Off days

Yesterday morning it was apparent that Luke was in a bad mood. It doesn't take long to read his mood because he displays his emotions outwardly; he isn't the type to hold in his emotions. The girls may have bad days as well but they don't show them as obviously, only the tiniest of things let you know it's an off day for them. With Luke you know right away, he is either over the top tail wagging from the minute he sees someone, sort of on the fence about seeing you or won't talk to you.

Is it a fair statement then to say that dogs have bad days? Darn right. Ask anyone who does a competitive performance with their dog; whether it is flyball, agility, dock diving or frisbee they have off days. And because of this I like to take a good hard look at a behavior when a dog is not performing. Even in simple daily obedience, where your dog might always come to you immediately, one day they might just not. Often an angry reaction is the human response but perhaps it should be "what's up with Fido?"

Yesterday Luke was not talking to me; which is very rare for him. He was still following me around but not like he normally does. There were a few times I changed rooms and he stayed where he was. I have a feeling he was perhaps overly tired from his power exercise weekend and not in a cheery mood because of it. So I take that into account when I am interacting with him, I don't push him on his off days. Hey; it's not a good idea to push me on my off days either, you could be seriously injured ;)

If you know your dog inside and out then you should be able to see an off day. Like I said it is not always as easy as Luke who is so visual. Sometimes it's a simple change in their usually very predictable behavior, so keep an eye out and be an extra good guardian on those days and this will pass.