skuzy

keeping an eye on this for future reference!

thanks again for all the replies folks..its been really helpful we've got no dogs but have had experience keeping (bigger) dogs.... ive made plenty of my own mistakes with learning how to raise our own pets which is probably why im a little frantic about doing things right with these little ones.. Stopping the walks and having more playtime in the yard with them..considering maybe one walk every 2 days.. We're letting them stay in the house longer whilst we're in the kitchen etc trying to let them stay in the house whilst we're home as much as possible (what they're used to with their own owners).. My Gosh i forgotten how much dogs pee everywhere to mark their territory... any tips with this? right now walking around im using a squirt bottle and spraying them where i dont want dog pee.. eg outdoor table legs and drenching areas with dog pee with vinegar/water (50/50 mix)

Obviously there's alot of concern but it appears the first post was not read properly. So ill try again and hopefully there will be more useful feed back. 1) No specific instructions given - plus i dont agree with the ways these dogs were raised on some levels. They are tiny pampered house dogs with food/water available whenever and how ever much they want with plenty of play time but no walks. Right or wrong, i cant continue this whilst looking after them simply because i am not home 24/7. 2) Water is left them. Clearly im not sure about usual practice with crate training + dog pee, so have decided to leave water with them until i get some guidance from here. Obviously its summer. Thanks for the reminders. The SINGLE reason why they are being left inside the crate during the day is because its much cooler inside than outside. They are tiny dogs and im worried they cannot handle the heat. PLUS the actual owners keep them in the house most of the time. More than open to suggestions by the experienced owners on a better way to approach this. 3) just to clarify about time spent in the crate... Mornings = outside toilet break whilst i get ready, then walk, then feeding time etc roughly 2.5 hours. Evening they are outside of the crate from 6pm until we sleep (may also include another walk see next point). All up i would say roughly anything up to 8 hours outside the crate. really not enough? It seems like people only read the "30 mins walk" part from my first post 4) If you read the post properly the actual walk went for 30 mins (ran out of time) and there was a question if a further walk in the arvo for 30 minutes would be good. They are not huskies nor working dogs. So the concern is on over exercising or exhausting them. Right now plans are to let them tell me when enough is enough until someone more experienced here can guide. FWIW they are not in a crate per-se but a portable dog fence set up in the house since we have room. Any comments on food ? Thanks again

Hi folks looking for some advice whilst looking after a friends 3 small dogs (mixed breeds).. Plans on daily routine are: - Evening: let them sleep in the crate, no water. - Morning: outside play/toilet break/water . Then 30 mins walk (trying to determine how long is enough). On return home, some more water & kibble/dry food. - Day - return to crates with water - Arvo - outside play/toilet break/more kibble - repeat... Can someone help with these questions? 1) During the day, im assuming its ok to leave water with them. Concern i'll come home to pee everywhere 2) Any dramas with feeding some food after the walk? or should this be done before the walk in the morning? Plans are feeding a 2 small portions of food per day 3) I was really suprised they were ok with 30 mins walk this morning!! they're little dogs i would of thought 15-20mins was heaps. Should i keep to once a day or twice a day @ 30mins? 4) General feed back on above? Thanks in advance!

thanks again for all the replies... we've finaly met the dog... im no professional dog assessment analyst (or whatever the correct term is)... but the dog seems very very relaxed and placid... didnt respond to me grabbing its paws, checking its teeth, followed my lead on a quick walk with random changes in direction. having said that.. it has had very very limited time with the rescue group..who could only pass on feedback received from the kennel the dog was taken from...no idea if stray or private surrender...only rough idea on age...almost a 'what you see is what you get' kinda vibe because no guarantees could be placed on dogs behaviour later down track (fair enough?).. well we took the decision to wait a few more weeks and see how the dog goes (assuming he isnt rescued before then) and in light of some other posts here, i think it is the right decision.

thanks so much to everyone for the informative posts! It has been really helpful to us and where we are in the adoption process at the moment. We've found a dog we're very interested in from a rescue group's website i used to browse alot on… time to see how the rescuegroup stands up against some of the issues discussed here.

what if the rescue group has a close working relationship with the kennel/pound/other that it sources the dogs from? could you trust the assessment passed on from them? or even assessments provided by private surrenders?

How much observation time do rescuers need in order to make an assessment? Is this a case by case scenario or minimum 1 week for example? I imagine that given the number of dogs they have dealt with they should be able to make a fairly accurate assessment fairly quickly.

no children or other pets - that said we frequently visit relatives with pets & young children so have explained this and emphasized the importance of the dog being social. Right now we have spotted a particular dog and will do a meet and greet soon… the dog has only recently come under care of the rescue group so they haven’t had much time to do a full observation (fair enough)… but have relayed positive comments from the kennel/pound/wherever the dog was taken from.. The rescue group have also reassured me they do not attempt to rehome with any signs of aggression (human or dog) which is good to know.. We are aware the breed we are interested in (staffys) do not have the greatest track record with being social dogs if not socialised properly. In addition, we are mindful of “staffys” that are up for adoption are actually mixed breeds (ie the poor result of backyard breeding) which presents a risk because who knows what you are getting.. The option to get a puppy instead (or worse.. a different breed if my other half commands it lol) but our hearts really go out the dogs in pounds/rescue groups so we want to try this option first, but be sensible about it.

what an fantastic thread.. We have been wanting to get a dog for a LONNGGGGGG time... and now am considering to adopting one from a rescue group. What i wanted to ask, is what should prospective new owners of rescue dogs do as part of due diligence process (couldnt think of another suitable word) prior to actually adopting the dog? So far we are asking the rescue group alot of questions and have arranged to do an initial meet with the dog. However the rescue group have even commented there is always going to be a risk with some of these things because its a rescue dog (fair enough).. thanks in advance.

