Cubbe is in the basement barking at the wall. If we call her upstairs
and close the basement door, she'd be in the sewing room with her paws
on the window sill and her head stretched up to bark at the overhang of
the roof. When we close the door to the sewing room, she wags her tail
in front of the sewing room in, I think, and indication that she'd like
to go in and bark at the roof some more. There's a spot behind the CD
player that's getting a lot of wagging too. It's fall, and Cubbe is
alert to critters seeking warmer quarters.


We have no reason to believe the critters are in the house. We found
cracked kernels and scat between the window and the storm in the sewing
room. We vacuumed that out and closed the storm window. No new kernels
or scat have appeared so we think that warm spot for eating is now
closed. We think they may be close to the house but outside it. More
investigation is needed in that area to be sure.


Nor do we think Cubbe is doing any damage. There's the problem with her
nails on the wood window sill, but the rest of the window sills are
scratched, why not the sewing room windows as well. Other than that, I
wouldn't say she was hurting anything.


My question is whether Cubbe's behavior is one that should be stopped.
It looks obsessive. I know I wouldn't like feeling compelled to bark at
one spot all day, but is Cubbe enjoying it? At first she seemed excited
to have made her discovery at the bottom of the basement, so excited
that when we came home, she raced up the stairs to greet us, then quick
turned to go back down the stairs. She did that a few times. Is there
harm in allowing her to go on like this? I don't think we'll get
anywhere training her not to respond to critters, not unless we're
actively engaging her in doing something else (she'll stop to chase a
ball for a biscuit) or locking her in rooms where she's not aware of
critters.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote in news:
:

Is there
harm in allowing her to go on like this?

I don't know whether there is or not, but I have a bit of experience with
Queenie -- in her case, it's deer outside that cause her to go a little
crazy, and she will not rest until they are gone -- but the deer in our
neighborhood are so tame that they aren't usually in any hurry. One day a
deer stayed outside my neighbor's house all day, and Queenie ran around
inside and outside, very excited, panting, barking, etc., and by the end
of the day she was sick with diarrhea. When that happened, I realized
that I should have kept her in a room where she couldn't see the deer, or
chased the deer away (which I did another time, later on). Now I don't
let her stay too excited for too long. But she's a dog that can't really
self-regulate -- she gets wound up and stays wound up and needs help in
calming down, and all of this may not apply to Cubbe.

--
Catherine
& Zoe, Queenie, & Max, 3 black dogs of varying sizes
& Rosalie the calico cat
www.ourladyofperfection.blogspot.com

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..

My question is whether Cubbe's behavior is one that should be stopped. It
looks obsessive. I know I wouldn't like feeling compelled to bark at one
spot all day, but is Cubbe enjoying it? At first she seemed excited to
have made her discovery at the bottom of the basement, so excited that
when we came home, she raced up the stairs to greet us, then quick turned
to go back down the stairs. She did that a few times. Is there harm in
allowing her to go on like this? I don't think we'll get anywhere
training her not to respond to critters, not unless we're actively
engaging her in doing something else (she'll stop to chase a ball for a
biscuit) or locking her in rooms where she's not aware of critters.


How long has this been going on?

On 2007-11-19 06:58:35 -0800, Julia Altshuler said:

Cubbe is in the basement barking at the wall. If we call her upstairs
and close the basement door, she'd be in the sewing room with her paws
on the window sill and her head stretched up to bark at the overhang of
the roof. When we close the door to the sewing room, she wags her tail
in front of the sewing room in, I think, and indication that she'd like
to go in and bark at the roof some more. There's a spot behind the CD
player that's getting a lot of wagging too. It's fall, and Cubbe is
alert to critters seeking warmer quarters.


We have no reason to believe the critters are in the house. We found
cracked kernels and scat between the window and the storm in the sewing
room. We vacuumed that out and closed the storm window. No new
kernels or scat have appeared so we think that warm spot for eating is
now closed. We think they may be close to the house but outside it.
More investigation is needed in that area to be sure.


Nor do we think Cubbe is doing any damage. There's the problem with
her nails on the wood window sill, but the rest of the window sills are
scratched, why not the sewing room windows as well. Other than that, I
wouldn't say she was hurting anything.


My question is whether Cubbe's behavior is one that should be stopped.
It looks obsessive. I know I wouldn't like feeling compelled to bark
at one spot all day, but is Cubbe enjoying it? At first she seemed
excited to have made her discovery at the bottom of the basement, so
excited that when we came home, she raced up the stairs to greet us,
then quick turned to go back down the stairs. She did that a few
times. Is there harm in allowing her to go on like this? I don't
think we'll get anywhere training her not to respond to critters, not
unless we're actively engaging her in doing something else (she'll stop
to chase a ball for a biscuit) or locking her in rooms where she's not
aware of critters.


