Champion of My HeartA real-time memoir about life with a fearful border collie, by Roxanne Hawn

I met Lisa Marshall from Estes Park, Colorado, during my big trip to New York City last month. Funny that we had to go across the country to meet. Anyway, she faces a challenge of being a dog-lover and a home chicken-raiser. She needs our help.

You see, Lisa wants to enjoy her mountain life (much like ours) with both her dogs and her chickens living  free on the old range, but the dogs need to learn NOT to harass the poultry.

Obsessed with the chickens, Lisa's dogs try to break into the chicken yard and have nearly eaten a bird or two that flew the coop.

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In week 5 of the 2010 Never Shock a Puppy dog blog campaign, we offer a few ideas on how to get your dog to COME when you call. The main post started to get REALLY long, so I’m continuing one idea here. And, it is this: Playing FETCH is a great way to practice recalls every single day. We even made a little how-to video (see below).

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Rather than our usual weekly training update, we’re instead sharing a video we made this week showing (as best we can) the “whiplash” recall. Trying to train and film at the same time affects Lilly’s overall performance (slows her down), but I think you’ll get the idea. The goal is to get her to turn on a dime and return when called.

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