brick the corgi

Brick assumes two things when I bring home flowers:

1. That they are for him

anyone else have a hard time living in an apartment peacefully with their corg, or have any reactivity issues with their city living corg? i'm going to vent for a minute.

when I got Brick as a puppy, we lived on Bainbridge Island - a ferry ride from Seattle. we loved living there, Brick got to run around and play as much as he needed to, but the commute (ferry in to downtown) was too much for both Brick's dad and I to deal with every day, plus we wanted to give living in/nearer to the city a try. at this point, Brick was cautious around strange dogs, would sometimes bark at them, but was not reactive. however, he was INSANELY HYPER as a pup (as corgi puppies typically are), and we thought we could use a professional hand training him. his first birthday approached, and we had a long vacation coming up along with the end of our lease and a pending move into Seattle. we were also in the full swing of wedding planning, so it seemed like an ideal time for him to go to a 5 week board and train program that we had heard good things about. not cheap, but I was very willing to invest in more substantial training for Brick, especially since we were moving into a huge apartment complex.

we got to visit Brick every week during his training. he seemed sort of nervous, but his progress there was amazing. in addition to the house rules (long down/stays, keep off, go to your rug, quiet, in depth leash work, etc) he was learning, I asked his trainer to try to expose him to other dogs to try to get him out of the habit of barking when he saw them (a problem that had increased slowly as he'd gotten older). the trainer said he had absolutely no issues with reactivity to other dogs. i was surprised, but didn't think much of it. 

when we got Brick back from his board and train, we immediately noticed he was MORE reactive to other dogs. I'm not sure what happened while he was there, but there was obviously some fear there. then we starting having problems with rogue off-leash dogs approaching Brick while we were outside taking him to the bathroom, sometimes cornering us in the stairwell - Brick would bark and bare his teeth, the other dog would be in his face, and I'd try to pull Brick away, it was a mess. this happened enough times for me to become very anxious about taking Brick outside because I was fearful that maybe this would be the day another dog actually bit Brick, or me, or Brick would bite another dog. I complained to the apartment management, but there wasn't much they could do - this was an issue with more than one owner, and in such a large complex with so many dogs, the rules were hard to enforce. we finally decided to move to a different apartment.

we moved into un upper unit apartment in a small (5 unit) building in one of my favorite neighborhoods in Seattle. the apartment is adorable, it's got vintage details and hardwood floors, it's close to work and downtown, the area is great to walk around, unlike our last place. there are other dogs living in the building, so when we moved in, we let our neighbors know that our dog is fearful and reactive to other dogs, but he wouldn't be hanging out in the shared yard space, just there to do his business.

everything was ok until our downstairs neighbor started banging on the ceiling when Brick would get momentarily excited and do a ten second frap - as corgis do! and this was during non-quiet hours. I understand how loud a corgi running on stumpy little legs can be, and I don't allow Brick to do it in the apartment if at all possible. but he's still just a dog...who will get excited from time to time...who is crated during the day. and at night. these people don't hear a peep not only during quiet hours, but also while we're at work - Brick wears a bark collar in his crate. they probably get 17 hours a day without hearing him walking around above them, but they complain about him making noise for 10 seconds, I kid you not. they had the nerve to pound on our floor on Christmas Eve when my family was visiting, because Brick got excited while we were opening gifts. I feel like a prisoner in my own home, and I'm sure Brick does too. this is not living. we take him to an indoor dog park twice a week to run around and play and bark, but it's not enough. walks aren't enough either. he needs to be able to move around his home like a normal dog.

that's not even the worst part. the worst happened a few weeks ago when my husband and I were in the yard letting Brick go to the bathroom, and the downstairs complainy neighbor opens her door and lets her dog (I think it might be a boxer lab mix? she is a very sweet dog) run out, off leash, at Brick, who is on his leash and terrified, so he immediately barks and lunges, and the other dog attacks us and bites my leg in the process. now I have a big bruised dog bite on my quad and am terrified of going outside my own apartment with my own dog, and my neighbor still has the nerve to pound on her ceiling when things are too noisy for her liking.

the sad thing is, before downstairs doggy ran at us, we started a new class for reactive dogs like Brick at Ahimsa Dog Training. in that class we learn that every interaction with another dog has to be a positive one. in Brick's case, an interaction means seeing a dog from half a block away. we have to build a positive association with other dogs in Brick's mind, and it's a long process that will take years. every time Brick gets into a situation like the one we were in with downstairs dog, it sets him right back to the beginning.

I am so frustrated and ready to move again. I think this time we're done with apartments. 

things I have learned from this:

brick, lazy edition (the best kind of brick if you ask me)

a formal brick portrait from a few minutes ago. love the golden seattle evening light!