The Big Feastival was great yesterday.  Some really tasty food, Fleetwood Bac, Levi Roots and a nice atmosphere.  We made the decision to go back again next year as Team Achieve and make a party weekend of it.

However, being away for the whole day meant that we were also away from our dogs.  Don't worry though, we organised for our friend Michelle to go and hangout with them for a while, which may seem extreme but the nature of our jobs means that they are never really left on their own for very long.

Quite often on days we don't see them they get to stay in our room.  It's amazing that they know which days they will be allowed to go upstairs and which days they ignore the stairs to head straight for their basket.

They know the sequence of events which lead to them going up the stairs.  Poppy has a new learned behaviour, she has a allergy that leads to her scratching and nibbling her fur, on the nights she is staying upstairs with us she goes out on to the landing to have a scratch then comes back in to the room when she is finished.

The reason for this is that Fran kicked her out and sent her down to her basket a few times.  She likes it with us so changed her behaviour.

Like Poppy, we all have our learned behaviours.  The things we do automatically - have an itch, scratch it; get upset, reach for a glass of wine.

And like Poppy, we can all adapt our learned behaviours to keep achieving our goals.  In Poppy's case, staying in our room for the night.

Helping our members to recognise their learned behaviours and accept responsibility for their actions is part of the reason they are so successful.  If you know the sequence of events that lead to you going off the rails, you can do something about it and keep moving in the direction of your goals.

It's not too late to sign up with us for September, our next camp starts on Monday - you can apply here http://www.achievebootcamp.co.uk/when/application-form/

Darren "letting sleeping dogs scratch" Checkley