Teach your dog ‘stay’ and ‘heel’
Tbenefits of accountability to an organisation. This week’s article addresses the subject of accountability and what it means for not-forprofit organisations. Specifically, it talks to what benefits NGOs stand to gain when they are accountable.
We have mentioned in previous articles what accountability is and what it means for not-for-profits; Funds-for-NGOs says accountability refers to an organisation being answerable to a third party. It refers to the obligation of an individual or organisation to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. Given the increasing influence of NGOs in the development space, it is not inconceivable that questions on their accountability and legitimacy will come up.
YHE ACCOUNTABILITY
NGOs need, for a second, to think of accountability, not as something that is required of them, but also as something that can come with bucket loads of benefits for them and the work they do.
NGOs are accountable to donors, beneficiaries, authorities, and partners. There are four aspects to NGO accountability that have been suggested. These are; upward, horizontal, downward and internal accountability. Let’s unpack these for a moment. Upward accountability refers to the responsibility an NGO has towards donor institutions and government institutions.
Understanding responsibility to donors is not too difficult to
dog should come, sit, stay and heel on command so that he can be controlled and is never a nuisance or a danger to others or himself.
Training sessions must be not longer than 5-10 minutes.
The key to training is your patience and positive attitude.
Never punish. Use only positive motivation.
At first reward every obedience. Give the reward instantly the good behaviour happens. Don’t delay for even a second. A food treat such as a small dog biscuit is an ideal reinforcement so keep a small supply of small or halved dog biscuits in your pocket.
As the dog learns the lesson, replace food rewards with praise, but give food treats intermittently to maintain his interest.
Training is easiest in an enclosed space like your fenced backyard with minimum distractions.
Once he gets the hang of a command,
OUR
understand given the relationship between the two. Donors provide NGOs with resources in the form of funds or expertise, or both.
The latter are expected to account to the former on how those resources have been utilised in order to ascertain if they have been used in` the manner they were supposed to as stipulated in the contracts the parties entered into. As legal persons, NGOs are bound by the laws of the country and are expected to operate in full compliance with them. These include the municipal bye-laws, local regulations and national laws. Failure to do that may lead to sanctions under the various laws.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Horizontal accountability refers to the responsibility an NGO has to project partners and other organisations it interfaces with. In the course of its work, there are instances where an NGO forms alliances with other organisations with whom it has mutual interests. It is thus important for an NGO to always act practice in different plac- es. in good faith and keep its end of the bargain within the parameters of cooperation with other partners. Downward accountability refers to accountability to beneficiaries and the target audience. NGOs receive funding in order to bring about interventions that seek to make the lives of the beneficiaries better. NGOs should, therefore, be answerable to these communities. It is even suggested that to the extent possible, NGOs should make an attempt to involve beneficiaries in the implementation of their programmes.
BENEFIT
The benefit there is higher uptake of any services the NGO may be providing and ownership of the interventions. Ownership facilitates ease of implementation and sustainability way beyond the life of the project. When developing mechanisms to improve downward accountability, informal mechanisms provide opportunities for unexpected communication with nonprofit staff and empower clients to provide perspectives relevant
If the dog starts losing interest, stop, play a game and start again to their experiences (Wellens & Jegers, 2016).
Improving downward accountability benefits NGOs by empowering the individuals they serve, improving the legitimacy of the organisation and enhancing organisational effectiveness. By strengthening downward accountability, NGO leaders can improve their organisations and ensure they meet their responsibilities to those they serve. Internal accountability denotes being answerable to the organisation’s employees and mission.
This means the organisation has internal governance structures and standards that underpin what it stands for.
We now get deeper in to the benefits of accountability. For starters, a not-for-profit needs to practice accountability so that it improves its relationships with its funders and donors. No donor organisation wants to be associated with a not-for-profit with notoriety for not being accountable.
