Imminent thanksgiving disaster

[Shalista]

So my mom had my niece and nephew (5 and 2) over for a sleep over. my nephew likes to spray toys all over the floor and bax LOVES to eat the toys. to prevent bax from eating the toys i lock him in his room while my niece and nephew are over. the problem is that tonight bax barked nonstop from the moment the kids got here. if i was in the room he was on high alert and whining softly but not barking. as soon as i left he barked. he would eat a kong while i was there but ignored it to bark when i was gone. Bax has a very loud terrier bark that pierces your ear drums.

what are my options for keeping him quiet at thanksgiving this thursday?

we have an open floor plan so keeping him separated but within sight might be a problem and tbh he could probably clear most baby gates with ease. (He LOVED the jumps in agility class)

I could try to find him something more valuable then pepperoni flavored cheese wiz to stuff in his kong but it's unlikely i can find something to keep him occupied all afternoon and evening.

I'm more of an introvert anyway so i'll be willing to spend as much time hermiting with him in the room anyway but i will have to make an appearance for the dinner at least and i don't him barking all dinner (which will last at least an hour)

My current plan of attack is to hermit as much as possible and then clean up the nephews toys for the actual dinner and let bax out to roam then. then after dinner i wisk bax away and hermit with him for the rest of time. but, i will be expected to hang out with my relatives at least a little bit where toys will be out and bax will be barking.

thoughts?

(side note. Bax doesn't bark when he's confined to his room normally, its just when guests are here and he cant get to them. taking him out to greet the guests and then returning him to his room had no affect. he started barking again as soon as the door shut.)

[JudyN]

Could you put Bax in a playpen in the shared areas? (I'm assuming that you can't put your nephew in one ) Alternatively, keep Bax on a lead which you could attach to your belt for convenience.

[Nettle]

JudyN beat me to it I was going to suggest confining your nephew and his toys behind a baby gate and leaving him with a stuffed kong.

I think you and JudyN between you have hit on the best things to do. Make sure Bax has a really really long walk with lots of sniffing but no playing that will razz him up.

Good luck!

[Shalista]

baby gates and play pens are unfortunately a no go. the kids don't use them and bax could pretty easily clear one in a jump if he was confined behind one >.<

putting him on a lead is a nice idea in theory but he tries to strangle himself while on a lead when around people because he gets so excited to go say hi and he tends to wrap himself in knots around things inside the house (i tried when potty training him)

[JudyN]

You can get play pens with lids - here's an example I found at random: http://www.vitamingrocer.co.uk/Marshall ... 0wodSYoKQg

[Erica]

I would practice having him on lead in the house. It's a really useful skill - and you've got a bit of time to work on it. It migt also help to practice obedience skills around people; giving him something to focus on could help him control himself. LAT is rapidly turning into my favorite game for excitable dogs, and could help with being calm with hyper children running about.

There's no magic wand to wave here; any option will take some work and practice to make him comfortable with the process. I'm willing to bet he'll get excited and wound up if in a play pen too.

[Shalista]

excited and wound up is bax's natural state of being =( i guess this is my fault, i over did the training when he was barking so much and kind of burned us out. i havnt even been doing any socialization work with him. oh well, time to take out the treat bag again!

tips for lead work in the house?

[Erica]

I'd start with putting the leash on when he's going to be calm, eg before calm hangouts, and just letting it drag if that doesn't bother him/if he doesn't try to chew it. Then in slightly more exciting situations, eg sibling's eating a ham and cheese sandwich across the room. Reward with fairly low-value treats, so he doesn't get as excited, and reward at first for fake-calm (eg "I'm laying down but i am SO ready to jump up and bark") and gradually increase to rewarding real calm. Umbilical cord training - attaching the leash to your belt - is pretty good for this too. Obviously don't just drag him around with you, but don't be constantly interacting with him. Try to be a little bit boring but with the occasional low-value reward. I will say, don't attach the leash to a belt loop. I did this once and now have a pair of jeans with a hole in the side from that Bax is small but I think he might have enough oomph to make that disaster happen!

I will say I've only done this from puppyhood, not with an excitable adult dog, so there may be some things I've missed/overlooked. Hopefully someone will jump in if they have other ideas!

[Erica]

And here's a video from kikopup that might be suitable for training calmness! May not be enough time for something as big as Thanksgiving but every step helps?

[Shalista]

oooo very helpful! I do think im mildly handicapped because we don't have people over often enough to really do any solid training with him. he's a bit stunted on his socialization with strangers in the house

[Erica]

Yeah that is the tricky bit :/

[Shalista]

Since there are times when I do have to confine him besides thanksgiving, any advice on keeping him quiet? Even if he's in his room for a few minutes with no one around he'll start barking almost immediately. it's incredibly aggravating and my parents have already started talking about bark collars.

[Nettle]

What occupation do you give him already when he is shut in?

[Shalista]

usually a kong but they don't last him very long and i try not to give him more than one or two a day

[Nettle]

What about Russian Doll boxes? A cardboard box in a box in a box etc, stuffed with screwed-up newspaper and with a tiny treat screwed up in the paper every here and there. Takes them ages to work through and really tires them out.