Barking, Benadryl and Beer

I never thought I could do this, but we are going to find another home for Dundy.
He's so sweet and loving and playful and cute. . .and hyper and loud and energetic and out of control!!!
We have thought and prayed about this and believe me, it was a very difficult decision to come to, especially for his mommy :(

So we will soon be "interviewing" a man Josh's mom found for us who wants a male Weim. But in the meantime, and in this very moment in fact, Dundy barks and cries and whines almost constantly. We are in a different house now with a smaller back yard with a pool and with poison ivy that is not quite under control yet ( I know, it sounds scary.) So Dundy is confined to his crate in the laundry room, or a 15 ft. cord in the back yard. If you know anything at all about Weimeraners you know it is impossible for them to live in these conditions. They need their SPACE! They HAVE to run and gallop and explore.

Well, Dundy is at that age somewhere between toddler and adolescent so he's a "terrible two year old" one minute and a rebellious 14 year old the next minute! He chews everything in sight, and we're not talking about a cute little puppy gnawing on the corner of a box trying out his new little teeth. Nooo, this kid EATS boxes!
So we are constantly Dundy-proofing the area and when there is a break in the barking you can usually count on finding something ripped to shreds in the back yard. Today he somehow managed to get his cord tied in a huge knot with the garden hose. Yesterday he attacked my rose bush because it had a sheet covering it to protect it from the freeze last night. I cringed when I saw him bite into a thorny branch! Yeah, didn't faze him.

He deserves a better life than this. He just wants to be out and about with us, exploring and getting into things. I feel terrible about it. He doesn't understand why we have to confine him. We've tried everything to make him stop barking. When he was really little we mixed some vinegar and water in a spray bottle and squirted it in his mouth when he would bark for no reason. He learned quickly and eventually got to where he would immediately lay down when he saw us with the water bottle. We gradually fazed out the vinegar and the water alone seemed to work. Well, ever since we moved in our new house it hasn't been quite as effective. But we still squirt him...or squirt AT him. I know, it sounds so mean.

Since we have a much smaller back yard now we've started the habit of taking Dundy and Harley to a nearby soccer field right after dark to let them run out all their energy ( or for Dundy, about 20% of his.) Well last night it was in the 30's - waaay too cold for us Florida folk to be outside - so the boys didn't get their run in. Weimeraners get used to routine and don't like it when you break it. So our punishment was Dundy's non-stop high pitch pitiful bark/whine. Josh had to study for a test so this just would not do. We'd heard that you can give dogs Benadryl to calm them down and we'd tried it once before and it seemed to work for a couple of hours. Too bad it doesn't warn you on the box that it's virtually ineffective without a run in the soccer field first. He seemed even more hyper after I gave it to him! Then I read on the box that children and adults over the age of 12 can take two pills. After doing some quick math in my head I decided that Weim puppies were the exception to the whole "dog years/human years" formula because his level of energy and annoyance is well into middle school age now at only 8 months. After he got his second pill I read some more of the small print on the box...funny thing, I read this one part that says "may cause excitability in small children." I did some more math. I wanted to call that 800 number and say, "Define 'small'."

There was also a "100% Satisfaction Guaranteed" seal on the side of the box, but I couldn't figure out how to explain our "special situation" without the risk of getting reported.

I read on. "...alcohol, sedatives, and tranquilizers may increase drowsiness." Okay, Josh already said no to my idea to give him an Ambien... we're fresh out of tranquilizers... wait a minute! YES! There is one can of beer sitting in the back of the fridge left over from our football party last weekend!
It only took a few laps for him to realize he hated it. He backed up to the back of his crate and just stared at the bowl of "carbonated urine" as I like to call it. I thought about trying to explain to him that it's an "acquired taste", but I just went straight for the squirt bottle. Dumped out the water and carefully poured Miller's Best in its place. He didn't like it but he was cooperative enough.
I know! I'm such a bad mom!!! I only gave him about one third of it. Though if you are going to accuse me of abuse you are first required to come stay one night at our house and endure the torture.
We'll see how things go tonight.


Oh, and FYI...beer gives dogs the runs. More fun for me.