Dogs

When I first took a dog to obedience class, back in the Pleistocene, we were given six weeks to teach our dog to obey five basic commands: sit, down, stay, heel, and come. The behaviors were a given: these are the things any well-trained, obedient dog should be able to do. The important thing was not just doing the behavior, but Obeying the Command No Matter What. Perhaps the most important of all the behaviors, and the most difficult, was the long down. Could your dog lie down and stay down while you walked away? Could he stay there until you came back and told him he could get up? What if his mortal enemy was next to him, or the instructor walked behind him, or some other dog got up and came over to him? Never mind! He'd better not budge! If he moved, we screamed, "No! Down!" and rushed back and jerked him into position again.

For many outdoor enthusiasts and dog owners, hunting for sport or competing in field trials looks like a fun activity to enjoy with their dogs-but the traditional techniques for training great "gun dogs" involve shock collars, ear pinching, and other force-based methods, which can turn off even the most macho enthusiasts. But what if those methods weren't needed?