Today is J-Day!

Winchester said:

 
We are going to try a bark collar. I talked to our neighbors tonight; they have two beagles and they had the same kind of problems with their boys. They used bark collars (and they also have a shock collar). I am pretty much at my wits end with the barking and the carrying on and the behavior needs to be stopped. I can't deal with it. I am willing to keep her and make sure she has a good life with us. But she really needs to stop the barking and screaming because I can't handle it. 

I'm sorry....call me what you want. I really don't want to go there, with the bark collar. But it's stressful and it's exhausting. Enough is enough. We are keeping her; we won't give her up. But I need peace, too.

ETA: She just peed on the subfloor in the bedroom. I give up. I just give up. She was last out about an hour ago. 

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If that is what you need to do to have peace in the house, do it. All that screaming can't be good for the cats either. I know that they have been good but the last thing you need is for any of them to get upset and act out because of it.

You 2 are great pet parents. Everyone knows it. No one's going to judge you. You ALL deserve to have a peaceful home. I'm so sorry that you're having to go through this. My dog has screaming fits from time to time also. It's the nature of the beast. It's a part of why she'll be my last dog at least for a very long time if not ever.

Hang in there. The new year will be upon us before you know and it she'll start her obedience classes. I think they will benefit her a lot. In the meantime, we're all here for you.

Well, she is at home and the gate is across the hallway, so she can't get back to the bedroom. 

I'm no longer going home at lunch. I start walking today again outside. 

Rick said he'll go over and talk to the neighbors about the bark collar. 

Winchester said:

 
Well, she is at home and the gate is across the hallway, so she can't get back to the bedroom. 

I'm no longer going home at lunch. I start walking today again outside. 

Rick said he'll go over and talk to the neighbors about the bark collar. 

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Amazon has a wide variety of bark collars. This one is $19.99, is available for free 2 day shipping with Prime and it's not the old school bark collar that people think of AKA "shock collar". 


If you don't have Prime and you want to order one, send me a PM with your address and I'll order it through my Prime. You'd get it Saturday. If you need it faster, one day shipping is $3.99 for delivery tomorrow. 

I am really sorry to hear that Jackie peed again in the house, I know how frustrated you must be right now.  With everything being said here, I have no other suggestions or answers for you.  Until you have tried all the possible solutions such as doggie classes and the bark collar, you can't give up on her.  There is still hope so don't give up , you know I am always here for you as we all are.

My hat's off to you for lasting so long. I wouldn't have been able to.

Well, I do have some good news. I don't think we need the bark collar; Jackie is calming down on her own. Kat0121, my grateful thank you to you for offering Amazon for us.  . 

I stopped coming home at lunch and starting walking again. So she's alone with the cats all day long now, but she actually seems to be doing better that way. Rick comes home and he deals with her; he says she's really not that bad. Yeah, she still barks and carries on -- it's what dogs do -- but she's now calming down quickly. I come home about 45 minutes later and when I first come into the house, I completely ignore her. Again, she barks and carries on, but calms down quickly. I put my stuff away and give her a couple minutes to calm herself. Then, once she's quieter, I go into the living room and sit down. I pat the couch, Jackie hops up and that's our time for some cuddling.

Jackie seems to really like her thundershirt. In the morning as soon as Rick picks it up, she comes over to him and he puts the shirt on her. He leaves for work and she flops down on the couch. I'm puttering about the house getting ready for work and she watches every move I make. I give her Composure. She either flops back on the couch or she sits at the top of the steps and watches me leave.

We are developing routine and that's important. The routine is that, in the morning, Jackie and Dad go outside, Mom gives everybody breakfast, she gets her shirt put on, Dad leaves for work, she gets a Composure chewie and Mom leaves for work. Party time with the cats. In the afternoon, Dad comes home, they go outside, and Dad gives everybody supper. Then Mom comes home and it's time for cuddles. She goes outside throughout the evening, sometimes with Mom, sometimes with Dad. (She can stay out longer if she's with Mom because Mom likes the walking, too.)

