Murderers

 

If the mailman doesn't get us, the kid walking by will.
“Can’t sleep, mailman will eat me…  Can’t sleep, mailman will eat me…”

As a cat person transitioning to a dog person I was very lucky to have Hershey come into my life first.  She is, on the whole, a very mellow soul, not much concerned with the goings on of the outside world, at least when she’s inside.  While she will run to the window to check what the neighbor dogs are barking at (this usually involves multiple, hourly trips) she’s generally not one to join in the festivities.

When Graham came into our lives a few years later I no longer had the luxury of having a laid back dog.  According to Graham there are murderers out there, and they’re all walking by our house!

Over the last three years we have worked on his reactivity to outside noises, with some limited success.  Through the process of ‘not yelling at him when he barks his fool head off,’ I think I’ve managed to tame some of the Little Dog aspects of his nature.  Don’t get me wrong, he still barks at things that don’t have the slightest bit to do with him, but I’m able get him to stop after a bark or two.  I usually say “enough,” and call him over and praise him for stopping.  I’m not sure if he thinks he’s being praised for alerting me to murderers or for not barking so much, but it’s the best I’ve been able to do with him.

I’d love any anti-barking tips anyone has!

 

 

Murderers

7 thoughts on “Murderers

  1. weemontytheyorkiepoo says:

    Pretty sure he has saved your life several times a day! Throw this dog a treat or two as a huge thank you very much !!

    Like

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