Olive was the first dog I adopted “sight unseen.” I’d said many times that I would never do that, but, you know how the saying goes…never say never, right?
As a young dog – and a herding mix at that – we certainly went through some growing pains. And when her older sister was diagnosed with aggressive cancer less than a year later, her world (and mine) was turned upside down.
Olive’s been to training conferences with me before. She’s been my demo dog in classes and has helped me evaluate dogs that may be coming into the rescue that I volunteer for. But when it came time to travel for our first out-of-town conference, I was nervous.
There were a lot of firsts that would happen during this trip:
Her first time staying in a hotel.
Her first time spending the night away from her siblings.
Her first time being crated in an unfamiliar space and away from me for long periods of time.
Our first night in a hotel – success! She was surprisingly more relaxed than I had expected and snoozed through the night without incident.
Our first full day at the conference…not so much of a success.
I brought her to the facility the night before and we had some good experiences together, with me never having to leave her alone. Then the morning of, I arrived early to set up her crate and give her some time to adjust before leaving her. She was doing okay….and then a few minutes into the presentation, I could hear barking from the other room. It was faint, but it was there, and I was pretty sure it was coming from her.
I slipped out of the presentation room and went to her crate. We went for a brief walk outside and then we reset and I made some modifications, covering her crate with her car blanket this time and giving a different enrichment activity than she had previously.
I’m not going to lie; I was frustrated and upset. This was my worst fear for the weekend – Olive feeling stressed and uncomfortable, missing presentations, and feeling isolated.
It’s natural to feel this way. And it’s okay.
Did the weekend work out perfectly for me? No.
BUT it did provide me with some valuable information.
What were our wins?
- Olive settled well almost as soon as we entered the hotel room and quickly adapted to her new “home” environment.
- During the workshops at the conference, Olive was able to remain calm, settle on her mat, and wait for our turn.
- Even though she was clearly not at her most confident, she could do an off-leash recall away from several distractions, including other people and dogs.
What didn’t work so well?
- Olive had a difficult time settling in her crate when I was no longer in the room.
- There were times during the workshops when Olive struggled to engage and work with me.
- During one workshop in particular, Olive showed signs of frustration and began barking.
What lessons can I take from this experience?
- Olive’s made huge strides in her training and it seems that since coming out of her adolescent stage, she has much better self-control.
- We are not at the point where Olive feels comfortable being left for more than a few minutes in a crate in a strange environment.
- Olive might need longer breaks between situations that are new, novel, and potentially stressful for her.
- Olive could benefit from more training sessions in a variety of environments.
Everything is information. I’m excited to reflect on these lessons, add some variation to our training, and see where we are a few months from now.
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