George has been great company this week. He's made me laugh a lot and has been extra snuggly.
Of course, it hasn’t been without challenges!
We had a very scary incident with a huge off-leash dog racing toward us while we were on a walk with my friend. My friend shouted a warning, and I pretty much dragged poor George through a bush.
Luckily, we were at the end of the walk, where we could hide behind cars. The busy road slowed the huge dog down while its owner frantically tried to get it to listen.
It was scary, but I’m relieved it happened there and not earlier on the walk, where there were wide open spaces.
I had a rare evening out, and George spent the night at his countryside retreat. He wasn’t too keen for me to leave—I think he knew it would be a longer stay when he saw his bag.
He held on to my cardigan with his mouth, which was quite sad. But I knew he was in safe hands, and apparently, he had a great time.
He’s really grown in confidence there and seems to be thriving, which is a huge relief.
At home, he’s doing really well—resting and not reacting very often. He’s managing the big dog barks admirably.
I’ve reduced his medication at home on rest days.
He probably only reacts once or twice a day now, whereas it used to be more than that per hour.
The increased calm at home isn’t quite transferring to the outside world yet, but it really helps him overall.
What has particularly made me laugh this week is when he’s upstairs and hears a noise at the door. He runs downstairs grumbling—a kind of vibrating grumble as he goes 😆 Once he’s had a big snort at the door, calm is restored.
We tried a new Sniffspot a bit further afield, which was great. George was a little hesitant at first—he struggles with new places—but he ended up confident and exploring. He loved swimming - well, mostly paddling - in the pond.
The owner was so nice. She gave us a bandanna, dog treats, and a map, and told us to stay as long as we liked. It was pretty hot, though, so we didn’t stay over an hour.
When I got home, I received a notification on the app that she’d given me a 1-star review. I was mortified and had no idea what I had done wrong.
I racked my brain, but I had picked up his poo, stayed in the areas she told us to, and we’d had a lovely chat.
I messaged her to check what the issue was and to apologise if I had done anything wrong.
She replied quickly, saying it was an error and that she would have given us 5000 stars if she could 😆. She contacted admin, who corrected it.
It was a relief that we hadn’t done anything wrong. She was very apologetic and reassured us we are welcome back anytime.
On the drive home, we hit some traffic. There were four men in the car next to us, music blaring, arms hanging out the windows. I held my breath, expecting George to go wild at any moment. To my shock, he sat calmly, just watching them—a huge win!
Then we bumped into the neighbours, and George was back to his wild self—normality restored.
As we approach the end of the year, I’m really pleased with George’s increasing confidence and calm—at home at least. Next challenge: the rest of the world 😊