Ferguson, however, was not at his best while my mom offered to "babysit." He was kenneled the whole time, but decided to throw a barking riot after we left, ignoring her corrections or the fact that she was still there in the room with him. She said she had to stand over the kennel assertively to get him to take her seriously and finally calm down. Because of these things, I understand why Ferguson needed to not go to a novice; he has potential to be a jerk, and if you don't know how to stop him, I could see how he could be come unruly. However, he's a fantastic guy if you know how to halt his problems at the get go, and admittedly, I've not experienced him doing a single "bad" thing, with the exception of him crying while I'm gone (which I still believe is workable and has gotten better with practice). Hopefully this means he knows and respects me as his alpha (though I also wouldn't tolerate him thinking I was anything less).
We leave for work at 4:15am...let's see how this new shift thing goes. I asked Kathy to schedule me regularly for this time, and even perhaps full time....at least I'll be making bank. Hopefully the work is easier as I thought it might be...I'll be sure to write about it tomorrow.
On a final note, Ferguson slept upstairs with me for the first time on a dog bed, and did really well :). I was quite proud of him.
It's weird being busy, yet not busy, all at the same time.
2 comments:
Does he respond to a squirt bottle? That sometimes works for barking. He does sound like a handful.
Yes, I'd imagine it would, though after she standing assertively, she said he didn't make a peep for the rest of the night.
On one of the first nights I had him, he started to whine/bark, but I said, "No" and stared him down, and he never has tried it again. Now I just look cross-eyed at him and he stops doing things, lol.
He really is a big softy...you just have to stop behaviors at level 1 before they escalate or become habits, I guess like you might for any other dog. In any case, after you prove that you're determined to stop him from doing something, he gives in really quickly and isn't persistent about it. Let's hope that this incident applies to this as well (luckily, I think it will!).
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