Trust - A Deadly Disease Discussions

maybe this TRUE story will enlighten those who think their husky is reliable?

Trust - A Deadly Disease

Should you trust your husky off-leash? Read on...

There is a deadly disease stalking your dog, a hideous, stealthy thing just waiting its chance to steal your beloved friend. It is not a new disease, or one for which there are inoculations. The disease is called trust.

You knew before you ever took your puppy home that it could not be trusted. The breeder, who provided you with this precious animal warned you, drummed it into your head. Puppies steal off counters, destroy anything expensive, chase cats, take forever to house train, and must never be allowed off lead!

When the big day finally arrived, heeding the sage advice of the breeder you escorted your puppy to his new home, properly collared and tagged, the lead held tightly in your hand.

At home the house was "puppy-proofed". Everything of value was stored in the spare bedroom, garbage stowed on top of the refrigerator, cats separated, and a gate placed across the door to the living room to keep at least part of the house puddle free. All windows and doors had been properly secured, and signs placed in all strategic points reminding all to "CLOSE THE DOOR!"

Soon it becomes second nature to make sure the door closes .9 of a second after it was opened and that it really latched. "DON'T LET THE DOG OUT" is your second most verbalized expression. (The first is "NO!") You worry and fuss constantly, terrified that your darling will get out and a disaster will surely follow. Your fiends comment about whom you love most, your family or the dog. You know that to relax your vigil for a moment might lose him to you forever.

And so the weeks and months pass, with your puppy becoming more civilized every day, and the seeds of trust are planted. It seems that each new day brings less destruction, less breakage. Almost before you know it your gangly, slurpy puppy has turned into an elegant, dignified friend.

Now that he is a more reliable, sedate companion, you take him more places. No longer does he chew the steering wheel when left in the car. And darned if that cake wasn't still on the counter this morning. And, oh yes, wasn't that the cat he was sleeping with so cozily on your pillow last night?

At this point you are beginning to become infected, the disease is spreading its roots deep into your mind.

And then one of your friends suggests obedience. You shake your head and remind her that your dog might run away if allowed off lead, but you are reassured when she promises the events are held in a fenced area. And, wonder of wonders, he did not run away, but come every time you called him!

All winter long you go to weekly obedience classes. And, after a time you even let him run loose from the car to the house when you get home. Why not, he always runs straight to the door, dancing a frenzy of joy and waits to be let in. And remember he comes every time he is called. You know he is the exception that proves the rule. (And sometimes late at night, you even let him slip out the front door' to go potty and then right back in.)

At this point the disease has taken hold, waiting only for the right time and place to rear its ugly head.

Years pass - it is hard to remember why you ever worried so much when he was a puppy. He would never think of running out the door left open while you bring in the packages from the car. It would be beneath his dignity to jump out the window of the car while you run into the convenience store. And when you take him for those wonderful long walks at dawn, it only takes one whistle to send him racing back to you in a burst of speed when the walk comes too close to the highway. (He still gets into the garbage, but nobody is perfect!)

This is the time the disease has waited for so patiently. Sometimes it only has to wait a year or two, but often it takes much longer.

He spies the neighbor dog across the street, and suddenly forgets everything he ever knew about not slipping outdoors, jumping out windows or coming when called due to traffic. Perhaps it was only a paper fluttering in the breeze, or even just the sheer joy of running.

Stopped in an instant. Stilled forever - Your heart is as broken as his still beautiful body.

The disease is trust. The final outcome; hit by a car.

Every morning my dog Shah bounced around off lead exploring. Every morning for seven years he came back when he was called. He was perfectly obedient, perfectly trustworthy. He died fourteen hours after being hit by a car. Please do not risk your friend and heart. Save the trust for things that do not matter.

© 1988 By Sharon Mathers

Mo

iv seen this before on another forum... very true. exactly the reason i dont let kira off ever lol

So am I right in thinking the dog escaped the house and ran across the street to greet the neighbours dog, then got hit by a car? If this is the case is it not fair to say this can happen to anybody's dog as accidents do happen?

I don't want to dumb down your point, but to me this isn't really about Husky types being trusted off lead but more about a tragic accident which can happen to anyone with any breed at any time.

I've seen this story written about the greyhound on another forum by the same author so maybe someone has changed the breed?

its posted a lot when off lead sibes are mentioned lol, cuz nearly all offlead sibe owners will get caught out one day... they all learn the hard way....

for me it was when my girl got onto a train track (i thought the field was enclosed... she didnt lol)... shes not been allowed off since

Thank you for posting that. I have seen it before, or a variation of it, but others may not have.

I loved the 5 years we had with Aster where I could take her to a safe place way from traffic and let her run loose or have a swim. However, around home and other places where there was traffic, I was very careful to keep her on leash.

