Happy New Year. As mentioned in my last post, with the new year, we have a new dog, Misha, who has provided our family a fresh perspective on behavior management. Too often over the holiday break our new pup absconded with a shoe, a pillow, a Christmas ornament, and in the blink of an eye, the item was rendered unrecognizable. It is as if I am once again working with a toddler, continuously supervising, monitoring and teaching. So what are a few of the lessons I have to keep in mind? • It is easier to channel behavior than to stop it. Misha is going to chew on something... So I best be prepared with plenty of options for her. • I need to devote individual time and positive attention. This builds our relationship and lessons the likelihood she tries to get my attention in negative ways. • Talk less. Listen and watch more. Words just confuse. Short simple directives are best. • Yelling doesnt help anything. She feeds off my behavior. Amazing how when I am more calm in my approach, her affect, reaction and reception changes for the better. • Be patient. You cant rush development. As Misha gets older, she will learn. In the interim, she is going to make a whole lot of mistakes before getting things right consistently. These may be lessons learned from my dog, but Im thinking they are applicable with regard to all of my behavioral interactions. I’ll try to keep them in mind as I have a fresh start in 2015. I wish for you the same.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 23:00:00 +0000
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