ARF ARF ARF ARFARFARFARF ARF ARF ARFARF

duct tape

My guess is hugging, but I've no f/g clue. Will await wiser advice.

Okay. Duct tape. Can do.


After he treed the raccoon I started putting the cover over the dog door to the yard so the raccoon couldn't get it. It has tried for the last two nights (since the treeing) and Diamond goes wild crazy barking at the door when it does. But he now also goes wild crazy at anyone on the sidewalk and at the mailman and at everything else that moves outside the house.

His job is to chase off interlopers so I can't really punish him for his reaction to the raccoon but I don't want him barking at everything.

I need some sleep!

seriously? then he really shouldn't be a house dog

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ok, so you messed up letting him be in a place he could chase and tree a raccoon. he knows that he can make raccoons and people go away if he barks (sometimes the people were going to go away in any case but he doesn't know that). he's found something he's successful at, so you've got to replace it with something.

Definitely don't reward the barking by any kind of attention - other than distraction. Do you have him on a collar and lead in the house? you may need to do the Cesar-tug to distract him when he starts barking.

Generally, how are you doing with training and Diamond? have you got the whole boomer's the alpha dog thing happening?

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sidebar: the raccoon trying to get in is a bad bad sign - those things are wicked wicked fighters. Be really careful about Diamond being outside without you til you get the raccoon outta there.

Put some pennies in an empty soda can and rattle it every time
Diamond barks. It should startle the dogs and they usually quit barking.

I dunno. Abby only barks at bears and then she just sits there and waits for another one to come by.

No, not seriously, eBeth. His job is to be a pet. But I do like a pet that acts as an alarm and all of my dogs have been good at that and, until now, so has Diamond.

He treed the raccoon in my backyard!

He does wear a collar. The problem at 4 AM the other morning was catching him to get the leash on. He was so psyched at treeing the raccoon that I couldn't get my hands on him.

I didn't reward him but I didn't discipline him either.

But thank god it isn't bears.

Training is going pretty good. He's smart. If it weren't for living with a 7 year old he would have been nearly trained by now. He's very smart but kids complicate dog training in ways I hadn't imagined.

Pennies! Soda cans! I have those!!

Go to the animal shelter and trade in Diamond for a new dog. I'm sure Mo will understand.

and get a dog name, "Diamond" is just too lame for a decent canine. I always liked "Spot" or "Rex" perhaps something exotic like "Lassie."

Diamond, oy.

I've always assumed that the Family Dog had some logic in barking.

I've trained pups to selective barking by investigating the source of the rumpus and then when the cause is innocent, forbidding further barking by grabbing the dogs throat from the front, squeezing, and saying, "Thank you. I appreciate that."

The important component is to establish yourself as Alpha, the Prime Bitch who determines what is and what is not important.

Mighty Hunters can be obnoxious, can't they? Bumptious and obnoxious.

How does she feel about the Packers . . . the Vikings?

Oh my goodness that is just so Noddy I had to comment.

I'm getting further and further from my own dog-raising years though and don't have anything useful to add -- just listening. Sounds excruciating, hope it's resolved soon...

I have been quite stern with Diamond (which is an EXCELLENT name, thank you very much) today and the barking has calmed down some, thank goodness.

Most of the time I am Prime Bitch but in the afternoons when it is just the mutt and me I tend to slack off a bit.

We have managed to keep the raccoon out for the last two nights so maybe he doesn't feel it is required to call my attention to every damn thing that wanders by.

Whatever the reason, the quiet is delightful.

go buy a muzzle. what's the problem?

Hates them both. She wears a Patriots collar!