Bernie finds ways to embarrass me every day with his "selective" recall. We live near a park that is dog friendly, people friendly, snowmobile friendly.. you get the pic. There are times when there is no one to be found anywhere, and times when it's a literal zoo of crazies. We try and avoid the place during "peak" times, and Bernie is now.. always on leash with people around.
Last fall, Bernie was about 8 months old, we'd had a full summer of "tourists with pork chop bones/corn on the cob/garbage strewing @sshats, and we were finally able to walk in peace with out a lot of pulling crap out of Bernie's face. I decided to let him off leash, noticing the one man, probably 1/2 mile away, sitting with his coffee cup looking out at the lake... no worries, Bernie is distracted by whatever distracts beagles, he's good with people, loves babies, and heck.. let's just wander.
Yep.. the last sight I see of my husky/beagle dog is his butt in full gallop, across the 1/2 mile distance of the park.. for the ONLY person in the place who is sat with his back to us, not seeing what's coming. Again.. thinking he's being a pain with his recall, but not overly worried.. I see my dog take flight up the seat of the picnic table this guy is at, lean down, and back over the other side of the table with a large slice of the mans PIZZA! I do not know who was more astonished.. me or the guy. Bernie of course was in his glory, man was.. perplexed/amazed/not overly mad.. I'd have been..:yikes:
The guy.. for some reason.. by the time I get up to said pizza thief, apologizing profusely, yelling at my dog, and trying to disappear into the sand :dunno:, is now peeling off the pepperoni on the remaining slices of his pizza, throwing them on the ground, and stomps off to his car, to I assume.. consume the rest of the meatless pizza. WEIRD!
Yes I did offer to pay, and we are far more concious of the "nose of a beagle, speed of a husky", and Bernie is leashed more than he likes.. but d@mn that dog!