So last night we got a lot of snow. Aspen has had reliable recall despite being a teenager and we have been practicing it in class. We were out shoveling the snow last night. I live next to a road. Aspen always stays by me. Last night, he didn't. He ran across the road, right in front of a big SUV. My heart stopped, and then fell to my feet. I screamed like I have NEVER screamed before for Aspen as I watched this SUV swerve to avoid hitting Aspen. He was ONE foot - I kid you not - from getting run over. I ran across the street and grabbed him. One of my neighbors saw and ran out with a leash for me. I was bawling and shaking. I almost saw my baby get run over. I had a panic attack and I just laid on the floor crying and holding Aspen because I could have lost him in one second. Aspen and I waited inside for his dad to come home and I think Aspen knew I was upset because he stayed by my side the whole night. Please, don't scold me. I realize now that we shouldn't have him outside with us next to the road if his recall is not 100% reliable. It was just that he had never run off before so I wasn't worried. He should have had a leash on so I could grab it if I needed to. I'm so glad he is okay. I don't know what I would have done if he got hit. I would have been missing a piece of my heart...I'm still shaken up about it today
No one is going to scold you ! I am so pleased that this ended happily, but yes, its a timely reminder not to trust too much, in fact there is a sombre piece entitled "Trust ,a deadly disease " , written by someone who`s dog wasn't as fortunate as Aspen . I think many of us have been there to a varying degree, no judgement from me , just happiness that all ended well x
Thank you @kateincornwall, I am also thinking I am very lucky Aspen was able to come home after our incident. I just read the piece, and it is very true. Sometimes I forget that all the training in the world can't cut out natural dog instinct, not that I want it to, but that we don't always have as much control as we think we do.
I certainly won’t scold you...I’m very sorry though that you went through all this. It’s heart wrenching. I just read that piece, and hugged my little Ariel very, very tightly. I hope you’re feeling better about things soon and not beating yourself up. Hugs....
It could happen to anyone, my heart sank when I read your post, almost if it was my own dog, I felt deeply for you. Just to make you feel a bit better I have the salutary tale told me by a good dog trainer. He taught his GSDs to do perfect heel work and would 'show off' walking through the village with his perfect dogs at heel, off lead, had done it many, many times. Then one day, there was a cat across the road and one dog ran across the road after it, he said he never again had his dogs off leash on a road. However, well trained a dog is, he is still a dog!
I never trust Monty ever, anywhere even within a sniff of a road. OH gives him the benefit of the doubt sometimes walking out of our cul de sac. There's a sensible middle between us. I'm over, he's under cautious.
Oh thank goodness he's ok! I live with the memory of my childhood Lab being hit by a van when the postman left the drive gate open, he didn't survive. It has made me paranoid about my own dogs safety, probably to the point of being over cautious. Don't beat yourself up , these things happen. xxx
I'd like to firstly say thank your favourite deity, force of nature or sheer chance that Aspen is OK. I had a similar incident with Shadow when we had had him for only a week or so; he slipped his collar in fear as a lorry went past and ran into the road. I learnt my lesson, went home and ordered a harness immediately. I can still feel the fear, and that was for a puppy that, as much as I loved, I'd not had the time to build the fierce bond with that I have now, and I'm sure you have with Aspen. The alternative reality does not bear thinking about. Secondly, I'd like to pay tribute to the wonderful members of this forum who have responded with words of concern, empathy and humanity rather than judgement. That's not something you'd find everywhere. It's far too easy to point fingers especially with the anonymity of the internet, but we all make mistakes, we learn from them and move on. Sometimes they're horrible mistakes with horrible consequences. Your story is one of warning to others, and you're brave for sharing it honestly as it may make people think twice about how much trust they put in their own dogs' character and training. Just because your dog has never done <insert scenario> yet, it doesn't mean that it will never happen.