so how do u guys go about raising a staffy pup given that most of us work 9-5.. and the amount of energy these have at such a young age.. iam focusing on when the dog is a pup - presumably if raising is done right, the dog will be easier to manage during adult hood with 1 - 2 walks a day and some toys to play with during the day.. no idea how this would work with a pup tho..eg if i was to buy one aged 8weeks

this is pretty interesting feedback.. because to be quiet honest.. i was expecting "no" responses from everyone... because raising a litter (im speculating here) can involve any number of pups (2-8??) and i cant imagine the amount of time + effort this would require from breeders to implement! hats off to you folks who do!! it has helped me re-adjust my expectations when choosing a breeder tho =]

hi folks.. one quick question.... are staffy pups really energetic? bumped into my neighbour who now has one.. approx 3 or 4months old... WOW alot of energy.. and was not expecting that. It this just simply puppy hood?

Hi Folks I havent bought a puppy in a longgggg time but am looking to get one in the next 1-2years. Ive seen various vids by Ian Dunbar some articles which me slightly confused when looking to buy a pup. eg Im currently reading an article here http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/happy-birthday-puppy-training-time-another-paradigm-shift-puppy-raising and it says, "Basically, far too many people purchase eight-week-old puppies that are not housetrained, not chewtoy-trained, have not been taught to come, sit and lie down on cue and are not sufficiently socialized to people, even though by eight weeks of age, the Critical Period of Socialization is already nearly two thirds over. Furthermore, many new puppy owners are unaware of the extreme urgency of maintaining errorless housetraining and chewtoy-training programs (which also prevent the development excessive barking and separation anxiety), teaching manners and continuing to socialize puppies with people during their first couple of months at home. We are really neglecting early puppy development and missing out on this narrow window of opportunity. Far too many untrained puppies become tomorrow’s shelter dogs." So my question is: - Do registered breeders actually do this? i.e. all the training / socialisation mentioned above by 8wks?

seirously im so sick of people pointing the finger and simply blaming breeds.

i thought so too! wonder how on earth they taught the dog that trick..

bumped into this the other day.. had to share it.. can anyone interpret what is being said?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYRTlZ0ky0s

interesting feedback! - thanks to all who replied, trying to learning more and more about this breed.

1/ Triangle of temptation (See top of Puppy thread) and Steve's article on Socialisation (search DOL) 2/ Read above article 3/ Get another one, two is not twice the work and we don't fell guilty if we get stuck away from home at times hi thanks I assume then that anyone who works 9-5 (which would be most people?) would therefore own 2 staffies then?

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really enjoyed reading everyones post in this thread, because its given me assurance that its not just my dog doing this... but its just nature of sibes.. Ive owned my sibe for abit more than 3 years now, and have learned ALOT about dogs during that time. However i still struggle with this alphamale/dominance issue. Iam thinking its because sibes are a more independant breed than the ones ive previously owned. eg. we all know how they love to run... well the other day somehow the front gate swung open, and guess who happened to be there at the time.. lol First instinct for me was to grab his collar so he wouldnt bolt. After grabbing his collar, and holding him (he didnt try to bolt but sat there) he started a low growl at me. I yell "NO" and he stops.. he starts again abit later. Yelled "NO" again... he stops again.. and i figure he's stressing out about something so i try to ease this by patting him (still holding the collar).. Not sure what it is about holding his collar that stresses him to the point where he has to growl at me... but this leads me to believe i havent asserted myself properly as leader in his eyes.

Hi i'd very much like to hear from other owners how they deal with the Sibes 'alpha male'/dominance issue - ie how do you control this or maintain your dominance over the Sibe. is this something that has to be done from a pup? What if someone adopts a rescue husky, how do they maintain or establish their leadership role over the sibe? Cheers.

Hi - this is a fantastic thread.. Some dumb questions from me... 1) Are there any 'must' do training classes for SBT's? 2) Are there any 'must' do socliasing activities 3) I work 9-5 weekdays. Are there any suggestions on what i could do to help manage the pup with this solo time? Thanks in advance!

interesting thread. never heard of prong collars until today.

Totally agree with what you folks have said. Given the fact its a sibe, my personal preference is to be present during the training session to help with alpha male role etc. To be quiet honest, im not sure what to look out for in trying to find a good trainer? Everyone markets themselves as 'Australia's best trainer' etc. Im totally new to taking dogs to training school etc. hence some of these initial questions.

Hi all Im gearing up to send my 1y/o sibe off to obedience school for 2 - 3 wks. My sibe, currently sits, stays, shakes hand. He LOVES to play and thats about it (dont blame him). i wouldnt say i have FULL control over him (eg when a stranger arrives he will do anything to play with them), and there are some minor things i would like corrected (eg now and then he jumps on me to play - i ignore him, but doesnt work that great). I dont believe i have a serious problem with 'alpha male' with my sibe, but perhaps someone could chime in with 'symptoms' of alpha role problems? Anyways - i havent been told too much about what to expect, or what they will be doing, or even more importantly, what to do post obedience school, which has prompted me to ask here. Given the costs involved (about $1k) i would like to know if there are specific questions i should ask the trainer/school to keep them 'honest' in what they are promising in terms of behavioural results. Also - if there are any other husky owners who have also sent their sibe to a school, id like to know how did it work for you? can i expect similiar results for my sibe? was there any problems with the fact that we're dealing with a SIBE? (ie. fair enough he learns to be obedient at the training facility, but will he be obedient at home?). Thanks in advance. -s