What a good girl!

[2blondebabes]

We took Riley to a hotel for the weekend with our family. It was in town so not far from home. The kids were very excited about having her with us. The hotel was pet friendly and they put us on the 1st floor by the outside door. She never barked, whined or carried on at all. She was happy to be with us and thought the whole experience was great! She pranced down the halls and the guests just loved her! I was worried she would bark while we left her to go swimming, but I kept going and listening through the door and not a peep. I did buy a citronella collar a couple of days before so that helped. The weekend confirmed my knowledge that she is a very adaptable dog and although sometimes shy, she does fine outside her comfort zone. I would love to get her certified at a therapy dog so I think this was a great experience for her! She is sooooo sweet. cheerleade

[Karen and Katie]

Hi,
Its good to hear that she did so well in the hotel. I am in Florida now on vacation and had to leave Katie home. We are making arrangements for a condo down here so that we can bring her with us next year. I was a little worried about the hotel stays on the way down and back. Its good to hear that there is hope for a good trip next year!

Karen

[sabydoo]

rileysmom,

Why a citronella collar?

[2blondebabes]

She was getting in the bad habit of annoyance barking. We tried other methods such as bitter spray, saying quiet and treating, etc. The bitter apple worked if we could spray it quick enough but many times we didn't have it in hand. The vet recommended a citronella collar. I has a little microphone that activates the citronella to spray her on the muzzle when she barks. I had it on her for only about 3-4 days and she has not had to wear it since. She is very smart and normally a quick learner and since I knew she didn't like the bitter apple spray I thought this would work well. I didn't want to discourage all barking so I put in on her at times when she was more apt to bark like meals, morning and evening potty breaks and I kept it off her the rest of the time. She is very vocal and likes to "talk" to me and I love that so I encouraged her to do that when the collar is off. Now it is perfect, she still talks to me but doesn't bark when she hears every little noise or wants dinner, etc. :dogbark

[kinseysmom]

Can I borrow that citronella collar??? The Finn-man needs it. He has an annoying bark, especially when tall guys (all right - tall good looking guys!) come in to the back yard. Hmmmmm. ;)

[2blondebabes]

If Finney is trying to tell you that there are tall good looking guys in your yard, why do you want him to quit barking. Seems to me you would want to encourage the barking so you have time to open a bottle of wine, put some lipstick on and get into something a little more comfortable! :laugh2 :laugh2