Sandra777

If the kennel has a lift up roof or other access for cleaning, or the door is a suitable size.... Get a sack, and a piece of hardboard/plywood/marine ply as big as the floor of the kennel. Put the board in the sack, add padding if you want. The theory is that the board prevents the dog pulling the bedding out the door - but some learn how to turn the board on an angle to get it through the door, and others just wreck the bed inside the kennel.

Don't "mouth" people (ie NO BITING) How to learn. Scary the number of adult dogs I have met who simply do not understand the concept of trying behaviours and getting rewarded.

For dogs? 3 months. For people, depends on the state I believe?

What Ellz & SBT123 said. Staffords, and many other breeds I imagine, are so stable and reliable because of their "toey" "fiesty" "scrappy" tendencies - these tendencies go hand and paw with the bold fearless temperament that allows them to put up with the surprises, noises and stresses of "modern life". No, I won't compromise correct breed temperament.

Yes, at first we were going to look for an Amstaff, but there are no breeders or pups at all! Looks like it will be a staffy You won't find any - Amstaffs don't officially exist in the UK and the general consensus amongst officials is that they would be classified as "pit bull type" if found. You can NOT import them. You will have no problem finding a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the UK - there are approximately 25,000 of them registered every year :D, to say nothing of the thousands in rescue every year. Try www.staffords.co.uk for a start, hope Troy doesn't bite me for that one! Staffords where originally on the breed ban list but i gather they have fought hard thank god or it maybe certain area,s Staffords are included and are required to be muzzled in certain parts of Ireland but apparently this part of the law is not widely practised Amstaffs however would get caught up.

Yes, at first we were going to look for an Amstaff, but there are no breeders or pups at all! Looks like it will be a staffy You won't find any - Amstaffs don't officially exist in the UK and the general consensus amongst officials is that they would be classified as "pit bull type" if found. You can NOT import them. You will have no problem finding a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the UK - there are approximately 25,000 of them registered every year , to say nothing of the thousands in rescue every year. Try www.staffords.co.uk for a start, hope Troy doesn't bite me for that one!

.. oops

I've found mine will vomit up small pieces of bone which they can't digest, it's what dogs do to things they can't digest If Doof vomits every time regardless of the species of bone then I would suspect he has digestion issues, perhaps isn't used to bones as a regular thing? If he's a younger dog you and you want to continue with bones, start with something which is softer - chicken and veal for example, don't feed anything a bit harder like the chicken thigh bone to start with, and perhaps try a probiotic and see what happens. Or get minced chicken bodies and use this to get his stomach a bit more used to bone. If he's an older dog maybe have a look at other choices to keep his teeth good.

Sorry for your loss, RIP Bella

Some pups are way more mouthy than others and with a bitza you've got the problem of maybe different inbred instincts - heeling types like ACD's have the instinct to round up and "heel", herding types want to just do the rounding up, terriers can be mouthy because they have the instinct to bite prey and the bull terrier types can be mouthy because I swear they just like to use their strength (I own Staffords, mouthy puppies HURT!) What sets the puppy off? Some get excited by movement, some by squealing, some don't need much excuse at all Getting up and walking away can stop the behaviour, but allows a pup who wants to herd or chase the chance to do this (and maybe finish up with a bite, which is self rewarding) It's a difficult problem because the pup will probably quickly learn not to do it to adults, but may continue to do it to children which is a worse problem IMO. Personally I don't think redirection works all that well with a pup that nips out of excitement. The smart ones figure out pretty quick - if I bite that hand I'll get to play a great game of tug. With these ones totally ignoring the behaviour helps but that's hard for kids because many of them don't seem to do the really firm ignore very well. If the pup is otherwise very outgoing and happy I'd go with a sharp adversive for this specific behaviour, a squirt bottle, a sharp buzz on an airhorn, whatever the pup reacts to without fear (because that just causes other problems). The instant the pup stops ask for a sit or down or some trick (maybe teach the pup to shake hands?) and give a low-key reward. This works for me and I reckon it's because the pup is getting an adversive which shows it the behaviour isn't appreciated, then expected to do something before getting a reward, you're not rewarding it by the instant transfer from biting people to biting a toy.

Yep chicken feet are good stuff.

