True Obedience (Rally Trial- Part 2)

As mentioned in the previous post, we recently entered a Rally Obedience event. In one of the trials, Bison obeyed every command but chewed on his dangling leash through the entire run. It was a way to let off his drive, blow nervous energy. His obedience was only on the outside, it wasn’t in his heart. Though he technically followed the rules, it wasn’t TRUE obedience.

This was the second lesson that I learned from our first Rally experience. Obedience that doesn’t come from the heart is not true obedience. I think of the beginning of Psalm 119 (below) which talks about following God’s law from the heart. Yet, so many times we go through the motions. We go to church, say our prayers, read our token chapters of the Bible, but never let it reach our heart. Like Bison, our efforts to follow the “rules” fall short of TRUE obedience. Instead, as the passage describes, we need to seek him with our whole heart.

Psalm 119:1 – 11“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Going Through Trials (Rally Trial- Part 1)

Bison and I participated in our first UKC Rally Obedience event recently. Some of my club members were going to compete and invited us along. We haven’t trained specifically for Rally, but the commands are very similar to what we are working on for SchH. After looking through the requirements, I decided to give it a try. It looked fun and I figured that it could only help with some of the distraction problems we have been working on.

I went into the event not even ever seeing a Rally course before. I didn’t think we could qualify (receive a passing score without any disqualifying errors), but we qualified for 2 out of 4 trials we entered. Most importantly, going through the trials helped me see what we really need to work on, both with the ones that we passed and the ones that we didn’t pass. I have a list of things to train on before we go to the next trial.

It is the same with trials that we go through in our lives. Psalm 119:71 says “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” When we go through tough times, we learn about ourselves. Even when we fail, we learn what we need to work on and with training in God’s Word, so we can be ready to pass the next trial.

Looking in the Mirror

To work on Bison’s previously mentioned klutziness and jumping problem, we enrolled in an agility class. The class is at a club that we have never trained with before. The first night, Bison was very distracted in general with the new place, new instructor, new dogs... One distraction though became a lesson to me.

The club has a few places where they have placed mirrors on the wall. They are about 18 inches by 4 feet tall. Each time we walked by the mirror, Bison stopped to look at himself in the mirror. The first couple of times he did it, it was cute like he was saying, “Who’s that handsome guy”. But after five or six times, it was annoying. It was to the point that he wasn’t able to do the obstacles because he was so focused on himself.

It hit me that I am like that sometimes too. I focus so much on myself that the obstacles of life trip me up. This concept reminds me of an acrostic for “Joy” that I learned as a child, Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. This is based on Matthew 22:36-40 “ Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Focus on loving God first of all, then others, then yourself. When in times of trouble it is very easy to reverse that and just like Bison, focus so much on myself that the rest of the world just stops. Its time to put away the mirror.

Falling Down

Author's Note: When I started going through some tough times, I looked around me and saw that other Christians just seemed to go through trials always with a smile on their face and never had a bad day. It wasn't until a dear friend and mentor of mine told me about her experience of loosing her husband did I realize that I had a distorted view of reality. Because of this experience, I feel it is really important to be "real". It is important to me to share my failures as well as successes.

We’ve identified a new training challenge. Bison is a klutz. In protection work, we had Bison on a bungee on a tree and the helper used the sleeve to encourage Bison to jump higher. His lack of coordination showed when he leaped to the end of the bungee, didn’t get his feet under him, and fell on his back. This happened about 4 times. Each time, he just got up, shook it off and tried again.

There are many times in my Christian life that I fall down. This past Sunday is a good example. When I got home from church, I found my husband unconscious at the table. After a quick assessment, I knew that it was a low blood sugar reaction. I wasn’t able to awake him so he couldn’t drink a juice and his glucose “rescue” syringe was expired. I had no choice but to call 911. The paramedics arrived a few moments later. They gave Lester glucose through IV, waited until he could answer some simple questions, and then left.

I have to confess, I didn’t handle the situation well. I was really scared that this happened when I wasn’t home. I just kept thinking, “How could I ever leave him alone again? Would I be in constant fear that I would come home and find him unconscious or worse?” Then I got angry. I thought, “This isn’t fair. After everything else that he has been through in the last year, now this. Why can’t we just be like a normal couple our age? We should be going out for coffee after church, not THIS!” I basically had a rotten attitude about it. The next morning, I had to go back to the office for the first time since the amputation. I woke up filled with anxiety. I knew that I needed to get make this right. I am in the habit of having my prayer time while I shower each morning. I spent that time in prayer confessing my sin. It was pride that made me feel that we deserve something better. I was not thankful for what I have, for the fact that Lester was ok. I thought about Bison falling down and getting back up over and over again, and it reminded me of Proverbs 24:16a, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:” I want to be “just” which means “guided by the truth”. Time to get up, shake it off and try again.

The Search for Perfection

We love having two dogs. Now that Moose is gone, there is a hole in our family. I’ve spent a lot of time researching and talking to several people about a puppy. I have much more experience and knowledge since the last time we selected a puppy, just enough to be dangerous. Also, now that I am participating in SchH training I have many more requirements. During one of the conversations I had with a breeder, she reminded me that “no dog is perfect”. She was right, no matter how much I research and plan, the puppy is going to have some challenge. It might be an aspect of temperament, something physical, or just might be a challenge to train. Being reminded of this helped me relax and make the final decision to be put on the waiting list for the litter I had been obsessing over for weeks. It was reassuring to not have the pressure of finding perfection.

