coco22

Hi Ahona, Thanks a lot, I have just sent u a PM.

yes ahona, i would definitely tell them that i have a dog next time. i've moved to melbourne from overseas only a couple years ago so i am not very sure of the rules of renting etc as this the only place i hv rented in melbourne.

i don't praise him when he's showing fear. i would continue to walk but he will retreat and sort of struggle not to move forward. he would also start to bark at the traffic as we approach the main road. so i just turned back and walk back home. he would settle down a little as we walk back home

Unfortunately I do not have many friends in melbourne as I have only moved to Melbourne a couple years ago from overseas.

i've given a call to Erny and booked a consultation with her.

yes we have thought about moving into a house for some time now. It's just that our current apartment is very accessible to shops, transport etc and we can even take a short walk to the city. And also the rent is cheaper than other places in the same suburb. So we hv been putting off moving to somewhere else. I've started to search for a new place. Hopefully I can find one soon.

Yep, big problem. How much exercise and training would Obi get on a daily basis. I think there's a very high chance he's bored and under stimulated - both physically and mentally. I try to take him out for a walk every morning. but lately he suddenly developed a fear of the traffic in the main roads so we never made it out to the main road always. When we go near it, he seemed scared and confuse and would bark and whimper. So I had to turn back and shorten the walk instead. When at home we play games with him and also train him on the basic commands or teach him new things. He can now identify a few of his toys when we tell him to fetch a certain toy. I cant bear the thoughts of having to give him up. He's my first dog and I grew up being afraid of dogs as I was chased by one when I was young. And I decided to have a dog so that I could get rid of my fear of dogs. He's with with us since Nov last year and we've grown very attached to him.

My boyfriend did tell me that I was giving Obi too much attention so lately I try not to give him too much attention and let him be on his own more. But he always follow me around the house. He seems more attached to me and when I leave the house, he would whimper and bark.... but when my boyfriend leaves the house, he doesn's show that much reaction. During my off days when I'm home, I would leave him in the lounge room and hallway by himself while i stay in the room to use the computer. He was alright and would play on his own or sit on his cushion in the hallway. He's got a box of toys placed in one corner of the hallway as well. He's free to roam the apartment when we are home and have time to supervise him. When we go out, he'd be confine to the hallway with access to his toilet which is in the laundry room. He only goes into his crate at night time when we sleep or at times when we can't supervise him. Problem now is that we haven't told the landlord that we've got a dog. We have been thinking about moving into a house for some time now so maybe this incident would be the catalyst to start house hunting. I have started to search for a new place to rent and at the same time, i might consider leaving obi with a friend or maybe take him back to the breeder for the time being until we sort things out. I have just booked a consultation with a trainer/behaviourist to assess and diagnose what is the cause of Obi's behaviour so that I can be trained to work on improving his current behaviour.

Thanks a lot!

We do leave the TV in the lounge room on when we go out. I did post on the forum about SA just a couple weeks ago and have been trying the suggestions that other fellow members have made. Before we leave the apartment, we normally stand outside the door for 5min to make sure that he doesnt bark and when we get home, he's all well behaved and quiet too. So I guess he probably start barking when he finished with his meaty bones and before we got home. I try to take him out for a walk a few hours before we go out sometimes, but lately i don't know what's wrong but he suddenly seemed afraid of cars and traffic. He would whimper and bark as we get nearer to the main street and look confused. I wonder if it's because recently he got desexed and we kept him him for 2-3 weeks and didn't take him out for walks. I was also reading about the different phases that a puppy goes through and think maybe it's the fear phase that he's going through now. I will do a search regarding barking and see what I can do. I am even thinking of getting some private sessions with a trainer. Do you know any good trainers in Melbourne?

Obi's turning 6 months. When he was 10-12 weeks old, we did try leaving him home alone and there were no problems. I bought a kong for him some time ago but he doesnt seem interested in a kong even though I leave nice treats in it. He is crate trained but he does not like to be in the crate alone in my room when there is no one in the house. His crate is just under my work desk and I usually put him in a crate when I am doing work at home. We confine him to the hallway just outside the bedroom when we go out. And before I leave, I would leave him a raw meaty bone for him to chew on and also leave treats around for him to search for while we are away. We also leave him his special toy that he likes to play with only when we go out. Lately I have created a simple puzzle for him to work on by putting treats in the corners of a face towel and tying a knot to hold the treats. He enjoys undoing the knot to retrieve the treats. These are the things I normally leave him when we go out.

Hi, Obi has separation anxiety and when nobody's home he barks sometimes. I work rotating shifts and was out working last night. My boyfriend went out for a couple of hours during late night last night. There is always someone home with him usually and that's one of the rare times that he's home alone. This morning, we got a call from the landlord. She said that one of our neighbours complained about Obi barking last night and told us that the dog has to go. My boyfriend said that Obi wasn't barking when he left... and he did stayed outside the apartment for a while before he left. And when he got home, Obi wasn't barking either. Anyway, we have grown attached to Obi and certainly do not wish to give him away. I'm now searching for another place for rent that will allow dogs, preferably a house with a court yard since we now live in an apartment. In the meantime, I was thinking of leaving Obi in a kennel for awhile while we sort things out. But leaving him there would probably cost us some money. We do not have many friends here in Melbourne so I guess that leaves us no choice. Wonder if anyone has any advice or suggestions as to what we can do. Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks.

