Pro proofing

So, Pro loves (?) squirrels. Well really, he's obsessed with them. His obsession didn't really start till the little critters became active in the spring. Once he gets into squirrel mode, that's all he can think about. Outside, he'll run around and around the oak tree in the front yard, occasionally trying to climb it. He is also able to jump straight up onto the stone wall, not to get out of the yard, but to get closer to the squirrels. I was afraid he might find himself outside the fence by mistake. So, I put some piping along the top of the wall, and that seems to keep him form getting up there.

Pro, watching for squirrels.

The piping makes the top of the wall too narrow to jump onto.

In the house, he spends a lot of time looking out the window for squirrels. In the living room, with double sliders overlooking the backyard, it was all just too much. He would run back and forth from the sliders to the kitchen door whining and barking all the way. It's possible to interrupt the obsession by blocking the view out the sliders, but pulling the curtains makes it awfully dark in the living room. So I'm trying some frosted window film.

The weird part about the squirrel chasing is that it doesn't tire him out in the least. Otherwise I might consider it a harmless passtime to burn up some of his boundless energy, though as a general rule I'm not looking to increase his predatory behavior toward small animals. He gets more and more wound up. It really seems to increase his overall stress level, and we're really looking for relaxation and settled behavior. So I try to break the squirrel cycle as often as possible.