Kaffy Magee

A handler is needed for an ET (endurance) to held on the 9th August (either bike rider or runner). IF anyone is interested in taking a dog in this event can you please call Julie on 0412 170094. Your help would be greatly appreciated, a pressie will be forthcoming. LOL

Monelite, Luka joined me at 6 months in april 08 so he was still a baby when you met him while he was still with his breeder and really I wouldnt call the time you spent with him significant in his nearly 2 years of life. And as i have said he is perfectly fine with company, its when he is on his own. In his run at home, in his trailer at a show whilst im packing up, in his crate at home overnight( which he no longer has due to wrecking them). He behaves beautifully if i take him anywhere. It doesnt seem to matter how much stimulation and work i give him he will still bark when on his own. His litter sister who resides with the breeder is also a barker. My main issue with him is his barking, I can put up with anything else but the barking gets very tiring. I go to work at 7am and come home at 3. I let all my dogs out, I go out in the paddocks with them, they run, I do obedience stuff with him and throw/kick his ball as a reward. He loves this and he often gets worn out and lies down to rest at the end of it, panting heavily and If I go out in the car I often take him with me. He then will usually come in and hop on his bed inside and stay there until i go to bed about 11pm, sometimes he stays out in the yard to do his own thing. IT gets dark at 5.30 here so unfortunately the time i spend with him in daylight is limited until daylight savings, I also have the other dogs and 2 kids to consider, oh and the husband,lol. I do love this dog, he is a lot of work but its not that that really bothers me, I just want the barking to stop.

I just sent you a brief email to [email protected] Its only today I have noticed him being quiet and can only put it down to that he thought i wasnt here and having said that, now thinking back I have had him in 2 different kennels a couple of times and both owners said he was pretty good, and I thought they were just saying that. So maybe its not separation anxiety, I just thought the way he destroys everything /barks and paces around when he is on his own and yet perfect angel when with me all added up, but I am no behaviourist. I just hope I can get to the bottom of this to save my sanity. Oh and just going back to my last post about him not barking this morning until he heard me, he had seen and heard the kids all morning but it wasnt until he realised I was there that he started up again.

Cosmolo I would have no iea on how to work on his anxiety(if thats what it is). Ruthless Luka is actually barking,not just whining and screaming K9 I had been looking for one that i can adjust myself, as Lukas breeder thinks they are better too, but they all seem to be the BC 50 and BC 200. However I only ever searched for innotek as I didnt know what other brands were out there and if they were any good. But I see on your website the "dogtra" YS500. Will send you an email. Just on a side note, I have today off work, Luka barked intermittantly through the night,but really started up about 6 am.At about 7 he went quiet. OH was up and told me had got out. I apparently hadnt latched the gate properly on his run last night in the dark, so I got up and went and put him back, then when back to bed for a sleep in. OH drove of to work. I have barely heard him since, as I have been sleeping in and not making any noise I think he didnt realise I am home. However when I made it known I was home he started up relentlessy again.So maybe he is only doing it when he knows I am around??? Cheers, KM

Nekhbet its definitely going off and in the correct position and tight. Ive tested it and retested and changed the battery all the time and Ive been watching him, he barks the light flashes, when hes quiet it doesnt flash, so its definitely working.

Kavik, i will have a look at that video a bit later on, OH is watching tv and computer is all linked up to it. He is happy in his crate provided he isnt left on his own, its the being on his own he doesnt like and so destroys anything and everything within his path. Everything i have ever given him he has wrecked(when on his own) so now he gets nothing, which i hate because i like my dogs to be comfortable but i am not made of money. Nekhbet I cant set the levels on this collar, its automatic. I wish i could, however he must have hit the strongest levels on his collar(6-7 levels) as it gets stronger the longer he barks, yet has made no difference. Ive looked for a collar i can set myself but they seem hard to find, I can usually only find automatic ones. Willow, you know, that kind of makes sense, however I doubt very much there are any behaviourists in my area Im guessing the closest would be in Melbourne which is 3 hours away but I will have a bit more of a look and see what i can find.

