I once had a dog, a beautiful reddish-tan and black German Shepherd with huge ears that stood up like radar antennas when she was on alert. I spent two years training her and later used her as a search dog for a volunteer organization that trained and used dogs to search for lost or missing persons.
Training a search dog involves two elements. The first is leading the dog to use its nose to find people. The dog certainly knows how to use its nose to find things, that’s what dogs do. This element of training is easy. It simply involves rewarding the dog for doing what it does naturally. The reward is play. Asha would do anything for a tennis ball.
The second part of training is much harder – the “dreaded” obedience training. While working, the dog must ignore other distractions, and the handler also must have positive control over the dog to protect it in dangerous situations such as working near a busy road. I say “dreaded” obedience, because even now when I suggest obedience training to a new dog owner I immediately see his or her eyes glaze over. People don’t want to hear that word. They don’t even want to talk about it, much less consider it. That was my attitude too. I hated it and Asha hated it.
After a year and a half of training, I was considering dropping out because it was obvious we were never going to pass the test. One day Asha got injured and we had to stop training for a few months. When she recovered enough to resume training, I decided to give it one more try. Our lead trainer was always telling us, “It’s relationship, it’s relationship.” But that went in one ear and right out the other. I sort of discovered what she meant by accident. In deciding to give it one more try, I committed myself to practice obedience 15 minutes every day – and to make Asha believe I was having the best time of my life by being upbeat and rewarding her with play. It was a miracle! Asha responded immediately, and within just a couple of weeks we were able to pass the test which included heeling off leash in a parking lot while six other dogs were chasing balls. Asha had no interest in anything but pleasing me. I could not have been more proud of her.
This experience taught me about my relationship with the Lord. Obedience is not about following rules or obeying commands. “It’s relationship.” Christ in me – and in you. We are to focus on pleasing him and drawing nearer to him. He has promised to reward those who obey him (see Proverbs 16:7).