This was written by Bishops Person:
I asked Laura to find out why Bishop shakes sometimes when I leave the house… his response:
“Cause I don’t know how long she is going to be gone and I get sad and nervous she is not going to come home. Why doesn’t she take me with her? My food costs money? Does mom want a new purse?”
A new purse??? how funny is that?
Bishop is a rescue dog, adopted from a kennel where he and his brother had been. But he had been in kennels for six months, at least. I asked Laura to ask him if he wanted to tell me anything. This is what he had to say:
“I like to think about treats and how to get them. so I like games like that. The other idea I like is the beach idea. I want to be able to do that. I will try harder. Does my mom know that I am grateful for her? Tell her I love you. Tell her that she is my best friend and she is not even a dog. I used to have a small dog best friend and now I have mom.”
Maybe Bishop’s person could get in the habit of telling him that she’s leaving the house for a little while because there are things she needs to do, but she’ll be back in (an hour or whatever is true for that outing), that she loves him very much, that he is safe at home while she’s away and maybe that he could do her a favor by watching over the house for her until she gets back.
Once you realize that animals understand – if not our words, they understand our feelings and intentions – and once you get over the initial strangeness of talking to your dog as if he understood, it’s a pretty simple remedy.
hi. i am grateful for your kind words. i have done that with bishop, as i have done with all my other dogs. i give them a job to do when i leave the house. “watch the house, don’t let any bad guys in!” he has gotten much better, he seems to be more at ease in the house and with the knowledge that this is his home now and i will return.