Try Everything! - You never know how or what will do the trick…

My little Cuckoo isn’t little anymore; she’s about 10 months old and well on her way into becoming a doggie teenager. As teenagers they aren’t very different from us, she’s getting stubborn, shows attitude… you know the drill.

Lately, due to the summer heat I’ve taken to sleeping with the dogs in the hall. If you’ve ever slept with dogs around, you’d know how lovely it is to feel them around you. However my Cuckoo has a strange quirk, she’s hates weight being put on her. This quirk causes growls quite often at night as I turn about with her at my feet.

I’ve been trying different tricks to get her comfortable with people hugging her or smothering her. One thing I’ve been doing is smothering her 10 times a day and then giving her a treat. This method has shown marked improvement.

Last night however, as I was putting my bedding down on the floor, Cuckoo as always sauntered across the room and plonked herself at the foot of the mat. This triggered an idea in my head as I realised that maybe she wants to be close to me but not on the floor. So, off I went to get her mat and place it next to mine. We both had a good night’s rest with no growls at all.

Why am I telling you this? My learning from yesterday was sometimes the most obvious things to do can be the solution or what seems most unlikely to work may be a great solution.

What do you think? Do you act on the impromptu ideas you get? Do you think a lot before you act on anything? Do you prefer the “well-tested” solution to the “freak idea”?

Photo credit: Chenthil