I was completely and totally humbled and scared this afternoon :(

[chelle]

I made the mistake of opening the back door wide open and letting my Shiba Inu girl just go out offleash. I don't know what I was thinking. Bailey goes out offleash because he's trustworthy (so far), but I NEVER do that with the other girl. I'd just woken from a nap and guess I was sleepy?!

She stood several feet outside the door, I don't think she even realized she was offleash and BAM, once she did, she was GONE. Running full force to the woods.

I about crapped myself. I knew this was going to be bad. She's very hard to get back, her recall is worse than terrible. In large part, my fault, but Shibas aren't known to be good offleash dogs. AT ALL.

I went down towards the woods, trying to cut her off from venturing too far south, because then she'd be crossing a busy street. My heart was POUNDING. She darted around me and VROOM, right across the busy street. I then worked to purposefully chase her farther into the woods on the other side, AWAY from the street. I knew I was sending her into more woods, but better that than the road.

Right about now, HERE COMES BAILEY!??? That dog knows how to OPEN THE DOOR????? The little bugger OPENED THE FRIKKIN DOOR! And here he is! We're maybe 10 feet from a busy road and I panicked. I forgot everything I know. I gave him a crazy come command and he came to me, but I was so freaky, I was grabbing for him and going against everything I have learned to do. UGH. I was so terrified of how close the road was and I have two offleash dogs. One I can control, but I'm too freaked out to do it right.

So Bailey sees Suri a hundred+ feet ahead and goes full bore to go to her. I continue to work them south, closer to the woods, away from the road. Neither are responding whatsoever at this point. They're lost in each other.

I run back across the road and get my car. I zoom over to where they are. (There's a long gravel drive to give me access.) I pull up close, open the door and tell Bailey, "car." He jumps right in. The Shiba gives me a once-over and thumbs her snotty tail at me and goes further south. I sit there. Pull up further, try again. Nothing. On the third pull up, her snotty butt jumps right in the car.

I could've had two dogs run over tonight. Scary. Eye opening. Lesson learned? #1. The Shiba can be trained better, but she'll never have good recall and her offleash is not possible outside of a confined area. #2. Bailey can now open the door. #3. Owner needs to not panic when an emergency recall is needed.

Whew.

[Magnolia]

Glad it turned out well in the end.

[mysweetkaos]

Glad it all turned out well... I am not too proud to admit, I've reacted some silly ways myself in a panic. We've had Kaos for 9 years he's never tried to go out the front door so I am used to that not being an issue...however I got home one night, my husband/kids/dogs were home. I opened the front door, the puppy ran out , I saw it but it didn't register. I hurried up inside, shut the screen door and just stood there for a minute staring blankly...thank goodness my stupid behavior made the puppy stop turn and sit at the door just staring at me. Probably thinking I was none too smart for just letting him out.

[PaddyD]

Glad it turned out well.
However
Every Shiba Inu owner knows that they are half cat.

[1sttimeforgsd]

So glad that your story had a happy ending.

[ksotto333]

that's heart-stopping scary..so glad it turned out ok...

[Wolfiesmom]

I'm glad everything turned out ok. I would have freaked too.

[Anastasia]

It has been a long time for me but I remember that panic feeling well. I am glad it worked out and your babies are home safe and sound.

[brembo]

Pro-tip-(seriously, pro trainer said this)

When you HAVE to get a dog away from a bad situation, run away from the bad place while calling the dog. Curiosity plus the fact you are not trying to catch them often wins their attention.

[chelle]

Originally Posted by brembo

Pro-tip-(seriously, pro trainer said this)

When you HAVE to get a dog away from a bad situation, run away from the bad place while calling the dog. Curiosity plus the fact you are not trying to catch them often wins their attention.

Yes, good advice and a big part of my failure! I know this, but in a moment of panic, I didn't do it. The Shiba wouldn't care, but for Bailey this would've worked. I can't believe how I let panic overtake everything.