I've just walked to the postbox (a mere twenty yards away) and come back with tears in my eyes due to the bitterly cold wind. Not a pleasant morning at all.
The puppies had a good night last night, with no disturbance. They are currently outside barking at all the kids who are making their way to the school bus! Why DO they need to bark at every little thing that passes our house? If it moves, they bark - especially Rose, she's certainly the worst (or best!) barker. I'm not convinced that the practice of ignoring barking, as recommended in 'The Perfect Puppy', is working.
So, Dannymatt, as you and I appear to be the only ones on this blog at the moment - what can you tell me to help sort THIS one out?
LILY & ROSE
Here are some photos of Lily & Rose. There are a few from the first time we saw them when they were just 4 weeks old. They would fit on your hand at this age and didn't look much like westies!
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Initially I thought it might actually be like asking a baby not to cry or even taking the sun out of the sky...with apologies to Perry Como. However, having consulted the oracle I can confirm that it should indeed be possible to control their natural canine tendencies with some cunningly deployed Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
ReplyDelete1. Change something. Is the lack of a crate making them insecure perhaps? Maggie was crated for 12 months due to similar problems
2. Change whatever is making them bark: close the curtains for instance although it’s more often what they hear than what they see.
3. Squirts of water in the pups’ face from a squeezy bottle can provide endless hours of fun.
4. Hold the culprit’s snout and wag your finger close to her nose saying no in your very best firm, stern headteacher “I’m very disappointed in you Lily/Rose” voice.
5. Alternatively, you could always try and see it from the pups’ point of view: reason with them, as it were.
6. Create division. This is a particular favourite of mine. First crate and ostracise the pup with the loudest bark while simultaneously rewarding the other with love, affection, freedom, puppy talk and copious amounts of treats IN FULL VIEW of the other. The bad dog will soon be begging, tail between legs, to become the object of your affection once more. At this point it is important that you take full advantage of the pup’s broken will and mete out the same treatment to the other on the flimsiest of excuses. Very soon neither one will dare put a paw out of place. My tried and tested strategy of physical, verbal and emotional violence, is the sort of short sharp shock treatment that is missing from the world of today’s canine yout’. Innit?
7. Failing that, call for the Government to bring back National Service and capital punishment for the persistently re-offending pup.
Choose from any combination or all of the above, but remember above all that a dog is not just for Christmas. It’s for the New Year too :o)
Thank you Chris - again sound advice and I shall do my level best to employ some, if not all, these strategies.
ReplyDeleteI agree the lack of curtains at present is part of the problem - but with Charles's help, we might get that sorted at the weekend.
The lack of the big crate doesn't seem to be a problem, because they still have the elephant crate which they love and which provides security.
Charles says can you bring your girls back sometime to show our two how they should behave!!