Ah, the Irony

Just had a delivery person at the door. Could hardly communicate with the guy, or open the door enough, to get the package due to my intense, barking hounds signalling his arrival. I gave my usual "they're ok, just loud" line over the din (which he likely couldn't hear), and he was gone before I had a chance to figure out & let him know that the package actually contained books on dog barking and calming signals for dogs...really...we do want to help them improve their social skills.

It's so embarrassing, and it's really not nice having to limit chats with neighbours because the dogs won't let us alone. Hesper would often bark and "huff" a very little bit around new people, and Gladwyn was quietly timid (basically vanishing) with guests when we first got her. But now that the two have settled in together, and have begun feeding off of each other, wow, do they ever get going. True hounds who love to hear themselves, combined with some nervous excitability. Unfortunately, I think some of the bark training may involve stressful times where they are not allowed outside to roam around freely for a while. Which will mean lots of doorbell ringing (the bells are inside - their signal that they want out) and guessing as to whether they really "need" out for a few minutes or not. But it is definitely important to get this going before having kids around (or having another homestudy update...can only imagine the two of them barraging our social worker with their frantic greetings). It would also be nice to have this under control a bit more before campground season. They would bark a bit at passers-by our site last year, but I suspect they may be a bit worse now...uh oh.

Perhaps I will share any particular wisdom or success after reading (and trying out suggestions from) these books. If you're interested, stay tuned.