June 17, 2014

A Naked Dog and Lessons Learned


This lovely sun-dappled shot was taken after a short morning hike that turned briefly into an educational and hair-raising adventure. Spoiler alert: everyone was okay! I spent the weekend with my aunt and grandmother and attended a benefit for Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue. On my way home I stopped off at an open space area that I discovered when I took Ruby hiking for her birthday in October. I call it "Hidden Gem" because we are almost guaranteed to have the place to ourselves, and it's such a lovely dose of nature not far from the main road. A path traverses through a meadow, down a marshy ravine and up onto a piney hillside. The wildflowers were in bloom due to an unusually rainy spell, and the ginger sisters were happy to follow their noses through the yucca. Ruby stopped to do some terrier excavation while Boca supervised.


 As we made our way through the tall grass, I would intermittently say "Go Run!" and dash after the girls as they raced down the trail. We did this several times without incident. The next time, Ruby tore ahead and Boca lagged behind and crossed in front of me. I knew that I was going down before I hit the ground, catapulting (dogapulting?) over Boca and landing on my hands and knees. I either recovered Ruby's leash automatically or kept hold of it, but when I looked behind me to make sure Boca was okay since I'd practically fallen on top of her, I saw her leash attached to...an empty harness. Naked Boca grinned up at me and gamboled off into the grass.


"Don't panic..." I told myself as I brushed off my skinned knee. Remember that Boca has only been with me for about a month and a half, and that I've focused mainly on letting her settle in with not a lot of training. I called her and she came near me, but realizing the fun of being free, leapt away and continued bouncing around the meadow. I unclipped her leash from her harness and slipped the end through the handle, making a loop. I didn't want to chase or grab her, especially because she seemed a little wary of me after being such a klutz, so I tried sitting down on the ground and ignoring her. She stayed close, but was still enjoying her great escape. I got up and kept moving, running and calling her every now and then to make it into a game. She would follow and then wander off to smell something. While Boca was engaged in sniffing the ground I was able to slip it over her head and take perhaps my first deep breath of the last few moments! 


I got Boca back in her gear and we continued our walk with no more surprises, but the event has definitely prompted me to make some changes. First, work on the dogs' recall. I know it is the single most important thing to teach your dog and yet I don't practice it nearly enough. Although she's been with me for less time, I am still thankful that it was Boca that escaped and not Ruby. Boca is calmer and less apt to take off after something, and Ruby thinks that "Catch Me If You Can" is the best game ever. From now on the girls will be wearing collars as well as harnesses. Boca's harness did not come unclipped and I'm still not sure how it came off  - I think that I pulled it over her head as I was falling. I had no idea that the step-in style was so escapable. While both dogs are micro-chipped, let's face it - not everyone knows to get a lost dog scanned, and that entails a trip to a vet's office or an animal shelter instead of just a simple phone call. I've gotten out of the habit of carrying treats with me and that is something I want to change as well. You just never know when a quick walk could go awry. I'm so happy that this story turned into nothing more than some new goals and habit changes and a post for Ruby Tuesday about that time my new rescue dog got loose.


19 comments:

  1. I completely understand. My dog Lilah got loose only a few weeks after she came to live with us. It was scary--and completely underscores the importance of teaching recall.

    --Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! I visited your blog and think Lilah is so beautiful!

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  2. wow I felt your panic... Im not a fan of the tags all clinking on the collar so I found some really cute collars on Etsy (affordable) and she stitches the name and phone number on the collar. Let me know if you would like the store. Anyhow, I have a mini anxiety attack every time we let Stella off leash. I just cant do it, where my fiance is more comfortable with it. Recall is something Im know is so important and I just started training. Simply every time I call her she gets a treat. It seems to be working well but its taking a very very long time for her to actually get it. She got out of the backyard on Saturday, we knew it was too quiet, both of us looked at each other and freaked out. We look out the front door and Stella is across the street sniffing around. Andy called her and she came wagging back! We FLOODED her with treats! I think I lost a few years of my life that day!

