[S.Claire]

Ohhhh i'm still shaking. To explain in a nutshell, I live in a triangle of houses with my grandparents and Dad all within 10 metres of one another (no other houses) in between a theme park, fields/farm and a country lane.

I just dropped some post off to my granddad and left Nacho with my dad (literally gone for less than 2 minutes). In that time Scooby (dads cocker spaniel) and Nacho had legged it to the road which cars do come down but be it infrequently as well as big milk lorries etc.

Came back and my dad was tearing his hair out saying they'd gone!! He has a great whistle and Scooby came tearing over the hedge in the direction from the lane. No sign of Nacho!! I ran up the lane and found him sniffing the hedges on the road. When I called him he just completely ignored me - luckily no cars in sight! I had to go right up to him and put a lead on him (which he let me do) but I kind of lost it and really shouted at him. Nacho was pretty scared. I put him straight in the house and left him there for about 15 mins. I was shaking, still am at the prospect that he was going to get hit by a car. Couldn't bear it if I lost him!

This has reiterated my worries of leaving him in April and I've just asked my mum to call me back as to whether she could have Nacho for the full 2 weeks. I don't want to hurt my dads feelings but i'd rather that than lose my dog. It seems Nacho and Scooby rub off on one another and become demons.

What should I have done rather than shout at him? I don't know if that really helped anything. I was just so scared.

Does this dog ever let my stress levels relax? A little cry now I think with Nacho now nestled on my feet. x

 

[Turi]

Oh Suzie, poor you. Sending you big hugs :hug:

 

[colpa110]

Oh dear, Nacho certainly does put you through it...good job he is sooo cute.
Betty slipped her collar the other day whilst I was walking to the shops -
it totally freaked me out ,(although no harm was done) so I can understand how you must be feeling.I'm sure once you get over the shock ( and have a little cry)
you will feel better. I think you may have to hurt your dad's feelings on this occasion or you will just spend your whole holiday fretting over Nacho. Perhaps
even consider kennels - at least that way you will know he will be safe.
Tough decision for you....let us know what you decide.

 

[JoJo]

Oh Susie .. what a panic for you .. Nacho is not good for your stress levels :S :S

 

[Rufini]

Big hugs sent from us!
Vincent ran into the road a few weeks ago and completely ignored me, lucky we live in an estate where there aren't many cars about so he was safeish but it still made me so upset. I put him straight on the lead and brought him straight home and had a sob.

Happened to my boyfriend too, Vincent had been as good as gold all walk (I was at home, been really sick.....long story) he took Vincent off the lead at our front step as Vincent has always been good at sitting and waiting by the door. This time though he spotted a dog and its owner on the other side of the road and just ran off AND there was a car coming ; ; I could hear Dan shouting at Vincent to come back The dog walker was understandibly upset as her dog got scared with both Vincent running at it and Dan shouting loudly Poor Dan was so upset.

 

[Turi]

Hope you're ok Ruth?

 

[anndante]

One morning when I was out for a short while my husband was looking after Polly. He went out the front door to do something and left the front gate open... and Polly dashed out and chased a car up the road, something she had never ever done. When I heard about it later I was utterly horrified and had awful images of her getting run over. A nightmare. Difficult to trust husband after that! But no matter what they do (our poos, not husbands!), if they come back to you or let you put their lead on then they should be praised for doing so. If they are shouted at then they might become reluctant to come to you. It's hard and I've shouted at Polly a couple of times when she has done something really dangerous, but having seen the reaction I hopefully wouldn't do so again. I hope you've recovered from the trauma.

 

[MillieDog]

Susie
Don't be too hard on yourself, they are young and dogs !. Millie is usually good 90% of the time, the other 10% is when it really matters. I can see the danger and she can't, I want her to listen to Recall and she doesn't

It happened to me too today, I let her off the lead at the park and she ran straight back to the edge of the car park to see a Terrier. I called her, but she then heard another dog in the back of a car, so ran straight over And yes, there was a car moving right next to her. I was running after her and she thought, Brilliant a game! I'm not going to the caught. Agh!!! Luckily another dog owner grabbed her collar for me. But even then, you could see she had the 'Little Minx' look about her.

So, having recomposed myself and walked with her on lead in the park, until I felt she was far enough away from cars and other dogs in the park to distract her. I let her off lead. Let her have her play and get the over excitedness out of her system.

Then on the rest of the walk, we did a lot of training, ie Recall (easy recall to start with, ie she's already coming towards me), Sit, Stay, Wait. And basically got her listening to me again and tuning in to me. We ended the walk on a good note.

