#15- Dads, Your Kids Should Run To You - Not Away From You

Steel is a gorgeous black lab. He weighs 100 pounds and used to be a solid duck dog until my youngest daughter got her hands on him. To be fair, I warned my son-in-law this would happen.

Now, instead of wagging his tail because he might fetch a duck in the middle of January, he wipes out coffee tables.

Steel is good natured, gentle, and fiercely protective of my daughter and grandson. He obeys anyone who gives him a command, but he watches my son-in-law for direction.

I think my son-in-law is a dog whisperer. Not only because Steel is so well behaved, but because he can even make our unruly, argumentative corgi Archie behave.

I asked him what his secret was, and he told me one of the first things he teaches a puppy is to run to him whenever the dog is scared or senses something unusual. No matter what, he teaches his dogs to run to him, not from him.

How? He feeds the dog, protects the dog, and gives the dog boundaries. The dog learns to see him as the safest place in the world.

Some human dads could learn a thing or two from this.

Raise your sons and daughters in such a way that even when they mess up, their first instinct is to run to you.

One way I tried to do this was by making a promise to both my girls when they became teenagers: they could call me anytime, no matter where they were, and I would come get them. Even if they were someplace they weren’t supposed to be.

I promised I wouldn’t yell when I picked them up. We’d talk about what happened after everyone got some sleep.

I never had to keep that promise, but I like to think I would have.

Dads, make sure your kids know they can come to you with anything — especially when they’ve screwed up.

Man Skill

Wise men talk because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.