Dog anecdote

Today, I went riding. Heidi had such a perfectly thrilling weekend running off leash with the pack of dogs at my in-law's family reunion and did so well, that I decided to take her. Alas, it did not go well.

Horses scare her to death. She ran off almost as soon as we got to the barn. The barn itself is set back about 100 yards from a fairly busy, high speed road. Of course, she made tracks for it. After 10 minutes of chasing her and calling her, I finally laid down on my back in the grass and rolled around giggling and talking - basically inviting her to play (not because I'd gone mad). She succumbed, and I was able to catch her.

I put her on her leash and attached her at the barn, then went to ride in the ring. 45 minutes later, I came back to the barn, only to find a chewed in half leash and no dog. Luckily, she had gone straight to my SUV and laid down in front of it, patiently waiting for me to be done with the horses. There she stayed until I came to get her.

I really need to work on recall training her. She's great at everything I've taught her so far, but I'll admit, I've lazed up on the training -and she doesn't come when called. As a lesson, I now own 2 halves of a leash...