Tuning out the dogs and my husband
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- September 25, 2021
- 571
We have had many pets over the years, all of which we have loved dearly and missed terribly when they’ve gone. At present we have two dogs, both of whom are rather spoiled.
Training them was my task, and I truly did my best. Either I was incompetent or the dogs were untrainable. Whichever it was, we now live with two pups who pretty much do as they please — and they choose to bark at anything and everything. A car driving by our house gets them barking. So does a plane flying overhead. My Taller Half assures me they are just trying to protect us. Their barking is not an issue for him. I suspect his hearing is failing.
Their barking is driving me crazy, and I’m sure our close neighbors feel the same way. I’ve tried to silence our dogs with stern commands, threats of being banished to their crate and even plied them with treats to hush them up, to no avail. What have we done to make our well-loved pets such noisy pains?
I am coming to realize our dogs have been spoiled. It’s not my fault. Taller Half has indulged those pups by ignoring their frequent bouts of barking, so they feel free to express themselves as frequently and as loudly as they please. They have decided Taller Half rules.
My solution to this ongoing problem is muzzles for the pups or ear plugs for me. Yesterday I got some earplugs, which have successfully lowered the barking to a mere murmur. Unfortunately, it’s had the same effect on Taller Half’s voice. Perhaps that is not such a bad thing.