What a shock! Something like that, a split second, could happen anywhere, any circumstance, to anyone. Years ago when Homer was about 1 years old, someone knocked on our door, while I was speeking to them at the gate with the gate close with Homer next to me a C-A-T walked past on the opposite side of the road. Homer jumped the wall between us and our neighbours, jumped their wall, ran accross the road, chased the cat, into and out of another house until the cat ran up a tree. This all happened in seconds and no matter how good his recall was there was no way of stopping him. Give yourself and Aspen a special treat tonight.
Thank you for posting your experience. On reflection, I am “over-trusting” in the park when we near the road and now I shall put her back on her lead a mite earlier. I hope you and Aspen have some fun in the snow tomorrow!
I’m so glad Aspen is ok and I hope you’ve now got over the shock. These things can happen so quickly, so thanks for sharing your terrifying experience and reminding us all not to get too complacent.
Our previous lab never had reliable recall so was never off her leash unless fenced. But I still know that sinking feeling from a close call while using a retractable leash. I often walked her on a retractable leash so she could run back and forth and round and round, stop and sniff stuff while I kept walking a bit. Where I live there are no sidewalks, no parking lane, no bike lane. You walk in the dirt or grass just feet from passing cars. Normally, she would be content to stay in the grass/dirt because that's where all the good smells are. But one day there were some kids across the street, walking along and bouncing a ball. She very suddenly lunged toward the street to go join the kids playing with the ball right as a car was passing. I was able to lock the leash and stop her just in time but she came within a couple feet of getting hit. That was years ago and I can still recall the sinking feeling I had afterwards realizing how close I had just come to losing her. If the leash hadn't locked quickly (and didn't always!), if she'd had a little more length to start with, if I hadn't had a tight enough grip .... it all could have been over so suddenly. I felt sick pretty much the rest of the day thinking she might not have been alive anymore. Now every time I go down that road and see people walking their dogs on long leads I wonder if a leash gives people a false sense of security. Even with a leash, tragedy can happen near a busy road.
Thank you everyone for your kind words! Aspen got carrots & PB today and lots of snuggles. I am so glad I found this forum when I first got him at 8 weeks. Everyone is so kind
A close call that ends up just being a big learning experience isn’t all bad.....even if it stops your heart. This was my close call/learning experience (posted a while back on the forum) with my first Labrador, Nicolae: “We were on our usual walk to a local oval. Getting there involved crossing a busy road. On this occasion in the middle of the road was a squashed biscuit (a type of shortbread known as a 'Scotch Finger'). Nicolae noted the presence of the Scotch Finger. I, too, noted it and then promptly forgot it. We crossed the road and walked to the other side of the oval. It was a big oval so we were about 500m away from the road at this point. I let Nicolae off the lead and he instantly turned and began sprinting back towards the Scotch Finger. I started running after him (no match for a Lab homing in on a free biscuit) and yelling, with completely futility, "COME HERE.....COME HERE NOW!!!!!" which made Nicolae put on an extra turn of speed. He ran straight out into the road and, thank god, cars on both sides saw him and stopped. As I ran, the traffic was building up, waiting as Nicolae stood in the centre, frantically licking up the crushed Scotch Finger. After a seeming age I got to him and hauled him off the road. I had to sit on the verge for a little while to recover from that one....” I’ve also had a close call with Obi, on lead....we were waiting at the gutter/kerb on a very busy road and I had the lead quite loose. I gave Obi a treat for waiting (I wasn’t intending to cross the road just then) and giving him the treat ended the waiting behaviour. Obi stepped out into the road, just as a massive semi trailer [whopping great big long truck thing] roared past about 2 feet away from us. I leapt backwards or grabbed his harness or something (can’t remember) and dragged him back with me. He had been a whisker away from being done for. Learned a few lessons there about waiting too close to the road, having the lead too loose and not teaching Obi a proper ‘cross the road now’ cue. I’m just thankful and also very lucky that these were close calls and not curtain calls.... So, Alschwahn, it’s very much a case of “there but for the grace of God/Great Purple Turtle go I”.
So glad he was ok in the end! What a scare, definitely has me thinking twice about leaving Axel off lead while coming and going from our vehicle to our house.
I hope you are both feeling better today. Thank you for posted this. It makes us all think about what we do with our dogs.
