A lesson in respect and acceptance

Representatives from France, Italy, England, Ireland, Germany and Hungary were taken to a meeting recently, each arriving in the care of their own drivers. Working in pairs, they were given a task which could only be completed successfully if they worked in a cooperative manner.

Although the work didn't always go perfectly smoothly, adjustments were made without arguments. At the end of the day, the countries' representatives asked for no more than ... a warm kennel, good kibble, a couple of biscuits and lots of fresh water.

As a group of people who meet regularly to train our dogs, we are as diverse a group as our four-footed companions are. Among us are a retired executive, a national sales representative, a surveyor, a veterinary technician, an agricultural research scientist, a horse trainer, a retired New Jersey state trooper, a school district maintenance man and a reporter/writer. Our dogs are at different stages of development. They are vastly different in appearance, ability, age and style.

We work the dogs one at a time or in pairs. From the time they are pups, they learn to get along with, and cooperate with, other dogs. For example, the youngster learns that there are times for play and times for work. They also learn that there are rules, and that the same rules apply at various locations.

We are honest evaluators of the dogs and understand that they may not all be able to attain the same level of polished training. They may not be equal in ability to learn, and ability to withstand the physical challenges of conditioning and training. That doesn't stop us from assessing each dog's inherited attributes, and doing our best to adapt the dog's training to best use them.

One thing you can't "teach" is desire, the desire to seek, the inherent drive a dog needs to succeed in the field. We take the utmost care to maintain this desire, and not go too fast with lessons or do anything in training that could crush that desire. We focus on encouragement, and although corrections are done, they are always fair. We know that potential is a great thing, unless it is lost.

Over the years, dogs that have graced the grounds represented many different breeds, and they've been of various ages. As they've been mixed to run in various pairings, it's been an education to watch the dogs adjust to each other. My oldest dog, Josey Wales, is an aged dignitary used to help train puppies. The young Jamie's bottomless enthusiasm is drawing a dog named Putt out of her shyness. Colbie's methodical style shows the young dogs what they missed by running too fast. Nobody fights, not even the mature males there are more important things to do.

It sometimes makes me wonder: What if dogs ran this crazy world? Sure, we'd have our awkward moments as new acquaintances were greeted with a sniff. But maybe we'd learn to live the simple truths that are evident when a group of dogs form their own little version of a League of Nations: accept our differences in color and nationality, find a way to use everyone's strongest abilities to work together and above all, respect each other.