Barking and Howling

[GusWilson]

Gus is a howler too. He got quite spoiled b/c i was working from home when i got him. I have to go back in to the office starting in a few weeks so I have been trying to get him better about his seperation anxiety. He has been to doggie daycare and after a week of standing by the door, he is starting to mingle. I love him to death but I don't want his attachment to be hurtful to him.

My roommate just got a french bulldog puppy and Gus having a companion has been great. the definitely tire each other out. the puppy did not acclimate to a crate so he is blocked in the kitchen with a baby gate and that seems to work good.

[momay]

Thanks again for all the new ideas. We really LOVE our dog walkers and they have decided to start a small play group 8am-12pm. Sofee will be going Tuesday-Friday; I'm so excited for her! She loves humans, but is also slow, like Gus, in mingling with other dogs. Although she was bitten only 4 weeks ago by a very aggressive Springer, but she seems to be over it.
I am unable to have a second animal in our condo; unfortunately that suggestion won't work for us.
I've changed my work schedule so that I can get home earlier, We'll have the dog walker come back around 4:00pm to feed and walk Sofee, so that when I get home around 5:30, I can eat and then we can focus on training and playing and waiting for Daddy to come home.
After reading about the crate training, I realized we hadn't really gotten her acclimated to it that well. I guess you learn these things as you go.
The Dog Stop sounds interesting. We will take that into consideration for both scaring off other dogs (we carry a stick with us when walking) and for barking. When I got home last night and ate dinner by myself with her in the room we have gated, she played with her toys and was fine. Didn't bother me at all. I guess it just depends if she is tired or not too. I was home early so that gave us more time to play and at 8:30 she was zonked out, not the normal 10:00 or 10:30. I think getting home earlier is really going to help us all out.
I don't have any children, but as you say Molly, it is like having a high energy toddler around. You can't take your eyes off them for a minute, especially as we continue to house train.
Thanks again!

[molly]

The good news is that they do mellow out as they get older! You are being a really conscientous dog owner and the play group is a terrific idea for both the exercise and the socialization. Some people use an empty soda can with a few coins in it (taped shut of course) and shake the can to get the same kind of effect as the dog stop (and not as loud if in you're in a condo ).

[momay]

Thanks Molly, from such a seasoned dog owner, I really appreciate the feedback. We are doing all we can to work these things out and have a fantastic Sofee Marie for many years to come, and still get along with our neighbors, who by the way, LOVE her.
I also saw your post on the bells for house training and have ordered 3 of them from www.poochie-pets.net. Her 'room' is our den, three flights down to the outdoors. I just don't think she is getting the 'Outside' command and moving towards the baby gate at the door of the den when she has to go. To get outside you need to go from the den through a another room, down one flight, through another room and then down two flights to the back door. I think the bells will be much clearer for all of us! I'll hook one to the wall next to the den doorway, as there is only a pocket door, which is slid into the wall most of the time. Our den has a Pergo floor, so it is great for dogs, but the rest of the house is carpeted, so we choose to use the den to 'live in' until she is house trained. The kitchen is just galley sized, which is fine when I'm cooking, but then we both need to leave, it's just too small to do any fun stuff!!