Maverick decided to break his lead this morning. We have like 5000 feet of snow out there and he’s off and running in the woods. I can get through the woods on a good day, but with all this snow, it ain’t gonna happen. This is not “lovely stroll through the paths” woods, it’s “tree limbs on the ground, holes in the ground, rocks on the ground” woods. For a dog, it’s nothing. For a person, it’s a broken ankle waiting to happen.
Bear and I were on the porch. I never lost sight of Maverick, but he was going further and further into the woods, heading for the neighboring field. The field that opens to the road. The road where people tend to drive like the hounds of hell are behind them.
We were both calling and he wasn’t listening, he would stop and look and then run further.
We spend a lot of time playing games. One of our favorite games to wear Maverick out a bit is “come find me.” I run upstairs, “hide” in a bedroom, and call to him to come find me. It’s actually harder than you think because my scent is all over the house, so he has to figure out where I am from where he heard my voice and where the freshest scent is. And running up and down the stairs tires him out nicely. (When you have a high energy dog, you do a lot of “wear him out” games.)
As he was getting further away, I yelled, “COME FIND ME!” He stopped. Turned. Made a bee-line for me. I didn’t even cry till about half an hour later. Phew!
If you’ve never played this game with your dog, do it!
Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues 
I tried that game on the AJF but I’m still waiting for her to come find me. It’s been 8 months.
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she’s a smart woman!
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We always played “Find It” with a treat, but now I can see the value of finding a person.
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Our trainer said that people have told her they don’t like hiding on their dogs. Maverick gets so excited when he finds me that I love playing the game, and I’m really glad we do it a lot!
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I’m so glad you got him to come back! That’s so scary when dogs act like dogs.
When Myles and I went to dog training our instructor said to have a word that always gets a reward and practice it everywhere. It sounds like you’ve got that! Myles word is cookie. We’ve been fortunate to never have to use it in an emergency situation.
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Max was “car car!’ That dog loved to go for a ride!
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Oh, nooooo!! Mr. Naughty! Razz has been wandering out of the yard in search of some yummy deer poo. He is hard of hearing so I have to whistle for him. My whistle is extremely loud and piercing (it hurts my earballs!) When he hears it, he comes running.
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Deer poop is a delicacy!
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