I suppose the underlined word is respite. Its closest word in meaning is break. As a noun, respite means a short period of relief or rest. From the context, we can see here that the instructors had quite a hard job of taming the canines, so they needed to use any chance they had to get some short rest before going on. Vacation is too long a rest; beverage doesn't have much to do with rest; and payment is just out of context.
