In my experience you never know when you started a new habit until it’s too late.
- This is how I wind up in losing streaks where I’m staying up late, eating bad foods, smoking a lot, or drinking too often.
All it takes is one simple action, performed routinely without much thought… And then next thing you know, you’re stuck in a holding pattern. Apparently, the exact same thing can be said for animals. I never realized what a massive mistake I was making them by checking our thermostat every day before we left the house for work. Honestly, I looked at the air temperature control device everyday by force of my own habit. It was routine for me to turn down the indoor air temperature before I left for work everyday in the winter, so the furnace wouldn’t run all day long in an empty house for no reason. I did the same thing in the summer by turning up the air temperature so our air conditioning unit got a break. I never thought much of this behavior, other than patting myself on the back for using my energy efficiently and reducing my monthly electricity bill while extending the life of my central heating and cooling system. Apparently, however, my dog thought a lot of my thermostat habit. In fact, he directly correlated the thermostat adjustment to our departure from the house. Now, whenever he sees me touch the air temperature control device, he thinks that we’re headed out for the day and starts barking for hours if we never leave. Next week I’m installing a smart thermostat so I can make the air quality adjustment secretly from my phone without upsetting the whole household.
