Reliable Recall Saved My Dog

My heart is still pumping fast. I look at my sweet Kimmie and thank heavens she has such a reliable recall. As a canine educator “Sit” and “Come” are the two commands I want rock solid with my dogs. The reasons are safety and good manners. If a dog is sitting, the dog can not be jumping on people. If the dog has reliable recall that dog will return to the human no matter the enticement to canine instincts…in this case it was a young buck.

I took Kimmie and Jazz to one of our neighborhood parks. I let them off the leash since I brought the Chuck It. Kimmie and her son, Orvie, exist to retrieve!

As soon as I threw the first ball , a young buck rounded the corner. He saw the dogs before they saw him, so he walked quickly to the farthest corner of the park where there were a couple of trees. Jazz couldn’t be bothered; she was more interested in rolling in the grass, but Kimmie froze. Her whole body went on point. I held my breath, wondering what would happen next.

Kimmie charged the buck so he took off across the park heading towards the busy road. Kimmie was on the hunt! She was a golden streak heading right for traffic.

“Whoa! Whoa! Kimmie ,COME! Kimmie, COME! Leave it!”

I saw Kimmie running full tilt until she heard my voice and reached close to the end of the park. Then I saw her veer around and run towards me. Needless to say the good girl got a treat. Jazz trotted over as if to say “Hey Lady, I deserve a treat. I never even chased the dumb deer. I know better.” So of course Jazz got a treat.

This story ends happily ever after because of reliable recall. If your dog does not have it, you run the risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Please work with a canine educator to strengthen this critical skill.