Its official! We’ve moved to Austin, TX! I’m happy to be back where I grew up because I love this city. Both the dogs are getting time to romp around in our large backyard and they are having a blast with the two ball game!
Loker has been surprisingly calm-ish and collected in the backyard despite construction going on in both our neighbor’s backyards. He watches, but understands that no one is crossing over into our yard so there have not been any barking episodes- a relief with him!
However, Clark still has to learn how to handle all the new stimuli. The wind, neighbor dog’s tags jingling, construction, golfers, and more are all pretty fun to bark at! He is one bossy little dude! (Typical corgi!) This is when I especially LOVE that he is play motivated. Despite all these distractions, he’d rather play fetch or tug with me. He will recall off of barking at anything – SUPER! So I am not worried about him. He just needs time to adjust.
So this morning I let Clark out to go potty and the neighbor is standing in her backyard and she decides to say hello and compliment Clark for how cool looking he is. Clark charged towards her barking so instead of continuing the conversation with her I called Clark away to play the two ball game which he did with enthusiasm. (I’m pretty proud of his reliable recall!) She probably thinks I was being completely rude because I turned away after just a brief “Hi,” but hopefully I’ll have a chance to catch her later to explain I wanted to redirect him from barking. She didn’t seem phased by the barking, but it’s not something I want to allow to continue.
Sometimes you have to do what is best for your dog and be rude to people. Many people won’t understand what you’re doing. If you get the chance, appologize later and explain. They’ll probably think you’re weird, but you will be pleased with your dog’s behavior in the future so it will be worth the awkwardness!