Bobbles: The Demon Dog

Here is a photo of Bobbles - the dog that has been the bain of my existence at home in Dublin. Sure, he looks pretty cute here, but he is seriously emotionally unstable. He has major separation anxiety and goes nuts barking whenever people come or go anywhere. I mean, I come in to the living room to say goodnight to my folks and he goes nuts, viciously barking at me. Same deal if I say goodbye on the way out to college. He's even managed to learn Italian and goes crazy if I say 'Ciao' instead.
Things have gotten better recently. My sister is a part-time dog whisperer, and my parents have finally started to listen to some of her advice. When he goes out into the back garden now, they put him on a long chain from time to time and it seems to be teaching him some boundaries. I was all in favour of the electric collar and spraying citronella in his face, but these were deemed to cruel.
I will dearly miss all my family when I get back to Japan, but I'm counting the days until I no longer have to share living space with this little monster. The paradox is that the little blighter seems to love me -he snuggles up to me when I sit on the couch, tries to sneek into my room to lie on the bed, and even waits outside the bathroom for me to finish in the shower. Can you imagine what he'd be like if I was actually nice to him?