Sandra777

Looks like hives. Most of the time by the time you get them to the vet the bumps are gone again. I wouldn't worry too much - if she's in no discomfort it's probably not a biggy.

My dogs are vaccinated at 9-10 weeks, again at 12-13 weeks then again at 14-16 months then never again. I don't usually board my dogs though. They are out and about virtually every day and at shows very often. Used the same protocol when we used to own boarding kennels so our dogs were on the same property (and often using the same runs) as a multitude of ''strange'' dogs. New house/old house no difference to me. 2 years ago we brought 3 adults over from NZ and they had to be vaccinated as they were going to boarding kennels when they arrived here. 2 were 4 years old, 1 was 6. They haven't been vaccinated since and we have lived in 3 different houses in 3 very different areas since then. At the end of the day you have to be comfortable with your decision and there is absolutely no cast iron proof that any one method is absolutely correct. If you board your dogs then you have different issues (unless you find a kennel which accepts titre testing), if you take them to obedience some clubs may still insist on annual. Different needs/different ideas/different solutions.

Google the Australian Vet's Association's vaccination protocol. Three yearly is now the accepted protocol. Whether even that is necessary is a debateable point but annual is definitely no longer the protocol.

x2 I had one that would work her butt off for dry dog food and hated dried liver, commercial treats, cooked sausage and cooked chicken. She was raw fed though so maybe she thought it was maccas night

All I want is for ''accredited breeder'' to mean something. At the moment it means nothing, there is no compulsion to comply with the promises at the time of admittance and there appears to be nothing in place to remove accreditation once it is given. Simple request really.

China is a Stafford, about 18kg (fat bubba at the moment), so in weight not a lot different to a Sibe, her opponent a 2 metre brown. $900!! I love my vet even more.

OMG - I LOVE my vet. No mention of payment upfront, not even a hint of it. Paid when I picked China up and it was half of the amount mentioned above. Yes, I understand completely vet's are a business and not a charity and why they do it, and totally agree that if you have a pet you need to have immediate access to actual cash or a credit card or insurance.

Brisket bone, lamb flap - great for teeth cleaning. Chicken necks would be a total waste of time for her, one crunch and they swallow them (mine don't even bother with the crunch most of the time). They're great for little dogs, useless for a SBT. No you can't use people toothpaste, apparently dog tooth paste doesn't foam as much.

Why do you need to have the dog where a belly band - does he mark in the house? Me, I wouldn't use suprelorin as a substitute for basic house training. Neutered dogs (be they physically or chemically) will still mark if they're not trained that this is unacceptable.

Well the council did send me a registration renewal which listed one as a Retriever (Golden). Colour. Black. Whoops, shame she was a Portuguese Water Dog!

Don't bother with necks. He will swallow them whole and they're the perfect size and shape to get caught in his throat and kill him. Great food for Chihuahuas

Cans and rolls are expensive ways to buy water. I would be cautious feeding a SBT puppy supermarket brand dry food as most of them have high quantities of wheat and corn which can cause probems if your puppy is going to have allergy issues. IMO if you want to do dry go for one of the high end brands to start with - personally I like Canidae (ouchy exxy ), Nutro, Royal Canin (medium breed junior) or Blackhawk (search on here). None of these are cheap nor are they sold at supermarkets. Once your pup is a bit older and you know if you have allergy issues or not you can branch out and mix cheaper with the more expensive. That said I personally think the best diet for a SBT is the raw diet and raise all my pups on raw with some dry food chucked in. If he hasn't had raw food before you must introduce it slowly as it requires quite a different gut flora than processed and while adults can be changed cold turkey I wouldn't recommend it for a puppy. DO NOT CHANGE HIS FOOD AT ALL UNTIL HE HAS BEEN WITH YOU FOR 7-10 DAYS AT LEAST. Raw diet for a breed like the SBT is quite easy really. They are strong enough to munch things but small enough size that you don't have to totally freak out about them like you do when raising a giant breed. My pups get whole eggs (raw, in shell), chicken wings, turkey wing tips, lamb off cuts, sardines, cheese, chicken bodies (usually 1/2 each), sheep hearts, chicken livers (which this lot hated), beef heart and lumps of roo meat. Basically they will get a an amount of food which is roughly the size of their head 3 x per day and a 4th meal which is likely to be the sardines, liver, cheese etc. with some dry food I feed them as big a pieces as I can. Search on here there's hundreds of threads. no-nos.: any cooked bone of size shape or description. onions raw potato (or cooked in large quantities) grapes/raisins aren't great one or two probably won't hurt meat on it's own (without bone) for more than one or two meals in a row. excessive amounts of liver (any species) - causes Vit D issues (calcium absorption). Excessive to me would be more than a head-sized piece per week. You need to be comfortable and confident with what you're feeding him. ETA: yes, he's perfectly capable of munching bones at this age - but they need to be bones he can actually chew up and eat, not huge leg bones. The point of the exercise is for him to eat the bone

Put the amount of food he should have (according to the breeder or the packet) in a bowl. Put him and the bowl in a quiet place (away from 2 year old ) like the laundry or his crate/playpen for 15 minutes. Ignore him. Anything that's not eaten in that time, pick it up and feed him NOTHING until the next meal time. Don't give him bits and pieces (I bet him and your son are sharing snacks!) until he will eat his food at meal time. They're often a bit picky when they first go to their new home, so don't pander to him. Don't give him bits of meat as this will only encourage him to hang out for the good stuff and meat on it's own is a very bad diet for a dog. If you want to give him something other than or in addition to dry food I would suggest you start with minced chicken carcases or some sardines - both include bone which is where the minerals he needs are - or a whole egg including the shell provides some entertainment! (outside!)

