Weimaraners have lots of energy. Anika is no exception. She has energy to burn. She wakes up at first light and is on the go all day. Usually she's zooming around the yard. Sometimes the excessive energy manifests itself in barking.
When we first got Anika, she barked at EVERYTHING. The worst was the middle of the night barking when she would hear my husband wandering around the house. Or when he would open the bedroom door to come to bed. I do appreciate her desire to warn me of unwanted intruders and protect me, but I'm glad she's not barking at Jack coming to bed. She does, however, vigilantly hop off the bed and greet him at the bedroom door, just to make sure he should be there.
I don't even mind her running along the fence and barking at people walking their dogs by. After all, many dogs do that. I do, however, discourage that behavior when I am outside with her.
The barking that has me barking mad is the excited barking she does in the car, behind me, in my ear, when we pull in the driveway, the dog park, off the freeway to anyplace. It's the slowing down and getting ready to park in anticipation of some fun activity that sets her off--even if it's at the veterinary clinic.
She can sit quietly for maybe 20 minutes in the car and then she's chewing on a chew toy, rolling on her back, hurling herself around the back seat. I keep her in a harness restraint, so she can move around, but can't get too far. But soon she's whining and then she's barking. We want to take both dogs to the beach, but when we tried a couple of weeks ago, it ended in both dogs barking after about 20 minutes. Coincidentally, we were close to a hiking trail we've been on with them. Hmmm.....
I've decided to try a Thundershirt for the car travel. I will report back.
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