Lie Down in Green Pastures

We recently started working on article indication in tracking. In SchH, the track layer leaves articles on the track such as leather, wood, or fabric saturated with his/her scent. When the dog follows the track, they indicate these articles by lying down with the article between their front paws and waiting for their handler to retrieve it. Then they have to wait for the handler to give the “search” command before continuing to track. (Note: Other styles of indication are allowed, this is just the type we are training)

The last time our club met, I learned how to start training this behavior by laying an “article track”. I walk 10 – 15 paces then lay down an article with a few pieces of food on it then walk another 10 – 15 paces and repeat until there are 12 – 15 articles on the track. Then when Bison follows the track, he comes upon the article and pauses to eat the food. I tell him to “platz” which is the German command for “down”. Because of his position, stooping to eat the food, the article ends up between his front paws. I then continue to drop 3 – 5 treats on top of the article to make the relationship in his mind that articles are really awesome to find. Then I pick up the article and give him the “search” command to continue on the track.

We went to the park and I laid an article track in a grassy field I then got Bison out of the truck to run the article track. He did fine following my trail to the first article and downed when I told him to, but jumped up immediately eager to continue with the track. I had to tell him to “platz” again until I released him to continue the track. At the next article, he paused only to grab the food and tried to continue rather than down at the article as I commanded. It was easy to see that he was so intent on the trail that he didn’t want to be bothered with the articles. With repetition, he will learn to enjoy the articles, but I thought this was interesting behavior.

Certainly, it is a behavior I could identify with. I, like most Americans, lead a pretty busy life. I work full time, care for my ill husband, attempt to keep up with the house work, teach Jr. Church, do some of the graphic design for my church... About a year ago and a half ago, I had a crisis of sorts when I was diagnosed with a case shingles. I was assigned to a really demanding project at work and really stressed about Lester’s medical routine. The shingles caused me to be really tired. Some mornings, I had to pray for 15 – 20 minutes just to get the strength to get out of bed. It was during this time that I came across the 23rd Psalm in my daily devotions. I memorized this passage when I was a child and was prepared to just breeze through when something caught my eye. In Psalm 23:2, I saw the phrase, ”He MAKETH me to lie down in green pastures...” It hit me, “Wow, God was saying that he MAKES me rest” This is a benefit just like the other things mentioned in the passage, supplying my needs, protecting me, giving me courage... I had been pretty miffed that God allowed me to get shingles when I had so much going on, but this helped me see that it was really a blessing. It forced me to get the rest that I needed to face the stresses and demands of everyday life and take the time to focus on Him to get through the rough times. Like Bison, I was so focused on the track that I was following, I didn’t want to stop to “lie down” and wait, to listen for the Master’s voice.