He wont bark anywhere if im there,so if he was in a crate in the house and i was also in the house he wouldnt bark, if i left the house he would, infact he no longer owns a crate as he destroyed them both (a wire one and a soft one). The collar is an innotek BC-50, self adjusting levels, supposed to get stronger the longer he barks)

My dobie(some of you may have read about how much of a PITA he is) wears a bark collar, yet he barks through it. Ive had it for some time and he has always barked while wearing it. Ive been thinking its dodgy and not working properly so I wanted to know for sure. I changed the battery, tested it, then put it on him and watched. The first couple of barks you know he felt it but he just keeps on going and you wouldnt even know he had a bark collar on. The red light flashes when he barks and stops when he is quiet so i know it is working. I am ready to murder him. It doesnt matter during the day when i am at work as we have no neighbours but it drives me nuts when i am home and he is in his run(crate/dog trailer). He has always barked since he joined us at 6 months, just quietly I think he has separation anxiety(as he has other issues other than barking) though I havent seen anyone about it, do plan to though. So is it a common thing to have dogs continue barking, do you think if he does have sep. anxiety it could be why he continues to bark. And im talking literally all day and night,this dog does not stop, maybe for a minute, but thats it unless you let him out. Any ideas, anyone?

One of my bullmastiff girls used to get car sickness whenever i took her out even just short distances. I didnt think she would ever grow out of it as she was still doing it at nearly 12months(cant remember exactly when she stopped) but she did grow out of it.

‘Dobermann Club of Victoria ’ is hosting a restricted to German Breeds Trial on Sunday 21st June 2009 commencing 10am. Any interested people should refer to VicDobes website on www.vicdobes.com.au/ or phone Trial Secretary – Deb Charters on 0404 838 861 for further information. :D

Thanks guys. Its for one of my puppy buyers. They have a now 15month old male bullmastiff that appears to have had no boundaries and is now throwing his weight around I asked them lots of questions(dominance related) and their reponse was "whoops, i think we have made a few mistakes..." I'll be seeing them tomorrow so was going to print some info out for them. Thanks again fopr your help.

Im after some good articles on dominant dogs and retraining a dog that thinks it is the alpha/teaching a dog respect etc. If anyone can recommend something that would be great and much appreciated.

One year ago I lost my heart dog. While he still dances through my mind daily, the tears no longer fall so readily. Its taken me nearly this whole year just to get to this point. I never thought I would. I still dont understand why he was taken so young but I no longer torture myself wondering. Kaden you were the world to me, more than just a dog, you held me together through some tough times, you were my rock. My love for you will never fade and you will never be forgotten. KADEN 20/11/06 - 27/03/08 (This song is one of my favourites and one I listened to alot when i lost him, so naturally its become "Kadens" song ) "Rainin' You" When I looked out today And saw that the sky was gray I thought about the way You loved days like this And driving in to town It really started coming down Bringing me back around To all that I miss It feels like it's rainin' you It feels like it's rainin' you I didn't even run inside Or worry about staying dry Besides there nowhere I can hide These feeling now Running down my face Takes me to another place I can't think of a better way to drown It feels like it's rainin' you I can't explain it But I am baptized anew It feels like it's rainin' you If I had my way It would do this every day I would never see the sun Because the closest I get To holding you again Is every time that sky opens up It feels like it's rainin' you I can't explain it But I am baptized anew It feels like it's rainin' you It feels like it's rainin' you

Ok. He came to me at 6 months from his breeders and he had numerous dogs around him. I have 5 other dogs,the only 2 he doesnt get to run with are the young bullmastiff girls.So I guess he hasnt really ever been on his own. He is in a run on his own when im at work. He did have run of the place with 3 other dogs(old bullmastiff girland 2 littlies) but now is in a pen while im out as he has been going out far into the paddocks and bringing back dead animal carcasse(yummo). I dont want him to go out one day and decide to venture further. My 2 young bullmastiff girls(and bullmastiff male, hes come back for rehoming) are also in runs as they too will wander if given half the chance. He used to be next to them(and still carried on like a loon) but needed a stronger mesh to contain him as he would just rip big holes in the wire. So now he is in a chain mesh run away from the others, which is also proving not to be strong enough. He doesnt have a hammock/trampoline bed in his run,i have given up buying them,he just destroys them, he has a kennel and a couple of blankets, which are his favourite things. He drags them ,shakes them, sucks them and lies on them. He digs holes, chews the wire, barks,paces and spills his water in the meantime, like one big protest. When i get home from work i take the bullmastiffs for a short walk with out Luka, as its much more easier and relaxing without him. I put them in a big yard for free play when i get back and let Luka out. We go for a walk/run, sometimes off lead, sometimes on. We go out in the paddocks and i kick the footy for him/throw a ball and hide toys for him to find. Which he loves doing. We also do some obedience training and he focus' on me and responds really well. Yet he still has all the energy in the world to just keep on going. I'll do it as long as i can and he'll be panting and look exhausted but he still just goes an goes and goes. I come back home and let the girls inside while i prepare dinner,clean up etc and Luka has free running out side. Then we swap over. He comes inside and is pretty good but gets up from his bed every five minutes to come and be close to me. But when i tell him bed he goes back stays for a bit, then repeats the process. They go to bed anywhere from 10-12pm. I put him in his crate first,so i can go and get the bullmastiff boy without them clashing, of course luka is carrying on at this stage as hes been put in his room on his own. The 2 young girls sleep in their runs, old girl and littlies inside our house. I have a no bark collar, works wonders when the battery is not flat,lol. I cant find it at the moment, have put it down somewhere, but cant remember where. It still doesnt solve the issue though. Like i said he is an angel if i take him anywhere, extremely well behaved, relaxed and gentle. Thats what i dont get, why is he a loon at home but perfect when he is somewhere else? Is it because he is with me the whole time when i take him somewhere, so he is happy? Ive put my old girl in a run with him before, it helps for a little while then he starts up again, when he realises she is no fun. Yes Monelite, I'll be at the specialty with him, Julie will have him on the sunday(might need a handler) as i'll be at the bullmastiff specialty, but i'll be there on monday. ETA: Yeshe has always been like that since he has been with me. Im just finally starting to lose my patience. Im always defending him to OH, yet i know how OH feels. It makes me sad that OH is always going on about how he cant stand him, its depressing, but i cant blame him. Hes put up with it for so long.