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    1. It does get your heart pounding, doesn't it? I would love the link to that Etsy store. I have quite a collar collection already but I do love those ID collars with the stitching. Ruby is never going to be an off-leash dog - she is too easily distracted. I need to take some treats to the securely-fenced ball field and work on recall regularly.

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    2. https://www.etsy.com/shop/Charmanique Ive ordered 4 from her now and she is so helpful. I even ordered a 1.5 inch collar by mistake, I told her, and she sent me a new one for free. I thought that was awesome. I got a teenie one for my kitty too. SO cute and very well made.

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    3. Wow, those are great! Thank you!

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  3. I was *so* relieved when I read that this was Boca and not Ruby getting out. Although Ruby is much better with people than Silas is, I think--a stranger trying to "help" me catch Silas is pretty high on my list of phobias.

    I really want a connector to run between Silas's collar buckle and the front ring on his harness, but all of the pre made ones are for big dogs. (The smallest one at Ella's Lead is something like 8", when I'd need maybe 4" or less.) I think people are worried that their pitbull/Doberman/Rottweiler is going to get free and get in trouble because they're a "dangerous" breed. I'm worried that my 30 pound dog is going to slip his harness, panic over something, and be in the next county before I can catch him. :(

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    1. This is what I use to connect Ruby's front-clip harness and collar: http://www.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-LSBM-01-2R3-S-Biner-2-Pack/dp/B00BKVPU08/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1403022695&sr=8-3&keywords=s+biner

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  4. Yikes - you lived one of my fears...Jack without even a collar to grab onto. I lost him once after some rabbits into some deep brush and actually had to grab his tail to get him...Glad it turned out okay.

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    1. Yes, in addition to identification, a collar would have given me something to grab. Once I saw that Boca wasn't going to bolt I was able to take the time to catch her without alarming her. Sometimes I think my equestrian skills come in handy with dogs :)

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  5. I hear the Ruffwear Webmaster (though pricey!) is virtually escape-proof. Might be worth looking at. Mr. N knows a "wait" cue so that if I do drop the leash, he knows to stand still.

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    1. Thank you - I'm going to check that one out!

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  6. I worry about that with Rita. We are workgin on her recall! There's nothing like seeing your dog run off for a cardio workout! :P Glad it had a happy ending!

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  7. That would have scared me half to death. I'm glad you're all ok and together!

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  8. So glad everything turned out okay! I nearly lost Faolan under similar circumstances, except his (expensive) collar broke. I hope you are not hurt from you dogapult.

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  9. What a fantastic way to handle the situation. I've learned to let the moment pass unless it needs a correction. It's astounding how you can quickly assess - is this on me or is this on the dog. Most of the time, it's me that needs the correction.

    I'm so glad that you had a foster failure. Did I say I was wishing for it big time?

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  10. I remember the time Blueberry slipped her harness. I thought I would have a heart attack. But I remembered to not chase. Thankfully, she saw I was going into my pocket for a treat and she came high-tailing it back to me really quickly. But that was probably the longest minute of my life. Glad everything turned out ok!

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  11. Thank heavens that in the shock of falling and seeing your naked pup, you avoided chasing after Boca. Take a bow.

    I accidentally dropped the leash of my last dog less than 24 hours after adopting her. I was in tears, knowing I shouldn't chase her but realizing that with no real bond established yet I had to keep her in sight.

    I was very thankful that a fellow dog walker figured out what was happening and caught her as she walked by.

    Good luck on your recall training. It is the best skill to teach your dogs. And it's actually very fun to train.

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  12. So glad everyone was ok and you managed to get Boca back in her gear! For the "Catch Me if you Can game" do you ever have Ruby chase you? That's much more preferable than you chasing her, because dogs are super super fast! It might initiate her herding/prey drive too and encourage her to stay with you. I play the "Catch Me if you Can game" with Terra, but during the game, I'll call her to me periodically and then release her again, and alternate between chasing her and having her chase me. I also love the "Hide and Seek" game when we're out on a walk, because that is the fastest way I think to teach a dog to pay attention to where you are while still going about their business. Or I'll change direction randomly to also encourage the dogs to pay attention to where I'm going and stay with me.

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