Here is Skye's new bedtime routine.
Around 9pm, we put a lick mat in the living room while calling "Skye. Bedtime.", and close the door of the living room. It's her cue to come inside. She comes in through the backdoor in our office and goes directly on her bed in the living room.
Then we go in the office to close the backdoor and deposit a few high value treats near it. When we are back in the living room, she then goes to check the backdoor and eat the treats. Sometimes, she even stops to eat some of her dinner during that time.
Eventually, she comes back in the living room and settles down with us, and we all spend a nice sleep-full night.
Here is a video montage. The main video shows the webcam in the living room. The one in the upper left corner shows the one outdoor. And the one in the upper right corner shows the webcam in the office.
It's not perfect but a huge progress. We are now able to get Skye on demand in the house at night (not sure if it would work during the day, we didn't try!).
If she barks during the night, we let her bark until she stops unless it's yowling cats. That gets her way too excited and we think it may have triggered her last setback. So if cats are making a ruckus, we all go outside, let her run and sniff the whole yard (the cats are always a few houses away never in our yard). And when she calms down, we all go back inside using the "bedtime" verbal cue.
That was all good and well until miss smarty pants figured out that barking and pacing gets us to open the backdoor and spend some time with her in the yard! The last 2 days, she has been barking just for that right after we closed the backdoor and she ate her yummy treats. LOL. She is keeping us sharp as we always have to be a step ahead!
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