"Has anyone ever told you that you don't need to walk him?"

At this stage, George's reactivity was constant and escalating and I was at the end of my tether. Not knowing any better, I was taking him for two short/medium walks a day. I thought that he needed the exercise and that not exposing him to triggers wouldn't help.

The question from the VB turned my understanding upside down. She explained that continuously exposing George to stress was doing him harm and would not help his anxiety. He needed a stress holiday and if that meant reducing/stopping walks, so be it. No walk is always better than a stressful walk.

We talked through enrichment activities which can be done at home instead. It took me a while to fully get my head around it though. It was a difficult situation as George was afraid of toileting in the garden at the time. I worried that not walking would make him uncomfortable and possibly unwell.

I reduced the walks to one per day. George's reactivity and high levels of anxiety continued. After a follow up session with the trainer, I realised that it was still too much.

George had been over-threshold for so long, he wasn't even able to enjoy quiet walks. He was stressed as soon as we left the house. So I reduced the walks to one-two per week and only in a private field/SniffSpot. We upped the enrichment activities and played more games at home.

It took time but George's anxiety levels seemed to start to come down. He was also trialling various medications at this stage.

Now that George's anxiety levels have improved slightly and he has the support from the medication allowing us the space to train, we are now very slowly starting to reintroduce walks in a few more places. He is excited to go for walks now and remains calm as long as we can manage triggers.

I am trying really hard not to rush it. We are sticking to a handful of places for the foreseeable future. I won't repeat what I did when he was a puppy taking him to different places every week.

I have had to readjust my expectations of my life with a dog. I've learned that some dogs are happier with no walks at all. It may be the case that George always struggles with unfamiliar places. But if we can enjoy walks together in a few places several times a week, that will make me very happy.