10/07/2026
Micco is a naturally anxious dog, so routine is something he finds comfort in and a disturbance in routine is something that throws him a little.
Today I had an early lesson and then had to help my grandma with errands and it threw our routine up in the air. Now later in the day he has more energy than he would and things are a little more stressful for him.
Because of that, I altered our training plan. I was planning on taking him into a new suburb, hunting for dogs to work around, but instead we’re decompressing on a long structured walk on the country road, followed by some sniffing and grazing, and then a long walk back.
While it’s important later on in training for Micco to learn how to notice his stress and deal with it, the halfway point of our training isn’t that. You can notice he’s already scanning quite a bit, and the only thing around are a few cars. To push him further this early in training wouldn’t be productive so we have to switch things up to make sure we’re successful, especially on a day that’s already so different from the norm.
I’d much rather give him a healthy picture of regulation to replicate later on again, then force him to do something too difficult for him today.
