I realized it has been almost weeks since I last blogged. Facebook is not to blame, Julia’s Story
is. As I research and write, there is
not much time to do anything else. The good news is that Julia is finally across
the Atlantic, but other than the novel, I don’t have much else to write about. Except dogs.
This post was written before I left for Guatemala. I thought I had posted it already but since I
didn’t, here is a glimpse into what I am doing when I am not sitting on the
couch surrounded by research materials and imagining what it was like to immigrate
to the United States 175 years ago.
And have you completely forgotten this word of
encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when
he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure
hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children
are not disciplined by their father? Hebrews
12:5-7 (NIV)
BK (before kids), I was a dog trainer. Not as a career, but as a hobby. It started when husband gave me a Doberman
puppy for Valentine’s Day the year we got married. Everything I had heard about Dobermans prior
to the arrival of that bundle of joy was negative so I immediately signed him
(the puppy, not husband) up for obedience classes. It turned out that Dobies were much mellower
than I had been told, and he and I went on to earn two obedience titles before
his early death of cancer. In the
process, I fell in love with dog obedience, training and showing. I was certified by the National Association
of Dog Obedience Instructors and for five years, taught classes or trained one
of our dogs two or three nights week.
That had to stop when our first son arrived. It wasn’t a hard decision to choose my child
over my dogs, but I did miss the fun of the obedience ring. Now, twenty seven years later, I am
rediscovering the pleasure of obedience training with Cory. She is so smart that I have to work to stay
one step ahead of her. I also have to
rethink a lot of training methods that I used almost three decades ago. Things are kinder and gentler in the
obedience ring these days. No metal
chain collars, no stepping on the leash to force your dog into a down position,
no slaps on the butt when they don’t sit fast enough. There is very little negative reinforcement;
all is positive, verbal praise, play, smiles, treats, lots of treats and pats
on the back. At least for the dogs. I got reprimanded for giving her a tough
correction with the leash when she failed to stay in heel position. I am excited how enthusiastic Cory is. She loves being with me and when I tell her
“watch me” never fails to meet my gaze.
Perhaps she is so enthusiastic because training is enjoyable, but I am
stumped to find a way to show her that she has done something wrong without a
tool to use for correction. There are
only so many times I can say “No!” before she tunes me out and withholding a
food treat makes her crazy. As I was pondering how best to teach Cory
what I want, I thought about how some people think God should only teach us
lessons through good things when sometimes, God allows us to suffer the
consequences of our sin in order to correct us. (Note: Bad things don’t always mean we have
sinned, sometimes, they are the result of living in a sinful world) It is important that we understand that God
is teaching us a lesson for our good.
It’s a complicated theology that we often ignore and have difficulty
explaining. Especially when I am out of time to write
because by tomorrow, my dog needs to know to lie down on command without
expecting a treat.
PS She passed her
class despite not going down without a treat!
We are still working on that.
Labels: dogs
