VintageDiva

Hear, hear! A dog is a carnivore, with a carnivore's digestive system, a carnivore's teeth. You can't say your dog is an omnivore when it's scientifically proven that they're not. Yes, of course they will eat fruit, vegetables and grain if that's what we feed them - just as we can eat processed food and sugary junk, even though it is not good for our bodies and will likely cause issues in the future. My own dog will graze on the apples and plums that fall from my trees - he loves the sugary sweetness. His body uses none of it - it all comes out the other end, looking quite similar to when it went in.

As a Bendigo local myself, I would recommend Wag 'N' Tails Companion Dog Club. This is a relatively new club (they started in February) which is community based, has low one-payment-only membership fees, and is a really fun place to be. I've found the instructors to be friendly and they definitely know what they're talking about. The club uses positive reinforcement methods, which have worked wonders with my own dog . They have agility equipment for games and practice... a real community vibe... a quarterly newsletter filled with photos of members and their dogs, as well as informative articles about all things DOG... In short, it's great value and lots of fun for you and your dog! Plus the first class is free so you've got nothing to lose whatever you decide. They have a website - http://wagntailscdc.piczo.com - and all the details you'll need are there. They meet each Sunday at Long Gully Community Centre in Havilah Rd, Long Gully. Currently classes start at 1pm.

Just a couple more things I've noticed with my Stafford: He is really good at entertaining himself, and will happily spend several hours wandering the back yard, playing with leaves, sticks and toys by himself, doing zoomies etc. He doesn't need me or other dogs to make him do things. Yes, he can fart! But after trial and error I've worked out that he mainly does it after eating pork and when he's stressed. So by limiting those things, the house is virtually fart free. Of course, this means that when he actually does fart, it's even worse because I'd forgotten just how bad it was. He relaxes very quickly. On walks, if I stop and chat with someone, he is happy to stand next to me and look around or even lie by my side in the frog position until I'm ready to continue walking. No complaints from him, ever.

A great topic - I'm really enjoying reading each reply. My own thoughts on some of the issues brought up (I have a 3yo male Stafford). Separation Anxiety Bean is home alone in a secure outside pen for approximately 9 hours each week day while I'm at work. He has been doing this since he was 13 months old and he came to live with me. Apart from the first few weeks when he did some barking, I have had no problems. We follow a routine each work day, which he knows he can rely on. He knows that I'll come back at a certain time, he knows he'll get a walk when I come back. Thanks to the routine, the training sessions, the bond between us and the boredom busters I utilise (frozen Kongs, meaty bones), I have a content dog who rarely barks (I have a lovely next door neighbour who checks on him over the fence one or more times a day) and who is happy to sleep and lie around until I come home. I also go inside the house to change from my work clothes each afternoon before going to greet him, which he sees but he just sits or lies somewhere in his pen and is happy to wait. He never complains, never whines. From my own experience, separation anxiety is not a problem! Allergies Beef is one I've noticed - too much and Bean has tummy troubles, so we steer clear of it. Also some grasses and weeds can give him itchy rashes during certain times of the year, thanks to that super short coat and sensitive skin. This is eased by keeping the lawns mown. I also use a cream if things get too sore looking. Dog Aggression Bean is a typical Stafford - full on and overly friendly - and he does seem to ignore or not notice most other dog's signals to 'keep away' etc, and will charge right in to say hello. He requires proper, supervised introduction to most dogs, as he likes to be the dominant one and will do his best to make sure the other dog knows that. He has been rushed at in an aggressive way by off lead ( ) dogs on our walks a number of times now, and all times he has fought back (thankfully nothing has ever escalated to a dog fight extent). I cannot imagine him backing down from anything. That said, he has never exhibited aggression to any dog he has been properly introduced to. If a dog snaps etc at him during a meeting on a dog walk, he has never reacted (he just looks surprised). Lead Pulling Unfortunately Bean arrived in my life at the age of 13 months, with lead pulling already part of his bag of tricks. While he does still pull on the lead if given the opportunity, general obedience training and leadership have helped enormously, as has the use of a chest harness and a number of tricks picked up from my sister, a dog trainer. Basically, I follow the rule that you never walk in the direction a dog is pulling. Staffords are very headstrong, but with consistency, it will work. Fence Height etc I have never had a problem with my Stafford attempting to jump the fence. My fences are under 2m high, with the gates being a fair bit lower. He is kept in a secure pen when I'm at work etc, which has wire that hangs over inwards at the top, meaning he cannot gain purchase if he tries to jump. When I'm home, it's just a matter of supervising him when in the yard. He generally prefers to be with me (another nice Stafford trait), so keeping him close to me and aware of me is no problem. The Staffordshire Voice Bean's bark is always a shock to hear, because he does it so rarely. It's kind of like a cough, which deepens and becomes more 'normal' the longer he's barking. He also does some grumbling and deep throat noises when trying to sleep or during a cuddle session .

