My years of training have paid off. Countless hours spent working and practicing. Painstaking attention to detail. Confusion and frustration when things didn’t go as planned. Trying different techniques when conventional methods didn’t work. Yet, my consistency and persistence have been rewarded. I have achieved a measure of predictability. I have successfully trained Mister Tom to do what I want, when I want, most of the time. It was more difficult than you might expect. You see, I was the first dog ever to adopt him. I had my work cut out because he was previously untrained by dogs. I had to teach him to respond to my oral commands as well as some clever non-oral signals. Eddie does not appreciate how lucky he is to have an “already-trained” people critter.

Mister Tom knows the “signal” when I have an itch and want my hind quarters scratched. I just back up to him and move my hind quarters left and right. I pace back and forth from Mister Tom to the outside door when I have to go outside. Sometimes Mister Tom needs an additional signal so I will grab my Flexi-lead and sit with it by the door.

I make it my practice to remind Mister Tom of our dinner time every day. This involves a combination of signals and oral cues. I find Mister Tom and stick close by him. Occasionally I make a sighing, whimpering sound. This has to be my best work. Neither Eddie nor I have ever missed a meal, ever. I signal Mister Tom when it is time for my raw hide chip treat. I sit in front of the kitchen cabinet where they are stored and look up to the cabinet and then look back to Mister Tom. He understands what he then needs to do.

In the end my work has paid off. I have myself a fairly well-trained people critter in Mister Tom.

OBEDIENCE TRAINING (Copyright 2014 by Buster J. Brown)

Time to go on my constitutional,
I engage in a well-rehearsed ritual.
Pace back and forth on the floor,
Eventually he heeds, we head to the door.

A pesky itch on my back,
Needs attention with a vigorous scratch.
I back into place along his side,
And wait for fingers to be applied.

Gentle reminders it’s dinner time,
I pester, and fidget, and occasionally whine.
Much lead time is required for this,
He can be stubborn and obstinate.

Ingenious signals, touches and cues,
These are the methods I use,
To keep him well trained and obedient,
And, mindful of his canine resident.