OK, so Monday is done. It started reasonably well. Let me recap:
- Quick walk before work, let the dogs lose some energy and do their business.
- Gave them a small feed so they didn’t get hungry.
- Radio on, nice and loud, continuous new station tuned in.
- Hubby left and settled dogs before going out the door
All was looking good, and I must admit I was on edge after the events from last week, no barking its now 11:00 AM and dogs still asleep.
An hour two later, still heading in the right direction. I was getting excited about now, a simple $30 radio has done the trick!.
We also tried feeding the dogs some food before leaving, this was a new idea someone suggested as they might be hunting around looking for some breakfast left overs. Our Cocker spaniel is very protective, this could be causing her to become unsettled. So we gave this a shot today. Not sure if helped contribute to the improved day, but will keep on trying for at least another week.
Another hour or two past, the dogs did get moving and start to bark, but was getting into the afternoon and to me, that’s a decent effort.
I wouldn’t call the day a success, but a lot better than last week, or at least I felt it was better.
Strategies and Techniques Used in this Update
To make things easier to follow, I have decided to list of each barking mitigation strategy I am using, to keep a track on the progress and identify what is and what isn’t working.
New Technique add: Radio playing in the background, tuned to news radio (continuous talking), spend 5 minutes calming dogs before leaving house
Combined Current Techniques:
- Calm dogs before leaving house.
- Radio playing in the background.
- 30 Minute Morning Walk
