Time bound does not mean rushing

Good goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. The acronym for this is SMART. Keeping a goal “time bound,” estimating a fair amount of time it takes to achieve a goal, needs some flexibility. A good time estimate needs to be realistic, and adapt to new information along the way. A few months ago, my wife and I adopted a dog. We kept them separate at first, intending to introduce them within three weeks. That felt like a long time. But, the first time our dog came across our cat, her prey drive kicked in. Our dog loves chasing squirrels, but we didn’t want her doing that to our cat. When we hired a trainer, we also learned how to properly make the introduction. The first step was to keep them separate. We bought and installed a dog gate. For a little bit each day we let our dog see our cat, and encouraged her to disengage. We used a clicker to do this; whenever we clicked, and our dog looked away from the cat, we gave her a treat. The ideal time to practice…