Tag Archives: dogs are adaptable

Dogs hate change. We do, too.

Change is hard. Routine is comfortable. Dogs hate change.

Because humans can understand the “why” of change, it’s easier for people to cope. We may not like the shifts, but we’re able to reason why they may be necessary. Dogs are presented with a “done deal.” In lots of ways, their coping skills may be better than ours. They may not like it, but they do it.

Tough week

There has been lots of change in our lives over the past week. Golly Gear’s bricks-and-mortar location became yet another Covid victim as our lease expired. We’ve shifted operations into our shared, little house. We’re hoping to keep the nuts-and-bolts challenges pretty invisible to the outside world. Some transitions are taking a bit longer than expected, but overall we think we’re on track. 

Dogs hate change almost as much as we do. Golly Gear's bricks-and-mortar location, pictured, is gone.

But our dogs know something weird is happening. Their schedule has been disrupted and they’re of two minds about it. 

On the one hand, they love having us around more. On the other, their “going to work crate snack” isn’t happening. That resulted in some whining this morning. 

Navigating the change

The biggest change is that our entire shop now occupies what used to be a living room. There are crowded, narrow aisles to navigate. Finding our inventory is challenging, but so far, we’ve picked the right bins and found everything customers needed. That was a relief.

An even bigger relief was everything electronic connecting the way it should. We can figure out the inventory stuff. Tech support isn’t our strength.

Getting it sorted

It’s going to take a little time to settle into the new routine. For us and the dogs. In the meantime, while things are jumbled, the dogs are gated off from the work space. That resulted in some whining, too. Did we mention dogs hate change? The addition of vast quantities of comfy beds on their side of the gate helped. But you know that feeling of “someone’s watching” you sometimes get? That’s perpetual for now. There are lots of eyes following us whenever we move.

Dogs hate change, but they are adaptable critters. As long as they get enough “normal” in the schedule, they’ll be okay. And since their normal routine involves daily training, they start the day with a fun activity that has a dual purpose – it tires them out. There’s nothing that exhausts a dog more than having to think!

What we’ve learned

We’ve been sisters forever and business partners almost as long. But we’re still learning, too. What this transition has taught us is to be gentle with each other – especially when under extreme stress. We know each other so well that we know exactly which buttons to push to spark rage. We’re very carefully not pushing them.