Bad doggie!
Emily Nelson, who goes by @u/emily_nelson on Reddit, confessed that her needy 14-month-old pooch has been pup-blocking her sex life with her fiancé.
“If I close him out of our bedroom so I can have some private time with my fiancé … he cries and cries and cries on the other side of the door, which is obviously killing our mood,” Nelson said of her Havanese mix pooch in a Reddit post on Dec. 4.
“If we even kiss or hug each other in front of him, he will run over from wherever he is napping and start to jump around at our feet, wanting to be part of the affection,” she added about her predicament.
Brett Bailey, an NYC canine behavioral expert, revealed ways to prevent your pup from interfering with your love life.
“The dog needs the ability to emotionally regulate. Without emotionally regulating, you have nothing,” Bailey told The Post about the importance of instilling self-discipline in one’s furry friend.
Although the Florida couple knew adopting the breed would be a handful, they didn’t expect him to be so needy.
“He is super sweet but super shy and clingy to me and my fiancé,” she wrote. “He follows me around like my shadow, and if he can’t see me, he starts to cry.”
Nelson doesn’t mind his clingy behavior and actually finds it cute — but it’s ruff when she’s trying to get romantic with her fiancé.
Desperate to find a solution, the couple sought advice from other Reddit pet owners.
“My only idea that I haven’t tried yet is maybe putting him in his crate on our balcony when we want to have alone time. We live in Florida and the weather at night is lovely, so he would be fine for like 30 minutes. [I don’t know] … has anyone dealt with this? What was your solution?” she asked.
Many dog owners suggested that Nelson crate her hound when the couple tries to get it on.
“Practice crating him more often while you’re home,” commented one person.
“I crated my boy since he was 3 months old and now he knows not to disturb,” added a Reddit user.
“[Try] giving him a chew or a high-value treat in a Kong to distract him,” added another.
Meanwhile, Bailey, 46, shared that the best method to prevent the mood kill is for the dog to be emotionally regulated: he encourages owners to get their furry friend to an “excited state” and play intense games with them — and then switch to a calmer activity.
The New York native and owner of Who’s a Good Boy Industries also believes in teaching your pooch the benefits of its owners showing affection to each other to avoid building clingy behavior on the pup’s part.
“The dog has to learn its benefits when people come close,” Bailey added, suggesting a treat for the pup. “So every time the couple gets close together, the animal benefits by having a bone, bone marrow [or] licky mat.”
Even though Nelson prefers to keep her romance behind closed doors and away from her crying pup, Bailey disagrees with the shut-door technique because it restricts the dog’s access to the owner — and that will make it frustrated trying to get to you.
“It’s important to understand that restriction across all species does not always make things better. It changes the behavior but not how the dog feels,” the pet professional added.
Overall, Bailey observed the Havanese mix was either trying to guard his owner, de-escalate a stimulus he didn’t like, or get involved in the playful scenario between his owners.
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