We also think she is less stressed at night...there's a definite difference in her. We think that, by me coming home at lunch time, we weren't giving her enough time on her own with the cats. She might start to calm down a bit, then I come home and she's all upset again. She starts to calm down, then Rick comes home and she's off again. This way, she has more time with the cats and more alone time. Meanwhile, my stress level was going through the roof because I had to come home and deal with her....and it simply wasn't working out. Patience is not one of my virtues and dealing with a screaming beagle is not one of my most-treasured moments. My co-worker told me yesterday afternoon that the change in me, just in two days, is amazing. I'm walking outside again and life is good for me, too. I truly love my lunch walks; they are the best part of my work day. That hour is the only "ME" time I have and I'm selfish about keeping it.

Dear Richard, OTOH, has the patience of a saint, esp when it comes to the furkids. He takes pretty much everything in stride and goes with the flow. Although even he was wondering if we could continue with her because she was just wild when we came home. But she's calming down as we go.

We have to do some banking this morning and Jackie is going along. Rick will go into the bank and I'll wait outside with her; we won't make her stay in the truck alone. Then after our banking is finished, we're going to give her a good walk on the Trail before coming back home. I'll bring some water and her water dish and some snacks (along with the requisite plastic bags and paper towels for any clean-ups needed....we must be good dog owners ). And we want her to know that riding in the truck is also for good things, like walking on the Trail, not just for yucky vet visits.

This afternoon, if the weather holds, Rick and Jackie are going to rake leaves in the yard while I bake cookies. That gets Jackie out of the house (and out from under my feet in the kitchen) and gives her something to do outside, too....other than eat deer poop! ). She'll have to be left alone tonight for a while as Rick and I are going to do some shopping. But hopefully, she'll be pooped and can nap while we're gone.

As I type, she is napping on her bed back here in the computer room while Rick and I are on our computers. Mollipop, BooBoo, and Muffin are back here, too, and Tabby is in the doorway, evidently trying to figure out if it's a good idea to attack Jackie's tail! I don't quite trust Jackie as far as the peeing goes since she peed again the other night when the flooring installer was here, but we have to give her the benefit of the doubt, too, at times. My sister and BIL were here on Thursday night so she could take a shower (their bathroom is torn up for remodeling and they have no shower.) Jackie did not pee in the house while they were here.

Bad days and good days. 

We took her with us in the truck this morning. Went to the recycling center and Jackie met the people there. Went to the bank and Jackie got a treat. While Rick was inside the bank, I had Jackie out walking around in the parking lot next door; it's an empty WalMart parking lot, nice and big for lots of walking and running. Then Rick, Jackie and I did a mile on the Trail. Jackie and I walked and ran and then walked and ran some more on the way out. On the way back, it was mostly a fast walk because she was getting tired, I think. The Trail combined with all the walking and jogging around that parking lot pooped her out. 

I think we'll probably take her with us when we go to visit our kids from time to time and when we do things like the recycling and the banking errands, she can go along. We won't leave her in the truck by herself; that's not a good thing, but she and I can walk around while Rick is in the bank, she can "help" us with the recycling, and so on. And walk the Trail, too.

When we do some shopping tonight, we'll get her a travel water dish for Christmas. She also needs a Christmas bandana, and maybe a nice coat for when she's outside.

I think the combination of taking her with you sometimes and more exercise will really help.  It sounds like she is beginning to bond with at least one of your kitties hopefully she will also bond with some of the others.  That should really help when there are no people in the house with her.

Winchester said:

 
When we do some shopping tonight, we'll get her a travel water dish for Christmas. She also needs a Christmas bandana, and maybe a nice coat for when she's outside.

