Close call

[reddog]

Last Friday after work Whitby and I were taking our usual 4:00 walk. I decided we’d cross over the street and head back home as we often do. Where we were crossing is 3 way stop near an elementary school. We started to cross and midway over she decided to sit down and becomes dead weight. Traffic is busy at this time of the day - especially on Friday. I grabbed hold of her collar and tried to get her moving. She got up reluctantly, took a few steps and then her collar came off. There we are in front of an oncoming car at a stop sign. I’m grasping at her, trying to get her moving and she pulls away from me and starts back to where we had started from. Now we have the whole intersection tied up. I kept hoping no one would blow their horn and spook her. I grabbed a hold of her behind her front shoulders and around her chest and asked God for help. He smiled on us and I finally got her to the sidewalk. Now I’m trying to put her collar and leash back on her and a lady is walking up the sidewalk with one of those yappy ankle biter dogs. Instead of her taking the walk in front of the elementary school office she keeps walking towards us. She walks right beside us with her dog yapping and gives me a nasty look. Makes you wonder about people sometimes. If that lady only knew how much Whitby doesn’t like little yappy dogs - they rank up there with cats! I was proud of Whitby - she just sat there and stared at the dog. I finally got her collar back on her and we continued on our way home.

[Cocoa]

Oh, the chow tree root sit, I know that one well. I think they must all do it (mine all have anyway) and not always in the most convenient place. Maybe Whitby wasn't quite finished with that side of the street yet. Cocoa will do that when she decides that we should be going back the way we came from. Glad that it all worked out okay in the end. Good girl Whitby for ignoring the little yapper. Cocoa hates those dogs too, she has no problem with small dogs but the little yippy ones drive her nuts.

[ski]

Wow!! I thought it was just Loki who did that. He will plant himself and just refuse to move for no apparent reason other than he wants to.

[morgan99]

Oh, the chow tree root sit, I know that one well. I think they must all do it (mine all have anyway) and not always in the most convenient place. Maybe Whitby wasn't quite finished with that side of the street yet. Cocoa will do that when she decides that we should be going back the way we came from. Glad that it all worked out okay in the end. Good girl Whitby for ignoring the little yapper. Cocoa hates those dogs too, she has no problem with small dogs but the little yippy ones drive her nuts.

[wokman]

Anchor, Mule; which ever analogy you choose, I defiantly think this is a Chow control tactic thing.
You are fortunate none of the drivers were engaged in a heated cell phone conversation and looked right through you. As for the land shark and its owner, sounds like two of a kind. Glad to hear Whitby kept her Chow cool in the tense situation.
I would suggest a harness, it is not escape proof but more secure than a collar. I chased my first Chow many times, she though it was play, but she was playing Russian Roulette every time she crossed the road. My Mother put an end to the escapes with a harness.

[twistedcaduceus]

My Chow Shadow escaped so many times from her collar that I decided to use a gentle leader harness on her. It's very secure. Shadow haven't learned how to wiggle her way out of it yet... so far! The problem with collars and chows is that chows have fluffy neck fur with very loose neck skin. Their head isn't that much bigger than their necks most of the time as well . This makes the collar slip 80% of the time, or at least this is the case with Shadow.

As wokman suggested, try a harness. The gentle leader one also helps when they plant themselves on the floor because of how the D-ring is placed in front of the dog instead the back. Dogs have less "backing" power than pulling forward.

[reddog]

Thank you wokman and twistedcaduceus for your input.

The evening I brought Whitby home after an 8 hour road trip, through a blizzard, to rescue her, I put a collar and leash on her that had belonged to my beloved Chloe who had passed away earlier that year. I soon discovered she is quite a puller and does not like cats! I went the next day to Petco and spoke with one of their dog trainers. He suggested I use a no-pull harness. Right!? I put the harness on her at home and attempted to go for a walk. Thank goodness she didn’t see a cat or we probably would have been in the next county in five minutes. A tech at the vet’s office suggested a gentle leader and showed me how to use it with her leash and collar. Yes! I use it with a lanyard connected to it and her collar. Sort of a double check/safety system. Really helps when she sees a cats and a little wrestling match between the two of us occurs. I do check every now and then to make sure her collar isn’t too loose around her neck.

[Judy Fox]

Good Grief - I have gone rigid reading it. It is the worst nightmare. glad it turned out ok.
Well done Whitby and well done you keeping control.

[TyChowgirl]

As far as the collar goes, I use a cloth martingale. It prevents the slipping out and doesn't tangle the fur much like slip chains.

[Constantina]

Your post gave me major goose bumps! Chestnut does that too right in the middle of the street with busy cars. I have gotten my share of nasty glares from other dog owners. Others have told me outright I should not own a dog bigger than five pounds if i cannot control them. Glad to know that you both ended up safe.