My Dog Bolts After Deer

And helps me find my “No!”

Most of the time, Lukas gives me a sign that he’s about to bolt. He stops, assumes a Pointer stance, tail rigid, eyes locked forward. I have a nanosecond to ask him to “leave it” as I quickly scan the surroundings to see what his super-hero senses are telling him. As I spot the groundhog or deer moving through the tall grasses laced with wildflowers, I tell him “good find!” He releases his stance and moves on to the next thrill.

Sometimes however, there either isn’t a perceivable warning.* Every now and then, he bolts like a race dog out of the starting gate, yanking the leash out of my hand and/or pulling me off my feet.

Yesterday, was one of those days. This time, though, our latest practices paid off and I’m so excited. Lukas has been helping me say “NO!” and it worked!

Throughout my life, saying “No” has been a challenge. (I know I’m not alone in this, right friends?) I’m always agreeing to take on much more than I can handle - physically and emotionally. This trait of mine had become so overwhelming that I would dream I was trying to scream “NO!” and, in my dream, I could not. Nothing would come out of my mouth no matter how much I tried to yell. In fact, I would try so hard to get any sound out of my mouth that I would wake up trying to shout.

Yesterday, though, this was not an issue. As we were walking through the forest, the white tail of a deer flashed not 6 feet away. Previously blending in perfectly with the trees, we hadn’t seen it nor had Lukas caught its scent. However, that blaze of white sprung all 65 pounds of him into immediate action. Startled, I screamed “NOOOOOOOOOO!” and quickly I braced myself for the pending snap of his 30’ leash.

It never came.

Instead, as fast as he had taken off, he stopped. As I realized I was holding a slack leash, I opened my eyes and saw him looking back at me with a mixture of surprise, pride and “heck-yeah” all in one.

I heard him say “Nice job!”

With this simple practice with Lukas, I found a reason to scream “NO!” and not stop myself from doing so. Even though my husband wishes it wasn’t so loud - I know that this exercise to find my NO! is important. And empowering.

Do you feel like you need to say NO more often? How has your animal helped you do so? Let me know!

Hello there little Deer!