[nagdu] stress, how much is too much?

[Tracy Carcione]

I don't remember any lecture about signs of stress or what to do about it,
though I may have forgotten.  We did learn a bit about dog massage, and,
at GDB, we learned the Tellington touch, where one does certain kinds of
massage for certain problems.  Like, rubbing the dog's ear helps it feel
calmer, or rubbing his neck in a circular way.  As you can tell, I only
recall this vaguely.  But I figure some gentle petting in a stressful time
can't hurt.
Ben's signs of stress are so subtle I'd probably miss them, if he hadn't
had such a dramatic episode in class.
Tracy

> 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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>>
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