Life is rough. A child must learn from a strong hand guiding, pushing, and disciplining. This is for a child to acquire the attitude of an upstanding person. Likewise, I have written in my other blog (www.faithingodministries.net) about leading a good life for God. Leading a good, upstanding life is not easy, to begin with, but it gets easier as time goes by, mature guidance.

While serving in the military, I became the kennelmaster and had many talks with my men. I have told them, many times, that you train your dog as you train your child and train your child as you train your dog. They both learn by repetition and discipline. I trained many dogs that way and I reared my child that way. I was never sorry I did it that way. All my dogs, military and civilian, were well trained and loved me. My child, a girl, and I was very, very close although she felt the reality of corporal punishment.

In today’s time, there are so called animal experts that do not want anything that resemble a cruel act toward the animal. No corporal punishment. There are agencies and courts, that frown upon any type of a hitting discipline. Of course, there are people that go overboard. They can not control what they are doing, or they do not know any better. I will put them in another category. I want to speak about normality.

Let me start with the dog first. Not wild dogs but the domesticated dog. There is a difference. My dogs all wore the choke chain, coupled with voice commands. This was for control and discipline. There is a right way and a wrong way to place the chain around the dog’s neck. I have been to many vet offices and civilian kennels that didn’t know the correct way. When the choke chain is on wrong, a tightening on the chain will leave it that way when the tightening is released and continue to choke the dog. When it is placed correctly, the chain loosens when pressure is released. The dog is only choked momentarily. The dog is not injured. The dog is disciplined. The dog learns that when it does a certain thing or does not listen, it will be disciplined.

The child learns the same way. Not with a choke chain but minor hitting and your voice. The child, as will the dog, will do as much as it can safely get away with. They will attempt to control you to do what they desire. These are the ones that grow-up out of control and on the fast slide to be incarcerated. Most of the time it is too late for correction, they hardened when they are incarcerated.

As a police officer, I have seen these kids acting out with their parents present. Cussing and striking their parent or parents. The child is told they will be punished, and the child will tell the parent that they can’t make them do something or they refuse to do something, or they threaten to call social services, etc. I love kids. I don’t like a child that is disobedient and out of control. Society caused this, for the child and the dog. I have known people to call animal control because someone jerked the leash of a dog. In today’s society, the dog cannot be corrected, and neither can the child.

I only touched lightly on this subject. However, all I want you to do is think about it objectively. I do not know a kid from my era that did not get whippings (that is what we called them), and no one have suffered because of it, and neither are we incarcerated. I have trained many dogs and have used rough treatment at times. The dogs are fine. They have learned and obey instantly. Bottomline, train your dog as you would your kid. Train your kid as you would your dog. Being soft and being on the same level as the child or dog is not the way.