My Stafford has been known to clear a room too! He's also on a raw diet (meat/bone/offal). I find it often happens when he's stressed (generally when his routine has changed or when people come over for dinner; anything that doesn't happen often). As soon as we're alone again and/or his routine is back to normal, the farting magically stops... He also tended to fart after eating pig trotters, so I've reduced the amount of pork he eats. He now gets pork once a month, if that. This has helped a lot. I keep an air freshener - specifically for pet odours - in the loungeroom and also the bedroom. This can sometimes make the farts smell worse, however .

TiffanyAmber ~ I got mixed up with the names! I meant the Country Fresh Meats in the Kangaroo Flat Market Centre. I've found a few goodies there, like trays of chicken hearts (so cute!), lamb brains and quail. I alternate between buying my beef chuck/neck bones from there and from the butcher inside Centro Lansell. It depends who has it on special. I got three for free from Country Fresh Meats a couple of weeks ago. I did my usual thing of asking them to cut each chuck bone across the middle (too big for Bean otherwise) and the butcher came out and said I could have them for free, as the meat looked a little old. Still smelled fine, and I freeze them anyway. So that was a nice surprise! I have also been to Mannings Greyhound complex - forgot to mention that one. They had some roo chunks last time I went which were good. No blue dye that I saw. I also love the supermarkets, and have found some great bargains in the human section of a local Safeway supermarket. I got six large chicken thighs for just $3.00 last week, and once found meaty lamb necks at a ridiculously low price. I also keep an eye on the lamb shanks, as they are often on special.

Try air dried pizzle sticks or other air dried meat products. Do a search on eBay - that's where I buy mine. They have roo, crocodile, emu, lamb, goat, venison etc. It takes my fully toothed Staffy up to 15 minutes to chew through a decent sized air dried pizzle stick, so hopefully it should last even longer for your own dog. Softer than rawhide on the gums as well.

Bean's weekly diet is never the same - it depends what I have in the freezer, what was on special, what I stocked up on etc. But an average week would be something like two days of meat with no bone, then one day of a meaty bone. This seems the best way of working out the 80% meat/10% bone/10% offal (incl 5% liver) ratio. Something like this: Monday: Section of ox tongue + one egg Tuesday: Lamb shank + one or two chicken livers Wednesday: Beef steak + one egg Thursday: Section of ox tongue + one kidney Friday: Half a rabbit Saturday: Fish head (usually salmon) + one egg Sunday: Boneless roo chunk For treats I like to use air dried (not cooked) offal or meat. During summer I freeze his Kong, stuffed with diced lamb or ox heart. I'm also sometimes able to source whole chicken (still with feathers, feet etc) and rabbit (still with head, fur, feet etc). Bean has also caught the odd bird in the backyard and I let him eat them (what a sad waste otherwise). I once returned home from work, let him out of his outdoor pen and noticed some recent earthmoving he'd done... I dug down a little bit and discovered a tiny bird heart! He was very excited to see it - I guess that little morsel got away from him.

I feed anywhere between two to four raw eggs in their shells every week.

