This is a picture of some of the training we are doing with KaBoom. If you asked the students what we are working on here, they would say something like, “KaBoom needs to learn more impulse control.” and if you asked them to explain this, they would tell you that “She dives right in without thinking”. We are trying to help her do a little more thinking.
If you were to sit and listen (actually we would invite you to join if you were to linger), you would hear us discuss the pros and cons on impulsivity. Some of the students I work with do have some issues with thinking before acting. Some of the students doing this training MIGHT even fall into that category of having “attention issues”!!!
KaBoom is a great study in impulse control. The good parts about her diving right in need to be preserved while we teach her to think before she acts some of the time. If she can stop and think, she can hear our directions and we can work together better as partners BUT, her “dive right in” attitude also helps us do better training because, if she fails, she is not put off- she just tries something else. This would be called resiliency!! This is the conversation we have as we work with KaBoom.
It draws my mind to a particular student. He has trouble keeping many of his thoughts in his head. His thoughts are all very good, on topic, worth listening to, but they also interrupt the learning of those around him- he almost never stops making noise of some sort- so he misses directions. The trick is to teach him how to control some of what he says out loud without stopping the flow of excellent ideas and relevant dialogue.
I think it is interesting for the students to work on this topic with KaBoom. It is most interesting to listen to how they compare the attention of Kannon to that of KaBoom and then ponder why one is better than the other. I listen and interject that, it is possible to have a dog over attend if the training is not done just right. Finding that balance to create a dog with focus, who will check in often, but will try anything and recover well from failure is the goal.
While doing this work, I find new value for impulsivity, which adjusts my perspective and renews my energy for my most resilient students.
