Anyone who has heard me tell stories about Romeo knows that one of his favorite things in life is to chase the bunnies. There is very little, if anything, that can compete with the thrill of the hunt and chase for him. So he was quite excited recently when he discovered a nest of baby bunnies. Jackpot!

Romeo walks off leash with me on our property, so when he discovered the nest, I did not know it right away. When I saw something in his mouth (not knowing what it was at first), I told him to drop it, and he gently set it on the ground. Nope, not a bone as I had thought, it was a baby bunny. He’d found the nest and taken a baby. It was still very much alive, and when I went to gently pick it up it started screaming like you would not believe! I gently placed it back in the nest with it’s siblings and then we walked on.

My point to the story – and your training tip – is to teach your dog a very solid “drop it” in case you really really need it. Some things your dog picks up are not dangerous, but others can be. There are times your dog will have something he values greatly and his first choice is to keep it. But if you’ve done your homework, you want your dog to willing give up ANYTHING to you. In this case, we saved a life!

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