Tonight I was accused of being "too patterned." I wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so I asked for clarification first.
1) "you walk your dogs in the same place, at the same time"
--That's something I really don't do. I do tend to walk my dogs in a certain city on Mondays, but that has more to do with Eric working Mondays than anything. There are days I walk them as soon as I get home from work and days I don't actually get them out for a walk. Maybe I need to keep better notes, to see if I really follow a pattern more than I think.
2) "you follow the same schedule all the time"
--This one's a stretch. I have the same basic morning routine, but doesn't everyone? My "night routine" is completely non-existent. Monday and Tuesday I have to be to work at 7:30, so I get up about 6am. Wednesday and Thursday I have to be there at 8, so I get up about 6:45. Some days I shower in the morning, some days I don't. Some days I eat breakfast at home, some days I don't.
I don't even have a set schedule for feeding the animals. It's a "when I feel like it" schedule.
Maybe all this defensive-ness means I AM too patterned though. Argh! And I really thought I had escaped that tendency!
5 comments:
OK,I am curious, so what if you are patterend? Why would that be a bad thing? Is the concern is that because you are "to patterned" you or your dogs cant handle changes?
Yeah, I'm curious about this, too. Why is being "too patterned" a bad thing? I mean, there is so much advice to be consistent, especially with dogs with issues.
That said, I do think we need to provide new and interesting experiences for our dogs, but I try to do that in a framework of predictable experiences so that Maisy knows what's expected of her.
And really, in an attempt to try and NOT be patterned it messes me up. If I don't transfer items from my pockets as I get dressed... my phone stays at home. If I leash up dogs in the 'wrong' order, I end up putting two leashes on one and none on another (once all THREE leashes went on one dog and none on the others!). If I don't put the ingredients in the cookies correctly.... I'll leave out one. And that is bad.
Or I forget to turn on the oven.
Yet with most stuff I try to not be so patterned. It keeps me entertained!
Sometimes I set up the training room differently...or have students rotate the opposite direction from normal. They have a few moments of distress.
I don't think being "too patterned" is a bad thing. I mean, I can tell from your posts that you do new things and give them new experiences, so I don't see the problem with having a basic routine.
The comment of being "too patterned" actually came from Eric, so I took it with a grain of salt. But I would agree with you that having a basic pattern is a good thing. It gives stability and predictability. I like both of those things, but for myself and the dogs--a change is great too.
This morning I was wide awake at 5:30am so we went walking in town. I don't think I've ever done that before (and it's highly unlikely to become habit) but we all enjoyed it. The only creatures concerned about this was the cats, they were afraid I was going to leave them all day without feeding them. The horrors!
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