We’re beginning to feel like our reactive dogs!
We feel beleaguered, trapped, attacked.
We’re learning to be afraid of other people …
Well, let’s keep things in proportion. We’re not afraid of other people per se, but of coming into close contact with them.
Personal space
Dogs are ahead of us here, because the dog’s personal space is so much larger than ours. Our natural comfortable distance is a metre or so away from the person we’re talking to, if we don’t know them well. There are global variations on this distance, of course - different cultures have different social norms.
And our own natural feelings have to some extent been over-ridden by what we have to put up with on a normal day. Think rush hour public transport!
There are many upsides in this crisis, and not having to squash into a bus or tube train at rush hour has got to be up there near the top!
So keeping two metres away from people entails making an effort and keeping it in your mind the whole time.
Help from your Growly Dog!
And here’s where your Growly Dog can help you: she is all too keen to keep her distance from other dogs and people - and maybe bikes, toddlers, and cars as well.
So work together on this, and keep your distance too!
Having a small understanding of how she views the world - as a dangerous, threat-filled, place - could make all the difference to how you protect her.
This is why I’ve made a free Masterclass for you: so that you can learn so much to help your dog!
Time off
Many of us are in enforced isolation right now. And this is just heaven for your Growly fella! One of the first things I ask new Growly Dog students to do is to give their dog a “cortisol holiday” - a complete break from all the things that terrify him on a daily basis, to allow the hormone levels to stabilise.
Usually five days of home confinement makes a considerable difference to the anxious, reactive, dog. A noticeable difference.
Now is an ideal opportunity to give your anxious dog that break. And while you find new ways to exercise and amuse him in the home, you can detach yourself from all these worries and anxieties too.
While you’re at home you don’t have to remember to avoid people. You don’t have to view others with fear. You can switch off the things that worry you (yes, I mean the constant news updates, social media, alarmists in general) and enjoy some peace with your now-calmer dog.
Teach him some tricks!
Teach him to fetch!
Have some fun!
I know that many of you with Growly Dogs suffer from feelings of isolation. But right now you’re exactly where you need to be!
I am sure that another upside from this crisis is that people have a space in which to reflect and look at their own life critically.
Instead of being bundled along in the daily grind, holding everything together - working hard not to drop a ball - many people are stepping off their treadmill for the first time in years!
So this is a wonderful opportunity to reassess exactly where you are in life:
Is it exactly where you want to be?
Are there changes you’d love to make?
What’s stopping you making those changes over the next few months?
Here’s a little exercise for you:
Write down the top three values you want to live your life by
(e.g. adventure, integrity, connection, spirituality, nature, joy . . .)
Beside each of your three, write down how far you are now living your life by them. You can use a scale of 1-10 if that helps, with 1 being not at all, and 10 being totally.
Now look at what you’ve written!
Is this how you want it to be?
Yes: fantastic!
No: what are you going to do to change things?
Comment below or email me and tell me how this went for you!