When you try your best to avoid triggers (and it doesn't work)

Today, as usual, we carefully timed our walk to try and give us the best chance of avoiding triggers. On our way out, our neighbour had left his boots outside his door which George did not like. We then ran into a delivery driver in a high-vis jacket in the car park which George really did not like.

We couldn't go to our normal park due to construction. The second park we tried was full of schoolkids. So we landed at the third park. It's a relatively big park with good visibility. I'm aware of trigger stacking at this point and am aiming for a short sniffing walk.

A few minutes in, I spotted a large off-leash dog in the distance. It was staying close to its owner and seemed well-behaved. George saw it too. It was at a distance he can now mostly tolerate although he was keeping a very careful eye. Given the triggers we'd already encountered, I decided to call it quits and try again another day.

When we returned home, our neighbour was washing his car in the car park blocking my spot. His children were with him playing. I got out of the car and explained I had George with me and he was going to bark. That gave us a little space (and hopefully understanding!) but it was still an intense reaction pushing George well over-threshold.

Back in the safety of home, it was an extra licki-mat for George and a quiet afternoon. Sometimes, despite your best intentions, the triggers just keep coming!

In the past, I would have persevered for longer, determined for George to have his walk. Now, I don’t always get it right but I am trying to learn when to call it a day and cut a walk short.