Obediance Training

By Dennis Rowan

The sheep dogs at Psalm 23 camp are invaluable. Nothing can replace them. No man has the swiftness of a Border Collie. You and I may be able to think quickly and determine what needs to be done in an emergency with respect to a group of sheep, but we cannot complete most of the tasks the dogs do in such an effortless fashion. I've never seen a dog show and never taken dogs to a dog obedience school, but I have been privileged to talk to trainers of Border Collies, read books, and finally I have trained dogs, not for show or dog field trials, but for the day to day practical sheep flock management.

Our dogs are capable of learning dozens of commands. They learn quickly and they love to please their master. They do, however, have some faults that often reflect characteristics of people, people like you and me.

Although our dogs know many commands, less than a dozen are necessary for the hard-core sheep handling details here at Psalm 23. Dog trainers can teach dogs a lot of cute little things that amuse us and this has some value for entertainment and for demonstrating what dogs are capable of learning. You can see that at a circus. Unfortunately there are times around here that it appears as though we are part of a circus, complete with what clowns might be found in the area, but we do not plan it that way. On the contrary, our dogs work very hard most of the time and cuteness is not our objective.

Dogs have what I call different levels of learning and obedience. The firs level comes when a dogs responds to my command while still on a twelve-foot training leash. If the dog disobeys I still have control with the leash. From that the dog graduates to the second level, which is obedience to commands without the restrictions of a leash. If he becomes disobedient then we go back to step one until the lesson is learned.

Level three obedience is the dog's response to commands under moderate stress, pressure, or distraction. You see it's one thing for a young dog to obey without hesitation in a relaxed environment with no other animals or people around to turn the dog's attention away from my commands, but it's something else to obey with multiple distractions.

Level four obedience is response under heavy pressure, during a crisis or emergency. It can be described in the framework of "Dog, do it now, this ani't no puppy dog training session!". One distinct difference between level four and the first three levels is that disobedience at level four does not call for reprimand and/or retraining. You see, the dog may get reprimanded for being disobedient followed by retraining in levels one, two, and three to make sure the lesson is learned.
At level three a dog may take a short cut because of laziness. If that goes uncorrected it will be easier for the same disobedience the next time that temptation comes. Reprimand is necessary, but retaining may not be. In many cases, I know, and the dog knows he has been disobedient. I may give a command, the dog disobeys, and followed by my loud voice that says only the dog's name. The firmness in my voice causes the dog to finally obey. Many people have experienced the same thing with their children.

You might say school is not is session when we operate at obedience level number four. School is out; we are not teaching that lesson any more. It is time for serious business. I know what needs to be done and I give the command, for example, for my dog to circle the flock approaching them from the left side as the dog faces the sheep. To the dog this may appear exactly like a situation we had the day before at the same location. Let's say the dog disobeys, circles the opposite way, the sheep crowd against a temporary fence I just put up this morning. Then they crash through the fence, become entangled in it, and then mix with another group of sheep. We have a situation where the obedient dog within 30 seconds could have corralled the sheep and we would continue about our business. With disobedience in this example the 30 seconds could turned into destruction of the fence and perhaps another two to three hours to gather the sheep and sort them into the correct groups.

Obedience at level four means complete obedience. When I give the command the dog either does exactly as I say and when I say it or I have a disaster on my hands. An additional point is worth emphasizing; potentially disastrous situations seldom depend upon a dog's knowledge of a large number of commands. The example given above depicts a disaster that resulted from disobedience to one single command.

What about us, you and me? What about Christians and their obedience levels? What about Adam? God didn't give some elaborate list of trees and fruits with complicated directions about what to eat and what to leave alone, did He? God gave one command; "And the Lord God commanded the man' You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" (Genesis 2:16-17). Talk about disaster for a lack of level four obedience!

What about God's command to Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice? It was a simple command. Abraham was obedient even though he didn't understand everything God was doing. Abraham didn't need to understand anything other than God's command.

We sometimes get a command from God and then try to lean on our own understanding as how it is to work out, or more likely how it will not work. Based on our understanding we try to put God off. Or, we propose Plan B to God. God has a plan it is Plan A. If you and I insist on operating at obedience levels one, two and three when He calls for level four obedience, He may quietly send us to the kennel. Are you familiar with the story of Moses and why God did not allow him to enter the Promised Land? I sometimes quietly take a disobedient dog to the kennel and secure one of the other dogs that I trust will do the job.

The Bible is full of references to man's obedience and disobedience, but to close I wish to call your attention to some things Jesus said about obedience as found in the 14th chapter of John. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (vs. 15) "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching…" (vs. 23). "…. the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me…" (vs. 31).