He won't lose his puppy teeth until he's 3 or 4 months old so nothing to worry about there. No experience with Bull Terriers, but with Staffords if the baby canines are converging there's not a lot of hope for the adult ones to be correct - but as nobul (above) has experience with BTs I'd go with that advice

She doesn't have to sleep on your bed, simply move the crate into your room. AFAIK most guide dogs sleep in their owner's bedroom and it was not encouraged for them to be "separated" from their owner (this was when I was involved with GDs many moons ago ) If she lived here she probably would have had the spray treatment by now -open the door, squirt her with a spray bottle, say NO firmly and shut the door - but don't do this until you are sure it's nothing more serious than trying you on. Try confining her to the crate and see what happens.

X3 :D

Never seen a pattern but one probably exists If your reasonably practical try getting a cheap piece of material (old sheet or something) cut it out and use pins to create what you want, then make a pattern from this. That said, I bought a waterproof one with 1 opening end, 1 opening side and a window, velcro all around, on special for $25 (usually $35) for a 90 something cm crate so is making one really worth it?

Most dogs at my place last 14-16 years so this is my experience, this in a breed "known" to live 12-14 years. 7 IS a number being thrown around, but it's not one I brought in to the conversation The point is that someone without oldies is not necessarily a puppy farmer. Rehoming bitches after breeding doesn't necessarily make you a puppy farmer.

IMO 7 is a random number. 7 for a Dane is "older" age, 7 for a smaller breed bitch is quite a lot less than 1/2 her life expectancy. Some dogs no matter what their age are keepers, some aren't. There's always some which are going to be happier living as a single dog and their age doesn't change this - so what to do? Keep a 7.5 year old bitch to avoid being labelled a puppy farmer or keep her for another 8-10 years in a situation where she is never as happy as she could be elsewhere? Or someone who has not been in the breed for long, or someone who breeds very infrequently and has lost all their oldies through natural causes. We lost all 3 of our over 14's in a space of 8 months quite a few years ago, our next oldest was 5 - from ethical reputable breeder to puppy farmer in 8 months? IMO a puppy farmer is about motive not actual physical things. A beautifully kept kennel with all the latest mod-cons can be a puppy farm. Although admittedly, no loving caring people would keep their dogs in a sea of mud so the reverse analogy isn't 100% correct.

Normal. The hormonal changes a bitch goes through are the same whether she's pregnant or not.

You can clean the muck off with either witch hazel or listerine before you apply the curash, but if you have neither and it's only a small spot and not too "crusty" just apply the curash powder - liberally and frequently

I've had a bitch who came in season every 3 months on the dot. Not fun if you want to show them As she's young I'd have her thoroughly checked out by a specialist, could be something amiss, certainly best to know for sure!

I don't know what breed you're talking about but why would you not asked experienced breeders in your breed if this is common/likely in your breed. I know in Staffords yes it is very possible, it's not likely to happen in 2 weeks for the simple fact that the nail takes longer than that to grow, but yes they can certainly change colour as the pup grows, and certain foods can help the process.

Firstly it is not a vaccination - it is a dose of chemicals injected straight into the dog. I had my three girls injected (once!) and had no side effects, but would not do it again. Well you now have 3 months to investigate further and decide what to do, but the first thing you should be investigating is do you even need to give a heartworm preventative where you live, all year, part of the year, when??

Nope. good age to start - old enough to be able to physically hold on just that wee bit longer. Our nearly 10 week old boys are still in a crate with a playpen for toilet breaks over night (I don't do getting up in the night), nearly ready to try them with just a crate during the day for their afternoon naps

Firstly, sorry you've had so many problems. Each in themselves doesn't sound much more than what can happen with any dog, when you put them all in one puppy, and a new excited owner and some issues in your own life then it does sound all very disappointing and hard. I don't think it is unreasonable for you to ask the breeder to take the puppy back. If you have kept the breeder up to date with all the issues as they have arisen IMO any reasonable breeder would say they would replace the pup at some future date (unless there is more to the story - if they have given you sound advice and you've ignored it for example, then they might be a bit antsy about supplying another pup) IMO it is a bit unreasonable to expect a full cash refund at this stage because apart from the swollowing issues, none of the other things are things the breeder had any control over or really can be considered responsible for. What the breeder choses to do with the puppy if you do return her shouldn't really come in to it. It will be difficult as you are obviously very attached to the pup, but you have to decide what is best for you and if that is sending the puppy back then that is what you should do.

Nine weeks old yesterday And I've posted this one before... both of these dogs were rescued from the same pound and described as "staffy cross""