Training Wheels

Willie is now nearly eight months old.  A perfect time, I’m told, to begin training.

This pup is smart and friendly and affectionate.  He walks beautifully on a leash, he cooperates during sink baths, and he doesn’t chew things he’s not supposed to.  But he seems to forget his name when he’s off-leash in our backyard.

Our backyard is fenced in, so Willie is pretty safe there, especially with one of us humans in attendance.  But it troubles me that an animal who responds to whatever I say inside all but ignores me once we’re outside.  I’m not taking this personally – though I have to admit I feel sort of dissed.   There’s a lot more at stake here than my need to be obeyed; the world could be a dangerous place for an eleven-pound dog, and it’s critical Willie come to me when I tell him to.  “Sit” and “Stay” and “Roll over” is secondary, and mostly unnecessary.  But “Willie, come,” is a command that could save the dog’s life, and I need to train him to obey this command each and every time.

Where to start?

The Internet is littered with home-made dog training videos, so I limit my search to clips from the Monks of New Skete – the religious order in upstate New York that breeds, raises, and trains German Shepherds.  In an interview, one of the monks says, “We’ve gotten some very important spiritual lessons from our work with dogs, and to raise obedient dogs you must assume proper responsibility and leadership; prepare to receive this new dog into your home.  Work daily with the dog to teach it basic manners like sit, stay, and down.  The idea is to use this training to include the dogs in your life.  It isn’t about teaching the dog to do five or six things; it’s a relationship.  And training is a gateway to a deeper relationship with your dog.”

“He’s really just at the right age,” said my friend, Ann, the retired vet from Dallas.  “This is the perfect time to start working with him.”