Barnie explores the house, and a firework gets him through the door

Since my last entry on 22 October, Barnie has become a lot more curious about the house, spent a couple more nights out in the garden, and given us some genuine night-time wins at the back door. One of those came courtesy of fireworks.

Curiosity: exploring the kitchen

Until recently, the kitchen was somewhere Barnie only came part way into, usually to grab food once we'd left the room. Now he's exploring it on his own, nose down, working his way round and checking out what's in there. Nobody leads him in and nobody follows. It's the first time he's treated the house as somewhere to explore rather than somewhere to get through.

In the living room on the evening of 26 October, working on a lick mat spread with peanut butter.

To keep his mental map simple while that confidence builds, the stair gate stays closed for now. Upstairs can wait a few weeks: one floor he understands is better than two he's unsure of.

Progress isn't a straight line

He's still had a couple of nights outside. What I've learned is that they tend to follow the busy days. When the house has been loud or full of activity, the next day can be a "pullback" day, where he retreats to the open garden to recalibrate. Decompression just isn't linear, and a step back after a big day isn't the same as going backwards.

One way of thinking about it has helped us. Barnie seems to run two modes. In the daytime he's curious and settled into his routine. At night, the old street wiring takes over and he's far more watchful. The same dog who wandered into a new room at lunchtime can stand frozen at the back door after dark.

Night-time thresholds

Doorways are hardest at night. Standing at a lit doorway in the dark, he's exposed and can't see what's ahead, and stepping through means losing his escape routes. So that's where we've focused.

• Food only indoors. We've stopped feeding him in the garden to "tide him over". It felt kind, but it was rewarding him for staying out and taking away his main reason to come in.
• Short meal windows. His food goes down two or three feet inside the door, we walk completely out of sight, and if it hasn't been touched after 15 minutes we lift it until the next meal. To be clear, this is never about starving him: it's one missed bowl at most, never a run of withheld meals, and never a long-term thing. If he wasn't eating at all, we'd stop and call the vet.
• Door offers, not open doors. In October we left doors open for him. Now it's November and cold, so instead we offer the door calmly for five to ten minutes, take it or leave it. If he stays out, we lock up so the house stays warm and he knows exactly where he stands. We still offer him the garden office, but he won't use it at night either; it's the same threshold problem. In the daytime he'll briefly pop in for a look.

And it's working. We've had a few nights where he chose to come in after dark, which is a first for this stage of the evening.

The firework win

One of those wins was firework-induced. On Tuesday 3 November, when the bangs started, Barnie came in through the back door and stayed in. I'd been dreading fireworks season with a dog who sleeps under a bush, so it was a relief that when he was frightened, he chose the house. I'm taking that as a sign that, somewhere in his head, the house is starting to mean safety.

Curled up indoors on 29 October.

Food and carpets

Food: we've moved him onto a gentle, low-fat food (Chappie Chicken & Rice) to go easy on a stress-affected gut. At around 22 kg and not hugely active yet, he's on about two tins (825g) a day, which leaves room for the high-value threshold treats.

Carpets: after the landing carpet reset, we've settled on liquid enzyme or probiotic cleaners, diluted carpet-machine formula with plain-water rinse passes, or just steam. We avoid powder carpet fresheners, which can leave residue deep in the pile and aren't kind to bagless vacuums, and heavily perfumed products, which must be a lot for a nose like his.

Next steps: keep the door offers calm and consistent, keep the stair gate closed, and let his daytime curiosity slowly spread into the evenings.