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| Getting my workout on! |
My good friend,
+Bo Bozeman, recently lost his lab, Herschel, to cancer. We all hear about dogs being "man's best friend," but it's rarely as true as it was with Bo and Hersch. Bo and I bonded over our love of dogs and his dog's name, as my first "adult" dog was a Herschel as well.
Bo and Herschel were inseparable - side by side everywhere they went. As Herschel began to show his age, Bo added a new member to his family - Munson (In case you can't tell - Bo is a HUGE
+Georgia Bulldogs fan!). Munson was a lab puppy and, as one might expect, a holy terror. No matter what Bo did to work with Munson, Munson wouldn't listen. This was a far cry from Bo's first baby - Hersch. Herschel knew hundreds of commands and would even fetch his toys by name - my personal favorite being "Kill Tebow," a stuffed gator that, when Bo would shout, "Herschel - KILL TEBOW!" Herschel would go get from anywhere in the house and squeak like crazy.
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| My dogs sitting (and staying). |
After Herschel passed, I saw Bo's frustration with Munson starting to build, so I got Bo (and Munson) a present - I got them a
Dogtra remote training collar. For anyone who knows me or has met my dogs, this is the same device I use to work with my two pups (shown to the right). I can take them anywhere off leash and know that, even in a busy area, they will come when called. My older dog will even sit or lie down from 100 yards away and will stay when I call my other dog. The younger dog isn't there yet - but I'm confident she will be soon. The idea is that they get a buzz (like a cell phone) when they do something well, and a small shock (not painful) - meant to mimic a mamma dog's nipping/discipline when they hear the word "no." It's a fantastic tool for off-leash command training, and, for working dogs like mine and Bo's, it allows us to work with our dogs to keep their minds busy and their confidence high. If you want to read more about how discipline and work equate to confidence in dogs (and people), you can
read one of my old posts here.
It has been about a month since Herschel passed and Bo started working with Munson on the Dogtra, and I woke up yesterday morning to see this post on Bo's Facebook page:
While I'm happy to hear that the training is going well, I want to make sure that Bo understands - I didn't make his dog listen and stay close. I didn't make Munson more obedient. Bo did. He did the work. All I did was provide the tools and some basic instruction. Bo and Munson took it from there. I appreciate his appreciation for the collar- but I saw a valuable lesson here, and it is the connection between a Blog post that, from the title, should be about exercise but is instead about dogs.
I have some killer workout equipment at my house - a Concept2 Rower and a Precor Elliptical. They don't make me in shape. If I want to get in better shape, I have to use them.
For those of us who are fortunate enough to be leaders within businesses or any other types of organizations, it is critical that we understand and teach that it is NOT our responsibility to "get people into shape," literally or otherwise. It is our responsibility to
give them the tools, the instruction, and the support - the Dogtra and follow-up phone calls -- the workout equipment and accountability --the systems, knowledge, and push -- that will allow them to be successful.
It is our job to arm our people for battle, but ultimate victory or failure is in the hands of the combatant.
AD
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| In memory of Herschel Bozeman. (Hersch and "Kill Tebow") |
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