I let my Yorkie have runaround time on a field which is fenced in and not near a road. Tonight I was on there with him and in the ajoining field a large white horse appeared I had checked the field was empty but he must have been in his stable.  I have introduced Arthur to these on the lead and hes fine.

I have been training him on recall and the command is "whats this" and squeek his toy.  Well tonight it came in handy.  Arthur set off at a hell of a speed towards the horse I shouted whats this and he came near but not near enough to get him on his lead.  I was walking towards him and he took this as come on then mum lets take this thing on together! and headed back towards the horses.  I then shouted the same commands but this time I run away from him and he returned straight away.  I gave him his treat and put his lead on.  I took this as a little triumph and learnt a big lesson.  He going again tomorrow to be introduced again on his lead and I will be checking the field more carefully next time.  To see something as small as him taking on a huge horse made me wonder what goes on in these small dogs minds.....  He didnt worry the horse in anyway it didnt even break its stride.

Hi there.  Well done with your recall.  We all come across tricky situations at some point and yes I often wonder what goes on in dog's minds as I come across horses quite a lot when I'm out with my 4 dogs.  The thing about 4 dogs is its safety in numbers and when one starts they all join in.  I sometimes feel as if I have to have eyes in the back of my head.  The secret is to catch them before they see anything - that way I can get them all to come in and sit while the horse goes past.  If they see the horse first its a completely different ball game and I'm left looking like a complete fool.  It sounds to me like you're doing a fab job with the recall.  Keep up the good work.

Annie

Thanks Annie.

I wasnt sure if the running away was a cop out but it seemed to work.  Im stressing with one I cant imagine my stress levels with four. 

You're using all the techniques that I would use.  I tend to use "what's this?" because my dogs are that nosy and they come running in case they're going to miss a really tasty treat.  When I first encountered a horse it was really stressful.  I only moved to a more rural area a year ago and before then there were never any horses on our walks.  Now the dogs are used to them and to be honest the horses are used to dogs and are quite bomb-proof.  As far as I can see you are doing all the right things and really its just a case of consistency.  It all comes right in the end!!!  Good luck and keep me up to date with your progress.

Annie