Functional obedience includes all the behaviors that you need from your dog to live life fully on a day-to-day basis. Recall and down stay are two good examples. A dog that sits for 2 seconds for a cookie and a dog that can hold a sit for a duration in a crowded public setting are worlds apart. One of those is doing a trick; the other, functional obedience.

Obedience can only be reliable in many varied environments if your dog is stable and confident in those environments. Confidence building takes time, dedication and skill. Even a dog with solid genetics needs to be built up in many scenarios.

The necessary work of building behaviors and creating a dog that walks through life with confidence and balance requires a strong relationship that prioritizes leadership. To lead is to love and vice versa. It's not a question of if you're building a relationship; it's simply a question of what relationship are you building.