Thank Goodness for the Leave it command!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Today, as i was working in another part of our yard, Lyric and Rio were barking and getting all excited over what looked like a piece of wood in the lawn about 50 feet from me....I thought it might be a baby bird crouching down, so I quickly headed over and used the Leave it command--several times! I really didn't want them to kill that baby bird!

Well, Mattie was farther away, but caught on that there was something exciting to check out (otherwise, why would mom be running and saying "Leave it" over and over again!) She is my prey-driven pup and while the others might sniff out of curiosity, she would bite first and sniff later--this has been proven on several occasions! Luckily, Mattie and I arrived at the same time and a strong "leave it" and a hand signal kept her at bay--the other two were just hovering around, but staying back.

Turns out that the doodles were the ones that needed protection since this was not a baby bird at all but a snapping turtle!! (The pit bulls of the reptile world--no offense to pit bull owners!)  One good bite would have taken a chunk out of a big black doodle nose! I used the leave it command a few dozen more times, as all three doodles wanted desperately to get a closer look--when you have 3 doodles, it is impossible to hold them all back single-handedly, so i was really glad they were listening to me. This was not a huge snapper, just a young one, so I figured out how to grab it without losing a finger and carried it over to the stream next to our house....

Thank goodness for "leave it!" If your dog doesn't know that command, you might want to start working on it now...

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

WOW, good reminder!! Glad your doods listened.

[Pat and Traveler]

So glad you got there in time!  That is definitely a life (or nose) saving command!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thank goodness they're ok!

I know "Off" and "leave it" have saved Luna from eating many things she shouldn't... including a baby bird that she actually got into her mouth.  DH said "leave it" and she dropped it, baby bird hopped away.

[Ginny Nightingale]

this happened to us to--but the bird died in my hand--Mattie got a good chomp in there and then dropped it :(

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Oh no!  Poor birdy.

Luna definitely inherited the soft Golden mouth - she barely puts any pressure into her bite when she's carrying something (which results in her dropping things all the time...)

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

I just posted on Heidi and Milton's blog about the dog fight about how important the leave it command is...And then I read your post...Great minds ; )

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Thanks for reminding all of us the importance of "leave it"!  Glad your Doodles were safe!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Good for you Ginny. Even two is a handful when a live critter is on the menu.

[Ginny Nightingale]

On the menu is right!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Wow, a great reminder to have a solid "leave it" command!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

This is a great example of the importance of the "leave it" command.  Tara is very good with the command and I use it often with her but thankfully have never had anything as dangerous as a snapping turtle as part of the dynamic! OMD! So glad all those doodle noses stayed intact!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

My Golden Retriever lost a chunk of her nose while investigating a snapping turtle. After it healed she still had a scar.