The (stressed) Common-sense Dog

Sometimes dogs are predictable in their behaviors. They do the same thing every day at the same time, or they react the same way to a certain stimulus every time they encounter it.

But sometimes dogs throw us a curve ball and do things that are completely uncharacteristic. Stress plays a big role in these atypical behaviors that seem to arise for no reason.

Imagine a perfectly pleasant day. You drive to work, and there is no traffic. You get out on time and even get a promotion before the day is done. Your kids are doing well at home and school. Your relationship with your significant other is going well. No traffic on the drive home. You pull into the driveway, and the lawn has just been mowed.

Then your significant other steps out of the house and says, “Did you pay the water bill?” You’ll likely hop back into the car, and drive off to pay the bill, “Oops, I’ll take care of that.”

Now imagine a very stressful day. Power went out during the night so your alarm didn’t sound, and you’re late for work. You missed your shot at beating traffic, and you’re stuck on the freeway for 45 minutes to travel a mile. While you’re waiting in the stand-still, your doctor calls and says the lump he biopsied is in fact cancerous and he’d like to discuss treatment options.

You’re two hours late for work, and your boss lets you know it. Your phone buzzes in your pocket all day while you try to catch up on the two hours your missed, and when you finally have a break, you listen to several messages from your child’s school saying he/she has been cutting school all week. Your boss asks you to stay late to make up what you missed, and it puts you right in the middle of rush hour on your drive home. When you pull into the driveway, the grass in knee-high, and you smack your head on the roof of the car.

Then your significant other steps out of the house and says, “Did you pay the water bill?”

How do you respond? If you’re human and stressed, your response likely won’t be the best.

If we don’t address the stress our dogs feel during changes to routine (vet visits, guests coming over, moving, new vacuum, new dog, workers in or near the home, kids going back to school, etc.), that stress can build until the dog does something uncharacteristic. If we help our dogs work through stress by adding structure and exercise, we can avoid many “out-of-the-blue” behaviors.

Happy training!

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Stephanie Vichinsky is the owner/head trainer of Method K9 in Post Falls.