The Pied Piper

I'm currently working a wonderful young dog who has taken to running off of her 5 acre property.

Since I was given a heads up that she generally heads off to play with the dogs in her area, today we roamed the neighborhood together in search of playmates. The main goal was to work on desensitizing my client's dog to the neighboring dog "calls" which claim more fun off of the property vs. on!

I didn't have to go far before I found not one, not two, but three local playmates and also learned that the dogs in the area aren't fenced and left to roam. No wonder my client's dogs think this is normal!

I successfully encouraged my client's dog to remember how much better things were at home vs. out on the road and in the process, I had 2 additional dogs follow me to the property for some fun. In other words, I made my client's place much more enticing than the outside world. I apparently did it so well, that the neighborhood was following me.

So you might be wondering what that has to do with the picture on the horses? Well, not only were the neighboring dogs following me to the home, but the client's horses were checking in on the fun as well! Honestly, I felt like the pied piper working my client's dog while surrounded by two of the neighborhood dogs and 2 of the client's horses as well!

I can't imagine the picture we must have made with the horses and all of the dogs following me around the 5 acre property. At some point, the neighboring dogs were too much for the horses and they chased the visiting pups off of the property - literally CHASED them away! I couldn't help but laugh at the image we made and I really enjoyed the free distractions to train the dog with.