We live in melboure and show regularly in vic i personally know almost every AST that does the show circuit and i challenge you to back up your claims and point out to me, all these blue AST’s with the bad mouths and skin problem. What a load of BS just ask for terry and jenny with the amstafs ingroup 2 It's not generally the dogs that are on the show circuit which are bred by BYB who breed ONLY for colour. As already said, the blue SBT is virtually never seen at shows which is quite a different situation to the Amstaff - but I'd be interested to know the health stats on BYB blue Amstaffs bred for their colour alone, that would be a fair comparison, certainly not the Amstaffs bred and owned by people who are interested in showing. Ok then, but can you tell me where have you seen so many AST’s ,with the same kind of issues as the SBTs. Very bad skin, lots of them that look nothing like an AmStaff, shocking teeth, etc. Im not trying to be smart, just curious to find out how and where you see so many bad dogs . do you work in a vet clinic or something? I guess you're asking Kirty, because I never said I had no but you were more than happy to speak for her Think you need to re-read the quotes. I pointed out that no one was dissing show-going, responsibly bred Amstaffs. Yes I do support Kirty's knowledge based on what I understand she has seen but I hardly think she needs me to speak for her. So you disagree that BYB Amstaffs bred only for their colour have issues?

Yep - no problems. Egg white binds Biotin so on it's own is not great in large quantities, fortunately yolk is very high in Biotin so nullifies the problem when they are fed together. Raw whole egg, shell included is a great little food package.

We live in melboure and show regularly in vic i personally know almost every AST that does the show circuit and i challenge you to back up your claims and point out to me, all these blue AST’s with the bad mouths and skin problem. What a load of BS just ask for terry and jenny with the amstafs ingroup 2 It's not generally the dogs that are on the show circuit which are bred by BYB who breed ONLY for colour. As already said, the blue SBT is virtually never seen at shows which is quite a different situation to the Amstaff - but I'd be interested to know the health stats on BYB blue Amstaffs bred for their colour alone, that would be a fair comparison, certainly not the Amstaffs bred and owned by people who are interested in showing. Ok then, but can you tell me where have you seen so many AST’s ,with the same kind of issues as the SBTs. Very bad skin, lots of them that look nothing like an AmStaff, shocking teeth, etc. Im not trying to be smart, just curious to find out how and where you see so many bad dogs . do you work in a vet clinic or something? I guess you're asking Kirty, because I never said I had

x3 Less mush more chewing - keeps them occupied and I reckon it helps them learn persistence and to solve problems - but maybe you don't want to teach Border Collies that

We live in melboure and show regularly in vic i personally know almost every AST that does the show circuit and i challenge you to back up your claims and point out to me, all these blue AST’s with the bad mouths and skin problem. What a load of BS just ask for terry and jenny with the amstafs ingroup 2 It's not generally the dogs that are on the show circuit which are bred by BYB who breed ONLY for colour. As already said, the blue SBT is virtually never seen at shows which is quite a different situation to the Amstaff - but I'd be interested to know the health stats on BYB blue Amstaffs bred for their colour alone, that would be a fair comparison, certainly not the Amstaffs bred and owned by people who are interested in showing.

ACCEPTED. Want to re-consider your choice of user name???? :eek: :eek: The thing is that blues are virtually never seen in the show ring - and I can't recall seeing more than a handful at specialist shows where they might actually get the opinion of someone with real knowledge of the breed, the the huge majority of breeders of blues have no idea what they're aiming for in terms of correct conformation - let alone actually try to prove they can breed it!

Have you read ANY of the posts here from people who have said they have tried to expose those doing the wrong things? Almost without exception the canine controls will do nothing. How are people meant to act if those with the responsibility to police these things won't???

Glad you've got her home Beenie, be prepared for some very filthy looks!

I always cooked the pumpkin when I used to go to all this bother - and they got it skin and all.

Yes Yes Yes No Sometimes. If the bitch's owner can explain rationally and sensibly why they think my dog is the right choice for her then I would be very much inclined to let them use him as long as she's reg'd, health tested, not horrendous, they're registered etc etc etc. I might not agree 100% with their logic (If I totally disagreed it would be a straight no) but maybe I'm wrong, maybe they're wrong. If they have considered the situation and have a plan, I would almost always be inclined to let them try it out.

Check out hairdressing/make-up supply places, the ones aimed at the professionals, if they're not on display ask if they can get them. Or you could just ask the petcetera people if they can get a different colour!

China is fine again this morning, only out for a brief pee & poop walk and very put out! Didn't crate her last night as she is the only one in the lounge area of the house and just lies on her bed when she's on her own anyway. She's crated when the others are loose and she is utterly disgusted in the whole idea