Quote:
Originally Posted by McLovin
Let the dog live in the house. Problem solved!
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Believe it or not, that is the current solution. Unfortunately it does not resolve the original problem... At some point, you have to let her out in the yard, and then you either must leave the patio door open (we have mosquitoes the size of horse flies) or expose yourself to more mesh/lattice punching when she wants back in. Either way we can't use that area of our house, still...
I'm sorry, I have young kids and I rate humans higher than dogs. That patio is also an area they use a lot, and they end up with bites the size of golf balls (not to mention west nile virus is around). So yeah, I feel for the dog's sense of abandonment due to being 5 yards further from the door, but let's not blow this out of proportion either: She's inside with us a fair bit, evenings, most of the w/e, and the rest of the week she's outside in a sizeable yard chasing squirrels, while we're working to pay bills (and her food, vet and damages ;-) It's not exactly doggy concentration camp, OK ? It would seem like you can't own a dog if you're not home all day petting her 24/7. If so, then guilty.
Shock collar ? We used that a long time ago (and I tried it on myself first to pick a setting) for biting and escaping when she was younger, it worked... but again we're not here to see the bad behavior and correct it at the right time... Crate / chain is out of the question, not sure how many more times I need to mention that ;-)
We did offer her to my wife's sister, big time dog lover, the only family my wife would consider letting her go to at the moment, but no dice. Her reason was that the dog has become slightly aggressive towards other dogs since one of them jumped her while we were walking her (and the baby - not fun, stroller overturned, dog fight etc...). Maybe she was protecting her pack. Dunno, I try not to go too far ascribing human emotions to animals. So I'm nowhere closer to a solution, only thing is I understand the dog's behavior better and I'm less pissed off, thanks to Angela. I also understand that escalating the structural strength of the patio is probably pointless, not to mention architecturally ugly... Still is a problem though.
Anyone got tips for shedding / smell ? Optimal wash schedule, stuff like that ? I'm cursed with a very good nose and I don't want the inside of my house to smell of dog (should I have to apologize for this too?)