A new job for Buck

I recently met a wonderful dog named Buck who had started exhibiting some odd behaviors. He wasn't sleeping at night, he seemed anxious all the time, he was barking at every little sound, pacing around the house, etc. His family was really worried about him and asked me to come and have a "talk" with him.

The day before the appointment, I asked Buck's guardian if she could let him know that I was coming and explain why, as I have always found that animals are more receptive to talking to me if a) they know in advance and b) they know their guardians are ok with it. That night, she sent me the most precious picture. It was a photo of her three children all sitting on the floor with Buck and she said they were all telling him that it was ok to talk to me. :-)

When I met Buck, one of the first things I realized was that he felt it was his responsibility to protect the family. Through what I was hearing from Buck and as well as the conversation I was having with his mom, I learned that his dad had recently been working on a very important project for work and it was keeping him up late at night. Since his dad was "busy," Buck felt it was even more important for him to be taking care of the family, which explained why some of these behaviors became worse at night.

Ultimately, one of the solutions we came up with was to give Buck another job (since we didn't think his dad's company would understand if he said he couldn't finish the project because it was disrupting his dog's routine). :-) We assured him that his dad could still be responsible for protecting the family, even when he was busy working on the computer and we asked Buck if he could focus on being there for the kids, to be their buddy. We told him that kids really need someone to listen to them and someone to hear about their day at school, etc. We told him how important this job was and that it would really help the kids a lot.

That night, when the kids were home from school, their mom told them about Buck's new job and encouraged them to talk to Buck when they got home from school, or any time that they had something to share. They were all excited about the idea and said they would be more than happy to help Buck fulfill his new job.

Only a few days later, I got the most wonderful update from Buck's mom. She said that almost all the behaviors they had been concerned about had greatly subsided. The kids were all enjoying their conversations with Buck, Buck was sleeping better at night and able to go to sleep when mom did, even if dad was still up working on the computer. He was not barking at every little sound and he even allowed himself to relax on the floor during "story time" and enjoy being one of the kids.

For him to have made this big of a transformation so quickly was beyond exciting, in my opinion. It made me so happy to know that giving him a new job made such a difference for him. Fortunately for Buck, he has a very wonderful family that is committed to making sure he is a very happy member of their family. I suspect they will all continue to thrive with Buck's new job.