I strive to follow the 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal formula each week. So, Bean generally gets two days of meat (no bone), followed by a day with a meaty bone. A common menu would be: Monday: Chunk of beef steak, one raw egg in shell Tuesday: Half an ox tongue, one chicken liver Wednesday: Lamb shank, one kidney Thursday: Roo chunks, one raw egg in shell Friday: Section of ox tongue, one lamb heart Saturday: Chicken frame, lamb brain Sunday: Salmon head, one raw egg in shell In a perfect world I would be able to source whole prey - like a rabbit, lamb or chicken - with all organs still inside. There'd be no worrying about the 80/10/10 ratio then, as it's already a perfectly balanced meal just as nature intended.

Bendigo, Central Victoria. Breen St Pet Supply Great service here - they have always happily chopped things smaller for me if needed. You can find roo tail sections, roo chunks, big beef steaks, chicken necks, skinned rabbits and different preservative free minces. Fresh Fish Shop, Bendigo Market Place I buy large, meaty salmon heads here for 50 cents each. The Meat Master, Kangaroo Flat Market Centre Beef chuck bones, chicken hearts, ox heart, shanks, chicken livers, brains. Not many other places (I'd love to hear from someone who lives in Bendigo and knows where more things are!), apart from a couple of local butchers and supermarkets that sell ox tongues, lamb hearts, ox hearts, lamb offcuts, goat, pig trotters and pork hocks. I'd be very interested to hear where I could source sheep heads and goat meat in Bendigo or nearby.

It's amazing what butchers would otherwise throw out! I scored three large turkey frames - one of which Bean ate this morning as his Christmas dinner. Below is a photo of Bean's 2007 Christmas turkey frame... he was waiting for me to give him the 'Okay' to eat it.

Hi, While I can't comment on the working dog side of things, I do know that my Stafford does a similar thing on walks when he sees a dog walking towards us. He will stop, look at the dog and then drop onto the ground, where he'd stay if I let him. Like your dog, he gets up and is happy to meet the other dog when it comes up to us. My theory has always been that my dog does this to ensure he DOES get to meet the other dog. It's simply like he's waiting, and trying to get me to stop and wait too. He tends to be a bit too full-on for many dogs we meet, so maybe the dropping is his attempt to try something different in order to get what he wants (which is meeting another dog). I rarely allow him to do this anymore, especially as most of the time the dog was on the other side of the road and there's was no point to his waiting! Sometimes I simply keep walking quickly along, saying "Quick, quick!" which he understands. I now know what he'll do when he sees another dog, so I don't let him get to the dropping stage at all if I can help it. Not sure if this was any help at all, as our breeds are so different and they're probably both doing what they're doing for different reasons, but I just thought I'd share my story. And as for the sheep, I know that the Koolie Club meet regularly in country Victoria for sheep herding (beginners and other working dog breeds welcome). Check out this link: http://www.australian-koolies.info/meetings.html They have a herding weekend in Elmore (two hours drive from Melbourne) coming up in early April.

Have you tried fasting your dog for 24 hours or so? A dog that is sick and is continuing to eat won't be able to use all its energy fighting the sickness - the body will still be working on digesting food all day. Also, food continually going down will just irritate the stomach and cause nausea all over again. I find that if my dog has nausea or stomach pain, no food for 24 hours (remember, a dog could survive for days at a time with no food, just water) has always helped 100%. Of course, he is still provided with fresh water at all times. All the best .

I've always fed Bean a raw diet, for a number of reasons. I had watched my sister feed her two dogs a raw diet for years, and was impressed with their shiny coats, good health and fresh breath. I did a lot of research - a year later I'm still researching and learning new things - and it made complete sense to feed a dog (a domesticated wolf) raw meat, as that's what its digestive system is set up for. Also, why would I feed a processed, packaged diet with additives/colourings etc etc, plus a bunch of things a dog just doesn't need - when I can rely on a raw diet to provide everything my dog needs? I always wanted to feed my dog what was best for it - not what was easiest for me, or pleasanter for me to look at and touch. As it turned out, I've found raw feeding extremely cost effective and one of the most interesting parts of having a dog in my life!