hello i have a collie cross staffy that is 8 months old and is barking when i go to work which is only from  12-2pm she is walked four times a day and my partner comes home most lunch times for 45mins between 12-2pm.when i got my dog i spoke to my neighbours and asked if she made any noise and they said she barks for about ten mins and not to worry and they would tell me if it got worse now i found out they are complaining to the council and i dont know what to do and am worried they might take her away has this happened to anyone can they do this.thankyou

I would say that she is suffering from seperation anxiety and that your partner coming home disturbs her. Make a tape of every day noises, hoovering, washing machine, flushing toilet, radio on, tv etc. and leave it playing when you go and get your partner to replay it when he goes, after being home. This might help :)
You could also give her a hollow bone or kong filled with cream cheese or peanut butter, that will keep her occupied for a time. Hope these suggestions help. When you walk her give her lots of training exercises to do. Don't walk her immediately before you go out as this will wind her up more if you don't do some brain work with her.

thankyou for your reply i have got a toy that i fill with food and she gets the food out quickly. i will try a kong i thought my other half coming home would be a good idea but as you say maybe it does disturbe her when i go out i leave the telly and the radio on i think will have to tape her to see how much she is barking as today i came home and she wasnt making noise.

Would make a tape to see how much she is barking and when it is. If it is just for a few moments when you go out or is it when she is disturbed by someone coming to the door or walking past or even the your neighbours being noisy. When you know when the problem is you may be able to sort it, or who knows it could be you don't have a problem. As to people complaining she is only left for 2 hours less the 3/4 of an hour you partner is at home so that leaves 1 1/4 hours for her to bark and for the council to catch her doing it. You may find, if she is barking that moving her to another room away from the people who are either complaining or disturbing her.

i had a schnauzer that did exactly the same and my neighbours were ok at first then sour.....anyway a breeder recommended i had a look in the canine chemist catalogue which i did and found something called a bark control,and what it does is you place it on the worksurface if your dogs in the kitchen and when barking is detected it lets out a ultrasonic sound that stops the barkingit takes a 9v battery which lasts about 6 months and it actually works now my neighbours say she only barks when someone knocks at my door.hope this helps.you can get a catalogue on the canine chemist.co.uk website also lots of other stuff quite reasonable.let me know if it helps

thankyou for your advice i am going to look at that website i dont think shes barking that much as i cannot hear when i am on my way home i have crept up to the front door and listened i think my neighbours dont like dogs!.

just tried that website is that the right address as it didnt work. kellie

Hi Kellie,
     They sell these on www.bensen.co.uk - the one for indoors is £46.99.  They do one for use in the garden as well, that's £60 I think.
  Hilda

Not sure if its the same website that Dawn16198 referred to, but Google yielded http://www.caninechemists.com.  They seem to be run by Hyperdrug
So I had a look around and didn't find anything similar to what Dawn described...only anti-bark collars...

Hope this helps

i wiil try that website.another question when do puppys stop chewing mine started when she was about six months she has lots of toys and has chewed even the hardest ones! she just chews all the time and is not that interested in playing with her toys just eating them and my shoes,loo roll,post ect! will this stop my mum said her dogs did it and then just stopped one day.

Hi Kellie,
    The chewing can differ between dogs - our last boy was terrible, had to chew everything including the furniture, corners of carpet (after digging them up!), skirting boards, etc.  He was about 2 years old before he stopped doing the worst of it.  The boy we have now (who was 2 last Sat), has never been a chewer and has never 'taken' anything he shouldn't for chewing on - he's also a much more laid back temperament than our other dog was! 
  Hilda
 

got the e-mail addy for u,to ask for a catalogue its sales@hyperdrug.co.uk  it only takes a few days and they mail it straight out,they have lots of other stuff also.i have a 6month old boxer puppy who alos is chewing going to your next question,he chewed every spindle on my stairs and started on the skirting boards then i bout some bitter apple spray to put on furniture and other stuff and it works i also recommended it to a woman at work for her schnauzer who was eating her cane suite and it worked there also,worth a look