Merlin is fine if we go out during the day, but gets upset and barks barks barks if left alone in the evenings. He always has Poppy with him, and she is very chilled and has no issues with being left alone. Of course, we rarely do go out at present, so this hasn't been much of a problem recently, but it was brought home to us yesterday evening when we went out for a glass of wine at our neighbour's house, and came back to a clearly quite distraught Merlin. As we walked up the road we could hear him barking, and as we opened the door he was groaning, and had his hackles up, with his teddy in his mouth. He was very upset, poor boy.
I think I know when this started - it was the summer before last, when we left the dogs at home with a dog sitter and went on holiday. Unfortunately, I had told the dog sitter that Poppy and Merlin would be ok on their own in the house in the evening and night if necessary (for instance if he were going out for the evening), but that he should check on them. He did go out, the dogs barked all night, and the dog sitter did not come back until 05:00 - by which time my neighbours were furious, and the damage was done with Merlin as far as being left alone at night is concerned.
As I say, we don't go out without the dogs that much, if we go for a meal we tend to take them with us - and of course for the last year this has been hardly possible anyway. But it clearly is a problem, and once lockdown is over, we will want to be able to go out sometimes without the dogs.
I and OH have talked about how to deal with this, and our plan of action is to go right back to basics, like crate training a puppy (which I must add, DID NOT WORK with Merlin at all... which doesn't bode well). We will go out for a couple of minutes each evening, literally just a minute the first night, two the second night, and so on. We will leave before it is quite dark, leaving a radio and lights on, say 'goodbye, we'll be right back', and come back BEFORE he starts barking, and just build it up from there. We are considering moving him and Poppy downstairs to our bedroom (upside down house, with our bedroom on the lower floor opening out onto the garden), so he is away from the front door and any noises in the street that might make him start to bark and also away from connotations of being left alone in the hallway waiting by the front door. They both love our bedroom, as it is a special treat for them to come into bed with us on weekend mornings.
Do you have any other suggestions? It really would be great if we could crack this, otherwise we are always going to need a dog sitter any time we want to go out in the evenings, as I don't want to upset my very nice neighbours and I can't have poor Merly distraught either.
I think I know when this started - it was the summer before last, when we left the dogs at home with a dog sitter and went on holiday. Unfortunately, I had told the dog sitter that Poppy and Merlin would be ok on their own in the house in the evening and night if necessary (for instance if he were going out for the evening), but that he should check on them. He did go out, the dogs barked all night, and the dog sitter did not come back until 05:00 - by which time my neighbours were furious, and the damage was done with Merlin as far as being left alone at night is concerned.
As I say, we don't go out without the dogs that much, if we go for a meal we tend to take them with us - and of course for the last year this has been hardly possible anyway. But it clearly is a problem, and once lockdown is over, we will want to be able to go out sometimes without the dogs.
I and OH have talked about how to deal with this, and our plan of action is to go right back to basics, like crate training a puppy (which I must add, DID NOT WORK with Merlin at all... which doesn't bode well). We will go out for a couple of minutes each evening, literally just a minute the first night, two the second night, and so on. We will leave before it is quite dark, leaving a radio and lights on, say 'goodbye, we'll be right back', and come back BEFORE he starts barking, and just build it up from there. We are considering moving him and Poppy downstairs to our bedroom (upside down house, with our bedroom on the lower floor opening out onto the garden), so he is away from the front door and any noises in the street that might make him start to bark and also away from connotations of being left alone in the hallway waiting by the front door. They both love our bedroom, as it is a special treat for them to come into bed with us on weekend mornings.
Do you have any other suggestions? It really would be great if we could crack this, otherwise we are always going to need a dog sitter any time we want to go out in the evenings, as I don't want to upset my very nice neighbours and I can't have poor Merly distraught either.
