This dog comes to you if you sneeze!
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
January 23, 2019 6:19am CST
Okami, our border collie, likes nothing better than being let off the lead in open countryside or woodland and charging off on her own to explore whatever looks or smells interesting. We have estimated that she must cover about ten times the distance we do when the family goes for these walks!
However, one of her failings is that she is not at all good at coming when called for. She suspects - with good reason - that the summons often marks the end of her fun - the lead goes back on and she has to go back in the car or be made to walk along a road back towards home.
However, I have discovered a so far foolproof way of getting her rapt attention. This is to sneeze! My sneezes are of a particularly violent kind - a series of "Ahhs" of progressively higher pitch followed by a veritable explosion. By around the third "Ahh" I have a dog climbing all over me with an anxious expression on her face.
The way of getting her to return to you at the end of a walk is therefore to pretend to sneeze. It works every time!
However, she is an intelligent dog and surely it cannot be long before she realizes that we are playing a trick on her. We therefore need a Plan B to cover us for this eventuality.
Any suggestions?
3 people like this
2 responses




