Adventure dogs
What Advanced Off-Leash is built for
Picture the dog at the farmers market walking at your knee while the crowd flows around her, the leash looped over your shoulder doing nothing. The dog who drops into a down across a field when you raise a hand. The dog who heels past a trailhead full of other dogs. That picture is the brief Advanced Off-Leash is written around.
Last reviewed October 4, 2026
The three skills
Heel, distance and manners are one package.
Functional Off-Leash is built around one big question: will the dog come back through distraction. Advanced Off-Leash adds three more. Will the dog stay at your side without a leash when a jogger, a stroller and a loose spaniel pass in the same minute. Will the dog sit, down or stay when you ask from across a field rather than from arm's length. And will the dog keep calm public manners while you order coffee or chat with a neighbour.
The published shape is four weeks of daily one-on-one training inside a structured routine, with the remote collar included and owner education and handover lessons on using it. Two free follow-up sessions are part of the price, which is $3,940 + GST. The extra week over Functional is not padding. Off-leash heel, distance commands and public manners each need their own real-world proofing, and a longer stay gives that proofing room.
- Off-leash heel through crowds
- Sit, down and stay at distance
- Public manners around heavy distraction
- Two follow-ups after handover
Your half of it
The handover is where the owner's work begins.
A quick word on sizing first. If your ambition is a dog who comes back at the off-leash park and the campsite, without a formal off-leash heel or a down from across a field, Functional Off-Leash is built for exactly that, and our Functional vs Advanced comparison page lays the two side by side. At the consultation we say plainly which one fits, including a smaller program when it is enough.
After the handover lessons, the skills live in your hands. In our experience an off-leash heel tends to soften unless it keeps getting asked for, so short stretches on ordinary walks keep it in use. A down at distance is worth practising across a quiet soccer field before a busy trailhead asks for it. Public manners stay in practice when the dog keeps going places. The two free follow-up sessions are there to tune that work.
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
What is advanced off leash obedience?
It is the level past reliable recall: the dog heels without a leash, takes sit, down and stay from a distance, and works on calm manners in public places. At Northline K9 it is a four-week board and train called Advanced Off-Leash, $3,940 + GST, with a remote collar and two free follow-up sessions included.
Is there an off leash heel training program on its own?
Off-leash heel is taught inside Advanced Off-Leash rather than as a stand-alone course, because it leans on recall and distance work in public. For owners who want to do the work themselves, Private Training is $150 + GST per one-hour session with a written weekly plan, and the consultation recommends which option fits.
Is the advanced off leash program only for working or sporting dogs?
No. It is built for owners who want their dog along for ordinary life: markets, patios, trailheads, a friend's acreage. The owner's plans and the dog's current manners are what the consultation looks at.
What does the owner keep doing after the advanced off leash program?
You keep using the skills where they were built: short heel stretches on real walks, distance downs practised before they are needed, and regular trips somewhere busy. The remote collar goes home with you, the handover lessons cover how to use it, and the two free follow-up sessions help tidy anything that drifts.
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Ready for everywhere?
Tell us where you want your dog to go with you. Book a consultation and we will size the program honestly.
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