Sandra777

I don't think there are any ticks in the city so I probably don't need the tick treatment but I dunno how rampant the fleas are in the city. Paralysis ticks can be ANYWHERE in a paralysis tick area so please don't risk your dogs life by assuming you're safe. Check with local vets and find out if you are in a bad paralysis tick area. They're usually associated with brushy areas so could live in the botanical gardens, or long grass so could be found in virtually any park but as someone pointed out recently, they've had a paralysis tick and their dogs were on concrete when it happened. Fleas, they live in the environment more than on animals. Cats are the worst spreaders of fleas as they get into the small sandy areas fleas love such as under houses and the like. If you live in an older part of town or anywhere near houses which are up off the ground and/or have outside cats either of your own or visitors, fleas can be an issue. I have always lived in rural areas and don't have issues with fleas.

Permoxin. But it has to be applied regularly (weekly) and thoroughly. Advantix did us OK last summer, but apply every two weeks. Daily/twice daily checking is the only "sure fire" way, and then still not fool-proof.

I think the reasons for it would be many and varied. No doubt puppies raised in poor conditions could get the habit either through boredom or because they don't have enough to eat. In some dogs it's related to some digestive disorder either in themselves or a companion dog I remember reading about a dog which lived with a GSD with panreatic (sp!) issues, the non GSD would eat the GSD's poop until the owner got the GSD's medical condition sorted then it stopped, obviously the GSD wasn't digesting it's food properly so the other dog just thought, yah more food! Some dogs learn it from another dog and it just becomes a habit. Some dogs are just naturally greedy and if they can fit it in their mouths they'll eat it. The quality of the food probably has a fair amount to do with it in some cases, indigestible rubbish in would come out pretty much the same as it went in so would just be viewed as food. I know someone who had a large number of dogs and never had this problem until they changed to a certain cheap brand of food, then a lot of the dogs started it. The remaining food went to the pigs and the original food was brought back in to use, no more problems Hows that for an unequivocal answer :D Edited cause I'm trying to type in the dark!

lucky for me, i havent came across any of those people yet! I'm here now ;) If you want to breed your bitch, you want to be VERY careful of ''breeders'' who approach/contact you offering a stud dog for an immature bitch owned by an unregistered owner (that would be you ;) ) I don't know of any ethical breeder who would do this EXCEPT in the case of the breeder of the bitch or perhaps the breeder/s of the bitch's parents who might suggest xxx dog would one to consider in the future. For me, if your friends all want a puppy just like your bitch you could be well served by asking each one to stump up with $100-$150 deposit and see how many are left at the end of this conversation. I agree with the person who said they would never risk the life of their bitch just so their friends could have a puppy. Hang around here, learn from others with toy breeds and Poms in particular, and make your decision slowly and rationally. Having puppies isn't actually all that cute when the bitch needs a caesar then the pups develop fading puppy syndrome and then the bitch gets black mastitis and the skin on two of her boobs sloughs off in a great pussy lump.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier litter due around the 16th. Unconfirmed, but one very clingy girl here

x2 If the dog is too thin feed it more, if the dog is too fat feed it less. Very simple! And make sure with a Lab that you keep her on the leaner side, they really REALLY aren't meant to be chubsters!

Or a hot wire ;)

Chainlink with a hot wire. Chicken wire over the larger sized dog mesh is probably OK in some situations but won't stand up to weeds growing through it, weed wacker, etc, and certainly wouldn't cope if one of the dogs decided to eat their way out (supervised or not they could do this) Yes I have used a hot wire - put it about 10-15cm above the ground if you intend to keep the edges all neat, higher if you're into the more weedy rustic look . I've used a battery unit and a mains unit - don't worry about the setting, they will only touch it once and won't die. If you intend having litters of pups which might touch the wire then it's a different story. Warning - the first time they're out and the wire is live, have only ONE dog out at a time, I had two that decided it was the other one's fault they got a whack off the fence and had a barney over it.

I generally don't reduce the quantity of food to the bitch until the pups are 7-8 weeks old, but that does depend on her condition obviously. The quality of the food is the thing I was talking about. I have no idea about Advance rehydratable but for mine it would be instead of a chicken Maryland she'd get a drum stick and 1/2 a carcase for example - anything that gives them the same weight of food but less lean protein and more fat/skin/bone. Maybe old fashion, but works fine for me :p

If you raw feed, give him a chunk that is so large he has to chew pieces off it - not that this helps if he chews off a piece not quite small enough for him to swallow. If you dry feed, adding plain tap water to the food so it's floating sometimes helps. NOT soaking it so it's mushy. But - research if this could be a problem with bloat as I don't know anything about bloat (TG). Dogs are designed to swallow chunks of stuff - they don't have grinding molars like we do (and cows do), it is normal for them to swallow their food with minimal chewing.

At that age mine are with mum 24/7 although she has the means to get away from the pups if she wants to. They would get a piece of minced or scraped meat about as big as a golf ball twice a day in addition to whatever mum wants to give them. With a mastitis bitch it's generally OK to reduce the quality of her food and up the fat %, old timers always told me fat doesn't make milk as well as high quality protein does, and I've found this to be true despite the fact that it doesn't make a lot of sense and I don't know why it works. Reducing the quality of the food helps her reduce the milk production naturally, but at 3.5 weeks I wouldn't be too bothered by this - let the mum and pups work thisout between them and she'll reduce production in her own time.

