Himself has an annoying habit he practises at least once every day. (Actually he has several, but we’ll just talk about one today.)
When he’s eating at the table, he puts his elbows on the edge (I know, naughty boy), which then means that while he’s pontificating and holding forth on some topic du jour, the food on his fork or in his hand gets waved around and means he’s usually dropping crumbs. But they always fall on the tablecloth rather than his plate, because having his elbow on the table pushes his forearm forward.
I’ve tried bigger plates (partial success), pushing his chair a little further back (less success – he just leant forward more) and gently pushing his hand back towards his plate (works for 0.001 seconds only). Himself’s behaviour is an ingrained habit.
Behaviours can be difficult to change, especially when they’re ingrained. Anything that you or your dog does regularly can become a habit. It’s all about practice. The order you do things in when you get up, how you prepare to go out, when you go for your walks – most of the stuff you do every day follows the same routine and, with practice, it becomes a habit.
This includes things you don’t want, such as your dog barking and lunging at other dogs.
From your dog’s perspective, he’s become a master through practice. it’s a great habit. It works. But it’s embarrassing for you and it’s easy to become frustrated with your dog for reacting like that. And if it happens every day, or most days, it becomes an ingrained habit.
An ingrained habit that you can change, with the help of our Reactive Rover bootcamp, an intensive course that will show you just how to help your dog become a calmer, contented canine.
Each week you’ll get new exercises and lessons to practice and with two follow-up sessions each week to iron out any problems and deal with any bumps in the road, I’ll hold your hand every step of the way. There’s only limited places because I want everyone to get plenty of personal help.
You’ll get your own personal workbook to help tailor the exercises for your own circumstances and your own dog. It’s intensive – there’s over 10 hours of training in the four weeks and you’ll need to report back on progress in order to continue with the course – there’ll be no slacking allowed! Practice produces progress.
Isn’t it worth it to help your dog be a Laidback Ludo rather than a Reactive Rover?
Keep training and keep safe,
Carol
PS Either I just have to accept I’ll have to brush the tablecloth every day, or I need to work harder at getting Himself to change his habits… does anyone run a Husband Habit-changer course?