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Originally Posted by liz n tika  I personally think giving your dog away would be much more devistating to her than a surgery. Maybe you could find her another window for her to sit in tho.......
That's a tough one... just keep researching the surgery. |
This has turned out to be the trick!!! (I think-- fingers are crossed.) I closed the door to my home office, which is off the kitchen where Sophie's gated in during the day. This way, Sophie can have her bed in the kitchen, food, water, potty pad, etc., but she can't see out a window. The snotty neighbor won't talk to me still, but she did tell my apt. manager that for the last week Sophie's barking has been almost nonexistent when I'm gone during the day. I think that with the radio left on to NPR and no window access, outdoor sounds and sights don't get Sophie all excited and she's keeping quiet. I pray, pray, PRAY that this isn't just temporary, but that it's the solution to our problem.
If it doesn't work, I'll contact a professional trainer. My vet gave me a referral for a woman in my area who just earned her Ph.D. in animal behavior and is looking to establish herself with clients... meaning, she won't charge me a fortune yet, lol.
I'm going ahead with Sophie's spay surgery tomorrow. (She's 16 mos, but I waited at the advice of my vet because she was underweight. Now she's holding steady at 2 1/2 lbs.) Tomorrow she'll also get a couple teeth pulled and be micro-chipped, but I am NOT having her bark softened.
I can't thank everyone here enough for your opinions, perspectives, and suggestions. What an amazing community!!