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I'm hoping the old adage of 'everything takes time' is working, and yes Jackie will need a warm sweater or coat when the winter gets bitter cold outdoors. It sound like you all had a nice day so far and making Jackie a part of some of your travels is a good thing for her and it gives the cats some time alone.  Good job.

What's a thunder shirt?

Stewball said:

What's a thunder shirt?

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A tight fitting thin coat that can help dogs feel less anxious. Called a Thundershirt because it's often used for dogs who get scared during thunderstorms.

Columbine said:

A tight fitting thin coat that can help dogs feel less anxious. Called a Thundershirt because it's often used for dogs who get scared during thunderstorms.

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Thank you columbine. My dogs 'thunder' shirt was my lap. All 40 kilo of him when it thundered.

Jackie loves the red laser light! I always play with the cats with the laser light for about 30 minutes or so at night. Jackie never really expressed much of an interest in the light, but for some reason last night, she was enthralled. If you could have seen this 35-pound beagle running around the living room and kitchen, jumping and carrying on, you would have laughed and laughed. And then there was Tabby, who was jumping over Jackie, trying to get to the light before Jackie could get there. They were hysterical.

We think a lot of her laid-back attitude in the beginning was probably that UTI she had (as well as a new house, a ton of stress, and new routines to learn). She's been on the meds and we haven't missed a pill at all. And we can see the change in her. She's more active (way more active outside) and she's more interested in what's going on in the house. She's not sleeping that much early at night; before she was so stressed during the day that she would simply drop fairly early at night. She seems to be stressing out a lot less than before; she still doesn't like us leaving her and she really watches me in the morning; she knows that when I leave, that's it....there's nobody else in the house. Rick says she's calming down fairly quickly now when he gets home and she hardly ever barks once she gets outside. She still doesn't like being alone, but things are much better than they were. It's a fact of life; dogs bark when you get home. And beagles really bark. And bay. Boy, do they bay. 

She doesn't like us to walk real close to her when she's laying on the floor and she'll always get up and move; we think she's gotten run over by Evelyn's walker a few times. Muffin was like that, too; for a while, she was skittish when we walked next to her and we think my Mom got her with the walker, too. I think she's more active, simply because we are more active. When she was with Rick's parents, they didn't really do anything. She went outside, she did her business, and came back in the house. That was it; there was no exercise at all, other than that. She probably slept a lot because they slept a lot, with their naps, and sitting around. We take her outside and, especially me....I'll try to run her a bit. We'll go around the house several times; the other night, I almost killed myself because it was dark and she started running; I think she was trying to go after a rabbit. I was running, too, and hit the collar on the septic tank and almost went on my butt. I need to remember to turn on all the outside lights because I never know where we're going to end up!

The other night, Rick and Jackie were outside and she stopped dead over by the shed. And she refused to go any further. She got very still and stood there for quite a while. She never barked, just stood there. And of course, he didn't have the shed lights on, so he couldn't see what it was....he thinks it might have been a bear. Jackie doesn't worry about deer, so it wasn't a deer. He has no idea what it was, but eventually, Jackie turned around and decided to come back in the house. Fast.

We decorated the tree last night and Jackie was busy snooping around in the totes, checking out all the Christmas stuff. But we dealt with her investigating things right along with cats, who always find Christmas decorations very fascinating. Tabby got into one of the totes and when Jackie went over and sniffed at the tote, Tabby jumped out at her. She chuffed at Tabby and then she eventually flopped down on her bed and watched it all from there. (I think Tabby did it on purpose.)

So things are going well around here. 

Sounds like things are going well.  I don't know if it's something you would be interested in but some people play scent games with dogs like beagles.  They get bottles of different animal scents, lay down a trail outside of course and let the dog follow the trail.

So wonderful to read such a great update

I love that Tabby ambushed Jackie Ambushing the dogs is one of Asha's favourite pastimes So funny!

