- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I’m back in Andorra with my team, and I’m already ready to go back to Spain! Remind me it WILL get better!
Arriving on Christmas Eve into complete chaos, so many people and dogs everywhere! W&S barking at people because they’re on edge, alert barking in the flat. Squidge super excited, Ginny nervous. Everyone wanting to stop and chat, the normally dead street past our house like a main road through a major city.
Luckily, I have a plan or I think I’d have gone back already! And I’m already seeing huge improvements.
Squidge is already back to walking nicely on lead after being “that dog” pulling me along the road in front of everyone the first day. She’s jumping up at people who greet her, but that is less extreme than it was on Monday.
Shadow is wearing his muzzle on the street and I’ve posted up a message on the local FB page to explain why; I’ve had nothing but good natured messages. It doesn’t seem to have done anything to encourage people to give us space, but it’s early days! He has walked nervously but quietly past a couple of dogs. His very first encounter wasn’t ideal; straight out of the car after a three and a half hour trip, I took him for a wee and someone with a new Great Dane puppy decided to stop and talk, despite Shadow having a meltdown. It makes me wonder what people are thinking!
But, later on, he greeted another male dog beautifully. This dog is neutered and S knows him, but he was so happy to see him, and S was on lead! That’s a huge change in him.
The alert barking is tiresome, but I’ve made a massive batch of pyramid pan treats from leftovers and, every time I hear a noise, or every time either S or W barks, I throw a handful on the floor. This is working inasmuch as the barking is stopping quickly and a couple of times, S has barked and then immediately looked at me, so he’s starting to make the association, but it’ll take a while to fully cement. And, of course, they’re still feeling very unsettled from the massive change of environment. I’m finding it very hard to not say anything, but instead of “Shadow!” or “Willow!”, which sounds like telling off, I’m training myself to say “Scatter!” instead.
As for Ginny, she’s doing really well. She’s jittery on the street and if people move towards her, but she’s very excited to be in the mountains, and dealing with the terrain beautifully. There is no snow on the south-facing slopes at the moment, which is where we walk, so we’re lucky that we can get her acclimatised before that comes. Plus, not much snow means no avalanche blasting for Willow, so for once I’m happy there’s not much snow! I’ve not been skiing yet, so it’s all good as far as I’m concerned
Funny, a friend popped in yesterday afternoon - the “mum” of W&S’s litter mate, Annie. W, S and L were going daft over her because she’s the most exciting person in the world and G decided that if they were all excited, she should be too, so bathed her way in for her strokes, too
Later on, we met up for a walk, so Ginny met Annie, and that went well.
Early days and it’s not without challenges, but some promising signs that it might all work out, and I can use it as a training opportunity. If not, I’ll head back to Spain with them all.
Arriving on Christmas Eve into complete chaos, so many people and dogs everywhere! W&S barking at people because they’re on edge, alert barking in the flat. Squidge super excited, Ginny nervous. Everyone wanting to stop and chat, the normally dead street past our house like a main road through a major city.
Luckily, I have a plan or I think I’d have gone back already! And I’m already seeing huge improvements.
Squidge is already back to walking nicely on lead after being “that dog” pulling me along the road in front of everyone the first day. She’s jumping up at people who greet her, but that is less extreme than it was on Monday.
Shadow is wearing his muzzle on the street and I’ve posted up a message on the local FB page to explain why; I’ve had nothing but good natured messages. It doesn’t seem to have done anything to encourage people to give us space, but it’s early days! He has walked nervously but quietly past a couple of dogs. His very first encounter wasn’t ideal; straight out of the car after a three and a half hour trip, I took him for a wee and someone with a new Great Dane puppy decided to stop and talk, despite Shadow having a meltdown. It makes me wonder what people are thinking!
But, later on, he greeted another male dog beautifully. This dog is neutered and S knows him, but he was so happy to see him, and S was on lead! That’s a huge change in him.
The alert barking is tiresome, but I’ve made a massive batch of pyramid pan treats from leftovers and, every time I hear a noise, or every time either S or W barks, I throw a handful on the floor. This is working inasmuch as the barking is stopping quickly and a couple of times, S has barked and then immediately looked at me, so he’s starting to make the association, but it’ll take a while to fully cement. And, of course, they’re still feeling very unsettled from the massive change of environment. I’m finding it very hard to not say anything, but instead of “Shadow!” or “Willow!”, which sounds like telling off, I’m training myself to say “Scatter!” instead.
As for Ginny, she’s doing really well. She’s jittery on the street and if people move towards her, but she’s very excited to be in the mountains, and dealing with the terrain beautifully. There is no snow on the south-facing slopes at the moment, which is where we walk, so we’re lucky that we can get her acclimatised before that comes. Plus, not much snow means no avalanche blasting for Willow, so for once I’m happy there’s not much snow! I’ve not been skiing yet, so it’s all good as far as I’m concerned
Funny, a friend popped in yesterday afternoon - the “mum” of W&S’s litter mate, Annie. W, S and L were going daft over her because she’s the most exciting person in the world and G decided that if they were all excited, she should be too, so bathed her way in for her strokes, too
Later on, we met up for a walk, so Ginny met Annie, and that went well.
Early days and it’s not without challenges, but some promising signs that it might all work out, and I can use it as a training opportunity. If not, I’ll head back to Spain with them all.
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sounds like it’s been an eventful few days but improvements already promises good times are round the corner. And maybe it’s not too Pollyanna-ish to say that every challenge overcome is a step towards longer term resilience building? This is one of my thoughts when I’m trying to slow myself down to appreciate one small step at a time! I hope you get some decent snow soon - but not too soon; holding off the blasting for a bit longer can’t hurt 
