You and I are independent souls.
I move through the house;
You rest comfortably in contented sovereignty.
You do not need to dog my heels
to glorify each moment at my side
or expect me to worship at your feet.
You ignore me for hours,
sleeping in peaceful, self-sufficiency.
We are independent souls,
until the moment I step outside the door,
and calamity explodes in barks and whines.
It pants, scratches, and pees displeasure
at this, your desperate circumstance,
wailing at the injustice of loneliness,
vomiting up fathomless grief.
For the hours I am present, I do not exist;
for the hour I am absent, I make your world
a cavernous void.
Dog ironies
amid anxieties.
,
,
OJ is not doing well since Dusty went to the Rainbow Bridge. We’ve tried swaddling as per Thundershirt. We’ve got the Rescue Remedy. He’s in his safe, contained space. We fill the Kong with goodness. Still the dog thinks the world is ending when I walk out the door. Got any other suggestions? Except a new dog companion. Hubby imagines a dog-free household in our near future. (I’m allergic to cats, so that’s not an option either).
Shawn L. Bird 
Stuffed animal? Yeah, that may end up in pieces everywhere, but some kind of new toy to “be with” might help.
He’s traditionally been in instant gutter of soft toys, but perhaps I can make him something and see how he does now that he needs a baby to love. I have a sewing machine, fabric and stuffing, so I’m sure I could come up with something! 🙂
….Birds?Hamsters?Animal soft toys?
Or maybe just time.
He probably just needs you a lot right now.
Good luck.
Our poodles tend to be mousers. This has led to sad ends for hamsters. I’m allergic to birds (husband and children excepting). He definitely WANTS me right now, but I am going back to work, and he’s going to have to live with chilling by himself in 2-3 hours stints during the day without falling apart! It’s so aggravating.
Pet-sitter?
Anyone you know who has dogs?
Maybe you could arrange play-dates…may make him feel better.
Hope he’s okay soon.
I just feel like he needs to learn to deal with it, and while providing him with some tools to regulate himself is appropriate, completely enabling his behaviour is not. It is the same approach I take with my students, except I can’t include any of the logical appeals and self-analysis questioning strategies. 🙂 (Not that those work with thoroughly oppositional teens, either!)
Hahahahaha, true that.
Well,good luck.
Tell us how it goes. 🙂
When I looked after my friend’s nervous dog I used some essential oils in a vaporiser: Vetiver, Roman Chamomile and Lavender (I think) – he slept most of the morning. Check the on-line sites. But I’m not a dog person! 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions. Would need to find a vaporiser.
Small bowl or saucer on a radiator would do 🐕
Radiator?! I’ve never owned a house with a radiator.
What no radiator? Wood burning stove? Candle food warmer ? N n
lol Nope. Force air heat through vents (definitely not hot enough to simmer water). Fireplace is a fake electric thing.
Perhaps a crock pot?
Cotton wool ball – bury it in his blanket???
Do you mean a first aid kind of cotton ball, drenched in essential oil, or some kind of felted ball stuffed with dried herbs?
A first aid type cotton wool ball, you would only use three drops and don’t let him eat it! I just use one of those candle ones you get in craft shops, you would burn it for a wee while before you left but put the candle out before you go. But maybe not the best solution to your doggies problem 😳
Perhaps not the best solution, but quite an intriguing notion!
💡non alcoholic Bach Flower remedy “Rescue Remedy”…
Yes, I’m using that. So far no response.
Omg, could you be more right? I love this!
Thanks, Hollie.
sad 😦 our pets can display such feeling its heartbreaking, apart from lots of fuss and attention, not much one can suggest bless him 😦
It is bizarre. Today when I got home from my morning at work, he’s been whining and squawking at me non-stop.
OJ needs a distraction – remember, those that play together, stay together! 😉
I can’t play with him when I have to leave the house!
Love it. I sometimes wish Bert would sleep in peaceful self-sufficiency…but he would rather play games all day…
Well. OJ is 15 now. When he was younger, he enjoyed playing, too.
Check http://www.doterra.ca- for chamomile or vetiver.
Sometimes music helps, a bit of your perfume near the air vents to push your scent in the house like you are there. You can also record yourself talking and have it play on a radio or something. One of my friends is having an issue with her three year old dog getting super clingy when she tries to go to work so she is making a recording of her reading a book to put on a loop for him so he feels like she is still in the house.
I’ve tried the radio, he settled into the room, but by the time I was at the vehicle he was barking.
Such a pitiful bark in two parts, with a broken hearted whimper quavering at the end: BARK-barrr-k-k-k-k.
Aw, poor thing. Perhaps just time will help him adjust.
It’s about all that’s left, so I do to!