Libby is smart; there is no doubt about it. Unfortunately sometimes I think she must be smarter than I am because of some of the stunts she has pulled on me. If she is in the house and I call her, she will come straight to me. If she is on the cable outside and I call her, she will come straight to me. If she gets outside without a leash or the cable, and I call her. She will look at me and turn and go the other way! I can almost sense something akin to the gleeful shouting of the gingerbread man in the fairy tale. “Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me…I ‘m a young dog and a lot faster then you are!
Before I go any further, let me explain why I won’t just wait for her to come back. 1) I’m afraid she’ll get hit by a car, 2) She hates bikes and ATVs and I’m afraid one will come by while she’s loose and she’ll go after it, and hurt herself or someone else. 3) A loose dog can be a nuisance, and 4) One time she got loose and I didn’t know it. When she came home two hours later she was carrying a pellet just under the skin on her back. Some one had shot her. No, I’m not letting her run.
Chasing her will not work, she is just too quick. She’ll wait until you are millimeters from her and change direction. I don’t know how many times Kyle has tried to catch her only to miss at the last minute. One time, he felt and his momentum caused him to roll into the bottom of a stop sign and hit his shins. OUCH!
I have managed to trap her a few times though. Every time I discover a way to catch her, I do it with the understanding that it will only work once. The next time she won’t fall for whatever I did. Some things, however, she has never fallen for.
Every one suggests the food bribe, and yes, I have done it myself with other dogs. Most dogs are not going to pass up a hotdog or some other type of meat. Libby is not most dogs, and no matter how much she might want that food, she is not going to get close enough for me or anyone else to grab her. She will stand just out of reach and bark, but she will not come any closer.
Most dogs come right to my mother, and there have been a few times I have called her out of sheer desperation. When my sister’s beagles get loose, they just have to see Mom’s car and they come running. Not Libby. She’ll stand just out of reach, with an expression like she’s thinking. Oh, I know why you’re here and I’m not coming.
One time, I was heading out for an appointment or something and saw her run across the road. Knowing I didn’t have time to stop and catch her, I called Mom. She relayed to me later that the mechanic from the auto repair shop next door actually caught her that day, but what she tried first just proved how smart Libby is.
Mom brought hot dogs, but knew Libby couldn’t be directly bribed. So Mom started walking toward the house, dropping pieces of hot dog as she went. Libby starts following behind her, eating the bites. When mom got close to the front door, she threw the last bite inside. She turned just in time to see Libby run the other way.
Now, I don’t chase her. I kind of follow her to keep an eye on what she’s doing.
On occasion, I have been able to use reverse psychology on her. I’ve followed her around for a little while, and then told her that I’m tired and I’m going home. Then I turn around and head back home. Once or twice, she has beaten me back inside the house. It doesn’t always work though, so I’ll keep trying new things until I find something that will.
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