Week 4: When It Rains, It Pours
This week felt like one of those where I would struggle to really say anything of substance. Not because nothing happened, but because some of the big wins like no toilet accidents started becoming the norm… And just as I typed this sentence I realised the bedroom gate was left open and I overheard the familiar trickling sound. Be right back! Let’s start again. This week has started to feel like Cody understands his life with us for most part. He does not seem to be very keen on the dark but I cannot blame him. The winter darkness in east London is not just bleak but makes everything that’s already icky about the city into spooky landmines for dogs.
The hidden broken bottles, fox and human poop, the leftover KFC bones tossed all over the pavements - it all makes for less enjoyable walking for us and Cody. I get it, I don't really sweat it and let Cody observe the dodgy people making questionable exchanges. Very recently Tristan had the pleasure of having Cody pull him towards a man who had his wiener out. This is not really an unusual occurrence and Barking makes for a unique socialisation experience for a dog. Cody has been making new friends and some were very keen to play with him the way he likes and that made us extremely happy.
He really likes Wendy from our building and she makes a great effort to politely oblige to his advances. He also got another opportunity to play with his lovely friend Rouge who he loves to prod around, testing her tolerance and his puppy license. Yesterday, he got to meet Ava, he definitely found his match in her and it was great to see a dog matching his size and energy enjoying his company equally. We knew he was in his happy zone because he did not feel like he needed to reinitiate the play with demand barking all the time. I only wish I could say our attempt to include him in my puppy class had as good an outcome.
We have been very unlucky with the weather. I was so pleased and impressed that all the class attendees did not get put off and came out to the first session. We had to cut it short and reschedule for the weather but for Cody it was also a clear no to attending classes run by me. Entlebuchers are a well known velcro breed. They find it very hard to stay away from their primary carers and as herders they also struggle with carers being split apart. Cody tolerates me not being in the house better than me being in a different room than him. This does improve over time with training, but it’s a very strong trait in this breed and me trying to get him accustomed to separation in a class by me would not be fair on anyone.
I am sorry he will not get to hang out with my class puppies because they are all so gorgeous and tiny but he will be a homeschooled Easy Peasy Puppy and that’s OK. It was a rough week overall so this is not one of the usual, more perky entries. I have been going through the motions and the fifty day long January is continuing to drain me and I try very hard not to let it affect Cody's progress. I would like to remind today me of the distance we have come with Cody because the four weeks ago me can see heaps of progress that I now overlook while dwelling too much on the most recent setbacks.
Do you remember that three weeks ago Cody had to be taken out during the day every two hours for a bathroom break? Do you remember he was so afraid of the world outside you could barely get him to pee in more than two different spots? I would also like to remind you that he does the grin now. The happy open mouth dog grin that we worried was not his ‘thing’ and that we missed so much since Tilly passed away. I would like to remind myself that Cody loves cuddles and meeting new people and is so great with kids. Above all else, I would like to point out that it often feels like this with the new puppy, but also the world does not stop moving when we get a dog.
Life will throw in some hurdles that have nothing to do with our new puppy and it will just add on top of the stress or fatigue we feel from it all. I often talk to my dog training clients about trigger stacking and how that plays out in a dog's behaviour. We all have those days where someone’s stupid remark that normally could be brushed off with a Mars bar or a nice hug, makes us spiral. This probably happened because something crappy set it off in the morning triggering a chain of unpleasant events throughout the day. In my case, this morning it was Cody unable to clip off his poop, then spinning around to shake it off until finally deciding to wipe it on my shin.
Throughout the day or week bad little things continue to fill up that cup of mental balance until it takes just a little nudge to tip it over. It’s the same with dogs. We often fail to recognise some events that may have contributed to the trigger stacking as the day goes on and we end up scratching our heads as to why Polly snapped at the dog she usually politely ignores this evening. The morale of the story is that I am trigger stacked and I know it. It has something to do with Cody but it is not just about him. I will never allow it to reflect on how I treat my puppy even if in the eyes of ‘traditional’ people he appears to be stubborn or misbehaving.
He is none of those things. He is learning, teething, charming loving and he is my little chubby ball of mischief. Another week starts tomorrow, I hope you’re still here next week and that I did not put a damper on your evening!
Love, Mish