Patience and Puppies

My husband retired and wanted to live in the Colorado mountains. Here we are. I did squeeze out a promise that if I consented to live in the mountains, we would get a dog. I LOVE dogs. He agreed. We are now the proud owners of a labrador puppy. I love him dearly, but there are times! I swear he takes more energy and attention than a small child. If we don't put whatever it is up, Bailey will get said item and chew that thing into unrecognizable pieces. It is being constantly aware at all times of where you put something. We have already gone through 3 remotes because he thinks it's fun to chew them up. His training is not going nearly fast enough for my husband. I have to keep reminding him that Bailey is just a puppy. Others tell me he will be a puppy until he is about 5 years old. (I am praying for patience!)

Notice how raising children and puppies require a lot of patience and repetition?

Something else that requires a lot of patience and repetition is changing your thinking patterns about your problems. If I mentally rehearse my hurts and woes, I will continue to be depressed, unhappy and probably unproductive. When I determine that I will stop the depressive thinking and purposefully think positively, will I automatically be totally successful at it? NO! It will take patience and repetition on my part until it does become a habit.

Dr. Albert Ellis developed the REBT therapy that teaches our emotional responses are triggered by our beliefs about what happened. For example, if I have the belief that I must be perfect in my dog training with Bailey and then he destroys another remote, I can either tell myself I am terrible at dog training and it will never succeed, OR, I can tell myself to keep trying and understand he is still a puppy. One way I will get discouraged and stop trying, get down on myself and the other way, I will continue trying knowing that eventually it will all work. What I think determines my emotional response.

(PS: As I was typing this, Bailey was in the other room shredding the decorations from my husband's birthday party. I am praying for patience!)