My daughter Hannah insists that I write about Jedi, our super-sized golden retriever. Many people treat dogs as people. We treat our dog as a dog. I think he’s all the happier for it. He wouldn’t like to wear shoes and a button down collar to ride to church on Sundays, and I really think a tie would dip into his water bowl. Not to mention having meaningful conversation with the other members of the family over dinner isn’t very pleasant when you only understand every tenth word. “Blah blah blah EAT blah blah blah blah SIT blah DOWN blah blah blah.”

Jedi is about four inches taller than your average golden retriever. I like to pretend his doggy IQ is about four times higher than your average dog’s, but he shatters that little illusion regularly. Nevertheless, Jedi is a very good dog. We worked hard to make him a good dog, and if we worked harder, he would be even better.

While golden retrievers are, as a rule, one of the easiest breeds of dog to train, their natural exuberance well into old age coupled with the unusual size of our specific dog makes some aspects of living with a golden a challenge. A well-trained golden is a delight. An untrained golden is nice to look at from far away, but not a joy to live with.

Jedi and His Girls

We began training Jedi as soon as we got him, at 8 weeks of age. He is now four years. Not only does he know the proper sit, down, come, stay commands by both word and hand signal, but he also has learned house manners. He is not allowed in certain bedrooms, is not allowed to beg or approach the table during meals, and is not allowed on any furniture. We can take him to other people’s homes and show him which areas are off limits, and he will respect that. He respects these rules very well…except for the time there was that slice of chocolate cake left on the table after everyone went to bed, but no doggy’s perfect.

When Jedi joined our family, Emily, our fourth daughter, was only one year old. Knowing what children can do to a dog, we spent time tugging on Jedi’s ears, playing with his toes, pulling on his lips and tail, and doing all sorts of other annoying things to him to accustom him to children. (No, we never hurt him…just pestered him.) Since that time two more children have joined the family, one of whom is Elijah who has claimed Jedi as his own. Elijah rolls on Jedi, sits on him, takes toys away from him, and does innumerable other things that could present a danger had we not trained the ol’ fella to remain calm while under attack from our little people. Now Elijah can give Jedi a big meaty bone, and then take it away from him, and the dog will submit peacefully, although dolefully, to the torment. Time well spent!

Although trained, he has never “graduated.” He frequently has “continuing education classes.” We practice leash skills, test house manners, and teach new tricks for fun. Without this training, Jedi would be 130 pounds of locomotion tearing through and tearing up our home. As it is, he is a big, loveable, although very smelly, member of our pack.

If you have a dog or are considering getting one, even if it is not the 130-pound variety, I strongly encourage you to take the time to train it. Just because your dog only weighs twenty pounds does not make its poor house manners any less unappealing…okay, downright annoying to your house guests. A good dog is a good thing!

Woof!

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