Cathy Slusser

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Gone to the Dogs

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.   

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Comments

  1. I'm so glad it's Julia that's taking up your time. Take all the time you need – I can wait. 😉

    Good for Cory – what a clever girl! I have a smart one and a stubborn one. The smart one does what she's supposed to do when she's supposed to do it. If you tell the stubborn one to do something, he just looks at you or does the opposite. He's so frustrating!

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