--Lia

Sticking my neck out on an educated guess, I would say you might have
squirrels living under the eaves of the house. You might want to have a
pest control person take a look at it. Squirrels are very destructive.
They are essentially rats with cute tails.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
Cubbe is in the basement barking at the wall. If we call her upstairs and
close the basement door, she'd be in the sewing room with her paws on the
window sill and her head stretched up to bark at the overhang of the roof.
When we close the door to the sewing room, she wags her tail in front of
the sewing room in, I think, and indication that she'd like to go in and
bark at the roof some more. There's a spot behind the CD player that's
getting a lot of wagging too. It's fall, and Cubbe is alert to critters
seeking warmer quarters.


We have no reason to believe the critters are in the house. We found
cracked kernels and scat between the window and the storm in the sewing
room. We vacuumed that out and closed the storm window. No new kernels
or scat have appeared so we think that warm spot for eating is now closed.
We think they may be close to the house but outside it. More
investigation is needed in that area to be sure.


Nor do we think Cubbe is doing any damage. There's the problem with her
nails on the wood window sill, but the rest of the window sills are
scratched, why not the sewing room windows as well. Other than that, I
wouldn't say she was hurting anything.


My question is whether Cubbe's behavior is one that should be stopped. It
looks obsessive. I know I wouldn't like feeling compelled to bark at one
spot all day, but is Cubbe enjoying it? At first she seemed excited to
have made her discovery at the bottom of the basement, so excited that
when we came home, she raced up the stairs to greet us, then quick turned
to go back down the stairs. She did that a few times. Is there harm in
allowing her to go on like this? I don't think we'll get anywhere
training her not to respond to critters, not unless we're actively
engaging her in doing something else (she'll stop to chase a ball for a
biscuit) or locking her in rooms where she's not aware of critters.
--Lia


I find that when my dogs do this there is always a mouse. Set a mouse trap
or two with peanut butter, you might be surprised what your dog has found.
Cj

BethInAK wrote:

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..

My question is whether Cubbe's behavior is one that should be stopped.
It looks obsessive. I know I wouldn't like feeling compelled to bark
at one spot all day, but is Cubbe enjoying it? At first she seemed
excited to have made her discovery at the bottom of the basement, so
excited that when we came home, she raced up the stairs to greet us,
then quick turned to go back down the stairs. She did that a few
times. Is there harm in allowing her to go on like this? I don't
think we'll get anywhere training her not to respond to critters, not
unless we're actively engaging her in doing something else (she'll
stop to chase a ball for a biscuit) or locking her in rooms where
she's not aware of critters.



How long has this been going on?


Only the past few days when it got colder here.


She calms down easily enough when we remove her from the problem areas.
She slept last night under the futon in the computer room as usual.
Last night she identified a new area: behind the bookshelf in the
living room. This overlooks the porch. We've examined the porch and
see nothing.


We'll go with the trap idea. It can't hurt (glue trap) and might help.


I'm taking Catherine's experience with Queenie to heart and making sure
Cubbe doesn't remain in a state of frenzied excitement.


The conclusion at this point is the dog is not crazy. It's become a
mantra around here. If she's trying to tell us something, it's because
she's trying to tell us something. We'll take the critter problem more
seriously than any potential dog problem. It's a bother getting any
quilting done while being careful about keeping the door to the sewing
room closed, but I'll manage.


--Lia

In article ,
Julia Altshuler wrote:


We'll go with the trap idea. It can't hurt (glue trap) and might help.


Glue traps are inhumane. Either get a release trap or a snap trap.
Death should be fast, not starving to death on a glue trap, ripping
teeny feeties off, or having you have to figure out how to actually kill
the little guy when he's alive, stuck on the trap, and looking at your
with little mousie eyes.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Janet Boss wrote:

Glue traps are inhumane. Either get a release trap or a snap trap.
Death should be fast, not starving to death on a glue trap, ripping
teeny feeties off, or having you have to figure out how to actually kill
the little guy when he's alive, stuck on the trap, and looking at your
with little mousie eyes.


I hear what you're saying and considered that before writing. I do
appreciate your writing. My rationale for using glue traps is that
there's no danger to any larger animal that might get stuck. Cubbe
won't get her paw or nose snapped on. The neighbor's cat who prowls
outside is in no danger to his paws. With a glue trap, I can check them
often and deliver quick death to anything that gets caught.


For others-- Will you weigh in on the relative humaneness of glue traps
versus snap? My mind can be changed on this.


--Lia

In article ,
Julia Altshuler wrote:

My rationale for using glue traps is that
there's no danger to any larger animal that might get stuck. Cubbe
won't get her paw or nose snapped on. The neighbor's cat who prowls
outside is in no danger to his paws. With a glue trap, I can check them
often and deliver quick death to anything that gets caught.

I am not very good at setting traditional snap traps, but found some
that are really safe around pets. They are a black box and the snap is
inside. There is a small lever on the outside which makes it easy to
set, and once it's snapped, the mouse is enclosed - you can flip the
lever to release him in the trash (or toilet if you're into burial at
sea). No blood splatter, no danger to pets, and a quick rinse and
they're ready to use again. I'll see if I can find a link.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
Janet Boss wrote:

I'll see if I can find a link.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1279062

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com