Close Call

I should write about this while it's still fresh in my memory and before I make the same mistake again (hopefully NEVER!)

While hiking on Mt. Hood, Bruno got loose from me and chased a deer.  He was only gone about 15 minutes, but it could have been forever.  If he hadn't come back, he could have been lost in a huge, mostly roadless and trail-less, VERY rugged wildness. There was even a sign at the trailhead warning that the Sheriff's Dept. will NOT do technical rescues for stranded dogs- if your dog falls down a crevasse, it's your problem, not theirs.

So why did I let this happen?  Stupidity. I chose NOT to put his remote collar on him that day, because I hadn't needed to correct him at all the previous day, and I wanted to save it's battery. For WHAT?  This was exactly the kind of situation the collar prevents.  I thought that since I had him trained not to chase cats, chickens, and squirrels, it would translate into "not chase anything."

Why?  I KNOW that dogs are very poor at generalizing.  Temple Grandin has said over and over in her books (several of which I've read and loved) that animals can't generalize, or can only do it in limited ways. That's why puppy socialization is SO important.  Dogs don't know that ALL children are safe if they've only met a few, or ALL cats or ALL farm animals, even ALL types of flooring or weather.  They need to experience as many things as possible while the critical period of socialization is still open. I'm quite sure Bruno's first owner totally missed the ball on that one, by the way.

So he spots a deer on the trail.  In only a few seconds, I can practically hear the wheels turning in his head.  "What is that? Can I chase it? It looks fun, but what if I get punished?"  He turned back and looked at me, very briefly, as if to make up his mind. Then he's off like a shot, double-suspension gallop down a 45% slope in dense forest.   The deer obviously did not trip the trained response in his brain that predatory chase=painful correction, that IS activated for cats and squirrels.  It didn't fit.

I didn't have a compass, so I knew it would be utterly foolish to chase after him. What if I got lost too?  I called and called and called, and then sat down and cried.  All this work I've put into him, for nothing! I threw it away by not putting his e-collar on him, and so was unable to stop him and use this as a training experience, instead of a tragedy.   I even prayed a little, and I don't consider myself a Christian these days.

Thankfully, he DID come to his senses and return to me, out-of-breath and overheated.  I leashed him up and we continued the rest of the day on-leash, until I got back to camp and put his e-collar on.

I still don't exactly why I chose not to put it on him that day.  Foggy lazy thinking.  Makes no sense whatsoever.  But I'm determined not to let it happen again.

Sidenote about e-collar training:  I was harshly criticized by a few people on the dogster forums for using a remote shock collar, aka electronic collar, training collar, e-collar, etc.  This is the collar I use. The ONLY time I use it is for stopping predatory chasing.  NOT when he's just disobeying me- I deal with that in other ways, mostly positive.  I am a fan of Temple Grandin, previously mentioned, and to her, the only ethical use of a shock collar is to stop predatory aggression.  The short, sharp shock totally trips up their emotional track and short-circuits the prey drive.  It has worked AMAZINGLY well on Bruno,  I hardly ever have to correct him since I started it a couple months ago, and most of his behavior changed within a week of using it.  
His prey drive was out of control.  He would go NUTS strangling himself on his collar, screaming and barking to get to whatever it was, cat, squirrel, chicken, even large livestock like goats and horses.  This was DANGEROUS behavior, and it was a choice of 1. Give him to someone with a VERY secure fence and no livestock nearby (unlikely to happen) 2.  Euthanize him 3. Train him to have self-control, and the collar seemed the most effective way to do that.
He is NOT traumatized or shell-shocked into zombie-like behavior, as some people will assume with shock-collar training.  He seems much calmer and more balanced on walks, now that he is not searching for animals to chase.  His ears and tail say that he's calm and happy.