I didn't think I would ever see a crate in my living room again......not when I have 8 year old & 2 year old dogs !
However it became very apparent after my dog show weekend in Camrose that I need to do something with Kort. Kort is a wonderful , smart dog. Amanda says "too smart", & I agree. He travels in a crate in my van all the time, but when we are at rally, agility, scent hurdling practice , or at a dog show he is a different dog. He barks, constantly, whether I am away from his sight or in his sight. In Camrose it escalated to a terrible level, so bad that I couldn't leave our benching area without him barking. I would try to sneak away when he fell asleep, but within minutes I could hear him barking across the room. At one point our Sheltie neighbour told Dianne that she was tired of the barking. I'm not sure if it is me he is barking for, I didn't think he had separation anxiety, but who knows. He is a stubborn boy, always wanting his own way, spoiled , well, perhaps a bit !
I am embarrassed & annoyed at myself for not getting this fixed sooner. So, out comes the crate again. I am starting him over....making the crate an exciting place to be, many times a day I ask him to "crate", he runs in & I treat him for being inside, he can't come out until I release him with an "ok". Next I will be closing the door with him in it & building up the time I am doing that, if he is quiet he will get a treat. Eventually I will close the door completely while I am doing things around the house, or training Tate. Hopefully he will learn at some point he is not the center of the universe.
Anyone who has any other suggestions please feel free to post them!
5 comments:
No suggestions but lost of support for the idea :) I'm a big believer in crates when travelling (dog shows, vacation, family reunions, camping, anywhere I want to take my dog away from home) so this can only make life easier for you AND Kort when on the road.
As you know I have much the same problem with Duffy. So I will be very interested in seeing if this improves things for you. By the way, starting last Monday I began to use treats on the walk to focus Duffy. It is making an improvement in general although when someone or someone with a dog comes along he still all intent on them. But baby steps....Love your new picture and caption!
Spray bottle with vinegar, but you heard that from me already (and water....drinking merlot.....)
My old Cavalier Riley used to have terrible separation anxiety. When I used to leave him in the kennel I would stuff a giant kong with cheese whiz or peanut butter at the bottom and then on top jam milk bone cookies in there so hard they wouldn't come out. He would work at the kong for hours and he started to forget I ever left him in the kennel and settled right down. You can also put canned dog for in there or his favourite treat and then freeze the kong (although that wouldn't be practical at a dog show). It seemed to help Riley. Just a thought.
The barking thing is my LEAST favorite thing about collies. Unfortunately, I don't have any good advice. Some of the CU stuff helped with Malcolm (specifically matwork) but it never totally took care of things and was a major factor in my deciding to pet-place him- he's FINE at home, but a SERIOUS pain at trials and shows.
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