Thank you for posting that. Im not sure it would be just Husky's though, I think we have to remember alot of breeds could do just that, worth thinking about though;-)

Surely thats the same for any breed.

Its just a accident really sad

I totally agree with this point.

Unfortunately, I cannot let Lennon off lead as he finds freedom far more exciting than anything I have to offer for his return.

I have seen a shorter version of this before - I thought is was a bloke though. Certainly american. Maybe this is a rewrite?
My response is that it is a very long justification for mishandling. A dog is not a child and doesn`t learn road safety. That`s why you keep it on lead round traffic.
I totally trust my dogs..... to act like dogs.
My dogs are not allowed in traffic off lead. End of.

Trust is NOT a disease! Trust is a beautiful bond between you and your dog. I hate this story I have read it before.

What an awful way to look at the world. Where love and trust and friendship and companionship are terrible diseases waiting to steal away your loved ones and break your heart!

Loving another being, animal or person is a gamble, we know that. Accidents can happen, illnesses can happen. You can't go through your life never trusting those you love because they might do something stupid, or suddenly die.

What a horrible anxious life this man must now lead, I would hate to see his next dog. The one he never allows out, or panics and yells at when the door is open. Terrified that that horrible disease Trust or its worse cancerous LOVE might creep into his heart and break it all over again.

Be sensible by all means. Don't walk your dog offlead around traffic or alongside motorways, but to say TRUST is a disease? I despair!

Excellent post and one i agree with 100%. The story is about an accident which to be fair could happen to anyTHING not just dogs. There are risks and dangers to every aspect of life but the alternative is a live half lived in fear. I would rather have a full and happy life doing the things i loved then be locked up in my house doing nothing all day and live a long time.

Exactly! and I don't think that a tragic accident like this is justification for never letting a dog run off lead. Just be sensible about it! I can't trust Dandy to come back the moment he is called, but I can let him run on the beach, away from traffic and other hazards. A life lived on a lead IMHO is not a full life!

I think its down to common sense and sound judgement. We were at a service station and these people let there dog jump out the car without a lead or even looking who was coming. He nearly ended up under our wheel as we were just driving past. Another time we saw a dog nearly get knocked over when he was on a zippy extending lead that wast locked so it was a bit pointless having the dog on the lead. He just walked out into the road!

Not only could it happen to any breed but one could argue the ethics of having a dog, and never allowing it the freedom to run/play excercise itself as nature intended, eg a life condemed to being on lead. Obviously this is different for dogs that are worked regularly, doing what they were bred to do but these dogs were not bred to be stuck on lead and excercised soley in such a manner.

There are far worse things than a dog not being allowed off lead! You will find that the majority of owners who don't trust their dogs off lead ensure they more than make up for it - these dogs tend to have a far better life than those who are simply driven up to a field, let off to run around for a while, popped back in the car and taken home again.

i was thinking the same thing...

excellent post! i agree.

i agree, i dont trust jake offlead in the park just now (recall is still a work in progress) but there is a woodland bit i sometimes take him to a wee bit behind the park (too difficult to get to in the snow though) where i know he will be safe so i let him off there.

NO dog IMO should EVER be condemned to a life on the lead. A life on the lead is life at ANY cost ... there is more to life than just life for the sake of it, IMO. How does the old saying go? Better to have lived, and loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

I have in fact lost a dog to road death ... my beloved GSP, Lizzie. She ran across the road chasing a squirrel and was run over by the local vet, of all people. Sadly, despite his heroic efforts following an emergency dash to his surgery, she died. However ... she died doing what she loved the best. Had I never let her off the lead, she would have been fat and bored out of her brains. In fact, she wasn't with me when she ran off, she was loose in our garden and managed to escape out through the back fence, across the playing field and across the road, where she met her untimely end.

One of my pet hates is Siberian Husky breeders who say you cannot let sibes off the lead. This is utter nonsense ... I know several pure Sibes whose owners let their dogs run free. If you are looking for a dog like a BC which will stick to your heels like glue if you ask them to, then yes, you cannot let a husky off the lead. But if you want just a normal basic recall, not necessarily perfect, but sufficient, then you can absolutely train a husky to do this ... I know, because I have done it, and with 2 husky crosses as well.

My personal opinion is that this is laziness ... it is an effort to train a sibe to have a good recall, especially if you have more than 1. You just have to go that extra mile to train them. It takes time, but you can train them to have a good basic recall, just like any other breed.

No dog should ever be off lead around traffic. But away from traffic, yes. My dog has a very good recall, and good obedience, but I would never ever trust him beside a road, or around livestock.

Several of the dogs I know who aren't routinely let off lead are neither fat nor bored out of their brains, their owners actually make an effort to ensure this isn't the case ;-)