Carol and Claire Lawrence chat about the habits you and your dog may have gotten in to – some good and others not so good. And what you can do to change a cycle of behaviour that your dog may be doing that they shouldn’t!
Have you been following the Simple Dog Show?
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak to a friend and fellow dog trainer, Claire Lawrence, on her Simple Dog Show. (You might have seen that I invited you to sign-up for these free talks a couple of weeks ago.)
We talked about habits. Funny things, habits. But they are part of our lives.
What rewards do your habits give you?
Habits can help us achieve what we want in life and how they can get in the way, too. Our brains love habits because they take much less brain power and don’t need conscious thought to follow them.
Anything that gets repeated can quickly become a habit. Following the same routine in a morning, snacking in the evening, your dog pulling on walks, or not coming back, or barking – nearly anything can become a habit.
And habits make us feel comfortable. It’s easier to do something you’ve always done than to do or learn something new.
Do you want to change any habits?
Changing habits is hard – but necessary if you are to achieve the changes you want for yourself or for your dog. New ways of doing things need lots and lot of practice to embed them as new habits. Too often, it’s so much easier to revert back to old habits when things get tough.
Habits are maintained by the reward you get – so to change the habit you need to find a different way to get the reward or change the reward. I talk a lot about that in this chat and give you plenty of tips to help you successfully change the habits you want to change.
Watch the episode here.
Or listen to it here.
There’s a lot to take in – hope you enjoy it!
And if you need help changing your dog’s habits, get in touch. We’ll help you identify the package or course that’s best for you.
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol
