That indispensable word…

Well, it’s been a while but here I am again. I love the fact that The Boss has not updated you on my amazing progress. The last time she wrote about me, she was complaining that I am so stubborn…
Well, just to show her, I have changed my ways.
It started a short time after that last post, so say , November 2025 time. I shall transport you to that miraculous moment when the Boss finally understood me, and I her perhaps.
We were heading down a well known track, when I stopped. There was something in the air you see. I didn’t know quite what but it unsettled me. Should I let the Boss go on? I was not sure. Despite her cuddles and all the fun games (she calls it training) that we have done, I am just not sure she knows what she is doing when we are out walking.
This is a little strange as I have no problem reacting to her commands at home.
‘Leave’ – I must not touch (that one is useful on a walk)
‘Stop’ – I must cease all activity. (again, a very useful one on a walk)
‘Wait’ – very similar to ‘stop’ but means stop and wait for further instruction. (yes, that too is great on a walk.
‘No’ – now that’s the Holy Grail of commands, the one I instantly react to. About to pick up a toy that may or may not be mine to take? ‘No,’ comes the cry. I immediately acquiesce.
Try to climb on the sofa with muddy paws? ‘No,’ comes the cry. That example is a bit far fetched because as the Boss knows, if I come into the house with muddy paws, I always sit and wait for them to be dried. But you get the picture. I think the word, ‘No,’ featured the most in our daily exchange as I grew from a very small pup.
So, back to the miraculous moment I mentioned earlier.
I have stopped, I have sat down. The Boss does not try to move me. I think she sees red. What is she going to do? Is she going to tug at my lead? Will she cajole me to move? Will she simply sigh and give up?
Wrong on all counts!
She looks very stern and faces me.
‘No!’ she says, even more sternly than in our games. I recognise that word, it means ‘do not eat that/do not do that and most of all, BAD IDEA. I am convinced that it is not good to sit here. I will go on.
In less time than it took her to get the whole word out, I have stood up and am walking again. She is amazed. I decide to test her later. I try to go a different route,
‘No,’ she says in that firm, no nonsense voice. Excellent, she knows what she is talking about, I think, growing in confidence. I go her way.
You see, ‘No,’ is an indispensable command when out on a walk. It is just a shame that The Boss took so long to realise it.