Thinking about dogs...

   Today has been a "Dog" day. I own (am owned by?) two dogs - Kylie, aka "Lady Shedsalot", aka "Lady K". is my little old lady at age 13 or 14. I adopted her back in June of 2000 from the local Animal Shelter in North Battleford, SK. Because she was a rescue, we've never been 100% sure of her breeds but I think she's a Jack Russell Terrier/Border Collie cross...with perhaps some Whippet thrown in there somewhere. She's always been such a sweet tempered little dog, although she always has been very protective of her people if she gets an "iffie" vibe from someone. For the record, she's never been wrong on that vibe thing. I wish I had her common sense, lol. 

That brings us to Hendrix, our other dog. Hendrix is a purebred English Springer Spaniel (Bench). He's a very handsome 4 1/2 year old fellow who is kind of a dufus. He came to us via my daughter Erin & her family in Edmonton; she'd adopted him from his original owners, and boy oh boy...did he have a LOT of issues. He is a "piddler" and when we first got him, all you had to do was look at him & he'd pee. He was quite passive-aggressive, but within a month or so of having him neutered, he was almost a totally different dog. He's still a total goof-ball of a dog, but just minus the aggression issues. Because he hadn't been raised with children, I've had to work hard with him to overcome his fear of them...fear that had lead him to nip my grandchildren in the past, which is how we ended up with him in the first place. Hendrix is totally unlike Kylie in that I must work with him daily to keep up his training. With Kylie, it's train once, remember forever. Hendrix? Not so much. He also likes to push the boundaries at least a few times a week..."Is mom still the Pack Leader? Whoops, yup! Never mind". It's an ongoing thing with him...but I must say, it's never boring with him around!

   Speaking of Hendrix, he's taught himself a new trick; and it's one that has me less than amused! He's suddenly discovered that he can "cruise" the counters in the kitchen. Not really a huge issues, if you don't mind dog slobber & missing food...which I do! Now, I know quite a few tricks to train this nasty habit out of a dog, but Hendrix is being very sneaky about it. In order to discourage him from counter surfing, I have to be able to catch him at it...and other than once the other day, I just haven't been able to quite catch him at it in time, arugh! Because of his personality, my plan is to try the "Can of Pennies" trick on him. Basically, it's just a matter of hiding out of his sight and when he goes to surf the counter, I shake the hell out of the can of pennies! It's worked for me many times before in the past, but to do it, I have to be able to catch him at it...which I have thus far been unable to do other than the one time. Hopefully that one dose of the noisy can will be enough, but I somehow doubt it. He's far, far too smart for that, I'm afraid.
   I made a point the last couple of days of making sure he had some chew toys available, to discourage him from looking elsewhere for mental stimulation...which is all this new behavior is, really. I haven't been feeling terribly well this week, so he hasn't been getting his daily walks that he normally gets. Because of that, he's got an excess of energy, and that's what gets doggies in trouble. This doggy in particular! He's been working hard on a rawhide chew toy for the past two days, so he's sort of left the counters alone...but I doubt that's permanent. The moment that chew-toy is gone, counters here we come! Ah well...if nothing else, he keeps me on my toes. One cannot truly say that life is boring with Hendrix around, lol.
   I deeply enjoy working with my dogs...it's very rewarding for me, and it's important to me to have a safe, well trained and people friendly dog. I've seen far too many animals with irresponsible owners out there! Case in point? One of our next door neighbors. They have two dogs, and one of them just drives me totally batshit crazy! All this little fur-ball does is bark...all day, every day. Now, on one level I know that the critter is just bored out of it's mind which is why it barks the way it does. Nobody seems to ever do anything with it, never mind actually walk or train him! He gets almost zero interaction with his own people (they both work), and although there's another dog for company, the other is a very old fellow. Now that one? He's got manners, I have to give him that! You hardly ever hear anything out of the yappy one's companion....other than his complaining at the squirrels that seem to live to torment him, poor old guy. Other that the occasional yip or two at the squirrels, or perhaps the garbageman on Wednesday mornings, you never hear from him. I actually feel sorry for the poor old guy...all that barking's got to get on his nerves too!
   I really don't know exactly what to do. I've spoken at length with both the owners quite a few times about the problem, but they just don't seem to either care or be willing to put any work into their dog. I've even gone so far as to offer to work with their dog for them for free, (not something I normally ever do), but they've refused. And yes...I put it nicely (I can just hear my kids asking that question, lol). Short of complaining to the town about the noise, I don't know what else to do! 
...I'm beginning to wonder if that dog is the reason the lady that we bought this house from moved! She suffered from migraine headaches, same as I do, and I must say...the incessant, "Bark-bark-bark-bark" from next door is SO not helpful when in the grip of a migraine! Hmmm...no wonder we got this place so cheap!