[nagdu] stress, how much is too much?

[Julie J.]

Thanks!  Those are reactions to stress that I wouldn't have thought of.  
It makes sense though.  I like to go to bed early when I've had a rough day.

I think it's important, especially for the new handlers, to recognize 
stress/anxiety at it's first signs.  then the situation can be managed 
or extra encouragement provided to the dog before the problem escalates 
into a huge ordeal.  I think knowing when your dog has had enough and 
what to do about it is very important stuff.
Do the schools provide a seminar or something on noticing stress signals 
from you dog?  What about how to calm a stressed dog?

Julie



On 11/12/2012 11:35 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
> Sometimes, if we're away at a festival or convention, and Ben has worked
> from morning to night for a couple days, I can tell that he's wants a
> break.  If we're out late, he starts looking toward the door, or turning
> forcefully towards our room.
> During class at TSE, on the weekend before the third week, he just shut
> down.  He wouldn't get up when I called him.  He tried to crawl under the
> bed and hide when I picked up his leash.  It was very upsetting.  But I
> learned then that his reaction to stress is to sleep.  If I let him rest,
> leave him in peace for a while, he's back to his usual self.
> Tracy
>> I'm wondering how your dog's show that they are stressed and how much is
>> too much?
>>
>> a bit of background...a few months ago I went to an all day meeting out
>> of town.  This involved about 8 hours of car travel there, an overnight
>> hotel stay, the all day meeting, another hotel stay and the car ride
>> home.  Monty has done all of these sorts of things before and since.
>> Before this weekend he showed few signs of stress and they were minor.
>> However for some reason still unknown to me Monty had a tough time this
>> particular weekend.  His signs of stress included: looking at everything
>> incessantly, startling at noises, lip licking, difficulty relaxing  at
>> relief breaks, shaking and pulling like a crazed maniac in harness.
>>
>> For me his signs of stress were pretty high.  If he had continued at
>> that level I would have stopped working him.  We have struggled off and
>> on for the past few months with smaller episodes of stress/anxiety.
>> Overall things have improved dramatically.  Occasionally he will do the
>> lip licking and the looking at everything, but he's not at a level that
>> I feel is risky to his or my health or  safety.
>>
>> Recent messages to the list and my own situation caused me to think
>> about and ask the questions: How much is too much?  What would cause you
>> to quit working a dog completely? What would cause you to quit working a
>> dog in a particular situation?
>>
>> Julie
>>
>>
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