ruthless

At 19/20kg, would you say that Chopper is a medium or a large dog?

I don't think it would hurt at all! They're good programs for so many reasons. Won't necessarily help with barking. I had/ have a similar problem, but have tolerant neighbours and am not away for quite so long in the day. The dogs aren't bored, they like the sound of their own voices. My dogs sometimes bark when playing together, though not excessively. Antibarking ultrasonic collars are useless- they might have some surprise value for a few days, but I wouldn't waste my money (tried that). If going for a antibarking collar, I'd go straight to the ecollars, but they're not cheap. Cheapest I found was http://vetnpetdirect.com.au/product.php?pr...at=0&page=1. I think K9 now sells this brand, too. The dogs can get sores where the metal parts sit on their throat if you leave them on for > 8 hours, so keep that in mind. They need to sit firmly on their throat. That's a lot more reasonably priced than I expected them to be. Erny, would you recommend this model?

I think he barks cause he misses us or he's bored. It's not done in play or caused by other dogs barking or people walking past. On a normal day [ie before my holidays when he was used to being left in his run] he barked for a while at 11 and again around 3 or 4. I started another thread a few days ago about him sitting on the sofa with me and baring his teeth at Angel when she wanted to get up. I guess he's gotten too big for his boots, so as of today we've stopped letting them on the sofa. They always sit and wait for their dinner. In fact he needs to be told ok several times before he starts eating They sleep in crates in the laundry but are occasionally let in the bed for a cuddle in the morning on the weekend. They are rarely left outside in the garden when we're home as it's not secure and they stick their noses under the fence at the old dog next door. Chopper's nowhere near as bad as he used to be, but he still pulls a bit on the lead. I guess that's a sign of him feeling like he's in charge too. However, I do love them to bits and as I've never owned dogs before I've made heaps of mistakes by mothering them too much. They get lots of attention and cuddles. They always jump on people and get very excited when we have visitors. Myself and OH just decided to put a Cesar-esque sign on the front door "No touch, no talk, no eye contact" I think we need to do independence training.

I do have a neighbour, fellow dog lover, who doesn't go back to work until next Mon. She's offered to drop into them during the day tomorrow and Fri. Either just visit or a short walk. Do you think that's a good idea or would they just expect it in future? Would they get excited by it and take a while to settle again?

Yup, started that today too, forgot to mention it. Their runs are beside the garage, so there's one in there turned up loud enough for them to hear it.

I don't know :) Chopper's great at obedience. Does that mean I'm a good leader with him as he wants to please me? If so, why's he the problem? Do I give him TOO much love so that when I'm gone he stresses? I've read so many books, I'm on here all the time. I really should know what I'm doing. Do you think going back to basics and doing TOT and NILIF could help? How long would it take to see results?

Ok, I acknowledge that we have a problem. That's the first step, isn't it! I've been off work for 6wks and today is my first day back. I just rang my neighbour and Chopper and Angel [mostly Chopper] have been barking for almost 2hrs. She doesn't care, but I know the one on the other side does as she already complained to the council. I'm at work and I'm so stressed. I do the following: Walk them for an hour followed by 20mins of chasing the ball I always leave them with a kong/bone/rawhide or similar I give them Rescue Remedy or Nervatona I don't fuss over them when I leave and return I haven't tried anti barking collars as I'm hoping to find a solution to the problem, not just mask it. I haven't tried DAP yet, not sure how effective it would be in an outdoor kennel. I could step up their training if people thought it would help. They're alone from 8-4. I don't have anyone I could ask to drop in on them. C+A used to be separated, but we took the centre panel out of their run in the hope that having each other would alleviate the boredom. My neighbour said she heard them fighting but it didn't sound bad. I really hope she's right. They have been left alone for periods over the last 6wks, but not in their runs. I would keep the Staffies inside except Ivan freaks out when he's out and they're in. Today we had people staying so they were only put outside at 11.30 [after a 2nd walk]. The barking started 2hrs later and has been going on ever since. What else can I do :D I'm so upset that the dogs are this stressed/bored :p

Are you saying it's my fault

The last time they fought bad was when they were kenneled in August. Since then they've been kept in separate dog runs when we're at work. They occasionally play pretty rough, but they don't hurt each other any more. They're similar size and age and the struggle for alpha position seems to be ongoing. They never sleep on the bed, although they do get allowed in for a cuddle occasionally. Maybe a mat on the floor isn't such a bad idea. I quite like the idea of being able to stretch out on the sofa sometimes

Do you think so? Is part of owning a dog not the joy of snuggling on the sofa? They only get up when they're invited up. I'm completely open to suggestions though, so bring it on

It's not like they've never fought before, but this was different... he was sitting on the sofa with me and she was about to get up too when he bared his teeth at her. I saw it straight away and made him get down and put him outside for ten minutes. He's back inside now and won't be allowed on the sofa tonight. Is that enough? A bit of background: I've been off work for the last 6wks and have been with them a lot. Obedience school is on holidays and apart from 2 or 3 e-collar sessions with them, there's been no formal obedience training. Chopper tends to get a lot more freedom off lead when we go places cause he's the only one with a reliable recall. I also tend to take him places with me a bit more than Angel as he's better behaved. I try not to favour him, but maybe he's starting to think I do.

