Gwynneth, the blind corgi, has been barking her head off lately, which sends the other dogs into frenzies. Buddy mainly barks if a person is visible, or comes to the door, which is bad, but not constant. Gwynnie, on the other hand, barks if she hears anything at all. A door opens. The wind blows. One of the other dogs moves in a way she doesn't like. And if she gets real agitated and it upsets Buddy, then the pug starts making these hysterical howls and even Rose, the "quiet" one starts in. It's worse when Lee isn't here. All the barking settles when he is here.
Today, after Gwynneth started in on erupting every 5 minutes, and would not stop when I said to, I put her in her kennel. I am going to try a new system of putting her in the kennel for a few hours in the morning, letting her out in the early afternoon, and then putting her back in during the horrible, awful hours when kids are coming home from school and adults coming home from work. She is much quieter in the kennel. I think she can't sense things as often from there in the back of the house.
I hope this works. The dogs are pretty good nowadays other than the barking. It is hard to rest or concentrate on trying to find work or doing house stuff.
2 comments:
Sounds like a good idea. One thing I do to quiet them is to clap my hands together very sharply. Two or three claps usually disorients them long enough to forget they were barking. Then I give them some positive feedback if I'm nearby.
When you are already feeling as though you have few nerves left for anyone (people or animal) to get on, an irritating or persistent noise like barking must make that last nerve VERY raw.
Glad you found a method that you think will work in helping Gwynnie feel more settled. barking like that can't be easy for her either.
HUGS
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