Think Your Dog WON’T Come?

I saw an infographic on Facebook today that I had to read several times because I was in such adamant disagreement with one of the suggestions. The information was surrounding recall training and while most of it was helpful, good advice, there was one point that made me cringe as I tried to make sense of it.

The suggestion was: “Never call your dog when they are sniffing… they really do go deaf…” Forgive me for being blunt, but I couldn’t possibly disagree more with this advice and I’ll venture out on a limb to ask a question in response: At what point do we stop making excuses for an under-trained dog and start taking responsibility so that we can develop and maintain the good behaviors that will keep them from harm? While I’m sure whoever wrote this was well-meaning, it is not a suggestion I will ever get behind, especially surrounding a life-saving skill like the recall. Sniffing is a very real thing and it will definitely need consideration as you work through your recall training. Identifying that is a must, but we have to work through sniffing, not just cross our fingers in hopes that we never NEED our dog to come when a scent catches there attention.

First: Dog’s Rarely Stop Sniffing

Those of us who are lucky enough to share our lives with dogs know that they really never stop sniffing. Seriously, watch your dog as…