Thanks for all of the comments (at least most of them ). I must say, she's a neurotic little thing and I agree that there's probably a fear factor there, but when she's sitting by my wife as opposed to sitting next to me, barking increases at least 5x...so I think there is a protective factor that plays into it. One of the other dogs at the office is one of those little toy fox terriers, and her owner used one of those Citronella spray collars and it seemed to help. I think we're going to go that route first. Heypartner - yeah, my wife's doing okay. It's obviously been difficult on both of us as we tried for about four years to have a baby, but we hope that we have better luck getting pregnant in the future. From what we understand, sometimes a pregnancy does a lot to regulate the body and it "learns" how to do all of that better. It's one of those times where it's really beneficial that she CAN take the dog to the office - it's good for her to be with someone (or something), and dogs are such a tremendous comfort (except when they bark like hell all the time). What can I say, man? Seattle...we're liberal. It weirded me out actually, when we moved here a few years ago and I saw that they allow dogs...but it's a really dog-friendly cultural climate here. I've talked to several business owners (as well as professors at the UW Business School, where I finished my degree), and there's a lot of data out there that suggests that pet-friendly offices tend to have much higher efficiency and far fewer sick days from their employees). Weird stuff.
you own a dachshund... what did you expect? my dachshund is probably the most annoying barker in the world. still love her though.
If it happens more with your wife it could be that she's sending less dominant signals in her routine or the way she carries herself and the dog feels it has to protect her. If she projects dominant pack member it might help as well.
The Dachsund breed was created to chase Badgers into their holes and kill them. Not sure it helps with the topic, but it is a pretty cool factoid. DD
a little dog at a place i used to work used to be calmed when he was in one of those kids playpens with a familiar blanket and toy. When he was out -- he was nervous and yappy. Protecting his 'space' or whatever. Your dog may be too trapped in the kennel under the desk -- and not protected enough when he's out.
Huge difference between fighting another dog (of any size) and standing up to a man. I've seen dozens of dogs that are harder than any dog most people will ever see (hog catching dogs) tuck tail and run when someone raises their voice to them.
Seriously. I would go apeschit if there were a dog around my office barking. Completely unacceptable. I can't stand seeing them in hotels, either. Dog owners think their little prescious mutts are going to be liked by everybody -- they aren't. Sorry.
I have to agree. My dachshund is pretty well socialized with both dogs and people but still bark at anything and everything even moving air sometimes. It's not because he's disobedient just its in the breeds nature after I talked with many people who have dachshunds.
I don't know about that. Once on a trip my standard Dachshund found prairie dog holes on the grounds of a rest stop. She had never seen anything like that before, and went crazy. It was like she finally understood what her purpose was, and started digging and going into holes as much as possible. She didn't seem to have lost any of her working abilities. I realize that most dachshunds out there these days are miniatures, and mine is a standard dachshund, so maybe that has something to do with it. But she would have spent all day doing that, if I'd let her.
That's actually really funny - ours is a mini and normally doesn't cause much trouble in the digging department, but every time we take her to the beach we have to watch her because she will just constantly dig. Like you said, it's like they suddenly remember their purpose.
That stuff is funny to watch. It's like if a human was supposed to be the greatest locksmith in the world but had never seen a lock, then all of a sudden someone gave him the tools, and showed him a lock, and he was instantly able to open it with ease despite having never been trained.
