Stress puppy seeks help

26/12/08

Distress during dinner

Amika remained more aroused than she has been before at my parent’s place. She was put outside while we ate dinner. She started with a pool play session, then spent some time laying by the family room door (usual route of entry) rather than the mat by the lounge door where she could see us. Then she started barking for attention, which set of neighbour dogs. So when our dinner was done, and she had had hers outside, she was still rather aroused and stressed out.

I had to put her on lead again coming in to stop her greeting from being over the top. We got her rope toy, sat on the family room rug and asked her to settle / down. She was looking kind of fried, but was able to lie in front of me playing fairly sedate mouth games with the toy. She’d toss it on my legs and I’d toss it on hers or give it to her so she could chomp on it.

My partner said it looked almost as if she was helping me to get her to relax. I know what he means. Usually it is as if she is out to find a source of arousal. “Forget this stupid, boring relaxation stuff, I want the adrenaline rush!” Arousal is exciting and fun. I think she had got herself into a state where it was no longer fun to be up there in adrenal land, and she was eagerly, gratefully accepting my interaction to relax her.

After a few minutes, I moved her to the mat by the family room door (inside) which is her usual spot next to the meals area. I left her on lead to start, but didn’t need it. I sprinkled treats on the mat so she could keep her focus off the people parked around the table preparing to play games. She had come in from her separation outside and would normally do her greeting stuff over again. I asked her to stay settled on the mat. I gave her a fairly high rate of reinforcement while there. She also had her toy to chew on.

To start she was good, then started popping up and wandering around in an agitated / unsettled manner. She didn’t go into full greeting mode, though. I took a break after my turn at the game we were playing. When asked what she wanted Amika had dropped the rope toy by my chair and given eye contact. OK, outside for a quickie fetch session (3 throws) and a jog around the pool. She was able to settle a bit better after that. She never did fully rest though. I think that she was overtired. Every time she did look like she was about to drop off, she’d be up looking at people for attention again.

She flaked in the car on the way home, but started barking at nothing in particular when we turned into our street and the driveway. So she really was wiped and stressed out this evening. She’ll be having a restful day tomorrow.