Beyond the Circle of Fun - Part 1
Mango has outbursts.
I’m working up to explaining them in detail*, but for now all you need to know is she has outbursts, they’re directed at me, they’re unpleasant and extremely feral.
When having a full-blown outburst, it’s like the Mango I know and love has checked out and been replaced by some alternate universe Mango from another dimension, one that can’t be reached by logic or reason, not by tasty treats, and certainly not be a calm cue to sit (hahahahahahaaaaa, oh poor past Maggie, look at her trying anyway).
I was talking about these outbursts with a trusted group of equally dog-mad friends, with equally sensitive dogs, and one mentioned Susan Garrett’s “Circle of Fun”.
It’s a great resource, one that I recommend you check out in full, and my friend and I feel like it’s highly accurate for most dog guardians, we both felt it didn’t fully capture the Circle of Fun our two complex girls experience. There was something missing when it came to accurately capturing an additional state beyond the wheel of fun that they both can get into. My friend suggested a name for this additional extra-terrestrial state.
Stratospheric.
So I adapted the wheel for Mango and her complex friend (and any other Feral+ dogs like her).
Susan Garrett also explains that the wedges on a dog’s wheel of fun will be bigger or smaller based on the individual and at different times of their lives.
The ideal dog’s life, she says, should look pretty much like this:
You’ll note that she suggests that the average dog spends most of their time feeling comfortable, and then a good amount of time getting excited (think walkies! Ball! Zoomies! Training! Fun!), and with a healthy amount of the other less desirable feelings…
I decided to see how Mango’s Circle of Fun compared.
Mango’s Circle of Fun has a lot less fun and a lot more anxiety.
‘But only 1% red-lining?’ you might wonder, inspecting that thing sliver of red. Oh yeah, that’s because Mango, my beloved little rocket, doesn’t waste time in red-lining. No, she straps on her jetpack and shoots straight from wired to stratospheric, faster than the speed of sound.
While it was sobering to see so much pink and purple on my poor girl’s Circle of Fun, it has been an incredibly useful way to track progress. Our biggest goals for her have been to shrink that purple piece of pie and expand her comfort zone, and as much as possible, prevent her jaunts off into outerspace.
This wheel represents Mango at ages 6 - 9 months, and I’m proud to say that we’ve worked together to change her wheel. Now, at 15 months old, it looks quite different. She’s spending much more time on earth with me, which is where I want her to be.
In Part 2 I’ll compare Mango’s past and present wheels, and her present wheel with those of a few of her long-distance furry friends. Stay tuned.
* I haven’t share about outbursts in detail yet, and it’s a nuanced topic, one that not everyone will understand, empathise with, or be kind about, so I need to be prepared for that before I share. Thanks for understanding and respecting this.