This post originally appeared on the website of our Master Trainer, Nick Miller. For more of Nick’s daily training insights, visit nicktmiller.com

The sailor who is obedient to the compass and the map gains the freedom of the entire ocean. The sailor also knows that there are no shortcuts to gaining that independence. It is earned through a disciplined approach of learning how the compass works, and how to properly understand the map. Without those skills they are restricted to where they can always see the coast, or they will get lost.

It always feels a bit ironic that we must put our dogs through a similar disciplined approach to how the world works, and where their place is in it, before they can safely attain full freedom in their own lives. Sure, they can go to the dog park, and they are certainly free (er…safe) to act how they like when they are on leash in public. But a deeper sense of freedom can only come through the knowledge derived from obedience.

These questions, (however they may shape themselves in the dog’s mind):

Where am I? Where am I going?

We are our dog’s compass, and their map.

Let us not restrict them to never going further than where they can see the shore, just because we are not willing to lead them through the disciplined approach of obedience.