Sandra777

Mine do this with pigs heads - few little teeth and a jaw bone is all that's left, they especially like the eye :laugh: :laugh:

BYB'ers can be registered breeders too. Puppy Farmers can be registered breeders too.

Just a point here westiemum - the demand for well bred, typical pedigree Staffordshire Bull Terriers is no where near satisfied. BYBer's abound in the breed, breeding crappy dogs of all colours to say nothing of the crossbred "staffys" and these ARE hugely over-represented in pounds. There would be a tiny number of well bred typical Staffords which are in a pound through anything other than being genuinely lost.

Large sable cross sounds like a cat to me. Don't think most people would know sable is a colour. Cross bred pup, the picture tells you what colour he is.

agreed there, we have a JRT at the park which can be a bit aggressive, on one occassion it bit its owners hand when he stopped it from going another dog,done a bit of damage for a small dog. Still not clear on this question. Worst people-injuries I've personally seen in a dog fight was between an Airedale & a Bull Terrier and ALL the people bites were from the Airedale - because the Bull Terrier got a grip with it's first bite did not move at all. Two dogs snapping at each other, two people freaking out - is there ever any absolutely certain way of knowing who bit what?

A puppy with a hernia bad enough to be fatal would be pretty rare! Small umbilical hernias aren't uncommon and hardly ever need repairing as they sort themselves out as the pup grows. I have heard of a few with hernias in the groin but I believe these would be pretty unusual

Check out the trolleys from hardware places for moving stuff around the house - four wheels, platform, fold up handle. Very light weight and make hauling crap around really easy, I've seen some on special for $25-$45 depending on the weight/size of wheels/I guess quality of the trolley.

Nothing wrong with a flat collar if it works for that dog. Pretty dodgy class IMO if the first thing is to hand out a halti - did anyone even evaluate his behaviour on a flat collar?

The barking may well have sounded aggressive but what was the dog's body language telling you? IMO "quickly removing" a dog from a situation where it is uncomfortable can often re-inforce the idea that there was something for it to be uncomfortable about. Not saying you should let the pup rush up to visitors and maul them, just saying that if the dog is barking but it's body language is not shouting aggression then you have a totally different problem than if the dog is barking and it's body language is aggressive.

subtle, rainy, very subtle :laugh: :laugh:

Gently massage in light kneeding sort of motion from the body towards the nipple, this may or may not result in expressing some milk but if they're "unused" then possibly not. Expressing does tend to encourage the bitch to produce more milk but in these cases I personally think this is the lesser of two evils. Warm compress (wash cloth?) can help before you start the massage if it's really tight and lumpy. I have used cold (not frozen) uncooked cabbage leaves on mastitis, straight out of the fridge on to the boob and wrap, leave in place for an hour or so. The important part seemed to be to get the leaf sort of wrapped right around the affected breast, like a bra cup so not sure a whole leaf would be needed for an Iggy :D

Teach him 'tricks' and basic obedience with a twist - for example as well as sit teach him to sit on a certain object (mat or something else flat I mean :D ), down and down with your front feet crossed, fetch a toy and put it in a basket or on a certain place (again, a mat perhaps) which can lead to put your toys away. An internet friend of mine had a broken leg and taught her dog to put his toys away, fetch tissues, close doors and all sorts of other things because she couldn't walk the dog or do "regular" obedience which is what she usually did, so kept his mind occupied in other ways. A young dog with a tired mind is way better than a young dog over exercised and hyped up with nothing to do.

Yeah - because that's worked so well absolutely everywhere it's been implemented. You can't legislate ethics.

More restrictions on breeders is just another step along the path so eagerly laid by PETA & the like. Isn't it about time personal responsibility was brought back in to fashion. Why do I need to be regulated up the wahzoo when I'm doing the right thing? Why do I need to pay (oh yes you better believe it, there will be a financial cost) for the idiot next door who owns two GSD-types which are never walked, never inside, never off the property who bark and bark and bark and bark and bark and bark and rush at the fence all day every day (except when they're locked in the garage). Dog rangers can do nothing despite having had repeated complaints and multiple visits. The day they get out a child will probably die, and there are half a dozen under fives in our small street. Why do I need to pay for the idiot over the back who has two BC types & an ACD type, which do the same except they have actually got out and attacked a child. Why do I need to pay for the idiot in Perth who can't socialise their dogs, keep them on their property and make them civilized animal worthy of living in modern society?

ideal world would be more dog friendly instead of increasingly unfriendly as is happening now. generalisation i know but well socialised dogs have got to be a better bet regardless of breed - or cross

HD is not entirely genetic...

Some chill pills for people who think they're just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo important.

Bone takes much longer to digest than meat so by that logic you should never feed bone and meat in the same meal - which kinda defeats the purpose of the raw diet :laugh: Dry food, requires different acid levels and gut flora to digest to meat/bone so it is possible that a digestively challenged dog could have issues with being fed both at once, and certainly a dog which has been on dry food doesn't tend to digest bone very well, but I have been feeding both together (or separate, or solely) for over 30 years and never had an issue. If the dog has a specific problem then certainly look at the diet, but otherwise remember dogs' stomach acid is designed to digest bone and kill all sorts of bugs that flourish in decaying *stuff* they like to eat - so a normal healthy dog certainly won't have a problem with a bit of dry food and some meat :)

Male-female-neutered-entire the behaviour you should be encouraging is the behaviour you want and the behaviour you should be discouraging is the behaviour you don't want. Shoving in is not a male thing, all jealous bossy dogs do it. I have never found the behaviour of a male pup to be any different to that of a female pup just because he's male - all pups are different regardless of sex.

All pups here cost the same - except if I have a pup I really think is a show prospect and I can't keep it I will usually give it to someone keen, so in effect show prospects are often free and pets cost :laugh:

Breeding certainly isn't all fluffy bunnies and unicorns, and you just don't know if you can take it or not until you've done it. Being your first litter it is really sad you had such a bad experience because in so many ways it sounds like you're just the sort of person that wants to do it right and should be breeding dogs. If you breed for long enough you'll have disasters, sometimes I think mother nature is being really vicious when she visits these disasters on people who are doing the right thing instead of puppy farmers

How does he naturally hold his head when he's attentive? If he doesn't naturally have a high head carriage then either you're going to have to develop very strong arms to "force" him to hold that pose OR have him looked at by a chiro. I had a bitch who wouldn't lift her head - turned out her neck and the forward 1/3 of her spine were in a bad way. If he naturally has the head carriage you want then it could be a matter of catching him in the right position and reinforcing it - pulling the head up and then praising never really seemed to work for me, usually makes them resist and turns it all in to a struggle :)

Agree that she's probably been "educated" about dry food only - shame some people will believe her and potentially some bitches could die. Always have calcium and I do tend to over do it but never really had an issue. 5ml per meal (20ml per day) at a minimum up to double this when they hit the peak 3-4 week mark. Stopping calcium at 3 weeks

Over the years I have had many new-ish vets who have never seen a natural birth - but if you think about it, how many people take their bitch to the vet if she's having no issues so when are they going to get to see these things? A number have sat in on a whelping for the experience. I have also had the horrifying experience of coming across a vet who had been practicing for 5 years and had never treated an entire male or female dog - now that blew my socks off!

Doesn't hurt to just put one if that's the one you really want - they can only say no after all - but instead of stressing and googling you could ring Dogs NSW and simply asking if it's been used. Even if it isn't used they won't be able to confirm you can have it over the phone but at least you'll know it's passed the first hurdle.