- I've been so busy this past week with extra meetings and grading that I haven't had much time for writing my blog or reading those of others this past week I'm still inundated with papers to grade, but I'm going to try to carve out a few minutes here and there for writing and reading something other than work stuff over the next few days.
- I have a cold and it's staying in that annoying post-nasal drip stage so far. It's not too bad, but I'd rather it weren't at all.
- Apparently some of our neighbors have complained about Bailey barking to our landlady. Bailey is a quiet dog for the most part when we are home, but she will bark at other dogs or squirrels when outside on her walks and she bays when we are gone because of her separation anxiety. We thought we had her in a room in our townhouse where none of our neighbors could hear her, and none of them have said a word to us. It's very frustrating. We worked with our vet and a specialist in animal behavior for a year on Bailey's separation anxiety. She is on two kinds of medication for it. We leave her in one room with kongs (stuffed with treats and cream cheese, which she prefers to peanut butter), toys, and music for dogs playing when we both have to be gone. We have worked on in and outs and taking her for long walks or to the fenced in park where she can run off energy. We have worked on gradually leaving, etc., etc. We have tried almost everything except getting another animal, and that's not really a feasible option because of our lease, among other things, right now. I love my dog, but I'm worried that if our neighbors continue to complain we will be forced to make a tough decision.
In the + column:
+ I went out with awesome ladies on Friday night and had a couple of glasses of wine. It was really nice to get together with a great group of women and to spend a few hours chatting about all sorts of things. We try to get together a couple of Fridays a month and hit up a happy hour and unwind, and it's the perfect way to end the "work week."
+ I have been doing a pretty good job with my writing goals. Although I haven't hit my word count goal on a daily basis, I have managed to make up for it by writing a bit more on other days. My article draft is now about 17 pages, and I'm almost finished with my other syllabus. I'm hoping to continue this positive trend into next week!
+ This morning I went for my last longish training run of this season. I wore the cute capri/skirt combo I picked up a the Mankato Marathon Expo a couple of weeks ago, and a new headband (since I'm growing my hair out, it's now into a shaggy and annoying stage and drips sweat on my neck and into my eyes if I just wear my hat). The weather was gorgeous, and I just savored being outside.
i have a situation where one of our neighbors complained about our dogs barking to the county animal control folks (but not to us) and we live out in the country where EVERYONE has dogs. Frustrating. Anyway, I suggest that you look into a citronella collar. It works for my dogs. It's a training aid...
ReplyDeleteThat's tough about Bailey. We had separation anxiety issues with our first dog, but it looks like you've already tried everything we did. Leaving multiple Kongs helped Jackson and his issues eventually just went away...I think it was before the second dog but I can't remember for sure. Hopefully it'll all work out. Cute outfit for your last long run!
ReplyDeleteIt may be somewhat controversial, but you may want to think about the bark collar. It worked for my neighbor's jack russell. The above comment about citronella sounds like it's the same concept. I never heard my neighbor's dog because I worked all day, but apparently the dog was recorded for something like 6 hours straight and it barked and howled the entire time. The colkar worked and the only time there was any more incidents was when the batteries would die.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't run out out of options.
Love the skirt/capri combo--you look great! I hope you get things worked out with Bailey--I'm sure it causes YOU anxiety.
ReplyDeleteCute running outfit! I wore capris running yesterday too:) It was so nice and I loved being outside. It just makes me wonder how much longer it will be before we get the white stuff. Trust me.....it is coming:) Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteAw, poor Bailey. Your evil neighbors will just have to deal with it :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough at first it would seem like a step backwards, I would suggest adding another dog to your family. Dogs (both fixed and not) really do benefit from having a partner (male/female pairs usually have the most harmonious bond). I avoid having a single dog at home as much as possible. They tend to distract each other and have less separation anxiety. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and Happy New Year, may all your wishes come true!
ReplyDelete