So Susie, what I'm trying to say is, take Nacho out somewhere, just you and him. Do basic training, lots of recall, playing etc and just keep chipping away and don't get complacent about good behaviour. They are young still, Nacho is 8 months, Millie is 1 year, they're still learning. We just have to do our best to teach them to listen as they can't see the danger.

Cheer up and have a lovely cuddle with Nacho. :hug::hug:

 

[S.Claire]

Thanks everyone. I've calmed down a bit now and had lots of cuddles. Ruth that's awful too! - Also hope you are better now?

Ann I know! I didn't think my reaction through. It was a quick succession of anger, relief then anger again... now back to relief. I will know better than to shout next time

I see that it does happen to most of us. Damn fathers, partners and husbands!

I've cooled off now - will begin to think rationally again. xxx

 

[S.Claire]

Thanks Julie. I forget how young he is sometimes. I will keep repeating everything i've done. This is the first time he has ignored me like that. Usually very good at recall. Back to basics I think and lots of yummy treats and patience xxx

 

[MillieDog]

Thanks Julie. I forget how young he is sometimes. I will keep repeating everything i've done. This is the first time he has ignored me like that. Usually very good at recall. Back to basics I think and lots of yummy treats and patience xxx

That a girl
I think we all forget how young they are. They learn so quickly and want to please that we forget.

So many people have said they can't believe how well trained and calm Millie was, esp when younger and compared to their dogs at the same age. I think we almost take it for granted that they will always just listen.

 

[Rufini]

Hope you're ok Ruth?

To not highjack the thread I'll make another one in chitchat! Don't worry though, I'm good!!

 

[DONNA]

Buddys done excatly the same thing he got out when someone opened the door ,our country lane is quite busy and he spotted a gardener over at the church and off he shot ,i was screaming but he wouldnt come back i dont know why but thank god he did at the end of our courtyard he decided to sit and look back??? thank god as a car zoomed by followed by a motorbike ,i felt sick !! He thing ran across the road straight to the gardener who grabbed him !!

Its the worst feeling ever very scary,Buddy has quite a good recall but sometimes its as if he knows what he's doing is naughty and like a child thinks its funny to get us all chasing him.

 

[Jedicrazy]

Does this dog ever let my stress levels relax? A little cry now I think with Nacho now nestled on my feet. x

They are just like kids - we will never stop worrying about them. It can happen to any one is, especially when they are still young. Chin up

So Susie, what I'm trying to say is, take Nacho out somewhere, just you and him. Do basic training, lots of recall, playing etc and just keep chipping away and don't get complacent about good behaviour. They are young still, Nacho is 8 months, Millie is 1 year, they're still learning. We just have to do our best to teach them to listen as they can't see the danger.

Great advice Julie. I think we all forget that they are still puppies even when they are a year old.

 

[Clairasol]

Scary scary scary. Glad he was ok though.

I bellowed at Archie yesterday from the front door as he made a bee line for the front gate, got out and ran down the path towards the car thinking we were going out. I have taught him to sit at the gate, wait for me to open the car door and he then jumps in, however he had the devil in him yesterday and did just what ever he wanted to regardless of what I did or said. Thankfully it was the middle of the day so the road through the village was pretty quiet.

 

[Sezra]

Hope you are ok now Susie. It is so scary when they do things like this. My friends Cockapoo tore up a busy road today after a bitch in heat. She nearly lost him because he disappeared so fast and normally his recall is good!

Lots of hugs your way and I hope you get the holiday thing sorted. xxx

 

[Janev1000]

Susie I think your shouting was just a very natural reaction to the fear your body was under at the time. I'm sure many of us would have done the same faced with such anxiety and panic of what might have happened! I'm sure I would have done the same and have said Biscuit's name negatively a few times by mistake - which is difficult not to do when you're used to telling off children! It was only a 'one off' and I'm sure it won't affect Nacho in the long run with his recall, etc Big hugs to himxx

 

[Lilies]

Ollie did it a year ago, out of the park a cross a small road and I found him with his head in a bin . A second time he was through a hedge into a garden and through into another garden, no one home, he came out a good while later looking v guilty....
Don't blame yourself hunx

 

[mandym]

How awful and scary for you and so glad nacho is safe and well.I can imagine how worried you must be about leaving him,how about telling a little white lie and saying your mum has asked if he can stay the 2 weeks and you feel it will benefit him to stay in one place for the 2 weeks,that way to save hurting dads feelings. xxx

 

[Pollypiglet]

Hattie who has been so good when getting out of car and into house has suddenly decieded to check out rest of close! Recall seems to be on back burner so now out of car and on lead. Just a rebelious phase which will pass but it is her loss!