One of the most common challenges many dog ​​owners face is approaching them without a leash. That's why I'll share an informative anecdote with helpful training tips for dogs come when called.

A weekend earlier this summer, a couple of friends and I went fishing north to Fenelon Falls, Ontario. Of course, when we enter the city, our first step is to have coffee in the local café. Since the cafeteria is the central point of the city, many people gather there.

When we stopped with my Alpha Paws dog trainer, we noticed a large group of people facing their dogs. When we left Timmy with our coffee, I saw a black Pomeranian puppy on my way. The dog was NOT wearing a leash and although I did not immediately know that something was wrong, I quickly noticed that the owner was following the dog. It became apparent that the owner was desperately trying to get his stray dog ​​back.

What happened was that the dog was in a strange place and could say he did not want to be there. He wanted to be in the arms of his owner, but he got up and walked toward the dog. The problem was that the owner was one or two paces more each step in the dog's direction than the owner and was dangerously moving near the busy road behind him.

The owner and the dog continued this dangerous dance for a few minutes, with the dog getting closer and closer to the road. In the meantime, a growing crowd gathered in front of the cafeteria and watched the show in horror, waiting for the dog to enter the street and be hit by a car at all times. Finally his dog took the road.

When I noticed that the dog had entered the street, my training took over and I had to act to rescue this dog who was clearly in immediate danger. I immediately crouched down. As I did so, the dog noticed me and was reluctant to go one step further, although he turned to the owner and walked towards the dog.

I quickly called the owner, "CROUCH DOWN - CROUCH DOWN", with an urgent note in his voice. The woman listened to me and immediately ducked how much the dog ran straight to her.

Behind me, I could hear the crowd crying out as he took his dog and held him tight in his arms.

At this point she turned to me and thanked me very warmly. As you can imagine, she was extremely relieved to receive her dog and avoid a terrible fate for her animal. I've never been so relieved that things are going well, and my friends and I have continued our fishing trip. We now have a very interesting story to tell when we return home. This fish story is not common and does not pose any danger!

What we can learn from this incident is that dogs are very much in line with the body language of their owners, and as owners we need to understand this and adapt our behavior to their needs. What he did not understand was that by constantly going to his dog, he pushed his dog into the street and actually prevented him from approaching him.

On the other hand, squatting brings you a dog because it brings you to its level and does not threaten you. Puppies have two main eaters besides humans; The big cats (limbs, wild cats, mountain lions) and the big birds (osprey and eagle) and the two predators attack their prey from above. The higher you are, the more threatening you are to the dog. That's why dogs, when threatened, hide in a hole in the wild, and domestic dogs hide under a table, chair, or box to feel safe.

The moral of this story is twofold. If you want to stay in a public place, you need to keep your dog on a leash. Secondly, if you want your dog to come to you, if you are free and have never taught obedience to obedience, your dog can only come to you through him. Exactly what has been done in the story, duck and call out the name of the dog. When you call standing "COME", the dog is pushed farther and farther away from you.


Visit my blog, where you'll find this lesson on dog respond when called. You'll see some examples of things you can do today, right now, to teach this potentially life-saving skill to your dog.