Bertie blues

Who'd have a puppy? The last few weeks have definitely been more stressful than not where Bertie is concerned. He is a dog that likes to wander, and despite trying to be super vigilant at all times, you turn your back for a second and he's gone. Up until now that probably means he'd have popped round to the neighbours, but over the past week or so, he's been missing for up to a couple of hours - not great for anyone's stress levels or sense of humour. Add to this a muddy corner that's developed in the bottom of the garden that he keeps diving into then roaring back into the house, a tendency to take off when we are walking if he sees another dog / person / animal - it's all got a bit much. This has led to lots of shouting at him, which in turn has made him anxious, which has resulted in him going back to having accidents in the house. Give me strength.

Over a long discussion with Mum (still always there to share a problem with, that will never change) we debated how you deal with this. The dog whisperers out there would say "always great your dog on its return with a happy voice" - let me tell you, if said dog has been missing for 2 hours, I for one struggle to do anything but yell at him. I'm also not sure what message you are giving if he disappears and you praise him on his return?!? Glenn has adopted a more direct approach of (a) disclaiming all responsibility for him and (b) threatening to get rid of him if he carries on this way.

So, all of this has resulted in very tearful children and a tense house. Just what I need when work is not exactly a walk in the park at the moment. The girls expressed their views on big white boards yesterday, with Abi's reading "I would giving up riding and sleep outside to be with you Bertie, I love you xxxx" and Izzy's simply saying "I love you Boo, don't go". Both also pointed out that Scooby would be lost without his bestest friend - who would he roar around the garden and cuddle up with? Who would he have to blame when things go wrong?

Of course we don't want to get rid of him, but we do need him to behave better. So, what to do? Obviously plan A is to throw money at the problem. These days there is a website for everything and after a bit of research Glenn has found a company that sells and installs invisible electrical dog boundaries. Basically he wears a collar, if he gets within 5 feet of the boundary it beeps at him, closer and it zaps him. Glenn spoke to the company and they reassured us they have 'a number of Boxers' on their client list, and the testimonials certainly seem to show many happy owners of escape artist dogs. Add to that some cordoning off of the muddy corner and a new harness with lights so he pulls less and I can see him in the dark if he legs it, and hopefully we are onto a new era of a less shouty household, fewer tears and back to peace and stability. Watch this space.