Dogs and Wildlife Don’t Mix

This article first  appeared as a Colorado Parks & Wildlife Press Release on December 23, 2015.

Annie loves training her clients’ dogs in the mountains of Southwest Colorado. (Photo courtesy of Tica Clarke Photography.)

We live in a visual candyland here in Colorado, and dog owners love nothing more than getting out into the natural beauty with their dogs. What’s wrong with that? On the surface, it’s a great thing to get exercise for both dog and owner. Unfortunately, there is often one thing missing on the trails, the lack of which endangers dogs, people and wildlife: a truly reliable recall to which a dog will respond.

Can you honestly call your dog off from its thrilling chase of wildlife? Dogs chasing wildlife is not only illegal, it’s dangerous for everyone. Wild animals cannot afford the calories, stress and dangers from a high-speed chase. Dogs that don’t have a reliable recall get lost in the mountains nearly every week. If I had a dollar for every client who called me after their dog was attacked by another off-leash dog, I would be a very rich dog trainer.