Quit the Chase

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Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

Years ago, I wanted a dog as I hadn’t had one in a while due to changing housing conditions. I missed the companionship and the unconditional love I had experienced with other dogs I’d had.

I visited a local animal shelter, and I was only there a few moments until one dog caught my attention. I knew it was the right one for me.

The shelter told me the dog had his first year or so on a large farm with several other dogs. He was used to a lot of freedom and camaraderie. Due to some unforeseen issues, the farmer had to sell his farm, his livestock, and try to find home for his dogs. Even though this dog was a wonderful dog, he didn’t take to being confined very well and went through a few new owners.

Nevertheless, the sparkle in his eyes and the deep love for life radiated from him. I knew I wanted to give him a try and see if we could work out a good relationship. The shelter told me that if he keeps running off or gets to be a problem, to just bring him back.

The first day was simply for him to get to know his new home and for me to try to make him feel safe and well-loved. I had a large fenced backyard, so it was a good place to start. He had several good hard runs around the yard as fast as he could go, but I could see he would love to have even more room.

We worked on coming when called, and he did like all the treats and petting, but there was so much that was so interesting out there that needed to be explored that it was hard for him to be interested in coming. The goal was for him to be able to out of the yard and be able to stay around my property. 

Slowly, we worked from being confined in the yard to being able to stay close by outside of the yard. Several times he would take off and get so interested in everything around us that he didn’t want to come back. A couple of times, he was gone for hours. I was able to find him and entice him to come back home with me.

Over the next few days, I learned that he had a special fondness for cookies and found them far superior to any dog treats. He felt like dog treats were for dogs, and he felt he was a bit special and deserved a bite of cookie.

It wasn’t long before I got a call at work one day from my wife. The dog had run off, and she had chased him for a couple hours and was very frustrated and exhausted. I managed to take a little time off and go home to see what I could do. I clearly understood that chasing wasn’t a good option.

I went in the house and got a few cookies and sat out on my porch, with a good view of the surroundings, and started talking loudly so the dog could hear me if he was anywhere in the area. I said I sure wished my dog was there to share some cookie with me, and I was missing him.

I slowly ate a cookie and remarked quite loudly how good it was. It wasn’t long before I could see a rustling in the brush on the hillside across the valley. I continued to slowly eat the cookies and kept talking about how good they smelled and how much my dog would have liked them.

I was down to the last of three cookies when my dog trotted in and sat one the porch beside me. I told him I had already started on the last cookie so there was only a couple bites left, but I was glad to share it with him as he was back.

The lesson clicked with the dog, and any time I didn’t see him around, I would start talking about how much I wanted a cookie. He would appear in moments. The word cookie soon became our word for come and it was almost a joke between us. He learned to give a soft woof when he was thinking we needed a cookie. Soon, he was my constant companion and would go anywhere with me.

Many things in my life have come much the same way. Instead of chasing goals so hard, I would create the conditions for them to come to me. It takes some patience, and a willingness to create the conditions for an opportunity to present itself, but I often had more success than chasing it too hard.

My spiritual life often works the same way. Quit the chase and let your goals come to you. I’ve had more than a few dreams, where one of my dream teachers would show up with a cookie, and I would know right away what the right approach to a lesson should be.

Wait a minute…. Did you hear that? I think it’s a cookie calling me!

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Dennis Ernst is a retired Professional Land Surveyor who now devotes his time to sharing the natural beauty he finds on his many treks through photography, blogs, and poetry. Please visit his website, Dennis Ernst Photography, for a glimpse into his fascinating world.