Thank you for your response Poodlefan. I dont know what to do about this. Do you have any suggestions on how to overcome this? Anybody?

Ok, my 17month old male dobe is doing my head in. I dont know if he has anxiety issues or if he is just a PITA. If i put him in his wire crate in his room on his own, he barks and bashes at the crate the second i walk out the door. The front of the crate is all bent because of his bashing about. I have to lock the crate with dog lead clips or he gets out and his barking is relentless. He is ok when I put Keisha my old bullmastiff girl in her crate in the same room. Same goes for the dog trailer. Hes fine if the girls are in there with him but once left on his own,the barking/whining/howling starts. If he is put in a dog run he barks relentlessly, and chews/pulls at the wire. I have shifted him once as he made a hole in the wire of the first run. This is chain mesh wire too, not chicken wire or something just as flimsy. He gets all worked up pacing and whining,barking and chewing. I have tried putting a dog in the next run so he is not alone but it does not help. He has blankets all over the place because he likes to suck them,i think he does it when he is really worked up and it helps calm him for the time being. When he has full run of the yard with Keisha and my 2 little dogs he is fine other than the constant running around, dragging around anything he can , he doesnt stop. This doesnt bother me. If I go and spend time with my young bullmastiff girls in a separate yard, he goes beserk. Whining and barking and running backwards and forwards like a lunatic. I cant let him in to play too as he is far too rough and makes them squeal which excites him even further and he wont respond to me once he is caught up "playing". And yet, if i bring him indoors with me or take him out, to a show or anywhere else for that matter, butter wouldnt melt in his mouth. He is an angel,perfect and everyone loves him and wont believe me when i say he is the devils dog,lol. When we are one on one he is wonderful,responsive and very good at obedience and tracking. I have 5 other dogs and 2 kids though, i cant devote my whole spare time to just him. Can anyone enlighten me as to what is going on? My husband hates him and Im fast losing my patience.

Cost me roughly $50(some times more sometimes less) a week to feed 6 dogs , 4 large and 2 small. Now I have an extra it will cost me a bit more for a while.

After working in a boarding kennel I have had many breeds come through. I started a dislike for some breeds of dog and it wasnt until recently that i realised they are all gundogs. They just came across as "nutty". Please dont take offence because i believe in their family environment and more so in a "working" environment they probably dont behave quite the same way as they do in the kennels. Mind you i have some gundogs in that have been very calm and quiet and well behaved. Its a bit like my dobie i suppose, he has alot of energy/drive and often drives me nuts but I know he will be best when "working".

Laffi, my dogs also get RMB and obviously mince to mix with the van, fish, a bit of offal, a bit of egg and a bit of oils. I dont have the time to purree vegies and add lots of different things like brewers yeast , kelp etc. I find that VAN does the job for me. I was originally concerned about the grains but seeing as they are just going through the dog and arent really there to be digested i dont care, its the other stuff in it that i want. The grains arent hurting and there is a hell of a lot more stuff in there that outweighs the grains. So all in all VAN is more a convenience option for me and i believe its easier to start new puppy buyers on it than overwhelm them with all the individual stuff you need to add to a natural diet. I would rather them use this than find doing everything from scratch is too hard/overwhelming and turn to canned/dry food.

