One dog or two dogs?

[Papillon Kisses]

One thing our vet behaviourist recommends is to whisper "good boy" when your dog is relaxing. It has to be a very soft whisper – so soft that you get zero reaction from them. Remember their hearing is a lot more sensitive than ours, so even if you can barely hear yourself they still will.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Papillon Kisses

[Tassie]

24 minutes ago, Papillon Kisses said:

One thing our vet behaviourist recommends is to whisper "good boy" when your dog is relaxing. It has to be a very soft whisper – so soft that you get zero reaction from them. Remember their hearing is a lot more sensitive than ours, so even if you can barely hear yourself they still will.

Yes!   And speaking  slowly and calmly, so that your tone doesn't get him excited.

 

He's lovely, and is doing really well .. but if he were mine, I'd definitely be looking at getting him a larger, more sturdy x pen, so that he can have room to move around as he learns to be alone for longer periods.   That will give more room for things like toys,  a stuffed Kong, a food puzzle toy, a snuffle mat  ... that sort of thing.

 

Have to say I'm not a huge fan of dog day care, unless it's fairly carefully structured and managed by people who know what they're doing.  Apart from a risk of injury through over exuberant play, too much free association especially doing zoomies, can hype a dog, especially a BC, up way too much .. which would go against the work you're doing with place/chill/calm.