In my conversations with other dog owners, I've been noticing a pattern.

Owner: Hershey absolutely will not come back to me when we’re outside. He just turns his ears off, especially when there’s another dog around.

Me: Oh, sure. We can fix that. To start, we’ll need some fabulous snack like hot dogs or roast beef…

Owner: <guilty giggle>

It brings back memories. I remember being told years ago not to feed my dogs “people food” lest it reveal my weak moral fiber, and I remember the sneaky pleasure of finally getting permission from a bona fide dog trainer to just go ahead and pull out the cheese. What a crime it is that we’ve been told not to use our most powerful motivator when training a dog to do a really difficult behavior. Coming when called when off-leash seems to be the gold-standard behavior in this category. It’s what owners really want, sometimes it’s what they need for their dogs’ safety, and it’s many dogs’ lowest priority when they’re off having a good time.

Just like us, our dogs are making micro-decisions all the time. Split-second cost-benefit analyses. Consider these three theoretical scenarios, all of which involve getting you to leave your house.