I use this and love it, well my dogs do The grains are only there for roughage/ to aid digestion. Your dog may have to get used to it and it does have a strong smell, i actually like the smell though. My pups have grown up on it so are used to it and the ones that didnt grow up on it are piggy dogs that will eat anything. Gets a big thumbs up from me.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I usually take Luka in to town in the evening as thats just seems easier time for me to get away. He isnt completely terrified, sometimes he seems ok walking around, cars, traffic lights, sliding doors, trolleys etc dont bother him as such, he just seems more on edge and just comes across as unsure, particularly with people. So he isnt really a bundle of terrified nerves, but he isnt fully comfortable with his surrounds. I sit right out the front of the supermarket just to get him used to things and he seems fine until someone walks out of the shop, and backs right away if they approach, does the whole hunched body thing with worried eyes and tail down. So i guess after reading all this back the main issue seems to be people. I think he will get over the other minor issues(jumpy, unsure) easy enough. I took him for a walk today around the river(bridge to bridge) about 5.4 km and no problems until people walked past, then he would lag behind, hide behind me, trying to avoid them. I just kept on walking, ignoring it. As we just crossed the bridge to get to our car a lady coming towards us had her dog on a lead and stood back to let us past, as she went to walk off her dog slipped its collar and started attacking Luka. She couldnt catch her dog and i was trying to madly push it away and keep it off him with one arm until i had to sink the boot in as it would not let up. Poor Luka didnt know what to do, he didnt retaliate, just tried to get away and i kept trying to drag him around to keep him moving, so it couldnt get a good grip. All i could think was "this is going to ruin him". He sat there rather shocked i think,eyes wide and frothing at the mouth, but i didnt want to inadvertently reward that and kept moving on and he seemed fine, like nothing happened. Another lady who saw it asked if he was alright and as we began to talk Luka promptly pushed his head into her for a pat. So i think he is ok with people as long as they ignore him and let him make the first move. He seems confident to approach people from behind too, but of course as soon as they turn around he slinks back. I should try giving the treats to people to give to him, i think it could help build his confidence meeting people. Its just hard to believe that a dog that will not move a muscle when a judge goes all over him can be so unsure of friendly smiling people.

I got my dobie boy when he was 6 months old. He hadnt ever been in to town( shops, cars, lots of people) and had only ever been to dog shows, where most of the time he was in the ring or in a crate. If I take him into town and he is very usure, tail is down, he's rather jumpy and very unsure of anybody who stops to talk to him. If someone walks past he keeps turning around to watch them as if he thinks they are going to come up from behind and "get" him,LOL. Now tell me, do you think he can get over this. He is just about 12 months old. Should i be taking him into town everyday which isnt really possible for me or will he still learn to get over it eventually by going in a couple of times a week. Sometimes he is fine with people like today at the vet, he approached a lady and pushed his head into her hand for a pat, mind you she wasnt paying any attention to him when he did it. Do you think he just doesnt like people approaching him. He is a probably a little more warier of men, im not sure why,although he is fine with male judges going over him. I want to get him out of this, i act very confident and dont baby him or use treats, i just carry on as normal. Kaden my other dobie was very confident, nothing fazed him and loved everyone. I took him into town from a young age though. Everyone loved him too because he was so friendly and not the scary dobe they expected. Luka just looks so worried and backs off, people are then unsure of him and thinks hes going to bite. So how do i build his confidence in town and meeting people?

Thank you for the replies. Im going through these guys because they are closest and have cheap delivery and a bit less expensive. I have been dealing with Emmet im just finding it hard to get any sort of response especially when i have stated i am ready to buy now. I was beginning to wonder whether I should look elsewhere and very nearly told them i would be. Maybe i will need to give them a ring, im desperate, i have bought a dryer i just want my hydrobath.....NOW. LOL

Im buying(trying to) a hydrobath through these people but they arent very responsive. Ive told them what i want and i am keen to purchase now but its like pulling teeth to get an response from them. When i do get a response its in huge bold letters and not very professional eg: using thru instead of through. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with them, or should i be looking elsewhere.

I have an innotek BC- 50 that self adjusts. I bough it from america brand new for less than half the price of what i could get one in australia for. If i can remember it cost me around $60 and that included shipping.