Mindsets

[Stacy]

This is one of those things where I don’t necessarily need advice on the actual behavior, (though I’m open to anything) but I'm more interested in my own mindset and if other people have experienced something like this. 

After Katie got her diagnosis I feel like she has reverted to puppy level naughtiness around the house. She’s trying to counter surf. She steals things. She chews on the corner of pillows when I’m not looking. She thieves all of my chapstick. All behaviors that we have gone though, and I thought mostly conquered ages ago. I don’t think that my behavior toward her changed, but obviously she perceives a change in the rules. And I guess she’s right, because sick dogs don’t have to behave. I don’t have the heart to curb her behavior beyond making sure she doesn’t do anything that will hurt her. But I still feel like I never made a conscious decision to just let her do anything she wants. It kind of goes toward my previous discussion of how do dogs know things that they shouldn’t know. What attitude am I giving off that changed everything we’ve done before?

I still have hope that we will have a lot of time together yet. So I guess I need to figure out how to change my own mindset back into that of a strong leader and away from someone who feels sorry for her. But I’m not sure how to convince her of that when I don’t know how to convince myself of that!

I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this.

Thanks! Stacy

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's probably not a coincidence that I posted this discussion several years ago in the Training Group, which is actually called Training- Experiences, Challenges, and Mindsets:

Mindset: Feeling Sorry For the Poor Sick Dog

I think you might relate. :) 

And there is some really good advice in the responses.

[Stacy]

I do relate. Very much. And that was exactly what I needed to read. Katie seems completely unaffected by this thing. It's just me. Looking in her nose every 5 minutes and worrying, and letting her get away with murder. But I get it. I need to live in the moment and treat her the way she's always been treated instead of feeling sorry that things aren't going to go the way I planned. It's better for her for life to be normal and structured. I just need to change the way I'm thinking about it. Knowing is half the battle. Doing it is the other half. 

Thank you for sharing that. You really have been exactly where I am right now.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep. :D

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for posting this discussion, Stacy. We all need to be reminded - perhaps our dogs aren't ill right now, but it is something we need to store away.  Thank you Karen for coming up with the information needed to answer the concern.