Subject: $1,800 emergency vet bill (or worse)
Dear Friend,
Years ago, my brother and I worked in my Uncle Bubba’s restaurant.
Now, Uncle Bubba was loud, larger than life, and about as subtle as a sledgehammer. He terrified me in the kitchen.
One chaotic morning during the breakfast rush, Bubba grabs a corn muffin off the rack, tosses it over to my brother, and barks:
"Heat it!"
Bubba turns around to work the grill. Ten seconds later, he spins back around—and stops dead in his tracks.
My brother is standing there, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, desperately cramming the last half of this greasy corn muffin down his pie hole.
Bubba’s face turns purple. He roars at the top of his lungs:
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! I TOLD YOU TO HEAT IT!"
My brother, barely able to breathe around a mouthful of dry crumbs, looks at him completely bewildered and mumbles:
"...I thought you said EAT it."
I hit the tile floor laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.
It was hilarious at that moment.
It is NOT hilarious when your 70-pound dog pulls the exact same stunt on a pitch-black sidewalk next week during Halloween.
Because here’s the cold, hard truth:
When you scream "LEAVE IT!" at a dog lunging toward high-grade junk food, their primitive, greedy little brain translates your words the exact same way my brother did.
To them, you aren't saying "stop."
They hear: "Hurry up and EAT IT before they take it away from you!"
And in the real world, that mistake happens in less than two seconds.
You’re walking down the sidewalk on Halloween night. It’s dark. The air smells like fallen leaves and excitement. Kids in costumes are darting across lawns.
Your dog’s nose is glued to the pavement.
Suddenly, you hear a rustle. Then that awful, wet, frantic chewing sound.
You yank the leash. You scream:
"LEAVE IT!"
Nothing. He gulps it down whole.
Was it an innocent piece of candy corn? Or was it a fun-size dark chocolate bar wrapped in foil? Or a tiny box of chocolate-covered raisins—a double dose of kidney-destroying poison?
By 11:30 PM, you aren’t sitting on the couch relaxing. You’re pacing a fluorescent-lit emergency vet waiting room, watching a tech shove a tube of activated charcoal down your best friend's throat, waiting for a bill that will easily run $1,500 to $3,000.
Listen to me closely:
Most dog owners are living under a dangerous, deadly illusion.
If your "Leave It" is not an instantaneous, reflexive snap—where the dog's head whips away from the ground before his brain even processes what he smelled—you do not have a trained dog. You have a dog playing Russian roulette with neighborhood sidewalks.
Transforming that command from a polite suggestion into a hardwired, bulletproof survival reflex is one of the foundational skills your dog must learn. We take them beyond the living-room tricks and condition real impulse control under real-world distractions—so you never have to hold your breath on a walk again.
Here is what to do right now before Halloween hits:
Schedule a free behavior consultation. Click the link below or call the school to lock in your time.
Bring your dog in. We'll evaluate their impulse control on the spot and build a custom game plan to fix it.
Get the training done. Your dog becomes safer, reliable under real-world pressure, and ten times more enjoyable to live with.
Spots on the schedule are strictly first-come, first-served. Click the link right now to claim yours before the week fills up.
Best,
Eric Letendre
Eric Letendre’s Dog Training School
P.S. We’re also throwing our annual Halloween party right here at the school on Friday, October 23rd, starting at 5:00 PM!
Bring your dog in costume, come mingle with the crew, and enjoy some great company and treats (the safe kind). It’s always a blast, but space inside gets tight fast. If you're planning to come, reply to this email and let me know so we can hold a spot for you and your dog on the guest list!