“He Shook the Obsession With That Milk-Bone Right Out of My Body” 😂 AA Speaker – Wayne B.
AA speaker Wayne B. uses a hilarious dog story to explain obsession and how the program removes the obsession with alcohol, not just willpower.
Wayne B. tells a story that sounds ridiculous until you realize what he’s really talking about. In this AA speaker tape, he walks through a wild encounter with a dog over a milk bone—and then connects it directly to how obsession works with alcohol, and why willpower alone will never be enough.
AA speaker Wayne B. illustrates the nature of obsession by recounting a physical struggle with a dog over a milk bone, showing how removing the object doesn’t remove the compulsion behind it. He explains that alcoholism isn’t solved by willpower or commitment, but by having the actual obsession lifted by working the program. The talk emphasizes that true recovery means the obsession itself is removed, not just white-knuckling through sobriety.
Episode Summary
Wayne B. opens with a story that catches you off guard because it’s so specific, so physical, and so funny—until you realize he’s describing obsession in a way most AA speakers don’t. He’s wrestling with a dog over a milk bone. He’s got the dog in a headlock. He bites the dog’s ear. The dog bites him back and shakes him so hard the obsession literally gets shaken out of his body. He ends up with scars, but from that day forward? No more milk bones, no kibbles and bits, nothing. No sponsor, no steps, no meetings—just instant freedom from that particular obsession.
Then he lands the real message: *That’s* what obsession is. And that’s what alcohol did to him over and over again.
This is where the talk gets serious without losing its edge. Wayne B. is pointing out something the program understands but most people outside recovery never quite grasp: the obsession isn’t the same as the urge to drink. An obsession is a compulsion that rewires how your brain works. You can white-knuckle, you can commit, you can list all your reasons to stay sober—and none of that touches the obsession itself. Because the obsession isn’t rational. It lives in a different part of your brain.
He talks about how alcohol, “king alcohol,” shook the life out of him repeatedly. Every consequence, every loss, every wake-up call—none of it mattered because the obsession was still there. The drinking kept happening not because he wanted it to, but because something deeper was driving the bus. And that’s the trap: you can get sober through sheer will for a while, but without the obsession being lifted, you’re living in a constant state of tension, fighting yourself every single day.
The program—the steps, the meetings, the sponsor relationship, the fellowship—works differently. It doesn’t ask you to muscle through with willpower. It removes the obsession entirely. That’s what makes it different from white-knuckling or going to treatment and coming home to the same brain.
Wayne B.’s milk-bone story stays with you because it’s so concrete. You *see* the struggle. You feel the absurdity of two creatures locked in a battle over something neither of them actually needs. And when he translates that to his relationship with alcohol, you understand: the thing isn’t the problem. The obsession is.
For anyone early in recovery who’s wondering why they can’t just “decide” to stop drinking, or for anyone who’s tried other methods and failed, this talk explains why the program works on a different level entirely. It’s not about better willpower. It’s about the obsession being lifted.
Notable Quotes
He shook the obsession through a milk bone right out of my body. No sponsor, no steps, no meetings, no commitments, no inventories.
That moment you think you’ve won—that’s an obsession.
How many times did alcohol, king alcohol, shake the life out of me and the consequences of my drinking became inconsequential?
You see, that’s an obsession.
I didn’t know why. So I just don’t want to drink.
Topics Covered in This Transcript
- Step 1 – Powerlessness
- Obsession
- Willingness
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▶ Full AA Speaker Transcript
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goes out in the kitchen. I hear some rustling around. All of a sudden, here he comes.
Now he's trottting with his head up and he's got this familysized milk bone dangling from his mouth. And that dog does not know what hit him. I came out from behind that couch.
I got on top of him, put him in a headlock, and did everything I could to get him to drop that milk bone. And he just wasn't letting he wasn't letting go and letting God. I'll tell you that right now.
And so I bit his ear. And I'm chewing on that ear and he finally lets go. How many of you remember that moment you think you've won?
That moment that this is it. And I saw that bone dropping and that's what I thought that it's mine. I reached out and grabbed that milk bone and the reason he let it go is cuz he's biting me back.
I have a scar here and I have a scar inside my eyebrow where he locked onto my face and he shook. The obsession threw a milkbone right out of my body. No sponsor, no steps, no meetings, no commitments, no inventories.
From that day to this, I've not had a a milk bone. No kibbles and bits. several quibbles and fits.
We'll just do that. You see, that's an obsession. How many times did alcohol, king alcohol, shake the life out of me and the consequences of my drinking became inconsequential?
And I didn't know why. So, I just don't want to drink.