Funny you should mention this book because we've just read it and started working on the techniques. It actually works! He still has his moments but this technique really helps (it helps us too). Too often we overlook the times when he's doing well and come down on him when he messes up. Turning the model upside down is simple but ingenious!
I'm happy to hear that it's working for you. A lot of little gifties seem to have 'absolute value bars' around their desire for attention - any attention will do - positive or negative! I set a timer to ring in my pocket to remind me to go an energize positivity. A lot of us gifted parents with our own perfectionistic patterns find the negative a whoooooole to more dramatic and exciting. I had to break my own addiction to negativity and hypervigilence at that time. Anyway, one of our family values became 'Taking No for an Answer' and one of our rules became 'no lawyering'
Remember to reset him when his toe is just one millimeter over the line and not wait until he's doing something bad enough to really irritate you. That look on his face is really enough to call him on. I watch Ceaser Millan's The Dog Whisperer to get an idea of how calm and how subtle the timing is. In Millan's parlance, he 'touches' when the dog gets 'fixated.' He doesn't wait for the dog to have caused major trouble.
Keep me posted, ok?
Smiles,
Grinity