I am currently using the training pads but I'm finding it a little too expensive. I bought a box of 100 for $59.90 plus $10 postage on the ebay but they dont seem to absorb the urine quick enough and sometimes Obi steps on it after he eliminates. The pads lasted me for about 2.5 months and I'm currently using the second box and trying to find other alternatives to the pads. There is a washable pad that u can buy online called pooch pad that is washable. It's supposed to last at least 300 washes. The url is www.poochpad.com . Am not sure if they ship overseas as I have a friend returning from the USA and I've got her to bring me a couple back to try. I think some other online retailers might ship overseas. I was also considering the pet loo previously but it seem so expensive. I think i might give that indoor doggy toilet a try in Trish's post.

Obi's done when he was close to 5 months.

I had the same problem with Obi. He would growl at me when I go near him while he's having a bone. The trainer at the puppy school told me to let him have his bone in peace and that we humans wouldn't like others to disturb us while we're eating too. Anyway, I didn't like Obi growling at me so every now and then i'd try taking his bone away. If he growls at me, I growl back at him and he often goes into a 'drop' position and look at me when I growl back at him. When he calms down, I'd give the bone back to him. These days, he has stopped growling at me when i take his bone away. I'm not sure if that's the right way to do it, but it solved my problem :rolleyes:

We leave treats around the confined area so that he can have some fun searching for treats. When we leave the house, we never make a fuss of it. But when we return, Obi would be very excited and run to us and wanting attention from us. Do we completely ignore him completely until he's calm and settled? I have tried to ignore him and wait for him to be calm and settled before giving him attention but sometimes he gets impatient and would start to bark to get our attention. We live in a small block of 9 flats and we have heard him bark when we were out of the flat before. we could hear him very loud and clear at the stairway and even when we are out of the security door.

We have started to leave obi confined to the hallway near the bedrooms a couple times a day while we are home, leaving him with his fav squeaky toy and also his special treat while we watch tv in the lounge room. Have also tried a few times making trips to the supermarket or going out for dinner at nearby restaurants while leaving obi in the hallway. So far so good..... he is too engrossed with his fav toy and special treat to even notice the sound of the main door closing while we leave. We always leave the TV on in the lounge room so that he thinks that we're still home watching tv.

Thanks for all your replies. I will certainly try the suggestions mentioned. GayleK, I work shifts too but my partner works from home. That's why there's always someone home with Obi. I'll have to let him get used to being alone for short periods of time everyday. I observed that he does notice cues like the sound of keys, me taking my bag etc. That's when he gets anxious and starts following me around closely. We have a tenant leaving with us as well who spends quite a lot of time with Obi. But when she leaves, Obi is usually fine with it. Only occasionally he will walk to the door and whine a little and then he'd get over it. He has the most reaction when I leave the apartment. My partner says that it's because I spend too much time in contact with him. I guess I will have to reduce my contact time with him but sometimes it's tough... as he's just too adorable to ignore especially when he gives me that pitiful look!

Hi, I wonder if anyone where has any advice regarding separation anxiety? I think Obi is having separation anxiety. He follows me around the house a lot and when I leave the house, he would bark, whine and scratch the door frantically. We live in an apartment so I'm afraid that his barks might annoy the neighbours. We did try leaving him home alone for a couple hours when he was (about 12 weeks old) and he was ok with it. But now he panics when he thinks we are going out and would follow us closely when we walk around the house. We confine him to an area of the apartment when we go out and we would leave him with a box full of his toys. We also leave treats around the area so that he can have some fun time looking for treats while we are gone. Is it better for us to leave him in his crate when we go out? He's currently 21 weeks old. Obi at 10 weeks Obi at 16 weeks

LOL, Grass Buffet. It is also seems to be a social get together for my two. They both sit at the fence line (where the grass is the longest, yes we need to whippersnip!) and one starts eating, the other follows. Love your sig btw Sas. :rolleyes: Lucky u, Emm.... that probably saves u the chore of mowing the lawn

thanks for your reply poodle wrangler, i have done what u said and manage to get obi back into his crate

yes obi is an apartment dog. i always try to distract him with a toy when he starts eating grass. but he always chose the grass over the toy. sometimes i will change path and walk on the concrete instead, then back to the grass after a while.

Thanks for all your replies. Obi likes to hv grass buffet everytime we go for walks. He seems more interested in grass than his toy ball!

Hi, I have Obi's crate under my table while i do work on my PC. Just now, his mouth got caught in between the gap of the grills while he was chewing the grill. I managed to free him and he's well and is not injured. Now he's afraid to go into the crate. I call him into his crate and he turned and walked away. I hold treats in my hand and encourage him to go into the crate, he would walk in, take the treat and then walk out of the crate. What should I do to re-introduce him to the crate? Thanks.

Shyla is so gorgeous! It's good to start obedience class as soon as your can as I was advised that the critical period to train puppies is between 8-16 weeks. During this period, puppies learn very quickly and it is also easier to correct any wrong behaviour during this stage. Obi is 14 weeks now. Due to my irregular working hours and work days, we started puppy class late. Obi has only gone for 1 puppy class just before Christmas and had to take a 2 week break until after the New Year where classes will start again. My friend gave me a book on dog training and it comes with very good illustrations. So right now I am using that as a guide to train Obi until the puppy classes commence again.