Barking Mad

    You`ve heard me speak before of our dog Laika, a reject from our neighbour, who found her unsuitable for hunting, not that she was not interested, very much the opposite. She will chase anything that moves over the horizon, returning home when she is exhausted, not what the keen chasseur needs! The poor thing ended up tied to a tree in the garden,with  no shelter, to keep her from wandering off. When she did manage to escape, she would come to visit us and we eventually took her over. She is a very appealing and affectionate dog but has a few little foibles that we have managed to adapt to or to accept as part of the package.... one is the hunting mania, we have to keep her on a long lead when walking, though we hope to train her out of it...perhaps. The other is a habit of thieving, she will steal anything left available, even jumping on the table or work surface and impossible to discourage. Possibly this is a  habit of her previous life, I think she has had to live rough in the past and is used to foraging. But the habit which nearly drove us nuts is barking.

     If anyone passes our door, she will race to guard it with a hysterical volley of shrill barks and no admonishments or even clouts will dissuade her. In the car, it`s cyclists, motorcycles and heavy lorries that incur her wrath and driving becomes a torment, so much so that we have tended not to take the dogs any more, which is a pity, as all the dogs enjoy it.

    Seeking a method of control for the problem, we thought to try a collar which gives the dog a slight electric shock if it barks, and we found one on our local `Things for sale in Deux Sèvres`  site by a lady who had bought one, but was too tender-hearted to fit it on her dog. This apparatus, made by Petsafe, consists of a collar supporting a little box containing a bark detector and a couple of electrodes which give the wearer a jolt if she barks. We were not too hopeful of success, as Laika is so obstinate, and I was afraid that she might bark all the more at the shock, starting off a vicious circle. however, the result has been extremely successful, much to our delight. Almost as soon as the collar was put on, Laika gave up barking-- we think that perhaps this is not her first experience of a control collar. A couple of times she forgot, and emitted a short bark, followed by a squeak as the device operated but now she refrains from her obsessive rage at any passer-by, even the post can put a letter in the box without protest. Best of all, we can take her in the car again, without our nerves being shredded! We don`t put the collar on at night or when we are not in the house, nor, of course, when we are walking the dogs, so she can at least exercise her voice sometimes. Still, the collar has changed her very much for the better and in spite of a brief shock I think she is a happier dog. I wonder whether it can be adapted to work when she leaps onto the table!

     Bye for now, coffee calls!