Wow really?? I am sorry you had such a horrible experience, however the fact that your puppy is still alive AND that your boyfriend shouting and waving a stick deterred them suggests that these are badly socialised dogs, not crazed killing machines. YES - if they do this to an older dog with an attitude which refused to submit and fought back then the situation could get really ugly and NO they shouldn't be allowed to do this and certainly shouldn't be in the "control" of 3 young girls. Phone the local rangers it doesn't matter if you know who owns the dogs or not - they might well know them.

Not fair !!!! Just cos you have great outside puppy toilet training weather. Ours would have frozen with the last litter - not having another winter litter - even now I have to literally boot the two girls outside to go to the toilet (typical dobermanns ;) ). Even in NZ I taught them to go outside - and I reckon even Victoria can't beat the last winter we spent in NZ - rain for 37 days straight with the highest temperature of 14 I Queensland

To me 9 is not old, but I don't have a large breed. If there's good evidence it would improve his and your quality of life I'd consider it - there's plenty of tests that can be done prior to the GA to be as sure as you can be that he'll be OK (of course nothing is guaranteed no matter the age of the dog). I've had a 13 year old under GA (emergency) and she lived another 3 years, so it very much depends on the dog IMO.

Never said I would step into their yard doit4thedogz - why can't people learn to read

Can't say I can help with a floor covering - I teach mine to go outside on grass not inside Newspaper is a good game, but it's easy to pick up and really no big deal if it gets shredded.

I'm assuming your pup had his first vaccination at somewhere between 6 and 10 weeks of age? In these circumstances I would say yes, do the third one because there's no way of knowing without blood tests the level of maternal immunity left then, or even now for that matter, which interfers with the vaccination. Even the vaccine which is meant to work regardless of maternal immunity would have me a bit wary - how much long-term research has there actually been into this for example. Wasn't that long ago that science said we had to do 4 puppy shots then revaccinate annually, now they've got a vaccine that over rides or is unaffected by maternal immunity? Call me a doubter but nah, I want some real life proof thanks.

Considering the job they were originally bred for was one of the most demanding endurance "sports" ever devised, sprinter is way off the mark

Not sure why a running SBT should surprise you? They are extremely athletic dogs - they're not meant to be grossly fat or overdone sumo wrestlers - more the middle weight boxer look for them.

PWD's I owned one but I'm not sure she had a breed-typical temperament, she was raised with Staffords A bit on the skittish side but easily settled. Needed something to do every day - no more destructive than the Staffords (mine aren't particularly anyway) not as bad as many websites will make them out to be. VERY smart but not fawning or obsessive. Loved puzzles (knots tied in cloth, hide-and-seek) had plenty of persistency. Didn't much like to be far from me, very attached to her people but not in a whinging escape artist way, if not with me she was subdued, if not with me and OH she lay quietly and was reluctant to interact. Not at all aggressive towards strangers but not overwhealmingly friendly (not like Staffords who don't know the meaning of the word stranger!) Easy to train but not big on precision (would do heel work all day for example, but not always exactly where you'd want her to be for competion work. Maybe that was my fault). Very hard to physically tire her out once full grown. Thought she was a lap dog, was something like being hugged by a wookie. Very sweet natured but no shy retiring type - certainly wasn't intimidated by the Staffords. Did tend to feel the heat. Mine didn't like water SERIOUSLY CUTE!

Cocker, it was a while back now.

If the pup is now over 12-14 weeks ONE vaccination should be fine. Vaccination doesn't boost immunity, it creates it (in theory) Lack of antibodies is actually not a bad thing here, there's little chance the new vaccination will be nullified by maternal immunity which is always the problem with vaccinating younger ones.

;) Assuming showing is about the selection of breeding stock (even though there's precious few judges out there I'd be asking to select breeding stock for me thanks all the same!) surely the production of high quality dogs is the ultimate proof of a dog or bitch's worth as a breeding animal. If you like the dog, go to it's sire. BIS at Crufts has been won by a spayed bitch.

"Providing enough socialization. Most Staffordshire Bull Terriers are friendly with everyone,but some individuals have protective instincts toward strangers. In such a powerful and determined dog as a Stafford, this could be a problem unless you carefully socialize your dog, providing extensive exposure to a variety of people so your dog learns to recognize the normal behaviors of "good guys." Then they can recognize the difference when someone really does act abnormally." Total rubbish, no idea what breed they think they're talking about. Seen the website before and it was even more useless then, so I suppose they're slowly getting some knowledge of the breeds they're so keen to advise on.

If memory serves it's salmon you need to worry about not sardines, but maybe there's been a scare I haven't heard of AFAIK it's the fish higher up the food chain you have to be concerned about - they eat fish which have eaten other fish, and the concentrations of heavy metal can be high. I think it's the atlantic that's causing concern. Personally if it worries you'd I'd be googling