I have two awesome dogs. Pippin and Austin have been my fur-babies for over a decade. When my daughter was born there was a lot of adjustments to be made in routine, attention, and every aspect in between. In the process some of the rules my dogs knew grew lax because I was too busy to enforce them.
The main rule that has gone haywire, staying out of the kitchen during meals. Especially since the introduction of the highchair and finger foods into the game; the dogs have high incentive to break this rule. Over the last few weeks it has reached its peak as both dogs now crowd in close it is hard to get her food to her without tripping.
This weekend my husband put his foot down. I would love to say I helped but it was ninety percent him as I was distracted fixing food and feeding our daughter. I'm so glad he took the time to retrain them because this morning it paid off.
The first ten minutes the dogs didn't venture into the kitchen at all, just lay on their beds in the other room. They came in once after that and I escorted them back out. That was all it took! ...Until my daughter started calling them.... Well, maybe she will need a little retraining too but at least even then the dogs just stood in the doorway. To be honest, I could use a little retraining myself.
I'm grateful for two wonderful, sweet, smart fur-babies. I'm grateful for my husband retraining them to stay out of the kitchen. I'm grateful for my daughter's love for the dogs. I'm grateful for how well the dogs have adjusted to the baby and how patient they are as she climbs over them and "pets" them. I'm grateful for their obedience and their retrain-ability. I'm grateful to be so blessed all three of my babies. I'm grateful for all the retraining I have gone through with the addition of a human baby to our family and I'm grateful to be ready to retrain myself to be more efficient now that my daughter is a little more self-sufficient.
What do you want retrained in your life? How long would it take to retrain?
May today support change. May it remind us we are always changing and always retrainable to be the best version of ourselves. Have a beautiful day!
The main rule that has gone haywire, staying out of the kitchen during meals. Especially since the introduction of the highchair and finger foods into the game; the dogs have high incentive to break this rule. Over the last few weeks it has reached its peak as both dogs now crowd in close it is hard to get her food to her without tripping.
This weekend my husband put his foot down. I would love to say I helped but it was ninety percent him as I was distracted fixing food and feeding our daughter. I'm so glad he took the time to retrain them because this morning it paid off.
The first ten minutes the dogs didn't venture into the kitchen at all, just lay on their beds in the other room. They came in once after that and I escorted them back out. That was all it took! ...Until my daughter started calling them.... Well, maybe she will need a little retraining too but at least even then the dogs just stood in the doorway. To be honest, I could use a little retraining myself.
I'm grateful for two wonderful, sweet, smart fur-babies. I'm grateful for my husband retraining them to stay out of the kitchen. I'm grateful for my daughter's love for the dogs. I'm grateful for how well the dogs have adjusted to the baby and how patient they are as she climbs over them and "pets" them. I'm grateful for their obedience and their retrain-ability. I'm grateful to be so blessed all three of my babies. I'm grateful for all the retraining I have gone through with the addition of a human baby to our family and I'm grateful to be ready to retrain myself to be more efficient now that my daughter is a little more self-sufficient.
What do you want retrained in your life? How long would it take to retrain?
May today support change. May it remind us we are always changing and always retrainable to be the best version of ourselves. Have a beautiful day!
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