Winchester said:

Jackie loves the red laser light! I always play with the cats with the laser light for about 30 minutes or so at night. Jackie never really expressed much of an interest in the light, but for some reason last night, she was enthralled. If you could have seen this 35-pound beagle running around the living room and kitchen, jumping and carrying on, you would have laughed and laughed. And then there was Tabby, who was jumping over Jackie, trying to get to the light before Jackie could get there. They were hysterical.

We think a lot of her laid-back attitude in the beginning was probably that UTI she had (as well as a new house, a ton of stress, and new routines to learn). She's been on the meds and we haven't missed a pill at all. And we can see the change in her. She's more active (way more active outside) and she's more interested in what's going on in the house. She's not sleeping that much early at night; before she was so stressed during the day that she would simply drop fairly early at night. She seems to be stressing out a lot less than before; she still doesn't like us leaving her and she really watches me in the morning; she knows that when I leave, that's it....there's nobody else in the house. Rick says she's calming down fairly quickly now when he gets home and she hardly ever barks once she gets outside. She still doesn't like being alone, but things are much better than they were. It's a fact of life; dogs bark when you get home. And beagles really bark. And bay. Boy, do they bay. 

She doesn't like us to walk real close to her when she's laying on the floor and she'll always get up and move; we think she's gotten run over by Evelyn's walker a few times. Muffin was like that, too; for a while, she was skittish when we walked next to her and we think my Mom got her with the walker, too. I think she's more active, simply because we are more active. When she was with Rick's parents, they didn't really do anything. She went outside, she did her business, and came back in the house. That was it; there was no exercise at all, other than that. She probably slept a lot because they slept a lot, with their naps, and sitting around. We take her outside and, especially me....I'll try to run her a bit. We'll go around the house several times; the other night, I almost killed myself because it was dark and she started running; I think she was trying to go after a rabbit. I was running, too, and hit the collar on the septic tank and almost went on my butt. I need to remember to turn on all the outside lights because I never know where we're going to end up!

The other night, Rick and Jackie were outside and she stopped dead over by the shed. And she refused to go any further. She got very still and stood there for quite a while. She never barked, just stood there. And of course, he didn't have the shed lights on, so he couldn't see what it was....he thinks it might have been a bear. Jackie doesn't worry about deer, so it wasn't a deer. He has no idea what it was, but eventually, Jackie turned around and decided to come back in the house. Fast.
We decorated the tree last night and Jackie was busy snooping around in the totes, checking out all the Christmas stuff. But we dealt with her investigating things right along with cats, who always find Christmas decorations very fascinating. Tabby got into one of the totes and when Jackie went over and sniffed at the tote, Tabby jumped out at her. She chuffed at Tabby and then she eventually flopped down on her bed and watched it all from there. (I think Tabby did it on purpose.)

So things are going well around here. 

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Could it have been a snake?

No, I don't think it was a snake....not after dark like that. Especially at this time of the year. Could have been a coyote, too, but Rick thinks it was a bear as we've been seeing bear scat in that area. Rick went out during the day and there's fresh scat over there.

Pam, congrats on being Pawsitive Purrson, you deserve it.  And am so happy things are getting a little better with Jackie, great news all around

LaRussa said:

 
Pam, congrats on being Pawsitive Purrson, you deserve it.  And am so happy things are getting a little better with Jackie, great news all around

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Aw, thanks Carol! 

Winchester said:

No, I don't think it was a snake....not after dark like that. Especially at this time of the year. Could have been a coyote, too, but Rick thinks it was a bear as we've been seeing bear scat in that area. Rick went out during the day and there's fresh scat over there.

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It sounds like things have really improved!

If she went all quiet like that, it probably was something big like a bear that she scented. I took the shelter dogs for a walk in the pitch dark last week, and Zora stopped, went completely silent and shook, which is totally unlike her when she catches a scent. I took a look around with a maglite, and there was a wild boar in the field only about 200 yards from us. Luckily it wasn't the least bit interested in us. :lol3: