Some I know, and I use that term losely, from a Jack Russell forum is down in Cornwall on a two week holiday with her family , loads of them husband, four children , aunt, uncle and Gran along with their JR , all camping not far from here . Before the holiday, she had asked if we could meet up , just to say hello, put a face to a name so it was agreed to meet this morning at my local stomping ground Golitha Falls where I walk often with the dogs . At this time of year, with thousands of visitors around , I usually go early mornings when there are just a few people, if any , but today we were all meeting at 11.30 a.m. What a mistake : : I had already decided that Flynn would stay on his long line, his recall is good in the doggy walking field but at Golitha there are many distractions so best err to safety . I had been telling my friend how good Sam was off lead, how reliable his recall , well , talk about let me down in a major way : : We all met , said our Hellos and set off to walk the footpath through the woods to the falls , a walk mine know so well , I let Sam off and for a little while he was really good, I felt so proud , and then, he let me down big style . We were approaching a bench area , a popular spot for people to have their picnics, today being no exception and in a heartbeat , almost in slow motion , the devil started running to the bench , me shouting his name , he stopped for a nanosecond, turned and looked at me, then carried on . I was mortified, talk about showing off , I knew what was going to happen but was unable to stop it , he ran to the bench and grabbed a sandwich laid out on a plate and ran off with it in his mouth Thankfully, the owner of the sandwich was laughing so much he was almost in tears at Sams audacity , I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole, my friends and family were all in hysterics . I got the thief back on lead pretty smartish and then saw the funny side myself, Sam wasnt a bit contrite : This is the first and last time I ever go to a picnic spot at lunchtime , ever : Just goes to show , even with a good recall , there will often be that moment when it all goes to pot , lets hope thats his one moment for this year anyway
Re: Serves me right ! What a great story! Thanks for sharing that, it cheered me right up! ;D ;D Jacqui
Re: Serves me right ! So all Mr laidback needs is the proper motivation eh? ;D I think it's in their job description to prove us wrong.... poor you, it is funny when it's someone else but it's so blood chilling at the time...at least you could comfort yourself with knowing you had a good story for the forum
Re: Serves me right ! Dont get me wrong , Sam is no angel , he has had his moments but on the whole, he has been such a good pup and turned into a good dog , which makes his occasional naughtiness more profound He is a very very greedy boy and obviously also an oportunist
Re: Serves me right ! VERY comforting to know it happens to other people! I caught my pup with her feet up on the kitchen table, just swallowing down a couple of sausages, lately...
Re: Serves me right ! LOL Karen - well I mean who could expect any real lab to resist sausages - not sure I could walk past them myself ... :
Re: Serves me right ! Poor you! Not really your fault though - I don't think even Pippa's detailed recall book specifically mentions proofing against sandwiches! They always wait til everyone's watching, to show us up, don't they...
