Since George was a puppy, I have worked downstairs using the dining table on my work from home days. That's where his pen and crate were and has easy access to outside for toilet training.
I have been using a tiny laptop and my back and neck are not doing great! I am now trying to transition to working in the office/spare room upstairs.
We'd spent some time in the spare room recently for my parents visit so he is fairly comfortable in the space. To prepare, we had done lots of enrichment activities in the room with the aim of him associating it with being enjoyable.
The challenge is that it tends to be louder than downstairs with neighbours coming and going, and unlike downstairs, he can see them through the window. Therefore, he tends to be on higher alert upstairs.
We needed to put the patterns in place that help calm behaviour when I work downstairs.
On the first day, I set up the office upstairs mid-morning when he was sleepy although he saw me leave. Amazingly, he chose to stay downstairs by himself for a while - progress!
When he came to find me, he was slightly confused that a desk had appeared but was still fairly sleepy so settled quite well. I kept the blinds closed to block the visual triggers.
After an hour or two, he was getting restless and the noises from outside were increasing. Despite the blocked view and white noise machine, he started barking at outside noises. So I decided to prevent him rehearsing the behaviour for longer and we moved back downstairs.
Day two, we increased the time upstairs and he seemed more settled. I kept some kibble close by and constantly rewarded calm behaviour.
Day three, I started working upstairs from the morning. Over the course of the morning, I gave him a snuffle mat, a licki-mat, and hid some kibble in cardboard for him to find and shred. We kept some chews and toys upstairs. I continued blocking the visual triggers and sounds (as best I could) and continued rewarding calm behaviour.
Day four, there was a lot more coming and going from the neighbours and he was more alert. He barked/reacted 22 times which is a lot for us now. I should have moved downstairs earlier in hindsight.
Days five and six, we spent half the time downstairs and half the time in the new space.
Unfortunately, by allowing him the space to remain downstairs or come upstairs, I have to leave the child gate open which means he has access to the front door. He sometimes spends time sniffing at the door, on the alert for triggers. I will have to think about how I can block this off whilst still allowing him to easily come upstairs.
On the whole, he's been doing quite well. He does still react to noises but not too much more than downstairs now. He resettles fairly quickly.
I'm still mostly working without natural light but I think we are a long way away from him seeing out of the window when the neighbours are around! I have ordered some window film for this space.
I am continuing to reward calm behaviour and am using our cue word and rewarding whenever we hear a noise and he doesn't react.
He mostly spends time with me but very occasionally chooses to go/stay downstairs by himself (which had never happened before).
For George, even the slightest change in routine can be unsettling. So I have been pleasantly surprised by how he is starting to adapt the good habits (which took a long time to build downstairs) to the new space.
It's very much a work in progress but I know that the methods we are using will work (along with the medication!) if am consistent and remember to take things slowly.
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