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Originally Posted by Wallee  Wow..once again, some very helpful insight. I am going to start working a little more with his obedience as he loves to do that when it involves getting treats..lol..I want him to learn that we will play when it is play time and that he needs to settle when it is time to do that too. He does look out the window of our sliding door onto the street when he wants to, however our street is pretty quiet most of the time and he gets bored doing that.
He also is not much of a chewer so even his bully sticks (which seems to be the only thing he will chew on) bore him sometimes and he will go days without touching them when I offer them. (except to bump them out of my hand. ) I feel bad for him as we have 4 cats who he tries to play with but they only will run past him once or twice to engage him and then jump up on something he can't reach teasing him. I think the problem with them is that when he runs with them, he bumps them with is nose and barks at them.
I worry that he will become too dependent on my to keep him amused as I am currently unemployed however will be looking to go back to work very soon. |
Here's some thoughts that may or may not be helpful.
Usually a dog will adapt to his owner working once he understands a change has taken place. Mostly only rather unstable dogs in some way or the other become "dependent" on their humans so that they can't adapt to living without them for a few hours during the day. If yours is insecure, unsure of himself, you might have some problems. It sounds like you picked out/wound up with a highly-motivated "people"-type dog that needs a strong schedule of human involvement to keep up with him. Usually that kind of temperament is good for some type of companion or service dog. These people-oriented dogs can be a challenge.
In general when picking out a dog, so many people pick out the dog that readily comes to them and is very friendly, not stand-offish and very interactive with them over other, quieter ones when they choose a dog and a lot of time those dogs need a lot of human time to be most fulfilled. My Tibbe is one of these and he requires a good deal of involvement but he has no separation anxiety as he's otherwise fulfilled and knows he'll get his Tibbe time.
If yours does get anxious when you go back to work, use the techniques for desensitizing separation anxiety and that can help bridge the change.
If you feel you have truly given him enough time and stimulation physically and mentally for the day and he's back wanting more, teach him to "Go to your spot" or "Crate up" or "Go to bed", gently guide him to his bed with a piece of food, tell him to stay and be sure he goes by saying "uh oh" and gentle returning him to bed or his spot when he comes back. At the same time, you might want to work with his impulse control in the "lie down" and "stay" separately as part of your training, teaching him the fine art of staying down, even when he might not want to do it. He will soon learn that when momma has had enough, work, play and such is over for the day.
Or you can invite him to lie right next to or on you, as I usually do, with Tibbe. (This gets pretty warm in the summer but it's what we like! lol!) Either way, they will come to accept it if you are as determined as they that you are done for the time being or the day.