I love my dog, but since he’s been sick I’ve also been sick the whole time and when you feel bad it’s hard to take care of those around you that are ill also. I find that my patience have been stretched to breaking point and that’s not good. I have always been gentle with him and took my time training him and tried not to push. There are lots of training books out there, but you have to have patience.
I trained my dog when he was a puppy and he’s very smart and catches on quickly, but since he’s immobile right now he has taken to barking incessantly and is driving me crazier than I already am. He barks when he’s about to pee or poop and when he’s not getting enough attention. He wants someone near all the time and if you go outside he barks till you come back.
I know when we had to put him in the kennel for a week that he must have thought we abandoned him and it broke my heart because he’s never been boarded before. He’s 10 years old and he’s a good old guy, but like I said he’s been driving me nuts. I decided I had to buy a muzzle and try training him not to bark for no reason at all because he’s also making himself sick by straining.
I bought the muzzle on Saturday and every time he started barking for no reason I would put it on him. He looked so pitiful and I felt so sorry for him, but I would only leave it on for 10 minutes or so and then remove it. Every time he barked I put it on and today is Monday, I have been using it for 2 days and I can’t believe the difference. I haven’t had to put it on once so far today and my annoyance level has gone way down.
I’m sure he will still bark, that’s only natural and I know he’s scared, but we try to reassure him.At least so far today he’s not doing it steadily which he has been for over a month. So if you have a problem with a barking dog you might want to check into training him with a muzzle to quieten him down before the neighbors start complaining and reporting you for animal neglect because they get irritated too.
