Lacy had two totally different extremes to her character. On walks she loved to race around non-stop like a whirling dervish but once she was back home there was nothing she liked better than to doze on the sofa in the sunny conservatory occasionally opening one lazy eye to survey what was going on around her.
Lacey’s mum had had some issues with her barking excitedly when she turned up to collect Lacey from my house or if Lacey thought her mum was going take her for a walk. To make matters worse this loud barking continued during their walks too which her mum found very annoying. It transpired the barking was due to the fact that Lacey’s mum always had a tennis ball with her in the car which she threw for Lacey to catch and Lacey had become overexcited about this and she associated her mum with the ball and just couldn't contain herself. I decided that the best way for me to put a stop to this over excited behaviour was to ensure there was no ball on our walks or in any other aspect of our relationship so Lacey did not associate me with her favourite object. This approach worked a treat and I never had any problems with Lacey barking incessantly on walks or when she saw me. I suggested to her mum that she adopt this no ball policy too and over time Lacey gradually improved to the point that her barking became much less of an issue which was a welcome relief for her mum’s ears!