Monday, February 25, 2008

Beagle breakdown.

Beagle breakdown.

My poor, poor neighbors. Here is what they've been putting up with day in and day out, during the work week:

60-70 yelps a minute
60 minutes an hour
10+ hours a day

The fact that my fellow tenants haven't busted down my door and tried to strangle Betty is a testament to the deep well of their understanding. I'm getting worried though. The anti-anxiety drugs are having no effect. The training I've been doing doesn't seem to be making headway. Long hour-plus walks tire her out until the moment she hears the door latch lock at which time she snaps to attention and commences barking. I'm at the point where I am seriously considering a shock collar*, but I doubt even that would silence her, so I'm worried it would only end up really hurting her.

Today I'm calling the vet to request the heavy tranquilizers. And a friend who is also a dog-walker starts coming by for 30-minute walks with Betty tomorrow. If those two things don't solve the problem I really am at a loss and see my only options being a) moving out and finding an apartment that has no neighbors or b) finding Betty another home. Since I'm locked into a year lease though, and I honor my legal obligations, the more heartbreaking option of the two looks more likely.

The one thing I can't figure out? Why didn't this happen when I moved the two previous times?

UPDATE: O.K., I'm going to have to board Betty somewhere during the day for the next 3 to 6 weeks. The vet can not believe that she is still this bad, and the only solution is to pull her out of this barking cycle while waiting for the anti-anxiety drugs to kick in. She's also giving me a heavy tranquilizer to give Betty when I have to go DJ or cover a show at night, and she swears that will knock her right out.

If I had known any of this was going to happen, I would have never moved into a building that wasn't a stand-alone structure, where Betty wouldn't have bothered anyone.

And, obviously, I'm going to have to start booking a lot more shows, and finding a lot more DJ gigs to fund this. Betty already sucked out my monetary safety net over the last 2 weeks, so papa's gotta start bringing in some more dough!

*And I am long on record of being an animal lover, so I won't countenance any self-righteousness from anyone that hasn't dealt with this same problem. At this point I am willing to try ANYTHING so I don't need to part ways with Betty.

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