... that dogs are dogs.
This morning, I was home from the internship, so I took Boo on a walk to pick up brunch at the local strip mall. This is a regular occurrence - I tie Boo up outside of the store, grab whatever I want, untie the dog, and we walk home. Except today it seems I forgot that dogs are dogs, not humans.
I wasn't feeling Starbucks this morning, so I parked the dog outside of Quiznos to grab a sub. With no nearby 'built in' trashcans or sidewalk benches, I looped Boo's leash under the nearby small metal table figuring that she doesn't pull so if I told her to wait for me, she'd be fine.
She must've tried to shift around a bit while I was inside, causing the fairly light table to scrape on the cement sidewalk. I'm assuming that she then panicked at the noise because before I even made it to the sandwich line, one of the employees who (thank god) was sitting near the window exclaims "M'aam, your dog is loose!"
I was not expecting that at all and hurried to the door, expecting to see my dog sniffing for scraps around the other tables and chairs. Instead, I didn't see a dog.
My boyfriend was with me at the time and caught sight of my dog barreling in the direction of home. This would've been fine had the direction of 'home' not involved crossing a 4 lane highway. Boo, who is convinced that each and every car was put on earth for the sole purpose of carrying her to all of her favorite places, has absolutely no fear of vehicles. My heart literally sunk as I saw her high tailing it through the parking lot towards the big road.
I called Boo. She kept running. I whistled for her. This is the whistle that usually sends her sprinting in my direction in anticipation of rewards. She stopped, looked back at me, decided that there was no way in hell that she was returning to the vicinity of the monster table, and kept moving away. I told her to "stop." She turned and looked at me walking quickly towards her, decided that I was also headed in an appropriate direction, and kept moving. I yelled for her to stop and wait. Finally, by the grace of god, she must have decided that she was far enough from the scary table to listen to me. She stopped. She waited. After what seemed like an eternity, I had her leash in hand, in the middle of the parking lot road, about 30 feet from the edge of the highway.
Please please please never forget that dogs are dogs and they react to stimuli in ways that we wouldn't always expect. Boo and I will absolutely be going back to that strip mall, but never again will I tie her to anything but a firmly solid object.
Also, PLEASE teach your dog a command like "stop" or "wait." "Come" wasn't going to happen in this scenario. Before you start thinking that your dog has a 100% reliable recall and your dog would absolutely come back to you, please remember: My dog knows how to come. She is responsive to the word. But when all that's running through her mind is "Must. Get. Away." returning to the scene of the scare is the very last thing that is going to happen. The fact that she knows how to 'stop' and 'wait' could very well have saved her life this morning.
I feel like an idiot, but everyone made it back safe and sound, and I definitely learned a valuable lesson. The next time I get the opportunity, I'm going to do my very best to further proof her stop on command.
This morning, I was home from the internship, so I took Boo on a walk to pick up brunch at the local strip mall. This is a regular occurrence - I tie Boo up outside of the store, grab whatever I want, untie the dog, and we walk home. Except today it seems I forgot that dogs are dogs, not humans.
I wasn't feeling Starbucks this morning, so I parked the dog outside of Quiznos to grab a sub. With no nearby 'built in' trashcans or sidewalk benches, I looped Boo's leash under the nearby small metal table figuring that she doesn't pull so if I told her to wait for me, she'd be fine.
She must've tried to shift around a bit while I was inside, causing the fairly light table to scrape on the cement sidewalk. I'm assuming that she then panicked at the noise because before I even made it to the sandwich line, one of the employees who (thank god) was sitting near the window exclaims "M'aam, your dog is loose!"
I was not expecting that at all and hurried to the door, expecting to see my dog sniffing for scraps around the other tables and chairs. Instead, I didn't see a dog.
My boyfriend was with me at the time and caught sight of my dog barreling in the direction of home. This would've been fine had the direction of 'home' not involved crossing a 4 lane highway. Boo, who is convinced that each and every car was put on earth for the sole purpose of carrying her to all of her favorite places, has absolutely no fear of vehicles. My heart literally sunk as I saw her high tailing it through the parking lot towards the big road.
I called Boo. She kept running. I whistled for her. This is the whistle that usually sends her sprinting in my direction in anticipation of rewards. She stopped, looked back at me, decided that there was no way in hell that she was returning to the vicinity of the monster table, and kept moving away. I told her to "stop." She turned and looked at me walking quickly towards her, decided that I was also headed in an appropriate direction, and kept moving. I yelled for her to stop and wait. Finally, by the grace of god, she must have decided that she was far enough from the scary table to listen to me. She stopped. She waited. After what seemed like an eternity, I had her leash in hand, in the middle of the parking lot road, about 30 feet from the edge of the highway.
Please please please never forget that dogs are dogs and they react to stimuli in ways that we wouldn't always expect. Boo and I will absolutely be going back to that strip mall, but never again will I tie her to anything but a firmly solid object.
Also, PLEASE teach your dog a command like "stop" or "wait." "Come" wasn't going to happen in this scenario. Before you start thinking that your dog has a 100% reliable recall and your dog would absolutely come back to you, please remember: My dog knows how to come. She is responsive to the word. But when all that's running through her mind is "Must. Get. Away." returning to the scene of the scare is the very last thing that is going to happen. The fact that she knows how to 'stop' and 'wait' could very well have saved her life this morning.
I feel like an idiot, but everyone made it back safe and sound, and I definitely learned a valuable lesson. The next time I get the opportunity, I'm going to do my very best to further proof her stop on command.
I don't blame you, Boo barely seems like a dog to me either... she's so clever and sweet. I'm glad she listened to you, and the employee let you know what was going on, and she wasn't stolen or anything awful like that.
