Diary of an Edinburgher

By LadyMarchmont

Butter wouldn’t melt…

We had a visitor this morning - Marsha came to stay so that her dads could get some work-from-home done. She is a bit of a problem, with her constant (LOUD) barking over nothing - though they think it’s birds tweeting, a car going by - almost anything. Which is such a problem that they’re getting advice from a ‘daschound expert’.

This  advice, so far, has been to ‘ignore her when she barks’… I was asked to do this also. Well, I did - for half an hour or so. I was on the bike, earpods in, and she barked non stop. We watch ‘Dogs Behaving Badly’ on Tv, where the chap sorts out the problems (mostly it’s the owners). And he has used this ‘ignore them’ technique. But he has also used a spray can (which just emits a hiss of air). And so I got our old one out of the cupboard.

Success! She looked startled, but kept quiet. I only had to do it a couple of times, and we then had peace for the next couple of hours, and only had to say ‘No!’ When she muttered. And I praised her lots when she was quiet. But I won’t tell them my method, in case they get tetchy that it contradicts doesn’t fit with their online training course advice.

Archie didn’t like her barking either, but thank goodness we have no neighbours upstairs.

Apart from our visitor, I’ve done nothing much, except not eat constantly during the day. Yes, I’m on a long overdue diet (again).

Storm Dudley here tonight. A bit of a break, then Storm Eunice on Friday, which looks even more damaging. Is it my imagination, but since we started naming storms, they have got much more frequent?

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