If you have done much training with me, chances are you have heard a story or two about Gunner. Gunner was the first dog I had as an adult. The first dog who was entirely my responsibility. I adopted him before I became a professional dog trainer and behavior consultant, and he taught me a lot.

Gunner was a Greyhound from a racetrack in Wisconsin. I adopted him in 1993 and he was with me until he died in 2000. He was between 2 and 3 years old when I brought him home.

He was originally adopted by another family but returned when he growled at their baby. I was single, no kids and no plans for kids at the time. So he joined me when I lived in Minnesota. He made the move with me to Colorado in 1995.

Gunner and I did a ton of walking. We walked dutifully twice a day every day. We took very long walks. We did lots of hiking. He and I spent a lot of time out exploring our neighborhoods, walking on trails, and just being out and about.

Gunner and I were living in Colorado at the time of this event.

Gunner and I were out for one of our long walks. We were exploring the neighborhoods where we lived, as usual. We had been out for a while and got to a place where we either had to go left or right.

I started to the right. Gunner started to the left. We both stopped and realized we wanted to go different directions.

Let me back up for a moment before I continue with what happened next.

On some of our walks, I chose our direction and let Gunner know which way we were turning at each intersection. On some of our walks, I let Gunner choose. I would say, “which way do you want go go?” and he would get to choose.

Dogs don't get a lot of choices in their lives. We generally decide what to feed our dogs. When to feed them. When to walk them. If we walk them. Where their bed is placed and what time we go to bed. For the most part, dogs don't get a lot of chances for decision making.

On our walks, I liked to give Gunner the chance for some decision making. That's why I sometimes would let him decide which way to go.

Until this particular day, we seemed to have a pretty solid agreement that if I asked him which way, he could decide. If not, I got to decide.

So back to this day. . .

Gunner wanted to go left. I wanted to go right. We had already been walking for quite a while and I felt it was time to head in the direction of home. Which was to the right. He refused.

Now, I could have simply tugged on the leash and forced him to go the direction I wanted. Gunner was 72 pounds of muscle but he never really fought me on decisions, so force was never an issue.

Instead of forcing it, I said fine, we will hang out right here until you agree to go right with me. I literally sat down on the sidewalk and waited. I probably sat there for a minute or so.

Then I got up and said, let's go. To the right. He started off to the left again. We both refused to give in. After trying to convince him to go right without success, I sat down on the sidewalk again. I sat there a few minutes longer this time.

I figured if he had a bit of time to consider my proposal, he would agree to it.

I did not set a timer, but I would guess that I sat there a total of five to ten minutes.

After a few failed attempts, Gunner finally decided to cooperate with me and go to the right.

And we headed home and never talked about it again.

I could have forced it. That's what pretty much anyone else would have done in that situation. But I didn't. In that moment, I decided to wait it out. He had a choice to make.

I did let him choose our direction quite often. But when I said we really need to go this way, I needed him to cooperate with me.

I am not sure why he did not want to go with me that day. I suspect he really just wanted to keep walking. He knew to the right was headed home. And he did not want to head home just yet.

It was the only time we ever had that disagreement. (We had a few other disagreements in our time together, but never this particular one.)

Your dog might not be able to speak English and discuss things with you verbally. But Gunner and I most definitely had a conversation that day. He and I were pretty good at communicating with each other.

We had a bit of a disagreement that day. In the end, I got what I needed. I just had to be patient and let him consider his options. When he realized I was not going to change my mind, he decided it was best to cooperate with me.

There are lots of other stories about Gunner, and I will share some of those in other posts. Gunner taught me a lot about being patient and giving my dog a chance to think about his options. I will always be grateful that he shared the last 7 years of his life with me. He taught me so much. Far more than I ever taught him.

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