Last week I was at Sloan's Lake park with a group of students that are in my Walking Club. At the end of the class I returned to my car with Jasper. It was a fairly warm day and Jasper needed a drink of water. There was no shade by the car and I wanted him to cool off. So, I dropped his leash and told him to 'stay'. I left him on the cool grass in the shade of large tree while I went to the hot car to get his water. As I was walking away I passed two men sitting at a bench and one man called out to me, "Will your dog really stay there?" My response was a dumbfounded "Yes". The man looked at me like I was crazy. Now, to be totally honest, I did leave one of my students with her dog nearby. But, if you know Jasper you know he is very bonded to me so to him he was alone. I left the student there only to support him if he needed it. Which he did. The man was so intrigued he walked over to him and wanted to pet him. My student politely told him that Jasper was working and that if he wanted to pet a dog he could pet hers. In the meantime three other people stopped to talk to my student and comment on Jasper's self control. So, in the span of 4 minutes four people approached the vicinity of my dog and he stayed where I left him. I did also have to re-cue him to stay when I got about 20 feet from him and the group of three people approached him-he was a little nervous about them. But, I didn't have to go all the way back. I only had to turn around and give a hand signal from about 15 feet away. All four of those people were blown away by his skills. I returned with his water, gave him his drink and then as we were leaving the man from the bench called out, "That is a good dog you have! Very disciplined." I won't lie I was proud. But, also a little sad that the idea of a dog with self discipline is so rare that it is note worthy.
Now, the funny thing about this whole situation is that I never once doubted Jasper's ability to stay there. I didn't back away slowly hoping he would stay repeating "stay....stay...stay" the whole time. I turned my back and walked away. My "stay" wasn't a hope. It wasn't a request. It was a command that was not open to negotiation. If you know me well you know that I don't often issue commands, that often my dogs and I have a conversation about what we each desire in a given situation. But, when I do give a command, I fully expect them to comply. I make sure that I do my job of clearly showing them what it means and I slowly build up their skill. But, when the time is right I fully expect them to do their job of listening to me and complying. I don't spend my life issuing commands and thinking for my dogs. I encourage them to think for themselves. But, I also take my job as guardian seriously and feel it's of utmost importance that they can listen to me in a highly distracting environment because you never know when you might need it.
"Punishment may make us obey the orders we are given,
but at best it will only teach an obedience to authority,
not a self-control which enhances our self-respect."
~Bruno Bettelheim
Jasper didn't stay there because he feared me or because he has "an obedience to authority" but rather because he has self-control. And I know that he was just as proud of himself as I was of him. This whole experience has shown me that I really need to help more of my students teach this skill to their dogs. Their dogs should have self control and self respect too.
So, I will be teaching a class with three weeks dedicated to stay and three weeks dedicated to recall. It's called my Rockin' Recall and Solid Stay class. This class is coming soon so keep an eye out for it on my class schedule.
Now, the funny thing about this whole situation is that I never once doubted Jasper's ability to stay there. I didn't back away slowly hoping he would stay repeating "stay....stay...stay" the whole time. I turned my back and walked away. My "stay" wasn't a hope. It wasn't a request. It was a command that was not open to negotiation. If you know me well you know that I don't often issue commands, that often my dogs and I have a conversation about what we each desire in a given situation. But, when I do give a command, I fully expect them to comply. I make sure that I do my job of clearly showing them what it means and I slowly build up their skill. But, when the time is right I fully expect them to do their job of listening to me and complying. I don't spend my life issuing commands and thinking for my dogs. I encourage them to think for themselves. But, I also take my job as guardian seriously and feel it's of utmost importance that they can listen to me in a highly distracting environment because you never know when you might need it.
"Punishment may make us obey the orders we are given,
but at best it will only teach an obedience to authority,
not a self-control which enhances our self-respect."
~Bruno Bettelheim
Jasper didn't stay there because he feared me or because he has "an obedience to authority" but rather because he has self-control. And I know that he was just as proud of himself as I was of him. This whole experience has shown me that I really need to help more of my students teach this skill to their dogs. Their dogs should have self control and self respect too.
So, I will be teaching a class with three weeks dedicated to stay and three weeks dedicated to recall. It's called my Rockin' Recall and Solid Stay class. This class is coming soon so keep an eye out for it on my class schedule.
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