’t.
Remember: whenever your dog goes beyond the training flags, the first thing you should be doing is checking:
- Whether the probes are in contact with your pet’s skin.
- Whether the receiver collar is working properly (you can use a tester if you want to).
You need to eliminate these two possibilities before you do anything else.
My Dog Got Distracted And Left The Play Zone. What Now?
You need to figure out what the distraction was exactly, and then refer to Step 3 of this guide: Distraction Training and follow the steps outlined there while focusing on the specific distraction which caused your dog to leave the Pet Zone during supervised off-leash training.
What Next?
After around 2 to 3 weeks of supervised off-leash training, and if your dog has not crossed the boundaries, you are ready to move on to the next and final step of the training process: crossing the boundary with your dog.
