How To Be Powerful: My View

I work with dogs.  My dog-hobby is sheep herding. I am training a new puppy.  My puppy must believe that I mean what I say.  If I am honest, and ask for behavior that he has learned, I must expect that he will do what I say.  That means that I must not accept different or incomplete performance.  This seems simple enough.  But he is a smart boy, and sometimes ignores my command.  He quickly learns that if he gets away with it once, the command does not mean anything.  My power in this relationship derives from my resolve to mean what I say.  Our partnership flows well when he believes that I will teach him what I want, and then reward him when he does it.  His reward is working sheep.  He respects my judgment when he learns that I am consistent and fair.  This seems to be a good basis for international relations, too.  Its too bad that we have lost power as a nation.

Here is my puppy, Bach at 2 months:

Here is Bach at 12 months: