Stress awareness month (April)

This poster from the Stress Management Society is a good place to start, if you feel stressed. They also have more resources on their website: https://www.stress.org.uk/ As it is also National Pet Month in the UK, read on to see how I have dealt with a stressful situation caused by my dog Charlie's behaviour.

We all get stressed at times. Recently I was getting more and more agitated and annoyed by Charlie's constant desire to play with a dog we walk around with. This dog is lovely and never tells Charlie off so he wasn't getting that the dog didn't want to play with him. I tried a firm 'no' but that didn't work and then it escalated the situation as Charlie got more and more excited by the negative attention he got from everyone. So then I tried distracting him with a ball, sticks, and finally food. They all worked for a few minutes but then he'd go back to annoying the dog. I was very upset by Charlie's annoying behaviour, and frustrated that he just wasn't getting it. He's an intelligent dog so I knew he was trainable, but I had to find the right tool to take him out of his obsessive mindset. Walking round with a group of other dog owners it feels like you have a village helping you raise your dog right, and one of them suggested a water spray bottle. This has worked brilliantly on Charlie over the last few days and, although he'll still try it on a bit, for the most part I only need to show him the bottle and he moves off. Today he found another dog to play with, so he is understanding that I am not trying to stop his fun. I just need him to respect that the dog he was harrassing every day didn't want to play with him. Our walks are much calmer now, and he still gets to swim after a ball at the end, which is one of his favourite activities. Every dog is different and it is such a relief when you find a training technique that works for you!