# Koda Has Made Me So Happy!



## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

I am beyond proud and excited right now. I was actually quite upset with Koda at first, but he's more than redeemed himself for his behavior. I'll explain in the story...


So, in February (On Valentine's Day to be specific) it will have been a year since I got Koda. Between the Heartworm treatment he had to undergo and the ridiculous, unnecessary heat in the summertime here, I haven't had much opportunity to work with Koda on his off leash recall, so I didn't know how trustworthy he was. I know he follows me around religiously in the house and the backyard, and we started working on dropping the leash during walks, but when it came to open fields or even hiking, would he stay near me? I really wasn't sure.


I decided that I really need to buckle down and work on it as I want him to have a reliable recall so I _can_ do these things with him. I'm tired of just going for extremely long walks on leash. I'd like him to be able to get out and run, really let loose. So I grabbed him and Riley and headed down to one of the many open grassy fields by my house. Riley is completely trustworthy off leash, I don't worry about her. For Koda, however, I prepared a long lead, grabbed some nice, tasty Ham, and then got a tennis ball for the two of them.


Well, right out of the gate Koda decided he was going to walk like an idiot to the field. Pulling on the leash, trying to mark bushes, etc. I was like, "What is your deal??!", as he's not generally this bad, I've worked with him on walking properly. So I'm annoyed by the time we get there. I unhook Riley from her leash and let her run off and do her own thing, I don't have to worry about her going anywhere. Then I empty my bag of the long lead, Ham, and ball I brought and set my bag down on the grass....


Koda decides he's going to pee on my bag.


I lost it. I couldn't believe he did that. In the entire time I've had him he's not once peed on anything of mine, inside or outside of the house. Luckily I moved it out of the way before it got saturated, but I was like, "What the heck are you doing??!". I was so frustrated and upset between him misbehaving on the walk there, then him peeing on my bag, that I threw my arms up in the air, dropped his leash, and started walking away.


He started following me...


I gave him this look like, _Go away, I'm so angry with you right now_, and kept walking.


He kept following me...


Then I realized he wasn't running off. He wasn't going anywhere. He was staying right there with me. There was no incentive, I didn't have the Ham or the ball. I wasn't reeling him in by his leash. He was just staying by me. Even Riley was halfway across the field sniffing something. I called Riley back to me, she came, and all three of us went back to where I left what I had brought (Bag, lead, ball). I threw the ball, Riley went after it, Koda went after Riley. Riley came back with the ball...And so did Koda! Then Koda went maybe fifteen feet to sniff something, I called him, he came right back!


Then Riley got the zoomies...And oh man did Koda have fun chasing after her. They tore across the grass for a few minutes and both came back to me when I called them. I am just so, so proud of Koda right now. This is maybe the third or fourth time I've had the opportunity to take him out to that field and work on his recall, and he just showed me that he's not going to bolt. I kept an eye out for distractions, just in case, but he stayed within a certain radius of me and every time I called him, he came right back.


I think this is going to become a daily activity now that I know I can trust Koda off leash in the field, too. They're both going to get so much more exercise than they do just on walks. After Koda proving himself trustworthy off leash I didn't even care than he pissed on my bag, I'm just so proud of him!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

wow. suckage for the misbehavior but YAY!!!! for awesome recall!!!


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## GSD_Xander (Nov 27, 2010)

Melina said:


> After Koda proving himself trustworthy off leash I didn't even care than he pissed on my bag, I'm just so proud of him!


LOL  What a great story!


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

:happyboogie: I took Koda and Riley back out to the field this afternoon and he's keeping consistent! He kept an eye on where I was and came back every time I called him, even without my needing to give him any sort of treat. I'm so proud of my Koda! I was beginning to wonder if he would require a lot of work and training to be trustworthy off leash, but obviously not at all! I remember trying to work with Riley, it was a nightmare, she had me in tears wanting to rip my hair out.  Koda is _so_ much better than she was! I'm so happy with how well he's doing! He's going to get so much more exercise running around than just on his walks now!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

What a good boy!


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