We had some weather challenges this week with an ex-tropical cyclone causing some havoc in the area.
There were severe weather warnings and watches so we were obviously keeping a close eye.
George struggled a bit with the wind. It was loud and he was (understandably) a little hesitant to go in the garden for a few days. He was very brave though and went out when he needed to.
We had a groom booked on one of the days when the weather was just starting to worsen - his first full groom at the new groomer.
He'd had the extra meds in the morning but was still on edge. The weather (strong winds and squally rainfall) definitely won't have helped.
We arrived at the groomers and I called to check the coast was clear. He was having a good sniff around in reception.
They have a display of dog treats in bags. In a split second, George grabbed one of the bags and tried to run away with it. Luckily the receptionist laughed and said it was the first time she'd ever seen a dog take a bag out of the display 😱
When I left, George was pretty upset. I could still hear him crying as I walked down the street. It was rough.
As I arrived at pick-up, the wind was worsening. A woman and 3 young children entered just before me. As it is a small reception space, I decided to wait until they came out. George gets so excited when he sees me but generally doesn't do great in small spaces on a leash.
20 minutes later and I am still waiting, sheltering behind a van to try and avoid being blown away by the crazy wind.
I caught the receptionist when she came out and explained I am waiting for the coast to be clear. She told me it's the owner and her children. Eek. I realised we were going to have to go ahead.
I explained to the owner that George gets a little stressed in small places and may bark at the children but I will do my best to get him out of there as soon as possible. They said OK. I realised later I should perhaps have also said that he's quite a small dog!
George comes out high-pitched barking and excited. I was crouched on the floor, blocking his view, and by some miracle, managed to bundle him out of there in seconds before his excited yaps turned into deep 'go away' barks.
Phew. I had a stress headache for a while after!
A couple of days later we were awoken by the loudest storm I can recall. The house was rattling and it was quite scary.
George did very well. He had been sleeping on the floor and when the wind and thunder got really loud, he just hopped on the bed, snuggled in close, and went back to sleep.
He only really struggled when the wind made the front door move and shake - because he thought there was somebody there. So that made him a bit more restless than usual.
We took advantage of a break in the weather to go for a long walk with my friend and her dog. George always does well with them, and my friend is very understanding of us needing to increase distance from triggers.
There was just one point when George barked at a lady in a hat (he's not a fan of hats), and quite a big reaction to a puppy even though we were at quite a distance. I think there was some frustration behind his reaction to the puppy.
He managed to pass some people without an issue which was great, albeit at quite a big distance.
We finished the week with a visit from a good friend. George loves her - she cuddled him all the way home when I drove him from the breeders at 8 weeks old.
His excitement was off the scale this time though - yelping and leaping around. We don't get many visitors so it hasn't been a big priority but I think we need to work on it now!
A cyclone, a groom and a visitor - and a lady in a hat - all in one week. I'm proud of the little guy.