I know I’ve said before that training Rook and Magic is a current work in progress. Today is a perfect example of that. When they are together, they have zero impulse control and less than zero recall. In the moment, everything was just chaos. I didn’t see everything happening or take note of all of the details. I may have events backwards or missing or just plain wrong from what someone else saw. All I know, is we had some near major casualties this afternoon. Thankfully, everyone is fine. I’m a firm believer that almost doesn’t count, but you should definitely take those “almost” events to heart, learn from them and be better in the future. Current take away: our next focused lessons are going to be an emergency recall and an emergency “down.”
The backstory: My sister started a business recently and needed to borrow a ladder to do some painting in her rented suite. We agreed that she would drop the ladder back off this afternoon before she had to start a shift for her second job. It’s been a while since we’ve seen her or had a chance to catch up, so she came over with her daughter, boyfriend and their dog, Mack. We planned to take the dogs for a short walk in the neighborhood and then visit for a little while Mack and Magic played some. (They are two peas in a pod, both enjoying rough and tumble play filled with terribly obnoxious barking.)
My sister’s family arrived, and I stepped out to meet them at their truck to grab the ladder and confirm that we would walk the dogs first, to tire them out a bit and allow us to better socialize. As I was walking back to the house (they were parked across the street), Justin came out to grab the ladder from me. Magic busted out the front door behind him with Rookie right on her heels. They immediately ran across the street up to my sister and Mack. I figured they’d probably stay right there long enough for me to grab their leashes, so I stepped in for those and told Justin to get some cheese from the fridge.
Rook ran back into our yard, so I went to put his Gentle Leader over his nose. I got the loop in place, but before I could buckle it on, Magic ran past him, causing him to pull away and run after her. They took off back across the street. My sister’s boyfriend was attempting to toss Mack back in the truck as I made it back across the street. As I got to the other side, my sister yells, “They’re gone! Down there!” while looking down the block and across the busy cross street that we live three houses in from.
Me: “They ran across the street?!”
Sister: “Yeah. They’re right there.”
I look over just as they disappeared around the side of the corner house where two cattle dogs live. I run toward the corner, but I can’t cross because there’s too much traffic. Suddenly, Magic appears back around the house, running to re-cross the busy road, back to our side. (Very) Luckily, no one was speeding down the hill from the light at the top. (It’s supposed to be a 30 mph road, but people fly down the hill, driving easily twice that speed, all the time.) The minivan getting ready to go up the hill had barely started moving with the changing light, saw Magic and stopped. Rookie again was right behind her.
At some point during all of this, my next door neighbor appeared on her porch holding her cat and calling Magic’s name. The dogs ran past me, too far away to grab either of their collars, and I yelled for anyone in my sister’s family to catch them if they could, as they were farther down the street, the direction the dogs were now running. Just as I called to them, Rook ran straight into the side of my sister’s knee, knocking her down. (Sorry again, Sis!) Just after that, I caught Magic, got her leash on and passed her off to my niece. By then, Rook was back in our yard. Justin caught him and put him in the house. We checked on my sister, who thinks her knee will be OK with a couple of weeks of rest.
These two idiots are SO lucky, and they have no idea. I’m so disappointed in them and so frustrated that I couldn’t get a hold of the situation before they ever made it to the main road in the first place. Historically, they never run that direction. Magic has been bad about sneaking out the door behind us recently, but she usually stays right on the porch or maybe follows one of us to the mailbox or car, if that’s where we were heading. She’s generally trustworthy to not take off if one of the stray cats my neighbor feeds is sitting in the yard or if a squirrel is scrounging for seeds under the bird feeder. This morning, she even followed Justin onto the porch and stayed there when the neighbor’s dog was out in their yard across the street. Rook almost never busts out the front door, and if he does, we’re carrying groceries in from the car on repeat trips, he pees and runs right back inside.
This particular situation was just too exciting for them. They love the people in both of our families, and Magic really enjoys time with Mack, expecting to have a good time whenever he’s around. Once they got out the door, it turned into a fun game of chase, and neither of them could focus on anything else. The possibility of a major injury to one or both of them, or even death, was just too close with this one though. I know how people drive down that road. I’ve seen plenty of dead-on-arrival cats and dogs brought into the hospital and regularly read stories about dramatic injuries to hit-by-car animals in various Facebook groups I follow. I had a cat die after being hit by a car while growing up and also had a dog escape with minor injuries from a pizza delivery driver’s car years prior to the loss of my cat.
This is why, for the foreseeable future, if the dog gate isn’t up and closed across my porch steps, any dog near the door will be told to, “Stay!” I will be closing the storm door myself while watching the dog(s) on the other side, instead of letting it fall closed behind me. Magic will not be following me from the car into the house without her leash after work. Tomorrow begins emergency recall and emergency “down” training. Today, we’re all just going to relax inside for the evening and be grateful that there were no visits to the ER or body bags needed today.
“Success is always a matter of some luck and timing.” ~Kathleen Kennedy (Now, if someone could please convey that to Magic…)
