This is Billy's newest nickname, thanks to Andrew.
Pups and I drove out to Woods Hole on Sunday to visit Andrew, a dear old friend from my Berkeley days, who is working at the summer biology nerd camp there. I hadn't seen Andrew since I was leaving for China so it was a nice treat to hang out with him for the afternoon. We walked around, hung out on the beach, ate sandwiches, and played with the pups.
(Andrew trying to not share with Billy)
Billy earned his nickname with the ferocious barks and howls that he unleased at everything on wheels as we drove around town-- rollarbladers, motorcyclists, bikers, and yes-- women pushing baby carriages. Billy's bark and outright frightening and certainly deafening. But once you open the car door he morphs into mister friendly, all happy to say hello and give you a kiss.
I've been working with him for months trying to train away the barking. Water bottle squirts don't work on this dog-- he just give a funny look and continues with whatever naughtiness he's up to. So I tried the distraction method-- call him and bribe him with treats when he's a hell hound. The primary result of this is that sometimes, when he's bored and wants a treat, he'll just bark at me and then come sit-- as if I can't see right through this little charade.
So I caved and stopped by the pet store the other day to get a special shock collar. I hope this works.
3 comments:
SHOCK COLLAR!!! Bad Michelle! Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Those things are evil and cruel. Try it out if you don't believe me. They make a much more humane version that sprays citranella (sp?) or something up and in front of the dogs nose that also works, and does so without the pain. You should get that. For William's sake. Please.
Michelle, darling, you are in a hard spot with billy's barking. I know, I've been there too. The shock collar sounds inhumane, but it's really not any worse than a pinch collar, and much less painful than an *improperly used* pinch collar. It's the best thing to do. (Sorry, but in many friends' experiences, citronella collars don't really work well unless it's on a very little or very sensitive dog, of which Billy is neither) Be sure you use it consistently, or the training / conditioned response aspect will get muddled. Once you get him to understand that when he is wearing the collar, bark equals ouch, you should be able to use the collar minus the batteries. You'll see. So aim for that :)
Bad Amy! Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
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