What is the difference?… #8, April 19, 2012

What is the difference?… #8, April 19, 2012

Published April 20, 2012

Hi again!

Time flies and seems to gain in speed as we get older!  I celebrated my 49th birthday last week on Saturday and what an amazing day I had… wishes from all over the world by phone, text, Facebook, you name it plus my wonderful daughter cooked us all an amazing meal! Bacon and cheese stuffed mushrooms for starters, sirloin and Gorgonzola fettuccine topped with tomato and chocolate mousse for dessert! Mmmmmm mmmmmm good! She is a good cook!

I have so enjoyed my walks in the morning with Sheba, hearing the birds and seeing them collect leaves and grass and watch them build their nests. We have a Robin who has set up her nest in the bend of our gutter’s down-pipe.

So on one of my walks I was asking myself what is the difference? The difference between repeating myself in a command to my dog and  in repeating a teachable moment in order to acquire a certain behaviour. I guess, as I was musing, that the difference is that the repetition of the command is teaching her not to listen and the repition of a behaviour that I am teaching her is something that I want to engrain in her, to make it stick. Troubleis that it gets kind of borning to say the same thing again and again and again! And what happens is that I see the desired behaviour and then think that she has learned it!

WRONG! She is learning it and it still needs to be made part of her, so that she will do that no matter what happens.  so we come back full circle!  Being persisitent and consistent with the behaviours I would like to see and not being a nag and allowing her to do the things that I do not want to see.

This kind of reminds of the our walk with Christ.  Doing things once or twice is not going to establish a habit, we have to do it again and again for many years, certainly weeks in order to establish a habit.  Hey, though it be hard work, in the end it shall pay off.

just before I leave I want to say that finally I have a dog who tries to help me with my work. I have always tried to teach my dog to put away the clean dishes or vacuum clean but  they did not respond! 🙂 But Sheba has been one who does try to help me… the other day I noticed her going to my Miniature Lilac bush and she bites of a branch and chews it up! I guess she thinks it needs pruning. Plus she has been making holes all over the lawn and in some of the flower beds! Maybe she wants a few more plants??  Who knows, but my way of looking at it is that  she is gardening for me!  Always look on the bright side of life.! Till next time… a few weeks from now! Off on a cruise with AIM! God is good and kind!