As noted in my previous posts, George's anxiety and stress levels have been really high this week.
We have been quite fortunate with avoiding triggers. We've managed to mostly avoid the neighbours and people at daycare which really helps.
Even at home though, George's reactions have been more intense. There was a bird in the garden and his reaction was wild - barking, panting, manically jumping. He hasn't done that in a while.
We had our first happy vet visit which went OK. The following day we'd booked a local Sniffspot.
George has been taking one Gabapentin twice a day (in addition to his normal meds). I haven't noticed any difference so for the Sniffspot day, I trialled two in the morning (the VB's advice is 1-2 twice a day currently).
Usually, he is pretty much over-threshold as soon as we step outside. He was still on alert when we left the house but perhaps a little less than usual. We were lucky to have a clear run to the car.
At the Sniffspot, he seemed more confident. There were a couple of moments of tense body language, and one yawn, but on the whole he seemed more relaxed.
I book the spots for an hour but we rarely stay that long. If George hasn't had enough by half an hour, it's a good day.
On this day, we used nearly the whole hour. He was quite happy exploring and didn't go and stand by the car which is his usual behaviour! This was quite a big shift.
He's also far more confident around the creek. It has a steep drop and is deep in places so it makes me nervous! He was being quite stubborn in his desperation to get in. Again, unusual behaviour. He is normally cautious and very receptive when I tell him to come away from something.
We were fortunate to have another clear run on our return to the house.
Given George's desperation to get in the creek, I set up his water fountain mat when we got home. I think the fountains are a bit much but it fills up like a little paddling pool. He has one of those shell pools but is hesitant. This one is soft and has much lower sides so I thought he might like it better.
He watched with slight curiousity while I set it up. He watched with bemusement when I had to get changed after turning the tap the wrong way and getting soaked :)
I stood in the pool with some treats and we got in and out and splashed around a bit. He didn't seem fearful, just not particularly bothered.
I guess it doesn't have the same draw as the dirty creek.
We haven't run into a big trigger yet (or even a trigger at a distance) with the increased Gabapentin but it did seem to make a difference to his confidence. The anti-inflammatory (Loxicom) he has been taking for a week could also have helped with that if he is experiencing pain.
The monitoring continues.