It looks like Fred has been with me for ages (in a great way!) but it surely’s solely been 12 days. He’s simply slot in that simply. There aren’t loads of updates; he’s getting his neuter and dental the primary week of March so till then, I’m simply having fun with having him round.
The one flaw he has is that he’s a barker – which is tremendous frequent with pugs. He persistently stands on the patio doorways and barks and barks and barks. It’s barely aggravating in any state of affairs however contemplating I reside in an residence advanced with neighbors subsequent to and above me, it’s one thing I’m hyper conscious of. It’s tough to coach him as a result of he can not hear me, so verbal corrections aren’t an choice. I did purchase a twig bottle to spritz some water in his face when he barked however that was type of a miss. Each time he barked, he’d look over at me ready for to spray him within the face – and proceed to bark. So, he type of acquired it – bark and there can be a response on my half. Nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient of a adverse response to discourage him.
I attempted rewarding him with treats when he stopped barking however all he’d do is bark, cease for a deal with, and return to barking. And he’s not silly – he knew once I had treats on me and once I didn’t. It most likely would have labored if I’d given him extra time, however I’m additionally gone throughout the day, lacking key occasions to coach him as a result of that’s when he does most of his barking.
So, I opted to get frosted decals to stay onto the patio doorways. It genuinely nearly killed me as a result of Fred merely loves staring out the patio doorways. And 90 p.c of the time, all he does is stare. However 10 p.c of the time he barks nonstop and it’s simply not truthful to my neighbors. There are many days I come for lunch and I discover him sitting on the patio doorways, simply staring on the world outdoors, not making a peep, completely satisfied as a clam. However there are additionally days I come residence and might hear him barking from the hallway.
It appears so trivial, but it surely actually did trigger me a ridiculous quantity of anguish to place the decals on. He’s so completely satisfied watching his doggie TV throughout the day. However I feel it was aggravating Lucy and I used to be paranoid neighbors had been going to start out complaining.
The decision? Thus far so good. They’ve executed what I had hoped they’d do – restrict his barking. It breaks a chunk of my coronary heart each time he goes over to the door and scratches on the decals, irritated on the unknown object coming between him and his TV. I did cave and create a sliver of a gap down one aspect of one of many doorways – it provides him a glimpse on the outdoors however with restricted peripheral imaginative and prescient.
I’ve simply by no means seen a canine so fascinated by the outside which is what made this so arduous.
Fellow canine house owners, anybody cope with an analogous situation? Any recommendation or ideas?