Still searchin'

Mom got real upset the other day when she let me out into a lot of tall grass to go to a pond to go swimmin' with Jenna. Even with Jenna there, (she's my grandma) I figured there was something I ought to go find so I went running off into the tall grass and kept looking for someone to find. there wasn't anyone so I finally came back. Mom told me she was mad at me. She kept calling and I heard her, but I didn't feel lilke coming back. So Mom figured I needed to start to learn to come when she called me, she haddn't really paid attention before.

Hello everyone: One of the most important things which face ALL owners of dogs is that sooner or later you absolutely MUST teach the dog to stay with you, to not run off, and to come when called. A good idea to do this training is to capitalize on what the dog already knows and to re train or train with that in mind. Phoenix already knew that there wasn't always someone hiding for her in the grasses. She learned that by herself the day she ran off looking. The next thing for her to find out was that it was pleasurable when I called her, that there would be a SURE reward if she came. Something that was totally awesome. So...I cooked up nuked hot dogs. RESERVE these treats for something special. Yes they are cheap but they are an extremely motivating treat. Anyhow...here's what I did:

"Mom took me walking the next day in the woods. She had my leash on. The neighbor kid came along. I really loved that cuz I love all the neighbor kids. When we got into the woods Mom took off my leash. I heard her telling the neighbor kid that even if I ran away I couldnt go anywhere far cuz there would be a fence. Anyhow when she took off my leash I didnt want to go anywhere cuz just before she took it off she had the neighbor kid give me the very best treat I had ever had!! So I stayed with them for a little while. But pretty soon I thought maybe I should run on ahead into the woods. I did, but in just a minute the neighbor kid called me and gave me one more of those neat treats. So I kind of watched for awhile and walked with them for awhile. Then I went on ahead to check things out. Next time when the neighbor kid called I ran back to see if I would get another treat. But that time the neighbor kid just gave me a really big kiss and a belly rub. I didnt care about the treat then cuz that belly rub felt really good. So anyhow we walked for a long time. Every time I went away after while mom or the neighbor kid would call me and I would get either a treat or a nice kiss and hug. It was great. Besides I found out that if I stayed close enolugh to mom she really liked it if I went a little ways ahead and then just looked bak at her every so often. Every time I did that she told me what a good girls I was...."

BYE NOW AND GOOD SEARCHIN'