Little Nelly is my kinda girl.
For my dogs, it was all about how they were raised. I'm terrible at routine. Even if I try, I just don't manage it very well. My two Rotties, the only two I had from small puppies, were very chill about routine. Big walk at the beach one day and the next on the sofa? No problem. Breakfast at 7am on Tuesday and 11am on Wednesday? No problem. Most of my fosters were either puppies or very young dogs, so they also adapted very well to the No Routine routine.
However, Mama Jodhi (pretty pitie rescue) came to me as a foster at 8 years old. She had been adopted at three months old from the shelter by an older woman who sadly had passed away. That's all I know about her first owner on paper. In reality I know that Jodhi was fed once a day at precisely 5pm. She was also walked every day at 10am. She was taught to sit before crossing any intersection. I know all this because Jodhi told me...every day! Every day for 8 years!
She not only held steadfastly to the routine of her first owner, but she also truly loved routine in general. If I took her to the beach twice at 6pm, she expected that the third, fourth, fifth time at 6pm. And it would take weeks for her to give up the ghost.
How'd she tell me what she expected of me, her loyal monkey butler (tm
@SwampDonkey)? She'd stare, wrinkle her forehead, stomp her feet and wail "Woo, woo, woo!". In her golden years, she wasn't beyond dropping a few hard-as-rocks little revenge poos at my feet.
Why didn't I just give in? Because I felt it was a battle of the wills. And ok, after a while, it was just our thing. She'd stamp, I'd say 'nope', she'd woo woo and I'd grab her and give her kisses. Poor girl, I probably drove her nuts.
I will say that I'm a believer in keeping certain things in place for even the most flexible dog. When I started traveling with Brogan, it was his travel blanket that would get draped over each new bed or sofa and then become his place. Same when I was traveling with Carbon and Paul - they had their special blanket that meant "This is home" (for tonight). Now Carbon also has his
@Beanwood Bunny who goes everywhere with him. Also certain weird things I say that make actions familiar, even if we're in a different place. For example Brogan got "Time for night night" when it was time to settle and go to bed and "Guard the house and eat the burglars" if I had to leave him alone in the house. I blame my mother for BOTH of those sayings.
So I say it's really down to the humans. People who say that dogs get upset when their routine is messed up are usually really saying that about themselves and the dogs have just learned it from their human. And nothing wrong with that...I wish I was a little better at the whole routine thing!
