Why Do We Train? (Guest Blog)

It is amazing to me how many people just don’t bother to train their dogs.  Most people will teach their dog to sit or shake hands or speak but if you ask your average dog-owner if he’s taught his dog a reliable stay or recall he’ll say something like, “Well, he comes when he feels like it or he’ll come if I have a cookie in my hand.”  At which point I usually just shake my head and hope that they never experience what I experienced this morning. 

I have to say that I am pretty paranoid when it comes to my dogs and their safety.  Also, because I own a Rottweiler I am super aware of liability issues that might arise from having a so-called “aggressive or dangerous” breed.  When I walk them I ALWAYS have them on-leash.  When we go to the park they are never out of my sight and voice control.  When I let them out I check and double-check both backyard gates just to make sure they are shut and secure.  I describe all of this because I want every reader to be aware that I am MUCH more careful than the average dog-owner.  I say this not to be judgmental of anyone but to illustrate that even when taking the most careful of precautions, accidents can and DO still happen.

This morning I let my dogs out into the side yard to potty because the dogs I am pet-sitting for were using the back yard.  I glanced at the gate as usual to make sure it was shut.  I went into the kitchen to fix everyone’s breakfast.  Then I returned to the front door to let my dogs in.  When I opened the door I was not greeted by my boys waiting to enter the house and get their breakfast.  Then I looked up and saw that the gate was ajar.  My heart immediately jumped into my throat.  My worst nightmare had happened.  Both Ritter and Cinna were out.  It was six o’ clock in the morning and still very dark.  Neither dog was wearing a collar and only one is chipped.  At this point, instinct took over.  I ran out of the gate and did not see either dog.  I shouted Ritter’s name first and before I could even get Cinna’s name out of my mouth, he came running around the corner of the house with Ritter hot on his tail.  I almost cried I was so happy.  Both dogs ran right to me and then into the side yard when I told them to go inside. 

That incident could have had a MUCH different ending.  I could have had to call into work and spend my morning driving around the neighborhood frantically searching for my lost dogs.  I could have discovered them lying dead in the road or shot by a scared neighbor or kicked to death by one of the cows in the field behind my house.  Any or all of these things could have happened.  But because I spent a little bit of time and effort TRAINING my dogs, they did exactly as I have trained them to do and came when I called them.  They came the first time and they didn’t play catch-me-if-you-can when they got back to me.  THIS is why you train.

I always tell my clients that if you learn to teach your dog NOTHING else in my class, you need to learn a reliable re-call.  It will save your dog’s life and possibly your sanity.  It probably saved mine today.  I hope no one ever has to experience how scary it is to think that your dogs might be lost.  You don’t have to be a training expert to train your dog.  You don’t have to earn a single title or even compete.  But in the event that an accident DOES happen you want to be sure that your training does exactly what it is supposed to do and that is to ensure that your dogs are safe and under control.

 

Note from Marcella: Thank you to Meghan for another excellent blog post and topic!