Frustration

 So let us talk about frustration for a moment. You know, when you have an idea of something, or how something should go and then reality kicks in and nothing is as you expected it. We all get frustrated sometimes. We all handle it differently. We get upset with ourselves, with others, we get aggressive, we give up, we retreat....

So I got frustrated, as Gail didn't meet my expectations. When I get frustrated I retreat, I feel sad and depressed. It is sometimes difficult to get out of the frustration. Writing this, I realise how often we dismiss when dogs get frustrated. We label it as maybe aggression, or being naughty or being stubborn. Maybe we should reflect more about ourselves and then admit that dogs can have similar feeling, but might express them differently.

I took Gail to the office with me and she slept under the desk. I asked my colleagues just to ignore her and I could see that, though she was stressed, she started relaxing. The first time she was mainly panting. But later she relaxed and slept under the desk.

So when Gail panics, she doesn't get aggressive and wants to bite. She is the kind of dogs who just wants to run as far away as possible from whatever scares her. This makes her a very nice and pleasant dog to be with, but the thought of her getting away and running until she drops was very scary. So I tried to avoid situations where she felt the need to run.