Whoops! The Golden Retriever that Got Away (and, of course, Came Back)

I knew it would happen some time or other - Suki would run away from me. I also knew with certainty that she would come back. Which she did. I was in the yard trying to cope with a frightened but uninjured Nuala who has been bumped by the neighbor's car in a moment of carelessness and a nervous Saoirse who had just returned from the vet after being poked and prodded. Suki was excited over my coming home and I commanded her "artza!" (down). She obeyed, but suddenly she slipped out of her collar and was off like, well, like an energetic young golden retreiver who has been kept in the house for an hour and a half and wants a good run. Instinctively i ran for my whistle and raced in the direction of the road to make sure she was not in any danger of approaching cars. I called an blew two blasts on my whistle several times and after what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only a minute or two, she came running back. I hugged her and praised her - and tightened her collar so that it would not slip off again! She also came back to me immediately after I accidently unclipped her leash from her collar instead of the clip on her leash to adjust its length in the middle of Nahariya.

Every time Suki is loose and she comes back to me, I become more confident that she will always come back. I believe she is already far too attached to me to really run away, but the dangers of having a dog on the loose are far too great to let it happen again.

Now I think it's time for a free run - inside the fenced in basketball court!