What messages have you been getting lately? Are you paying attention?
Sometimes it’s a thought that pops into your head. Or perhaps it’s a quiet whisper you hear that gives you an idea. Maybe it’s a statement someone said, as feedback, maybe even hurtful feedback. If you missed all those, you may get a very rude shout that you cannot ignore.
We’ve had one of those moments in our household with Cooper, our beautiful, resource-guarding, golden retriever. At first it was cute when he’d protectively cover his toy, or someone’s sock, with his paw. When the growling turned to snarling, we got a little concerned. Then a neighbour talked about the importance of formal training. Thought, whisper, statement and we didn’t take any action. When Cooper lunged unprovoked at me as I got near to him, unaware he was protecting something, we knew it was time.
He is truly a beautiful, well-behaved dog 95% of the time, which is probably why we weren’t hearing the messages. We were being led to dog training, if only we’d been listening. Now he is off to a professional dog trainer for a couple of weeks of intense training that’ll be hard on him and us, and even harder when he returns and we have to unlearn our bad habits so that he maintains the good ones he’ll learn.
Try this ONE thing
Are there messages you’ve been ignoring? Are you waiting for a shout? You can, but it’ll be at your peril. Get quiet and see if you can hear the prompts when they’re just thoughts or a whisper.
Check out my story on my website, Karen Laidlaw the ONE Thing. And you’ll find lots of good freebies there too.