The Importance of Teaching Your Dog To Come on Command: The Voice of Experience
June 30, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | No CommentsThe Lafayette Reservoir is one of the few places my dog Jade will willingly walk. I think he likes it because so many people walk their dogs there so there are tons of interesting dog-oriented smells. This weekend, my husband and I took our Cavalier Jade and my parents’ Coton Shana for a walk around the reservoir. Before I go any farther - let me set the scene for you.
The path around the reservoir is approximately 2.7 miles of paved path. The walk is not terribly strenuous, the average person makes the walk in about an hour. Dogs are welcome as long as they are on leash (and this is one place where everyone obeys the leash law). Cars are not allowed and bicyclists are restricted to specific hours when the reservoir tends to be less populated. A lot of families come here, especially on weekends, to picnic and play volleyball, or to fish from the various docks. You can also rent paddle boats or row boats and spend some time cruising on the reservoir itself. Since the reservoir water is designed to be used as a source of public drinking water, swimming is not permitted (unless of course you happen to be a fish or duck).
The day of this particular walk, temperatures were heading into the low hundreds and both dogs, while glad to be out, were definitely feeling the effects of the heat (this despite the fact that both dogs sported summer haircuts). Jade dealt with the heat by running to a shady spot, waiting until Tim (my husband) and Shana caught up and then running to the next shady spot. Shana dealt with the heat by going wading. Yes I know I just said that dogs are not supposed to go swimming in the reservoir - but technically Shana doesn’t swim. She knows of two places on the trail where she can easily access the water and she likes to cool off by wading in up to her tummy (she also likes to drink the reservoir water - this despite the fact that there are several strategically placed drinking fountains with dog bowls on the path).
Following me so far? Perfect. We had completed our walk around the reservoir (complete with one forray by Shana into the water) and were walking back to the car when disaster struck. The final stretch of path is bordered on one side by the parking lot, and on the other by a cement slope that runs along the entire parking lot and leads down into the water. This slope is barricaded off by railings so people don’t the get bright idea that it would, say, be really fun to race scooters or bicycles on the slope. We had gone maybe 20 feet along this path, when Shana decided that the reservoir looked incredibly inviting and wasn’t it considerate of the builders to create this slope that would allow her to easily access the water. So one minute Shana is at my side, and the next she is 1/2 way down the slope with me standing at the top behind the barricade, tugging on the leash and yelling “Shana! COME! Shana, GET BACK HERE! SHANA COME!!!!” My husband was standing about two feet away laughing.
Shana, who has known the command “come” for three years, looked at me, looked at the water, looked back at me, ducked her head, stepped backward right out of her collar and headed straight for the water. My husband, Mr. Helpful, immediately starts walking towards the car with Jade muttering “I don’t know you, I’ve never seen that dog before in my life.” And it is at this point that I caught sight of the police car parked about 20 yards away from where I am standing, still yelling like a lunatic at Shana (who, having achieved her goal of going for a swim and cooling off, had absolutely zero intention whatsoever of returning to me before she was good and ready). The whole event was probably no more than about three minutes, but it felt like three years. Having finished her swim, Shana willingly trotted back up the slope to me and let me slip her collar back over her head (the cop car was mercifully empty).
Next time I walk Shana around the reservoir, especially on a hot day, I am bringing tons of extra treats. My plan, as we walk the final stretch towards the car, is to drop a treat every few steps (think Elliot attempting to lure ET with Reeses Pieces). My hope is that treat-eating will keep Shana so busy, she’ll forget about the wonderful, watery temptation just a few yards away.



