They get up about 5:30, have a potty break, get breakfast about 6:30 and go back to sleep. They get several walks a day, together and alone. They are great with our (10yr/15yr old) kids (very playful and energetic). They are sweet, funny and just love bugs. They get along great with each other, play together, but also spend time apart. There are no issues between the two of them. They came to us overweight, and have trimmed down quite a bit - she's now 22, he's 27 (was 33!). He had a Mast Cell Tumor removed shortly after we got him, otherwise he has no health issues.
HE, however, is reactive in certain situations (and it's not all the time). He does NOT like people going fast on bikes, or joggers. He will bark and lunge at them. Not growing, mind you. Often it's just like he's surprised by them, and is afraid and doesn't quite know what to do. Almost like he's saying "HEY! DID YOU SEE THAT THING? DID YOU? DID YOU? HUH?". He will bark at other dogs on walks, but not all the time. During training he would bark at the trainer because he knew she had treats. She told us to use the spray bottle. Tell him "No bark", if he does stop, ask him for a sit and reward the sit with a treat. If he doesn't stop, spray him, then ask for the sit and reward the sit. We had been trying this at the door, but he gets so frantic, it's hard to get his attention. I think he needs to be under control BEFORE the door even opens, and we need to work on this without anyone being on the other side of the door!
When someone knocks on our door, our boy goes CRAZY.
BARK, BARK, BARK!
BARK, BARK, BARK!
BARK, BARK, BARK!
He'll wake from a deep sleep, start to bark and go flying off the couch towards the door. He continues to bark at the feet of the visitor. A big, vocal bark - excitement/frantic, tinged with a bit of nervousness. Never, ever growling or aggressive. He also jumps on people and circles them, barking. When we pull him back, it makes him MORE determined to bark at them. Once he calms down, he's fine. Absolutely fine. The barking/hysteria lasts maybe a minute. But BOY is it hysteria. I want to stop it from starting (helping him calm down so the door knock won't set him off). And I don't want him to greet visitors like that! Some people will say "Oh, I don't mind, I love dogs!". Well, I love dogs too, but THIS is a behavior we need to work on with him!!
Funny thing is, we've had 2 parties - big parties and he's fine, he's the star of the party. It seems to happen more with a one person coming in.
Of course, we've asked people to ignore him, don't pat or look at him, etc. I've done lots of reading about this issue, and see lots of differing advice. What has worked for you? Specifically - I'm ready to put as much time and effort as it takes - we adore him and want to help him calm down. Both pugs were left alone for long stretches of time (10-12 hrs a day) - and so I don't know how much socialization he got. He is crate trained, but sleeps on the couch. He'll go into his (open) crate now and again to take a nap.
Would love some advice - and some I could also apply to the bike/jogger on walks issue he has too.
Let me know if you need any other info about him.
Thanks!
We had to practice this in every room, because first she was only quiet in the hall, but when the doorbell rang and she was in the kitchen, she would start barking again and running to the hall. 