Neurotic Canines

[digitS']

What's the cause?

There are bird and mammal ultrasonic devices. If I put one in the backyard as an attempt to lower the English sparrow damage from their 2018 population explosion and keep the Eastern Grey squirrel now living in the borderline tree in the neighbor's yard and not digging holes and turning over pots in mine - would I drive Garbanzo the Dog further from sanity than she already is?

Visitors are treated by a tiny dog that licks the air 360 degrees around them. This may go on for a good 5 minutes before Garbanzo will park herself across the room ... and continue licking in the visitor's direction for another 15!

A maple leaf blowing across the lawn will spook Garbanzo. It's okay but I wonder about glittering tape to scare the birds.

(An acquaintance recently commented that her dog has been known to panic after releasing gas - barking at the doors and windows .)

Did you know that WebMD has pet care advice? Just looking for answers and learned that but I thought about how we have very dog-knowledgeable gardeners here. I know there are dogwhistles, what do these ultrasonic devices do to dogs?

Steve

 

[GypsyG]

Garbanzo? What an awesome name! Do you have any pics?

Sorry, I don't have an answer to the question about ultrasonic devices.

 

[digitS']

This work?

Steve

 

[GypsyG]

This work?

Steve

Awwww!

 

[canesisters]

I was just wondering along the same lines...
Canine senility, in the case of mine.

Can't say about the ultrasonic device.. but one of mine used to insist on licking everyone all the time.. hands, faces, arms, legs, shoes, chair legs, floor next to feet, back of chair, side of car..... Annoying to say the least. Pushing him off and/or scolding just made him sit a little way off and lick the air. . somehow even more annoying.
I finally started handing every guest one of those little twisted rawhide sticks. Family, friend, UPS guy, propane guy... anyone who would come within petting distance got a stick to hand to him. It took a while but he eventually seemed to have forgotten that he wanted to lick everyone and decided that everyone was supposed to give him a chew. After a while the chews stopped and the licking never started back up.

Is that Garbanzo??? Somehow I thought he was brown..?

 

[digitS']

She is quite grey now but she was always a little grey, even as a puppy.

Yes, the name would make more sense if she was more the color of the chickpea.

Very animated, she is 7# so it's understandable that she is flighty. Bonzo for short ...

That's a good idea about the chew toy ...

Steve

 

[Nyboy]

Steve she is cute !!!! I always thought she was white Maltese. Dont waste your money on ultra sounds I never found one that works. Yes very common for older dogs to get dementia . Dogs that have obsessive licking are said to have been weened to soon but who knows what really goes on in their heads

 

[Ridgerunner]

Taste is one sense they use to tell them about the world around them, licking tells them a lot about some things. I wonder if excess licking is making up for bad eyesight or hearing?

 

[flowerbug]

Taste is one sense they use to tell them about the world around them, licking tells them a lot about some things. I wonder if excess licking is making up for bad eyesight or hearing?

or just a nervous habit (like people who lick their lips a lot or bite their fingernails, etc.)...

 

[digitS']

She has keen hearing, @Ridgerunner .

With so much hair on her face, she spends a lot of time grooming herself against upholstered chair legs and carpets. If she's not just back from professional grooming, her vision must be half obscured, 90% of her time.

Garbanzo was reported to be from a big litter of mostly males. It could have been that she had a hard time getting to mom to nurse, @Nyboy . She seemed to have immediate fixation on humans as a puppy.

The Maltese was Waffles, an old, blind dog DD had for only a couple of years before he went into heart failure. It turned out to be a good rescue story. Nice, little dog ...

Steve