Self-Forgiveness
This photo is not put up to let you see how beautiful this sunrise is; it is shown to be a reflection of what life has been like with our sound-sensitive GSD Elke this week and to talk about forgiving yourself when you make a training mistake.
Construction vehicles with the backup beeping mechanism engaged have been working near our house all week long. I cannot get Elke to step foot outside the door between 7 AM and 5 PM. It is crazy how they can tell time, and they know when the scary things will be present, and no amount of coaxing, treat scatters, or patiently waiting will help her get out the door. So, we have been doing our walks right as the sun is rising before the bewitching hour of 7 AM. For us, managing when we get outside has helped immensely. If we can get out there before 7, we can get in a decent walk without her having a full-on meltdown and dragging me back to the house.
It is not easy, though. I typically get up early but like to take my time to have breakfast and coffee and then head out for a walk. We go outside as soon as we get up to take care of business but do not walk then as it is still dark outside. We live in the mountains, and our street does not have lights. And there is a lot of wildlife that roams around right before dawn (It is bear cub season now.).
It took me a while to figure out what would work for Elke and help her feel comfortable with being outside when it is construction time. It was a lot of trial and error. Even with having this knowledge, I do not always get it right. Yesterday, I slept in until 7:05. As such, Elke would not step foot outside the door, and I felt so bad because I knew that she had to pee. (It had already been 12 hours!!) I kept trying every half hour until 10:00, when my brain cells kicked in, and I realized that I could put her in the car and drive her somewhere that did not have beeping sounds present. It worked – she got in a nice walk, did her business, and went on to have a decent day. Of course, I beat myself up quite a bit for not thinking of it sooner.
I guess the points of this rambling post are that we all want our dogs to be comfortable in their world, and we will get creative and work hard to make that happen. We are going to screw it up occasionally. Yes, it happens even when you have a ton of education, training, and tools not to do so. I have to remind myself that it is OK, and we should forgive ourselves and move on. Today I did better and got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.
