Want to know frantic thought going through Clark’s head as he chased Rosco down the street?

[Adina P]

"This dog has GOT to get trained!

(There might have been some more colorful thoughts too… but this is a family site!)

There is nothing more scary than your beloved dog being in danger and STILL not paying attention to you when you frantically call him.  We were really scared for Rosco.  He was chasing this little chihuahua and NOTHING we did could make him stop.  Where he ran was only determined by where this little dog ran.  So they all ran across a busy street THREE times before the little dog ran into his house with Rosco hot on his heels.  Us humans were just a distraction from his chase game.  Cars?  Danger?  Ha!  There’s another dog to chase!  

Clark was now more motivated than ever to make sure our dogs were trained.  It really had been a matter of life and death… and we were lucky.  Not trained.  Lucky.

We are doing a live webinar on dog training this coming Sunday evening with an internationally known dog trainer.  Doodle Kisses Spring Training 2014!  It will be Sunday evening May 26 25 (oops!) at 6:30 PST (9:30 Eastern).  It will be live and you can ask questions, give feedback, or just make snide remarks. We want for you to fix any dog training problems you might have.  This webinar will get you started.

We recently ran a survey about dog training and, not surprisingly, a good recall was also your biggest concern.  The “magic wand” dog training issue you wanted to cure was:

“Come! 100% of the time.”, Better recall!”, “Instant recall”, “A consistent and reliable "come" response”, “100% reliable COME!”... it goes on and on.

Over the next couple of days we will reveal the top dog training problems you guys reported in your hundreds of responses to our training survey.

Do two things today:

1) Block off the time Sunday night to join us all in a big webinar about dog training with a real expert.

2)  Tell us your horror stories about what has happened to you because of your dog not coming when called.

I’ll tell you the next biggest training problem from our survey results tomorrow,

Adina

PS.  Why do “horror stories” and “near misses” make such good stories after all the excitement has died down?  Let’s hear yours.  :-)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Make that 3 things to do -- take a nap Sunday afternoon so I can still be awake at 9:30pm ... I'll do my best.

Glad this had a happy ending and Rosco is ok.

Horror story.  Downtown Cincinnati for Bark in the Park.  Right before going into the stadium we looked for a piece of grass for one last potty.  In the process Sophie's collar broke ... she was like who hoo, play time and took off.  To set the scene we are on a small piece of grass maybe 20 feet wide and a 100' long.  Ohio River on one side of us and a 4 lane city street at rush hour between us and the Stadium.  Sophie took off and I in a panic started after her.  Then as we had just finished a training class where COME was one of our main goals, remembered she told us drop to your knees, call her and act all excited.  With my heart pounding as fast as it possibly could I dropped to my knees and called her and she turned around and ran right towards me.  However, had there been something alive she was chasing I don't think this would have worked.  I think that COME in your yard is one thing and COME when it is a prey drive taking them away is something different.

I'll do my best to tune in.

[Dee Dee & "Bentley"]

Recall is the #1 command that I feel my dog needs to respond to 100% of the time. Not only does it make momma (me) look like an idiot chasing him around the neighbor yelling "Bentley Come...Bentley come"....but it's so dangerous for him to ignore my command.  He's 99.9% on the mark.    

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm going to try hard to be in on the training session Sunday night too. This is also THE most important command to me and if Tara could only learn one command this would be it.

Story- Fortunately, it is not a horror story like some of yours that take years off of one's life. Tara will respond to "come" if it involves a deer, rabbit, dog or birds. So I guess her prey drive isn't especially high :). BUT she will NOT respond to me if she sees either of her two favorite neighbor men. They are like doodle candy to her and it doesn't matter if they are in the street or wherever. She will head straight for them-non stop and as if she has gone completely deaf. It is so frustrating, scary, etc. and I know someday it could be a horror story if I don't turn this and HER around.

Thanks for offering this opportunity to learn some new ideas on this important subject.

[LucyR]

One of the very important lessons when I was training Ozzie was to have an "emergency" word that means "come here right now, no bones about it."  Our emergency word is "cookie".  When he hears me call him with that word, he knows to get to me ASAP.  Lots of special words you can use.  "Cookie" was probably not the best choice because that word does crop up in everyday life.  If I would have it to do again I would use something like "Pronto", or maybe "Schnell" (German for "fast,quick").  Any word that he does not hear daily and is unique to the emergency recall situation.  Use ONLY under emergency circumstances, beyond training.  During training,  response to the emergency word get a level of treats that is beyond belief and of the HIGHEST quality-weiners, steak bits, lots of cheese, whatever your dog really really likes!  So important to do this!  Also remember not to chase, if possible.  Best possible situation would be to yell the emergency word and run in the opposite direction, to the extent possible.  Maybe a good training strategy as well.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am glad that Rosco is okay.  We got the dogs groomed today and we always let them run in from the car to the house when we get home.  Today all three decided to take off after a cat.  They wouldn't come for anything, not even Skip's fool proof-come-every-time whistle.  Now I am very sad that we are leaving for a vacation on Saturday and won't have access. I will be looking forward to reading results when we get back.

[Kathleen Grieve]

I'd love to attend.  I have a 6 mo old and we definitely haven't gotten where we need to be.  One question ... It says, "Sunday, May 26."  Isn't Sunday the 25th?  Also, how do I access the webinar?  (I'm new here.)

[Brenda Updike]

Adina, May 26 is a Monday not Sunday,  So I am guessing it is being held on Sunday the 25 th  I didn't know if anyone realized this, I went to put it on my calendar as I would like to try and attend the webinar.  Thanks for setting this up , my girls are almost 4 months old and coming back is not working well . Thanks again Brenda

[Karen S]

I'm interested in the webinar.. but how do we tune in?

Thanx.

K.

[Julie]

Thank goodness Rosco and his friend are well. I know a parent who experienced a similar situation with a young child. Thank your luck. -Julie

[BG and Gavin]

Oh what a scare!  Gavin totally forgot his name twice in the last week.  One day he decided to follow my friend home instead of me when we parted ways (embarrassing) and the other time he wandered away at my friend's property, through a swamp and over to say "hi" to her neighbour out on her porch.  Neither were dangerous and he came back in his own good time on both occasions, but I was unhappy, especially when he returned with swamp sludge up to his belly :( 

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

This is very timely, and I'll try to attend. Three weeks ago, I sprained my ankle when I was walking Barley. He saw a squirrel and pulled me over. I hit the pavement at a strange angle and bent my ankle. Then, the button on my coat got caught on the leash, and he dragged me down the street.(He's about 91 pounds, and I'm small-framed.)  I was finally able to twist out of the leash (the pavement was hurting me), and Barley went running into the woods. I'm so thankful that a.) he ran into the woods and not the street and b.) the squirrel did not take vengeance! (I heard it chattering in a tree, and it was mad.) I called Barley, and he came back right away. Then, I had to go to the hospital and get crutches. I'm not sure if this is a recall issue or a stupidity issue on my part. I'm now scared to walk him because it happened so fast and Barley was leashed. I feel like an idiot because I thought Barley was well trained. (Barley has his CGC and he's a certified therapy dog.) Ugh. 

[Julia Janzen]

May 26th is actually a Monday not a Sunday.  I'd love to participate.  Can you let me know which day it is?  :)