Donors are, themselves, accountable to other institutions and for that reason, they place a high premium on accountability. They need to have the confidence that the funds or other resources they invest go to an institution that has structures and processes for financial accounting. This includes proper record-keeping as well as internal and external auditing.
TRANSACTIONS
This also engenders financial security in that the organisation is able to keep track of transactions and this information is vital to securing the funds of the organisation. The other benefit of accountability is that it fosters deeper involvement of communities or beneficiaries. If a not-for-profit has a reputation of accountability, communities are more inclined to work with it.
They will support its work and make implementation of programmes targeting them easier.
Moreover, accountability attracts other partners and agencies to work collaboratively with the NGO.
This expands the scope and impact of the organisations and in
later. Training should always be fun and easy.
Always end on a positive note. Always end with praise.
Teaching ‘Stay’
‘Stay’ asks your dog to remain in that position (sitting or lying) until you release him. Stay should be for only a few seconds at a time in young dogs. If you intend to do advanced training with your dog, you could ask him to stay for half a minute or one minute and even while you are out of sight.
But then release. Never leave him sitting for more than a minute or two.
First the dog must be able to sit on command.
Now delay the reward for a second. Next time delay the reward for two seconds. If he tries to move say ‘No’ sternly. Allow a second or two delay and then reward.
Once your dog is successful at waiting for the treat, take a single step to one side and then back, followed by a reward. If your dog moves, you’ve probably asked him for too much, too soon; go back to a very short stay.
When he maintains the stay, you can start different tests by running in place, sitting on the floor, walking around him in circles, clapping your hands. Reward each step and introduce new tests slowly. If he stops staying, go back to an easier test.
When you’re ready to release the long term, creates a good organizational reputation. What accountability will also do is make the NGO an employer of choice. Not only can it lead to attraction of good quality employees, but it will lead to higher staff retention. Employees are mostly likely going to feel more secure and inspired in an organisation that has credibility. Furthermore, accountability improves performance. If a not-for-profit has accountability tools, this helps it keep tabs on its activities and thereby improves its activities. I had a boss who was wont to say, you cannot improve anything you do not monitor. The importance of that statement was that you stand a better chance of improving something if you keep a close eye on it.
Not-for-profit organisations therefore, have to ensure that they have the necessary tools for accountability. We share just a few in today’s article. It is important that not-for-profits keep up-to-date financial reports. These demonstrate transparency. NGOs should also publicise all their activities.
ACTIVITIES
This is a great tool for visibility and demonstrating that their activities are above the board. It also improves public trust. Not-for-profits can also improve accountability by initiating partnerships with renowned entities. This helps the organisation gain public trust. It is also important that organisations partner with entities that are credible and operate legally. Not-for-profits should not take money from any source without doing due diligence on them and knowing that the funds are clean and are not proceeds of illicit activities. There clearly are countless benefits for not-for-profits to practice accountability than it should be seen as an additional burden. If the organisation goes out of its way to ensure the right tools are put in place to improve accountability, the spinoffs far outweigh the trouble it takes.
him, issue a cheerful command, such as ‘Bingo’ or ‘Free,’ give loads of praise, a treat and a game.
Teaching ‘Heel’
On any walk, the dog should never forge ahead or drag behind. He should walk with his nose at your knee (level with your heel), matching your pace with or without a leash. Once he heels he can’t stop for distractions so heeling is not for puppies or dogs that have not been exercised and are full of energy.
Before you begin ‘heel’ the dog must be able to walk on a leash without pulling.
Hold the leash in your right hand while taking up the slack with your left. Start with the dog on your left and tell him to ‘sit’.
Now hold a treat in your left hand, bring it to his nose and say brightly, ‘Spot, HEEL!’ and walk briskly for about ten paces, keeping the food just ahead of his nose. Stop and lift the treat slightly or gently pull up on the lead so the dog sits. Now give him the treat.
Repeat, lengthening the time between walking and stopping.
Once your dog walks to heel, you must give him regular breaks to catch up on the news – smell the smells.