He always says he works with the tools that the owners are already using and familiar with. I like that about him. He doesn't rely on tools to "rehabilitate dogs". ETA BP beat me to it!

They're generally ratings that you yourself apply to the pics. Then you can search for your faves based on how many stars they have. You can also assign keywords. If they've just appeared from nowhere I'm not really sure why [PS Welcome back!]

I thought DAP only came in a plug in or a collar. It's an outside run with a clam shell, so neither is suitable, is it? I'll check it out, thanks. That's the plan. They have spent a certain amount of time on there own while I've been off, but never in their runs. There's no one I could ask to check in on them, but I may get a dogwalker if they can guarantee to come at a specific time in the afternoon. No point taking them out just after I've left. We don't talk to these neighbours. We were busy when we moved in and didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves. 3wks later there was a note from the ranger. They never came and spoke to us. Not very neighbourly IMO. When we moved here [sept] we built dog runs to separate the staffies. They'd been fighting a bit, never really bad, but a couple of vet visits were required. I wanted them apart so they didn't do any more damage to each other. It's possible the barking is caused by boredom and frustration. They can't see any other dogs, but nearly every house has one and I guess each of them bark on occasion, maybe sparking off the others. We've taken the divider out of the dog run to see if Chopper and Angel can co-exist in peace. Maybe having eachother to play with will help also. For the next 2wks I'm going to put them in their runs with their e-collars on and pretend to go out a few times a day. If they bark I can use the collars to stop them. I should also be able to figure out what's causing them to bark. Bloody dogs, eh?!

When I go back to work in 2wks it'll be 8wks since the dogs were left on their own outside for the whole day. Last year Chopper barked for the entire day when we went back to work. We've since moved house and the new neighbours have complained about the dogs barking. They didn't follow up with the complaint, but they may if it happens again. If I can use something to calm them for the first week I'm sure they'll settle back into the routine again. I was talking to someone about Clomicalm but they said they heard it needed to be used for a while for it to be effective. Would it be safe to use an antihistamine [sp?] like Phenurgen for the first few days? For the record this isn't my only line of defence. They are walked for an hour in the morning and then they chase the ball for 20mins. They are given Rescue Remedy and are left with their breakfast and either a bone/kong/everlasting treatball/rawhide to keep them entertained. I also don't make a fuss when I'm leaving or coming home. I've read a lot about SA and I'm not really sure what else I could be doing to resolve the issue. ETA I use the term Separation Anxiety as I don't know what else to call it. I realise it's probably not the correct term for this issue.

It's not looking good. The nearby clubs train too early in the evening for me. I don't generally get home from work till 7. I could look into a further away club that trains on the weekend, but as it is I go to one obedience club on a Sat afternoon and another on Sun mornings. We also do Lure Coursing during the cooler months. Dunno if I want my entire weekend devoted to the dogs

Ivan went for surgery yesterday and had his lump removed. The vet confirmed it was fatty tissue, so we're quite relieved.

Thanks MD, I'll get in touch with St George Club. I'd love to come on Sat, but already have plans. Thanks for the info

It's kinda Eastern Suburbs, near the airport. His recall is generally good, with a squeaky ball it's excellent! I haven't done any agility with him, but OH did say he'd build me some jumps. I'll see if he can do that soon so we can get practising

Does anyone have any info for Sydney?

I'm interested in doing Flyball with Chopper. He's a good dog, quick learner. Just wondering if you need to be a certain level at obedience school before you can join? Also, I'm based in Matraville, what would be the nearest club to me?

OH brought Ivan on a road trip around the vets in Rose Bay trying to find the one where my cousin originally had him desexed so we can get the cert and finally lifetime register him Turns out he's going to be 9 in March, not 7 as my cousin had told me. It came as quite a shock. He also had the lump checked out again and was told that aspirating it may not give a conclusive result. The lump is the size of a golf ball but the actual cancer [if there is any] may only be the size of a match head and could easily be missed. They suggested cutting it out also, but their quote is almost half that of the original vet. We're going to make a phonecall to another vet to get a quote on the surgery and then take it from there. I know we need to move fast though. I'll keep you all posted.

How's It all going You should be getting close to a pro with all this great advice :D You'd think so, wouldn't you!! I decided not to do any experimenting on holidays in case my shots turned out crap, so I just used my 17-85mm lens with the auto settings. I uploaded them here if anyone wants a look. They're ok, nothing worth framing though! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2651...mp;id=656062268

Focus on problems you say? Well I can focus on a problem... I can't believe you didn't call me Why I outta...

I think they tried that but couldn't get anything. It's only our second time using this vet and we don't want to go back to our old vet cause we think they were negligent in their treatment of our friends dog. Do you think we should get a 2nd opinion?