It was Saturday morning and I woke up planning on taking all the dogs on a hike. I broke them up into two groups because they are all on different levels of training. I decided I would take Glacier, Dixie and Penny in the first group. I got them all loaded and off we went ready to hike. I got to our destination and parked, which was close to a busy street, and proceeded to get the dogs out of the car. I let Penny out first. I then turned back to the car to get Dixie out, when Penny caught the scent of something and started backing up. I had not turned around yet, but Lynda, who was hiking with me, called out that Penny was slipping out of her collar! I whipped around and Penny had completely slipped her collar! I shut the car door and immediately called Penny to me. Penny‘s expression turned playful, she bounced away from me and turned and went into the street. I stepped away from the car, she turned and looked at me, I called her again and this time she started toward me. I was relieved she was not in the street anymore however; she did not come back all the way. She stopped about 3 feet from me, ears perked up, prancing and seemed to be a little confused as to what we were doing. Once again I stepped backwards and said, “Penny come!” I could see the wheels turning in her head; it was time for her to make a choice. I knew if she bounced away again she was going to take off. I said, “Penny, cookie! Let’s get a cookie!” As she approached, I reached out, showed her the treat and petted her head. I gave her the cookie and reached around to hold her while I put her collar back around her neck. Penny then received twenty treats with the words “good girl” after each treat!
Tonight, as I sit with Penny, I have been thinking how differently things could have turned out. I sat here just a week ago readjusting Penny’s collar because it seemed a bit tight. I adjusted it to where it was snug and I could put two fingers in it and I tried to pull it over her head. The collar was just right. However, I think what happened, was over the last few days as Penny and Banjo ran around and wrestled in the backyard, it became loose again. I did not check it before we left since I had just adjusted it. The other thing that occurred to me was that when Penny’s collar slipped off, she had no identification left on her because it was all on her collar. Penny is microchipped but that only works if she is picked up by animal control or if the person that finds her takes her to see if she is chipped. Everyone will not take the time to do this. Because of this, I have decided that I will no longer attach the leash to the collar that has my dog’s I.D. tags hanging on it. Now, I will walk them in a harness, and I will double collar Glacier. This way the walking collar stays attached to his leash and I will check it before each walk. If the walking collar loosens and slips off or even unclips (which has happened to a client) he will have all his I.D. on him, including a microchip.
The last, but most important point, is please train your dogs to come to you! My rule for recalls has always been that when my dogs come to me they will ALWAYS get reinforced with very HIGH value treats. All of my dogs are food motivated. When all seven are playing in the backyard and are at the far end of the property, I ring a dinner bell and they all start running towards me. As they get closer I start saying, “Come, come on, let’s get cookies!!” When they reach me I have high value food waiting for them! They have had meatballs, leftover meat from dinner the night before, a can of cat food, dog food, cheese, hotdogs and even frozen doggie yogurt! Their reward for coming always rotates so they never know what they are getting. I also make coming inside very valuable. So sometimes when they reach me I say, “Come, get cookies, let’s go INSIDE!” When we reach the kitchen, out come the treats again! I have also put treats in my pockets and have hidden in different areas of the yard. This is really fun at night! I yell “Come” in a high playful voice. When they find me, everyone gets a treat! I have also surprised them by just calling them out of the blue, as they are all lying around sleeping. They jump up and come to me and are given treats. Also, remember; do not call your dog to you to do something that they don’t really like. At my house that would be things like getting a bath or Dremeling their nails. When I need to do these tasks, I walk over to them and gently take their collar and walk them to where I need them. This may or may not need a treat. For example, if it is to take a bath, they get a treat for walking with me to the tub and then another when they get in the tub!
When your dog finally comes to you, it should never end in a negative response from you, no matter how frustrated you are. If it ends in a negative, why would your dog want to come to you in the future? This may seem like a lot of work, but actually it is just a bunch of fun games to play with your dogs and the pay off could be priceless! Penny is quietly sleeping in her dog bed thinking of her great hike today and I am thinking how glad I am that she is there!
