Bentley's self-help tapes

Our sweet dog Bentley has been suffering from separation anxiety over the past few months and we didn't realize it until both sets of neighbors (either side of us) complained about his constant barking while we are away. Poor Bents! We were advised to talk to the vet and see what solutions they could prescribe, but Rhodri came up with an even better idea.

I came into the house one afternoon when Rhodri and the kids were out and only Bentley was left at home, and there he was listening to a recording on endless repeat of Rhodri talking in a soothing voice..."Alright then, Bents, what's going on....[5 sec pause]... Bentley, lay down on your bed ... [5 sec pause]... Good boy, Bentley.... [10 sec pause]... It's okay Bents, that's a good boy, thaaaat's it. Good boy..."
And now he is cured! No more barking while we are away! He just listens to the same 47 seconds of Rhodri talking and lays on his bed. He will probably start having nightmares or some other affliction, but I guess we'll deal with that when the time comes.

Anyway, to celebrate his newfound calmness, we treated him to a grooming session at our neighbor's new dog grooming salon. Apparently it took her about 5 hours to deal with the dreadlocks and toe hair, but he came back to us a well-trimmed, shiny and clean-smelling dog. Hard to believe that he is 8 years old already - he still has such a puppy face and a lot of energy to chase squirrels in the forest! And he doesn't have any way of knowing that his beloved foster family is coming all the way from Norway next weekend just to visit him for the weekend! We are so looking forward to that next Saturday...