About halfway into our visit, two women with three gorgeous dogs came to the stretch of beach we were on. Two of the dogs were enormous! One was obviously a Rottweiler cross and the third was a little puppy staffy mix, still in her awkward stages. They were all adorable (I especially loved the awkward puppy, she was too shy to go into the water as the other two swam out far after the huge stick their owners were throwing for them).

The three dogs and Keeda went up to each other to sniff. Keeda was obviously wary of the big Rottweiler cross, I kept a close eye on her. I saw her tail tucking between her legs slightly and when the big dog snapped at her silently Keeda jumped away, but then emitted a bit of a bare-tooth growl. The bigger dog immediately backed off and walked away and that was the end of the encounter – just a regular dog-meets-dog interaction. What surprised me was what happened after!

Keeda is a very well behaved and trained dog, but no dog is perfect and she tends to be very excitable when she meets other dogs. If she’s off lead she will often run at another dog to play and her recall isn’t great at all when she’s preoccupied by another dog. I’ve been working with her to correct this potentially dangerous habit. Well, after sniffing the other dogs for a few minutes, Keeda promptly came up to where we were sitting, plomped herself down in front of our mat, and completely ignored the other dogs! This was amazing – normally she would bolt straight at a dog whether it looks like it wants to play or not. This time she was more than happy to stick with us and chase after sticks instead of tails.

The other dogs came up to her a few times to sniff and she was very friendly and polite, but didn’t run after them when they retreated back to their own games. The little puppy bolted at her and ran circles around her a few times and Keeda played with her a bit, but was very gentle and careful (before she would have just forgotten that the other dog is…well…alive and would often be a bit too rough with her playmates).

As we were leaving I overheard one woman make a comment to the other: “Now that’s a well behaved dog.”

You guys have no idea how proud I was . Keeda got called a well behaved dog! She’s been called well behaved and well trained before, but never about her interactions with other dogs. It feels great to make progress.

Not all dogs like a bouncing, hyper canine jumping in their face and if your dog is the type to do this, put a leash on your dog when you’re going outside! It may look cute when your dog gets excited and happy to see a fellow canine, but can be both frustrating and dangerous for all involved. Sure, your dog may be friendly, but how do you know that the other dog is friendly, too? This can make it difficult to exercise and play games like fetch, Disc Dog, and others. After all, you don’t want to risk anybody getting hurt or getting into legal trouble with a frustrated dog owner.

But have no fear, because there are still ways to let your dog run and play fairly-freely at the local park. And the bonus is that this method can even help to teach your dog out of bolting at other dogs to play without your permission.

Basically, there is one thing to do: get a really long rope. It’s really up to you to interpret how long “long” is for you. Keeda and I, for example, previously used a 5 meter rope lead. Yesterday I purchased an even longer rope for our park visits – 15 meters long. This provides ample running space for her and control for me.

A 15 meter lead is long enough to throw a Frisbee, play fetch or catch, play chase, practice distance commands like ‘wait’ and ‘stay’, and run around “freely” in general.

Not only does this ensure that Keeda and I are safe when another dog comes along, but I’ve also noticed this having a positive effect on her bolting habits. We got to experience this during yesterday’s walk. A kind old man was walking his terrier Jack around the park as Keeda and I played on the grass in the middle with our long lead and some toys. Keeda was no doubt interested in Jack, but she did not bolt at the dog. After a few minutes, she barely had any interest for him at all! She knew she couldn’t get away – she knew the rope was there. By the end of our walk I could even let the rope fall to the ground and Keeda would still stay within 15 meters of me.

So, if you have a problem with your dog chasing other dogs, people, or vehicles, consider a long lead to use when playing and exercising at the park.