The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
OK, I've proven to myself the God Box works with everything, big and small...lol.
We have doggie daycare in our city, and one day a week I take our dog to play there while I am at work. She loves this chance to play with 50 other dogs to no end. All you have to do is say the word "daycare" and she is practically inconsolable until the gets there.
Well, over the past six months she has been running into problems at daycare. We get a "report card" every week. It has comments like, "I was in time out because I: harrassed the puppies, hoarded toys, mounted friends, and ate poop." I have been horrified. I dread getting these reports at the end of the day when I pick her up. I say things to the daycare attendant like, "I'm so sorry, she doesn't do this at home." My husband thinks it is hysterical, and hangs them on the refrigerator. Everyone who comes over sees them and laughs. I've been embarrassed.
Well...I have no way to teach her differently, because she really doesn't do these things at home. I can't control how she behaves when I'm not around. And I can't control whether or not they decide to throw her out of daycare. So, I wrote this problem down on a piece of paper and put it in my God Box. Every week when I pick her up at daycare I remind myself it is out of my hands.
I was thinking about this today, because today is the day we take her to daycare. And I realized that for the past three weeks, there have been no reports of bad behavior. It must have occurred to my husband that we haven't heard any bad reports, either, because he asked about it this morning when he dropped her off. The daycare attendant laughed it off and told him not to worry about it -our dog isn't the only one who does these things.
It was my turn to laugh when my husband reported this to me. I realized that the report cards we get are just that: reports. No one had asked me to do anything about it! But, I had taken that on, anyway. It never occurred to me that she is just engaging in normal dog behavior, disgusting as it may be. I guess I need to stop imparting my human rules on her. I'm glad I had put this one in my God Box and reminded myself not to spend any more time on it, because it turned out to be something I didn't have to worry about, anyway. My husband still chides me for having been so SERIOUS about it: ""What will we do when she grows up and runs for president and the general public finds out she once harrassed little innocent puppies!"
OK, I can laugh about this now. Good lesson in "keep it simple" and letting go ;)
Ah...oh well... I have a timely update..I picked her up tonight and was told she is on probation for bad behavior. Oh well...guess that goes in the God Box too ;) On the bright side, we started her in daycare once a week back when we lived in an apt and didn't have room to run her and wear her out. But now we have a house with a yard, and my husband works at home, so there is plenty of opportunity to exercise her at home, even if she did get kicked out...I'm glad I've learned to look on the bright side...lol
PS: no, mounting doggie specifically didn't go in the god box...the whole situation did...lol
I just loved your post :) I am going to put a note in the God Box too for our kitten. Although he has such naughty behavior, he is the love of our life along with our older black cat. I get so nervous and uptight when company is here and by reading your post it has helped me to remember to let go, relax, take care of me and realize when company is here he is just a kitten. Keep things simple and what other people think of me is none of my business. My brother in NJ brings his dogs to a dog park and he shares similiar stories with me about the trouble his one dog gets in at the park. Your post made me smile :) ty, cdb
