Why Behave?

Sometimes we all want to be a rebel, go completely wild, and throw a tantrum! I'm talking exteme... drive fast, demolition bump into cars we don't like, throw dishes (I have always wanted to do this one!), and tear up something real bad, like a pillow fight gone wild!  If you have "never" had that desire...then, um, ya...neither have I..)

Face it...we all feel like we are gonna crack sometimes, and sometimes we have a little leak, but usually we trek through and most of us don't rob, rattle, and terrorize. What determines that boundary line that refrains us from reacting? For me, there are a lot of reasons that I police myself.

#1. The actual police. (I used to be one, and I really never want to be on the other side of the cell using toilet paper as my pillow)
#2. The regret I would have after the fit. (It's really not my core person)
#3. The expense of replacing and fixing the wreckage. (Have you priced dishes???)
#4. The clean up. (a split 2 minute fit is not worth wasting an hour of clean up)

 There are so many stress triggers in life; traffic, work, weight, health, pressure from family peers or parents, barking dogs....the list is enormous and is individual to you. My personal triggers are traffic, crying, barking, sirens....so, needless to say you don't want to be in the car with me on the 91 freeway with my passengers crying and barking as the siren is pulling me over!  Wham! Caution, breaking point in my radar!

Dogs have triggers too!

A list of dog triggers can also be individual to the dog. Many common triggers are, other dogs, balls, food, bones, motorcycles, kids, skateboards, trash trucks, knocking, door bells, etc...For many dogs, just one of these triggers can set them into a barking, growling, jumping, fitful tantrum. Add a few more stress triggers and simply multiple out the result exponentially.

Forcing me into a traffic jam with a pack of preschoolers, and raging dogs is not a good way to teach me to "get over my triggers".It is also not the best way to rehabilitate a dog to get over his issues either. Bribing us with Twinkies only puts a band aid over the moment. Our bodies can only withstand so many Twinkies before we get full or have a sugar spike, which can cause a whole new reaction.

I train and rehabilitate, the dogs, and ME, in a prevention method, rather than a reaction application.  In other words...don't treat the sunburn. Limit access to the sun to build up a tolerance, and use sunscreen for proper prevention.

There are prevention measures I have in place to keep myself in check. Let's call it "Cindy's Risk Management,", and it is a  regimen I enforce to keep myself in the green.

#1. Sleep (Have you ever had sleep deprivation...not pretty)
#2. Cellular Health (I feed my cells the stuff they need so the benefits flow out of me. This is Vitamins/ supplements, the stuff that is actually nurturing my body)
#3. Healthly Eating (Because I still need and like the taste of food. This is my fuel )
#4. Exercise (when an athlete has a bad attitude, the coach says, "take a lap".  Proper exercise it not only good for the body, but great for our mind!)

These risk management points can also be used for dogs. A properly exercised, nutritionally healthy, and restful dog is a vision of beauty and balance, and isn't that what we are all striving for anyways?