The beginning of something new?

I should absolutely be posting about Romania, but first I have to post about this weekend. It has been great! Summer seems to have finally decided to show up in Switzerland, BK is back home after about three weeks away, and the pups seem to have finally accepted that this is their home now.

As I've mentioned before, I realize that I post a lot about the dogs. I see this being reduced now that they aren't howling at the top of their lungs when I leave the apartment and barking at every little sound. While BK was away for two weeks I became the Swiss version of the Dog Whisperer. In addition to working with the trainer, I delved into two of Caesar Millan's books to help me get some perspective on what I needed to do to really fix this problem. The answer is exercise, discipline and affection.

BK and I thought they were getting enough exercise because we were walking them way more than in the US. Not so much. We're now really in a routine that seems to be working, and the first part of that is walking their little behinds off. Right now we're walking about three hours a day- an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch and an hour in the evening. They are typically so exhausted at the end of the day, they don't really care what we do. They also only get food after walks. Once they have walked and are full, supposedly their brain tells them that now it's time to rest, and I believe it. We've also changed how we give affection/attention. For one thing, it now happens on our terms, when we want it. And they pretty much get no attention (talking to them or touching them) until after they have had their morning walk and breakfast.

Toby enjoying a dip

BK brought the final thing we needed back from the US- the Sonic Egg.  It is a small device shaped like an egg that emits a high pitched noise only the dogs can hear, and don't like.  As soon as we set it up, Tanner got through about half of a bark, and then the egg shut him up. He wants nothing to do with that thing. It's also reassuring to know that when we're gone they won't hear something and just go on a barking rampage.

BK sometimes jokingly asks if certain things are allowed in my "regime," and my sisters refer to me as Caesar in their texts, but hey, if it works and I can have a life outside of our apartment, we're keeping it up.

I say all this to lead into the fact that we had a great morning on Saturday when we took the dogs to a park with a stream running through it. We successfully walked them without their leashes, they played well with all the other dogs there, Toby got in the water, and we walked up and down the stream throwing a squeaky ball for them- letting them get even more energy out. We were able to sit on an outdoor terrace and have lunch with the dogs waiting patiently, then come home and relax for a bit. We took them on another hour long walk in the evening, but then BK and I were able to go out to dinner for three hours, and the dogs didn't make a peep!  Woo hoo!

First night out!

This may seem insignificant, and when we look back on our time in Switzerland we'll realize what a short amount of time it took to settle the boys in the grand scheme of things. But for me, this has been a long journey, and quite a bit of it with BK traveling and not available to help. I'm excited and it feels like we can finally move on with our lives and start to live normally. It's been a great weekend and I'm now looking forward to more just like this!