haha, I try to find humor in everything...sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail... Thank you for the suggestions!!! I will for sure be trying them out. We have routine wakeup/bed times, they get lots of exercise, but maybe not for their minds...I will need to challenge them mentally some more. With the yelling, I have in the past, but it really did no good whatsoever, so I kinda stopped that...besides, the look I got when i would yell would just break my heart. Lavender oil, huh? I'm going grocery shopping tonight, maybe I will take a looksie. Actually, I'll be looking at the dog toys, too...see if I can find some puzzles or something for them. Has anyone ever had an extremely anxious dog like this and gotten them to a point that they weren't anxious? To me it really seems like Joey feels like he's being abandoned - does this sound like the case? Today I played outside with their soccer ball for over an hour. We play by me kicking the ball, they chase it across the yard, then push it around for a minute or two until I can get to them to kick it (workout for mommy too!). They were SO tired when we came inside, and were asleep when I started getting ready to leave for work. I calmly put them in their area, gave them their chewies, and walked towards the garage, and my once exhausted Joey started barking like he was being tortured...When I leave they have toys, water, and chewies (sometimes), so it's not like their locked up with nothing to do...I will try some of the things you guys have suggested, but I would love to hear more - my little boy needs serious help! |