How do I decide what to do with Scout? What does she enjoy most? A look at our favorite physical, mental, and social activities—and whether they fill or drain her cup.
Such a power packed post filled with such important insights. I used to do all I could to wear Isa out too and it ended up being to his detriment.
I wish I would have had all of this 5 years ago. Everyone should save this post for life!
But also curious what you do with Scout if you are going some place she can’t come with? Do you take her to cafes and restaurants and things always? Obviously you wouldn’t want to just leave her in the van. 🚐
And we actually leave Scout in the van regularly! It's her home—she seems even more comfortable in it than she ever was in any of our apartments or our house—and we've got a robust temperature control system with a huge "house" battery bank that makes it possible (unlike a standard car without insulation, only the front cab battery system, etc).
Weirdly enough, I think we used to take her more places *before* the van. I assumed she'd come along only more often once we hit the road, but the ability to know she's safe in Hermes has helped us back off some of the pressure! She does well in a nice range of environments these days but doesn't have public access rights as a non-service dog, of course, plus doesn't much enjoy places with the potential for surprises or lots of commotion. And now that the three of us live in like 60 square feet, I find we humans enjoy some dog-less time differently than before 😂
Haha. Enjoying dogless time differently than before made me laugh. Totally make sense that it’s her home and not like just leaving a dog in a car that isn’t temperature controlled. I didn’t realize you could run AC without running the engine. My mind is blown.
It has been amazing. We splurged on a pretty hefty electrical system (even in the full-time van world) mostly because of Scout, and I’ve gotta say it’s been so worth it!!
Ahh, thank you SO much, Caz! The whole "tired dog is a good dog" mantra/myth really is pervasive. I'm glad I was able to eventually get to a better, nuanced place with Scout!
Hi Haley. Great post. I know you have probably addressed this somewhere but when walking our dog in our rabbit infested urban environment she lets loose with those high pitched heeler barks and the pulling begins. Is it ok to pop the leash and strongly command “leave it” or “enough”? Would that leave her frustrated?
Hi Sharon! Thanks again, so much, for being here and taking the time to read. I appreciate it so much.
The prey-filled environments are SO hard!! What is and isn't okay, or ideal, in this situation is going to depend on a bunch of factors. (I know that answer is probably frustrating and apologize in advance—I remembering feeling that way myself so many times, haha—but I'd be irresponsible to pretend there was some nice streamlined "right" answer!)
If your gal has a clear understanding of "leave it" or "enough" already, you could definitely work up to being able to use those commands/cues around prey. If she's too overstimulated to even begin to listen to you, though, I'd guess (with the caveat that I've not met her personally and am not a professional dog trainer; please always keep that in mind!) there's a good chance more tactile stimulation from the leash might indeed increase her frustration.
Different trainers approach this kind of thing differently. The method we chose that worked well for Scout's personality was to teach "windows of opportunity" (an older blog on that! here! https://www.pawsandreflect.blog/p/windows-of-opportunity-in-life-with-our-dog Say the word if you need me to comp you access!), a concept we learned from dog trainer Jay Jack. We started in "easier" situations and then worked up to her being able to understand and respond to the verbal signals "go ahead" and "enough" in a range of situations. If she tried to chase a squirrel outside of a "go ahead" window, we'd punish the behavior to decrease its frequency (Scout was most sensitive to social punishment), and then we'd give her a chance to make a better choice and reward that.
This comment is getting long so I'm going to leave it here for now—but please, please always feel free to reach out! I'm happy to pass along any resources I can.
Such a power packed post filled with such important insights. I used to do all I could to wear Isa out too and it ended up being to his detriment.
I wish I would have had all of this 5 years ago. Everyone should save this post for life!
But also curious what you do with Scout if you are going some place she can’t come with? Do you take her to cafes and restaurants and things always? Obviously you wouldn’t want to just leave her in the van. 🚐
And we actually leave Scout in the van regularly! It's her home—she seems even more comfortable in it than she ever was in any of our apartments or our house—and we've got a robust temperature control system with a huge "house" battery bank that makes it possible (unlike a standard car without insulation, only the front cab battery system, etc).
Weirdly enough, I think we used to take her more places *before* the van. I assumed she'd come along only more often once we hit the road, but the ability to know she's safe in Hermes has helped us back off some of the pressure! She does well in a nice range of environments these days but doesn't have public access rights as a non-service dog, of course, plus doesn't much enjoy places with the potential for surprises or lots of commotion. And now that the three of us live in like 60 square feet, I find we humans enjoy some dog-less time differently than before 😂
Haha. Enjoying dogless time differently than before made me laugh. Totally make sense that it’s her home and not like just leaving a dog in a car that isn’t temperature controlled. I didn’t realize you could run AC without running the engine. My mind is blown.
It has been amazing. We splurged on a pretty hefty electrical system (even in the full-time van world) mostly because of Scout, and I’ve gotta say it’s been so worth it!!
Ahh, thank you SO much, Caz! The whole "tired dog is a good dog" mantra/myth really is pervasive. I'm glad I was able to eventually get to a better, nuanced place with Scout!
Hi Haley. Great post. I know you have probably addressed this somewhere but when walking our dog in our rabbit infested urban environment she lets loose with those high pitched heeler barks and the pulling begins. Is it ok to pop the leash and strongly command “leave it” or “enough”? Would that leave her frustrated?
Hi Sharon! Thanks again, so much, for being here and taking the time to read. I appreciate it so much.
The prey-filled environments are SO hard!! What is and isn't okay, or ideal, in this situation is going to depend on a bunch of factors. (I know that answer is probably frustrating and apologize in advance—I remembering feeling that way myself so many times, haha—but I'd be irresponsible to pretend there was some nice streamlined "right" answer!)
If your gal has a clear understanding of "leave it" or "enough" already, you could definitely work up to being able to use those commands/cues around prey. If she's too overstimulated to even begin to listen to you, though, I'd guess (with the caveat that I've not met her personally and am not a professional dog trainer; please always keep that in mind!) there's a good chance more tactile stimulation from the leash might indeed increase her frustration.
Different trainers approach this kind of thing differently. The method we chose that worked well for Scout's personality was to teach "windows of opportunity" (an older blog on that! here! https://www.pawsandreflect.blog/p/windows-of-opportunity-in-life-with-our-dog Say the word if you need me to comp you access!), a concept we learned from dog trainer Jay Jack. We started in "easier" situations and then worked up to her being able to understand and respond to the verbal signals "go ahead" and "enough" in a range of situations. If she tried to chase a squirrel outside of a "go ahead" window, we'd punish the behavior to decrease its frequency (Scout was most sensitive to social punishment), and then we'd give her a chance to make a better choice and reward that.
This comment is getting long so I'm going to leave it here for now—but please, please always feel free to reach out! I'm happy to pass along any resources I can.