We're heading in to summer in the Southern hemisphere which means long days, more daylight hours and warmer temperatures. All of which is great. But it also means more people, more dogs, and more triggers in general.
As you would expect, people spend more time in their gardens, and the beaches, parks and trails are busier.
Although this is George's second summer, last summer he was only occasionally starting to display reactive behaviours. So this is our first summer where we are living with more restrictions.
I enjoyed the winter/autumn months in many ways as it was easier. Daycare drop-off and pick-up were relatively dark and there weren't many people around for George to bark at out the car window. Walking at quiet times was easier as there were fewer triggers. Walking in the drizzle even better.
After some trial and error, I found that mid-afternoon after the lunch break (and before school pick-up) was the best time for me to walk George on work from home days. On weekends, I found around lunchtime worked well. George is sleepy in the evenings so it's a good time for him to catch up on important rest.
It can get too hot here to walk your dog during the day in the summer so the available dog walking times (early morning and evening) will be less - more dogs and more people to fit in to less time!
Our mid-afternoon walk today may be the last one we can do at that time for a while. It was starting to get to the "too hot" stage.
So I need to hatch a plan to get through summer without exposing George to too many more triggers.
If walks are limited to early morning or evening, I think we will try evenings on our walk days. I enjoy an early morning walk but it would have to be a very early wake-up so that George's situational med has a chance to kick in. I've only recently got George used to sleeping past 5am so I'd like to continue reinforcing that habit :)
George is resting better during the day now so I'm hopeful he will adapt to evening walks.
Luckily our local SniffSpots are available (at the moment) in the evening although I might need to book in advance to secure a spot. But it's an expense that can add up so I'd also like to find some suitable places in the "real world". It will likely be a bit of trial and error.
I recall the beaches being very busy with dog walkers in the early mornings last summer but not sure about the evenings. Many beaches have rules around when dogs are allowed during the summer months. George loves the beach but they may just be too busy for us for a while.
But we might have a couple of weeks of respite.
Over the Christmas and New Year period, the city becomes much quieter as residents head to the holiday hotspots for the holidays. It could be a really good training opportunity for George to try and expand our safe spaces with fewer triggers.
And of course, if it does all get too stressful, we can always put a pause on our walks again temporarily and replace with sniffing games and enrichment at home.
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