On Saturday night I screamed at him when he was slow to come into the house after a bathroom walk. It was cold and dark and I was having no fun outside and that sweet dog just wanted to play and not come in. I scared him. As soon as we got into the house he hid in his crate and did not come out for a good 40 minutes. Yes, he needs to do a better job of listening and coming when told but no, he should not be scared when he disobeys that command. I felt bad that he felt so scared. Its just not working well for either of us. This needs to be a priority to fix.
I was reading a Ramit's I Will Teach You To Be Rich blog and it's really touching a nerve with me. He used to just annoy me and I often found it hard to read all the way through the post. He has a tough love approach, without a lot of love. Ramit used this example and it's really stuck with me:
For example, how many of us complain about our sleep…yet have never systematically practiced improving it? Not even Googled “how to sleep better” and tested 5 different approaches? Most people just say, “Yeah…I really have trouble going to sleep….I wish I could fall asleep faster but my mind just won’t slow down!”
Wow - that's me with Zeus. I know we have to change but so far I've mainly complained about it without much action. This week I've googled a few times to see if there are approaches I can try to get Zeus to spend more time without me, to be able to go to the bathroom without me (ie, I just let him out, on or off a line), etc
Ramit has declared 2013 the Year of Taking Control - I like that and may be borrowing it for myself. I'm sure his blog will become a regular read for me. I hope I can learn and develop from his insight.
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