Summer Activities: Hiking Disaster

My mom is very active with us and likes to take us on vacations and to participate in various activities. But she made a rookie mistake with me. She took me out off-leash before I knew how to recall. Uh oh. She had taken the time to teach Chubbs to recall, and because I'm soo much smarter, she thought I would be able to do it too. Wrong. If you haven't taught your dog to recall, they don't know that "come" means to come every time, no matter what the distraction. For me, the distraction was a dead raccoon that smelled oh so good.

To teach a recall, you need to start small on a 6-foot leash. You have to build up to the hard stuff, just like if you are teaching a child math. You don't start with calculus. You start with numbers. Put your dog on a 6-foot leash, toss a treat out away from you to get him running in the opposite direction and then say your dog's name while running backward to get his attention. When your dog is running toward you, then say "come" and reward big time with lots of praise and treats. You want this to be the best thing your dog ever does.

When he is turning toward you as soon as he hears his name, start adding the command at the very beginning. So instead of saying your dog's name while running backward, just say "come." When that is going well, get a 30-foot leash and add distance. My mom took me to the trail where she liked to watch me and practiced there. Only when I could do it no matter what the distraction did she let me off leash again. Then, she would never have to make another 45-minute drive with a dog who had just rolled in dead raccoon, and I would never have to worry about being lost without seeing my mommy again.

Just remember not to move too fast. Practice, practice, practice. If you can't call your dog off a squirrel, he's not ready for off-leash. But he can be with lots of practice. As an added bonus, recall practice is good exercise, and you can involve the entire family. For example, Mom, Dad, Chubbs, Fenway and I sometimes all go out in the backyard. Mom and Dad have treats and call us back and forth while we run as fast as we can to get to them. This is great practice and great exercise! The more family members, the better. So get out there and get ready for summer with some recall practice. It's fun, and it could save your dog's life.

Love, Muggsy