Twenty four and a half years of marriage and I have no idea how to deal with this situation. I’m looking to you for advice.
To coax the dog back to health Gary began feeding him canned dog food. At some point he checked the tiny can of Premium dog food to see how much Mac should get a day, and we were only feeding him three cans instead of five. The same day he discovered this, the dog woke up and barked after midnight. Could have been a raccoon in the yard. Could have been a full moon.
Gary heard it as hunger and decided to feed him.
And as the night follows the day, the dog gets up in the middle of the night every night now and barks until Gary feeds him.
Gary blames the dog.
The two most obvious solutions are doomed. I can’t sleep in the other room because the dog really hates that, and he barks. I can’t use earplugs because it’s futile. Gary is right next to my head and when he begins really yelling at the dog AT THREE A.M. after the dog has barked for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES it wakes me up.
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In more cheerful news, I wore the cashmere socks today. Marcia’s take? “They feel like socks.”
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Even better, I volunteered to bring Cake Pie to the department Festivus celebration next week.
11 responses to “What Would You Do?”
Maybe start feeding the dog right before you go to bed in hopes he will be too full to bark later. Then slowly feed him earlier and earlier until he is convinced feeding time is during normal hours.We feed our cats a spoonful of canned food just as we get ready to sit down for dinner. They know it too and will meow incessantly (well, Zoe does, Simba just waits while she works) if we’re late with dinner.
Maybe feed him with food he doesn’t like so eventually he stops asking? I’m only suggesting this because I know he’s not a Labrador, like ours – because then you would be truly screwed.
But really? What you need is a husband whisperer.
Go back in time and get a cat instead.
What does the dog whisperer say, “be the pack leader” . . I say research obediance strategies and get on it. The more he barks the more he learns this is what is going to take to get your attention. Best to be proactive to curb the barking. Be in charge of it!! Don’t be a victim!!Or get an automatic feeding that pops open at a certain time.good luck :)and no, it wasn’t the dog’s fault. It was Garys 😉
Well, dogs are highly intelligent creatures and he already has Gary trained.
I think the feeding right before you go to bed or the auto feeder are great ideas but by now it’s probably not the food, it’s the attention.
In other words, you’re screwed.
Sorry.
Shove Gary off the bed as soon as he starts yelling at the dog. We know he’s trainable, maybe that will show him to STFU since he was the one that started this whole mess. If the shoving is too much work you could also try a spray bottle. 🙂
We will require a photo of said cake pie, and perhaps a photo essay of its construction.
And many descriptions of its lusciousness.
Re: Gary and the Spray Bottle: couldn’t agree more!
Keep a can handy and dump it on Gary’s head when the dog barks. It won’t help anything, but it will make you laugh.
Rayleen – as it turns out, this is exactly what Gary did last night and it worked. No midnight barking. Big Dot – All food at some point has been or will become food Mac doesn’t like..75 – at first I was sure you were going to say “go back in time and marry a woman instead.”Mrs Hall – I blame the dog. I think it’s because we didn’t raise the dog with good values.Surprising Woman – no, because shortly thereafter Id be back in the guest bed. I like Gary!Magpie – You are right, it will be constructed, in fact I might try a test cake this weekend.Becs – I like positive reinforcement more. I will feed him test cake pie every tiem the dog sleeps all night. Tonight will be a test, because again he’s left out the food right before bed, and this time the dog is shunning it.Caroline – I often want to laugh when Gary is angry.
Darling, I’m so glad you two never had kids.
Now if mac doesn’t eat his food Gary puts a second plate of food next to the first in eaten plate.