Our current Vizslas, Zooka and Blitzen, take up most of our storytelling these days. However, sometimes I will take a look back at a story from the past. This one is about our Vizsla, Romeo, who we lost in 2018.

When I first meet with a family for a behavior consultation, one of the questions I ask is: What are the rules of the house?

Dogs tend to thrive when they have clear boundaries or rules to follow. Clear and consistent rules are helpful so that everyone knows what is and is not acceptable in this particular household. Inconsistent rules make life stressful because you can't know what to expect or what will be ok or not ok from day to day.

Is it ever acceptable to break the rules? The idea of “just this once” is tempting at times. But it can lead to confusion and sometimes a lot of stress for our dogs. Typically, we do not want to allow exceptions to the rule.

However. . . there are always exceptions in there somewhere!

During Romeo's life with us, one of our tried and true rules was that dogs were NOT allowed on the bed. We were very solid on that rule prior to Romeo joining us and for the duration of his life.

Once upon a time, we did not allow dogs on any furniture. At some point, we relaxed those rules and decided dogs were allowed to snuggle with us on the couch. Comfy sofas and chairs were for great for snuggling, so we changed that rule along the way. But the bed rule was not changed.

At some point during Romeo's adulthood, he developed some phobias over thunderstorms and gunfire. Storms could be very stressful for him, as any of you with similar dogs know.

One night, it was storming pretty hard. The thunder just would not stop as we tried to sleep. Poor Romeo could not settle and sleep. He was pacing and trying to find a safe place.

I got out of bed and tried to comfort him. Normally, if he could snuggle with me (on the couch during an evening thunderstorm, for example) he would feel somewhat better.

But we could not find a spot where I could help comfort him. It just wasn't working. At some point, I climbed back in bed because I was so tired and nothing I was doing was helping.

So I invited him up in bed to snuggle with me. He climbed up and curled up with me. And went to sleep.

We made it through the storms that night.

That was the first and only night I ever allowed Romeo to join me in bed. I never did after that. And he never tried after that.

But for one night, I made an exception to my “hard and fast” rule. It helped comfort Romeo and helped us get through that night with the least possible amount of stress.

And somehow he understood that was one of those “just this once” moments.

I have no regrets about making an exception that once. He needed and deserved it. And it worked out just fine.

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