This lesson came in handy last week. My husband, Lester, had an infection in an ulcer that he had on his foot. We had been to the wound clinic the following week and they prescribed some really major antibiotics. They drew a line on his foot where the infection was on the foot, noticeable by the red color, and told me to watch to make sure the infection didn’t spread. I changed his bandages every night, but didn’t see anything to be concerned about until the night before his follow up appointment. He had several water blisters on his toes. One of the toes was a really dark purple color, almost black and there was a bad odor. I knew this wasn’t good, really not good. Due to the kidney failure and the diabetes, his circulation is bad and his feet are high risk.

The next day when the bandages were removed in the office, two toes were very dark and the smell was horrible. After being examined by three different doctors, the recommendation was made that he be admitted to the hospital. They also wanted to do an exploratory surgery the next day to determine the extent of the infection and how much circulation was left. Preliminary examination showed no pulse inside the “infection line” that was drawn on his foot the week before. The doctor explained that it was likely that they would need to remove one or more toes and as much as his leg up to the knee.

I was overwhelmed. Having seen the state of his toes, I knew they would have to come off. I knew that the hospital stay would be several days and the recovery months. The lack of sleep, extra chores, special dog care, and stress ran through my mind in seconds. In addition to the physical demands, I knew that this would be very emotional for Lester. Would I be able to handle seeing him in so much physical and emotional pain? How would I be able to change the dressings and see his foot missing toes? I am running out of vacation time at work and I knew that in addition to the hospital stay there would be weeks and weeks of check ups and therapy. How could I fit it all in? I began to pray for strength and quoted in my mind every verse I knew about strength, begging God to help us get through this. Claiming his promises, I included in one of the text messages I sent from the doctor’s office “His strength is perfect”. Taken from, 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I knew that I did not have the strength to get through the days ahead, but HE did!

The next morning as I prepared to go back to the hospital to be with Lester before his surgery, I read an e-mail from my sister, Nancy. The only thing in the e-mail was the verse 1 John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” It really caught my attention and I looked up the chapter to read it in context. I stopped at verse 18 when I read, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment...” I have read this verse a million times, but that morning it became so clear to me what it meant. Perfection. His strength is perfect and his love is perfect. I thought of how much I love Lester and how much I want to be there for him, and my love is just human, selfish love. How much more would God, in his perfect love be there for Lester, and for me? With God with us, we have nothing to fear. He doesn’t want us to be in the torment that fear brings. Perfect love leaves no room for questioning, no room for fear. Lester was EXACTLY where he was meant to be that day. I was exactly where I was supposed to be that day and God was with us. He offered his perfect strength where I had none and His perfect love when my faith was small. I felt peace wash over me yet again. Where my search for perfection in a puppy came up short and my search for perfection in myself came up short, my search for perfection in my God did not.

Author’s note:
Lester did go into surgery that day. During the pre-surgery exam, we saw that all four of his small toes were black. The doctor told us that the x-rays showed that the infection was in the bone. His toes had gangrene. They performed the amputation surgery removing about half of his foot. He is out of the hospital and healing nicely. I am overwhelmed at the goodness of God and how smoothly the hospital stay went. His father, sister and brother-in-law came up to visit. It was really nice to not have to go home to an empty house, plus they did a whole list of chores around the house to help me get caught up. Someone anonymously cleaned out my front flower bed, and one of my dog club friends drove over an hour to play with Bison three different times. Countless others visited at the hospital, sent e-mails, text messages, or cards. But most importantly, many people prayed for us.

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.

Let it Go

Author’s Note: In the last entry I talked about Bison having a great attitude, but lest anyone think he is perfect, today’s entry is about one of Bison’s challenges.

In SchH obedience and protection, dogs are trained in an excited state called drive. There are many methods, but a widely used and excepted method is “the game”, taught by world champion Ivan Balabanov. (See links list for more information) It would take several paragraphs to explain this method. In summary, the handler uses a toy like a ball or a tug to engage with the dog. The handler elevates the dog’s level of excitement by animating the toy, but not allowing the dog to capture it. The dog is then rewarded for correct behavior by allowing him/her to tug for, or win the toy.

I have to use a modified version of this method because, once in drive, Bison absolutely refuses to let go of the tug. When he latches on, all training has to stop until I can convince him to let go. I also have to spend hours training him to release the tug. Ultimately he has to learn that to get what he really wants, the opportunity to do more commands and to receive the reward of interacting with me, he has to let go.

Bison isn’t the only one with this problem. Many people are similar in that they are latched on to their past. They hold on so tightly that they can’t move forward. The apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:12 – 16, “12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” If anyone had a reason to feel guilty and to hold on to the past, it was Paul. Prior to his conversion, he dedicated his life to persecuting Christians, causing many to be put to death. In this passage, he admits that he is not perfect but he has to forget the past and look toward the future. He urges other Christians to do the same.

Are you like Bison? Are you latching on so hard to the mistakes of the past that you can't receive the blessings of the future? Let it go.