Looking from advice from more experienced dog owners about dogs who get stressed/frustrated sometimes looking out the window and how to manage it.
My boyfriend and I take her to work every day, and she stays in the office with us. She mostly sleeps between her walks, chills out/plays with me or looks out the window. Generally she is fine looking out the windows, but occasionally she'll growl or bark a little and then she whines, often running in little circles and going back and forth from the window. I think it's if she sees something she's interested in or wants to chase, like a cat or another dog. This usually happens one or two times a day. I figured that she's a bit bored being cooped up indoors between her walks and seeing something exciting makes her a bit frustrated that she can't get to it. So far the way I've been dealing with it is just to casually close the blinds and then reward her with attention when she's calmer. I'll open the blinds again later (20 mins+) when I'm sure she's fully calm. I've started to give her more mental enrichment during the day when I have time, through teaching commands (we're almost there with 'paw' now. Next up will be 'go to bed', I think) and by giving her chews or food puzzles, in case she is just bored...
It would be nice to leave the blinds up most of the time, since I share the room with two colleagues, so I'm wondering if anyone has advice on a better way to help her calm down. It's not an unmanageable problem or anything, but I'm not sure if it could get worse with time or if I could be doing something differently that would help her be more relaxed about what's going on outside. It's also a little sad seeing her feeling distressed/frustrated.
Some background info: She's my first dog, who was a stray (probably ran away/got lost - no microchip) and we've had her about 4 months now. She is around 2 years old, and we don't know what kind of dog she is, but many have suggested she has some poodle in her. A smallish dog, about 12lbs, possibly still a bit underweight though.
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My boyfriend and I take her to work every day, and she stays in the office with us. She mostly sleeps between her walks, chills out/plays with me or looks out the window. Generally she is fine looking out the windows, but occasionally she'll growl or bark a little and then she whines, often running in little circles and going back and forth from the window. I think it's if she sees something she's interested in or wants to chase, like a cat or another dog. This usually happens one or two times a day. I figured that she's a bit bored being cooped up indoors between her walks and seeing something exciting makes her a bit frustrated that she can't get to it. So far the way I've been dealing with it is just to casually close the blinds and then reward her with attention when she's calmer. I'll open the blinds again later (20 mins+) when I'm sure she's fully calm. I've started to give her more mental enrichment during the day when I have time, through teaching commands (we're almost there with 'paw' now. Next up will be 'go to bed', I think) and by giving her chews or food puzzles, in case she is just bored...
It would be nice to leave the blinds up most of the time, since I share the room with two colleagues, so I'm wondering if anyone has advice on a better way to help her calm down. It's not an unmanageable problem or anything, but I'm not sure if it could get worse with time or if I could be doing something differently that would help her be more relaxed about what's going on outside. It's also a little sad seeing her feeling distressed/frustrated.
Some background info: She's my first dog, who was a stray (probably ran away/got lost - no microchip) and we've had her about 4 months now. She is around 2 years old, and we don't know what kind of dog she is, but many have suggested she has some poodle in her. A smallish dog, about 12lbs, possibly still a bit underweight though.
