About an hour ago, I decided that the barking from our poor baby puppy had gotten to be quite enough, and was getting ready to administer some rescue remedy, which I think helped a bit last night. So I scooped some canned food into a dish, added the drops of tincture, and turned to the door… to find Thistle standing outside it, looking sheepish. (Okay, so I get one obscure pun, at least)
I’m so glad she learned the command “come” today. I got her into the kitchen, attached the leash, and marched her back to her yard. Then I tried
The problem, is seems, is that though the front of the yard used to be very secure, it became a sieve when we dug the trench for the conduit between the solar panels and the well. The only options were to bring her into my room (the ill-advised, yet quieter option), or fix the hole. I got a shovel. She watched, making a few experimental swipes at the dirt with a paw. Seeing this, I hauled a few cinder blocks from the driveway for good measure. We now have what appears to be a dog-proof fence again.
But she’s smart. So we’ll see.
I was reading on the internet what to do about a barking dog. They said:
1) If she’s barking during the day….. (not our problem)
2) If she’s barking in her crate in your bedroom at night… (not our problem)
3) If she’s a livestock guardian dog, newly separated from her mother and litter mates…
Ah! #3 is sounding good. They advise penning her with some of your goats. Which we don’t have yet. Crap. The chickens are no kind of company at night, and Great Pyrs are mostly nocturnal. Last night we tried the water bottle/ticking clock thing, but she wasn’t interested.
Anyone have any ideas what we can do, short of getting goats WAY before we’re ready? We’re not even ready to borrow goats. All I can think to do is shut my window to drown her out, hope the neighbors don’t hate us, hope she doesn’t have an emotional breakdown, and hope she grows out of it.
For now, I’m going back to bed.