corbinam
Moderator
We moved into our house last June based on a couple deciding factors:
1) It had a fenced in yard.
2) It was in a decent suburb close to shops, etc...and not too far from my husband's job.
3) We had been looking for months and could find NOTHING with a yard in a decent area (and we had to move since my husband's job started in June)
We interviewed the neighbors before moving and they assured us that they walked their dogs (2 very active weimeraners) often and took them to the park.
Fast forward to now...I have NEVER EVER seen them walking their dogs or even so much as interacting with them in the backyard. The dogs are outside constantly (presumably because they are a nuisance to live with because they never get any exercise) and are constantly barking.
Bentley is a fairly reactive dog, and we were able to manage it by controlling the situations to which he was exposed. I felt like before we moved we were making headway in his reactivity.
All of that is gone. He is so reactive now, and is constantly looking for something to bark at. He goes totally crazy now when he hears the weimeraners (which is often) and there is nothing we can to do prevent it. We turn fans on, we turn the TV up really loud, we put an x-pen in front of the back door, but their yard is right next to ours, and you can hear it anyways.
We have taken to just getting up and picking Bentley up until he calms down (he gets so worked up) because I can see how stressed and tense he is becoming. But now Lexi goes crazy when he does this because she reacts to OUR reaction (of getting up and often chasing him to grab him). She is usually a good girl, but now I know where her nervousness comes from (Bentley's anxiety).
There is nothing else we can do to manage the problem. I want to move, but my husband hasn't found a job yet (he finishes his residency in May) and the city is so big that we can't choose where to move without knowing where he will be working--I already commute 45 minutes. Not to mention how long it took us the first time to find a decent place with a yard (and agility and play in the yard is a priority for us).
I'm not looking for resolution...maybe just a virtual hug? I feel bad that my dogs are so negatively influenced by our environment
1) It had a fenced in yard.
2) It was in a decent suburb close to shops, etc...and not too far from my husband's job.
3) We had been looking for months and could find NOTHING with a yard in a decent area (and we had to move since my husband's job started in June)
We interviewed the neighbors before moving and they assured us that they walked their dogs (2 very active weimeraners) often and took them to the park.
Fast forward to now...I have NEVER EVER seen them walking their dogs or even so much as interacting with them in the backyard. The dogs are outside constantly (presumably because they are a nuisance to live with because they never get any exercise) and are constantly barking.
Bentley is a fairly reactive dog, and we were able to manage it by controlling the situations to which he was exposed. I felt like before we moved we were making headway in his reactivity.
All of that is gone. He is so reactive now, and is constantly looking for something to bark at. He goes totally crazy now when he hears the weimeraners (which is often) and there is nothing we can to do prevent it. We turn fans on, we turn the TV up really loud, we put an x-pen in front of the back door, but their yard is right next to ours, and you can hear it anyways.
We have taken to just getting up and picking Bentley up until he calms down (he gets so worked up) because I can see how stressed and tense he is becoming. But now Lexi goes crazy when he does this because she reacts to OUR reaction (of getting up and often chasing him to grab him). She is usually a good girl, but now I know where her nervousness comes from (Bentley's anxiety).
There is nothing else we can do to manage the problem. I want to move, but my husband hasn't found a job yet (he finishes his residency in May) and the city is so big that we can't choose where to move without knowing where he will be working--I already commute 45 minutes. Not to mention how long it took us the first time to find a decent place with a yard (and agility and play in the yard is a priority for us).
I'm not looking for resolution...maybe just a virtual hug? I feel bad that my dogs are so negatively influenced by our environment
