Summer is Coming...

"Summer is Coming" are the words of THIS house. I really adore the gardening and hiking of summer, and the long hours outside, but with it comes a danger. This is the first summer I have where I think my diagnosis might be right. Previous years, we thought I had an adrenaline problem triggered by heat, but it's all the same in that I can't handle the heat. Thankfully, my super-amazing dog watches the temperature for me! I look forward to posting about how he does in the summer, especially with a full understanding of what he might be sensing. The previous two summers with him, I was working, and often came home to him while I was already drained. This is his first summer with me 24/7, and so far, I don't need the air conditioning unit in. The latest I've ever put it in was early May, because last year was so cold. It's been in the high 70s so far this year, and I've been fine. Thank DOG for that one, because it's a pain, since it doesn't really fit in the window properly.

I read THIS post on ruffly speaking, and it's amazingly excellent. It seems to be a mother and daughter with service animals for very different invisible conditions, and she does an incredible job in describing how service animals work, especially with a young child handling some of them. She describes how the dogs just drop in exhaustion after working, and I can relate to that. Nibbler is always on standby mode, and turns on depending on environment and my situation, rather than his vest. (I often worked him without his vest before I started using it like a purse.) That standby mode drains his battery, and he refuses to do more than doze until I'm safely asleep every night. It leaves him absolutely exhausted, and for a few months that I was doing very poorly, I thought he was dead at night because of how difficult it was to wake him.

Recently, he's been in one of his "hate" cycles where he'll grumble at everyone he sees. It's part of having a terrier, and needs some retraining. Any tips?