A Dog is for Life - 4

I have just returned from taking Bandit back to the Blue Cross. Last night precipitated the decision.

I walked him at 10, just before I went to bed & put him down with a dental chew. I had just settled in bed myself when he started making noises which became whines & then barking. The last thing you should do is respond if a dog does this. You should leave them & hope it stops. Otherwise you are rewarding behaviour that you don't want. However I have neighbours with small children on both sides who would hear it as clearly as I did.

So I went down - again & again. I gave him a rawhide bone. I left the radio on. I left the radio & a light on. I gave him his ball to play with. Nothing worked & it went on for over 2 hours till after midnight. By this time I was quite stressed & having fibrillation problems. So I had to bring him upstairs & put him in my ensuite bathroom. That meant I could tell him to shut up every time he barked. Eventually we both got some sleep.

I have no idea what set him off after the first quiet night. But there had been  a warning when I left him for 1 1/2 hours to go for a swim yesterday. He barked. So I waited in the hall till it stopped & left. I don't know if he barked for the whole time I was away.

You really can't subject neighbours to this on a regular basis & I woke up with a migraine feeling dreadful. So, sadly decision made.

In addition, although I put him out in my courtyard first thing to pee, he did nothing. Then when I went upstairs to get dressed to walk him I came back to find he had peed in the kitchen again. Just like yesterday when he peed after I had walked him before leaving to swim.

Bending down is a big issue for me - to clean up his mess, to put his harness & lead on, to towel him down when it's been raining, which it did this morning. I hadn't thought about the impact of having a small dog on my conditions. None of that is good for me.

It was emotional to leave him. It means that I have to accept that I can not have a dog at all. I felt a failure that I hadn't thought it through from my health perspective enough. Blue Cross were fine about it. Very sympathetic. I suppose it happens sometimes. I'm not looking forward to explaining to my grandsons why I have taken him back. I know they will be very disappointed.

I'm sure Bandit would make a lovely pet for someone with the time & patience to train him properly. I do think he needs a garden though. My courtyard isn't enough.