Behavioral Issues; Keep a Journal

[Jamie & Odin]

Wanted to share something my vet recommended to me today.

When working to change behavioral issues, especially significant ones, it may be beneficial to keep a journal. Record exactly what the behavior entails, what "set it off" what your response was, what the dogs response was, timing of the above, how often it happens, etc.

People tend to forget things very quickly, as well as remember things a bit fuzzy sometimes, even a short time later, especially if the circumstance surrounding the issue is stressful.

So, it may help when trying to analyze progress (or lack thereof) and give insight to connnections that weren't recognizable in each individual incident, but become obvious when looked at as a whole.

So, tomorrow is day one in my journal:)

[Burnsway]

Originally posted by Jamie & Odin

So, tomorrow is day one in my journal:)

Why tommorrow?....:D You hoping nothing happens before then...teehee....

[Jamie & Odin]

...I didn't think I could laugh about anything even remotely connected to this but I did:D

My day is officially over, as of right now, doing absolutely nothing, nada, zero, zilch but sitting on my behind:) So I have no choice but to start tomorrow:D.

And no, this is not like my perpetual "I'll start tomorrow" diet either:D

[Burnsway]

How is day one going.....:D

[TrishB]

A journal is a WONDERFUL idea Jamie! :)

Something else you can add to it is rating the situation. 1 being low, 10 being high (bite someone and drew blood would be a 10, 0 being perfectly behaved. For every thing you write down, rate it. Later you can begin to plot it out and you'll slowly be able to see your eratic, high lines slowly become more regular and moving down the scale. It really helps to give yourself a visual of how you're doing. :D

If you have excel on your computer, it's easy enough to do. Just enter the date in one column, the rating for the behaviour you were writing about in the other. Highlight what you have, and click the "Chart Wizard" button on the toolbar. Select "Line" graph and the style you would like. Then just click next, next (name the axis if you like) and then finish.

It's a great tool and you'll really appreciate it a couple of months from now when you need a visual aid to let you know that you're making progress. ;)

And you WILL make progress!!! :D

[Jamie & Odin]

TrishB, great idea! I do know how to use excel, so I just might graph this out on a month by month basis.

Day one went great:D

[Burnsway]

So how full is that journal? It has been a week........:D

[Jamie & Odin]

Melissa, did you put a note on your calendar to check up on me?:D

OK, so there may not be as many entries as there should, this is a new discipline for me:p But it's comin' along:D