On Tuesday I took Felix to Publix for a training outing. We had gotten back from our trip to Ohio about a week before that, so I thought he’d be up for an outing. He did well behavior wise, but I could tell he just wasn’t into the outing. He was not excited to be there, and was doing things to please me instead of because he was enjoying himself working. I could tell because he was walking more slowly than usual and not looking around as much. He wasn’t showing any other stress signs, but he just wasn’t happy to be out and working like he normally is. He was doing it, but because he loved me and wanted to make me happy, and not because he wanted to be there.
Over the past several days I’ve been posting videos of the outing on YouTube, and I have a few more videos left to post. I’ll put them below the important realization I’ve had.
I was talking with Katie Jesseph, who is the trainer behind Paws on the Plains. She’s worked with many service dog teams over the years, and always gives good advice. I was mentioning how stressed I was feeling with all the stuff I have on my schedule, and that one of the things on my schedule was to take Felix for more training outings, preferably one a week. I was thinking if I took him more places, he’d get back into it and get excited about working again, and we could work on his problem areas some more.
Counterintuitively, she suggested not doing that. She said that it sounded like both Felix and I, but especially Felix, needed a break. All the running around training, going up to Ohio all the time to help my parents, etc, might be burning him out. In her professional opinion, Felix needed at least a few weeks if not a month’s vacation from doing anything difficult or not fun.
As soon as she said it, I was like “of course!”. It made total sense. Felix has been giving so much of himself to me that he is starting to burn out. I’m pushing him too hard. Most of his life, he’s been in a routine with me where we leave the house 2–3 times a week, and the rest of the time he gets to just be a dog. For the last about six months, we’ve been flying or driving up to Ohio every 2–3 months for a week at a time that’s VERY intense, and then as a result of doing all that, are having to cram more into our weeks that we’re home, so we’re leaving the house 3 and sometimes 4 times a week. It’s bad for both of us. And we need a break or we are both going to burn out.
He’s gotten diarrhea both of the last two times we visited Ohio because he was so stressed having to work long days for several days in a row (my parents like to be busy ALL day long every single day). I visited the vet to talk about things we can do to reduce his stress when we go to Ohio like an Adaptil collar (with dog appeasing pheromones), and Composure chews with herbs to calm him. She also gave me a remedy for diarrhea if it does start.
That just shows me how much all this working is affecting him. It’s affecting me, too– I’ve had to increase my medications to deal with the stress of going out so much.
So I decided Felix is officially going on vacation between now and Christmas, and maybe even longer depending on how he does. Between now and Christmas I have a psychiatrist appointment, a dental cleaning, and one presentation, but he can just lie on my lap for those so it’s not as stressful. And I have three family get togethers where he gets to just be a dog and hang out in my lap or in the stroller at familiar houses. Other than those things, he’s not going to leave the house for anything other than fun (like walks and agility classes).
I’m strongly considering making his vacation last into January, when I have to visit my parents again. I have three doctor appointments and a family meal between Christmas and my next trip, and I’m considering canceling my colonoscopy/endoscopy, which would remove two of the appointments.
Felix is going to get a big vacation, and hopefully when it’s done, he’ll be happy to go back to work.
And now for the videos of our Publix trip. I’ll come back to this blog entry and add later the videos that I haven’t yet posted. But here are the videos I’ve posted so far.
Entering Publix:
Loose leash walking down an aisle and a good leave-it of some employees:
No problem in the frozen section, ignoring tape on the floor, and recovering from a startle:
Me not rewarding enough for attention after he was startled, so he ends up sniffing a guy’s leg. He also does a through cue:
In the fish section where he has struggled in the past, I realize I need to let him observe and reward when he offers attention:
After the fish section, he is a bit amped up in the produce section but still manages to work nicely: