Tough Adjustment for Traildog

What have been up to this past week? Well, working so everything else like unpacking and getting my new place in order and getting couch over here has taken a back seat. I was lucky enough though to get my bed put together, I have a usable kitchen..um well just as soon as I find and clean my pots and pans. I have also been running the past three days with Traildog.

Since moving out of the other house Traildog has had some serious separation anxiety. When we lived there he was never alone for more than 4 hours. Someone was always home or running in and out and he had that constant human contact he loves so much. He even had another dog Ramsey to hang with in the back yard and play. And let's not forget about Lil Man, his favorite besides me of course. It has been a huge a change for my poor Traildog.

The love he has for Lil Man, taking a year ago

One thing though that hasn't changed is my love for him. Even when I received the call at work that he had been barking since 3:30am I didn't get mad I felt his pain. He is scared with all the new noises he has to get to use to. People walking up the front porch, people getting ready for school and work and talking outside. It isn't really that noisy but it is different for Traildog. I came home early that day and I could hear him not just barking, but he was howling and I have never heard that from him. When I opened the front door I saw him aimlessly wondering around the place howling, he was scared and confused. Of course once he saw me everything changed and he never left my side and became the good quiet boy I know.

I knew that I needed to do something about Traildogs nuisance barking, so while at work I picked up Barkoff. It is a ultrasonic training aid that can allow dog owners to take control over nuisance barking. An ultrasonic signal, inaudible to human ears, can instantly capture a dog's attention and can immediately interrupt the barking pattern. This what the website says about Barkoff. So far so good. When I went to work the next day, I waited nervously all day for the dreaded phone call. But it never came.

Traildog with his best pal Ramsey

I also decided to keep him in a smaller space. As in the bedroom, I didn't give him free range of the house as this may also be causing his stress level to increase, because he may think we are playing hide and seek and he gets very stressed when he can't find me. He is familiar with this routine and understands when I do my good bye routine. Our goodbye routine is I give him a treat for being where he is suppose to be. I also scratch his head and in a very clam voice I say "Be a good boy, I love you. Be back soon." He just sits there wagging his tail and ends up falling back asleep. The last thing I did was turn on some music for him. This way he would possible think someone was home and that might calm him even more. Well, when I came home he was supper excited to see him and he only barked once as I entered the house because I think I might have startled him. I am hoping that with some more time he will adjust even better.

I live really close to the American River Parkway and now when I go for a run I take Traildog with me and he loves it. We have been out three times this week and each time he gets better and better with running next to me and moving over when a bike approaches. He would run forever if I let him. It is great that Traildog loves to run so much because it also is helping motivate me to get back into it. Here is to Traildog adjusting!