SoL

Choosing the dogs you socialise your pup with is as important as choosing to socialise your pup at all. As Sandra777 said, you need to select dogs that will play with her "Stafford-stylie" or at least not be offended by her style of play. Or, you need the calmer type of dog that will not get razzed up or riled when confronted with a Stafford in full on play mode. She is at the age where she will start pushing the boundaries as to what she can get away with and any correction done at this time needs to be done correctly and consistently for it to be effective (probably not going to happen straight away if she has 'tude!). If you're not sure then I would definitely suggest getting a professional in to take you through some steps on how best to achieve this. This is completely do-able so don't lose heart!

It's usually on tuesday nights, just turn up. They're pretty good - it's rain, hail or shine

Delete post pls

You are asking for trouble feeding the dogs together. You need to feed them in separate runs with the doors closed. You need to put them in their separate runs when you go out. Just imagine if this fight had kicked off and you weren't there (BTW as you have learnt, not much will stop a fight once it has started other than getting in there and separating them yourself or using a break stick, shouting just gets them more whipped up and hosing doesn't touch them). Unfortunately bitches aren't called bitches for no reason and chances are they will bear a grudge now against each other. You will need to have rotational play. It sounds like the younger could be staking a claim for alpha. Is one bitch due on heat soon? They, like us, get hormonal, but the main contributing factor that I can see is food. Dog aggression does NOT mean a dog will be aggressive towards humans. However, I would put them all through some discipline/obedience training and up the ante on their exercise. I know that if I haven't run my dogs for a day they all get a bit snappy with each other. After I run them ragged they're content to be together. If you want to try a behavouralist then great but to be honest I think you will be having rotational play and isolated feeds from now on.

I don't care how it works. All I know is that my 11yo boy Chester has bad arthritis in his neck, to the point that he couldn't put his head down to eat and it hurt him to get up, get down and even bark. He has been on rosehip every day for the past 6 months and the difference is brilliant - he's like a pup again trying to keep up with the girls. I'm not saying that it's a cure but it's definitely eased his pain and I highly recommend it.

I get mine from an ag supply store.

Chester had this too but his was the dry food was compacting in his stomach. It could be that your boy is scarfing his food down.

A lot of my friends recommend the Biolac coat improver. I haven't tried it - with whities anything with iron/kelp added tends to bring out the ticking.

Rufus & Cocoa - small packets, BIG prices, waste of money. I found out the hard way too :)

Well, haven't we had a trying time of it!! At about the 5wk mark, I came in to find blood over Sunny's run. It seemed she had aborted the litter An u/s showed at least 2 viable pups in there and her prog level was good so we took her home for some TLC. She continued to grow :) and grow and grow ... I think there's more than 2 in there ;) We are due next Tuesday, I think she may go a little early. Anyone for a game of guessing blind how many's in there?

It depends for me ... For me, I don't like to meddle too much and I think that nature tends to be the biggest indicator of when a girl is ready to stand ie the flagging, standing and also the interest of the boy. The fact that she has stood and tied with a male suggests to me that she was at the right time to do so and in that circumstance, prog testing after the fact would be a waste of money. BUT If she stood at a time wayyyyy off her normal cycle then I would prog test OR if I saw evidence to point to an abortion/absorption I would ultrasound to see if there were any viable pups and then prog test to see the levels as she may need prog injections to help contain and grow the litter to full term if the level is low.

OK. Fingers are crossed that we are due 2 October :) She's not showing too much yet, though she seems more wombatty in shape and she's still quite swollen. She's always amazingly sooky so we can't got by that either.

which ones?

I feel your pain - my girl currently has 3 on her head Shaving, betadine (or salt water), Desitin nappy cream (has 40% zinc oxide in it) to dry and heal it, at worst antibiotics. Keep it clean and dry and when you're cleaning it out, make sure you scrub it back to pink skin. Also up the intake of Omegas with oily fish, I also supp with Rosehips (extremely high in Vit C - good for immune system (and also arthritis)). Then keep your fingers crossed that they go away by the next show date

to put it bluntly your vet is an idiot and has no idea when it comes to SBT's. Neither L2-HGA or HC can be detected via a physical examination and they require DNA testing. There are most certainly carriers of both diseases in this country, NO "breeder" ( I use the term loosely) should be mating SBT's without knowing the status of the parents and at the very least a person purchasing an SBT should be given a copy of the parents certificates. You have been given some invaluable advice from SBT people in the know and have chosen to ignore it. I hope for you and your puppies sake that it all goes well. ETA: there is no cure for L2-HGA and affected dogs suffer terribly from the symptoms. Dogs affected with HC go blind at a young age and that's certainly not fair on them. If your breeder knows nothing about L2-HGA and HC, then they probably have no idea about , type, temperament, structure and soundness. SBT puppies can also inherit weak immune systems, which leaves them vulnerable to demodectic mange and allergies. Dogs with poor conformation also produce puppies with poor conformation, patella and cruciate problems are rife in poorly bred SBT's. As an SBT breeder and enthusiast, I;m passionate about the quality of puppies being produced and even more passionate that potential buyers don't get taken for a ride. My advice is to return the pup and seek out a breeder who does care. +1

GTG Labs in Victoria. You ask them for a swab pack, they send it to you, your vet takes the cheek swab and send it back with the money for the relevant test(s).

Take the dog to the vet to get a cheek swab. Then send it off to the labs down in VIC (I'm forgetting the name at the mo).

I have PMd you :)

Phillip Adams at Brunker Road, Adamstown is one of the best vets I have known. HIghly recommend him.

Oh good, was starting to wonder!

I've tried to write a reply a couple of times but have deleted for fear of offending the OP. If I come across as harsh, please try and see through it to the meaning. To be completely blunt, the fact that a breeder still chooses to feed weetbix and milk to growing babies in their formative weeks speaks volumes. Unfortunately not in a good way. Whilst the rest of this post may seem completely off topic and probably a huge assumption on my part, I just think it needs to be said and the intention is to educate where needed. Please make sure that you have seen at least the mother of these babes and that she is in good condition, good health and good spirits and that her living area is clean and not smelly. Make sure you have seen the ANKC registration papers and that they state that the bitch is on the main register (in NSW this is a blue certificate) and owned by the breeder. I hope that you have asked about health testing for at least L2-HGA and HC. If the breeder has health tested and the bitch is a carrier of either condition then please ask to see the sire's health clearance certificate. If your breeder has not said anything about this before, I would suggest getting a good puppy wormer and start immediately. Make sure your pup is chipped and vaccinated too. Re food, you've got ProPlan, which is a damn sight better than bloody weetbix, which does absolutely nothing for the pup except provide consistent stools and I would take her off it immediately. Expect a possible runny tummy whilst she transitions over to the better food. Most puppy kibble is complete, which means it provides a balanced food and the correct ratio of calcium:phosphorus and also fat:protein balance. Most good puppy foods will be the same. Personally, I would NOT feed Pal, disgusting stuff, you will only be adding to problems there. If you want to add to the dry food, then things like sardines/mackeral/tuna in oil (cheap as chips from Aldi/Coles and Woolies), lamb flaps, chicken wings and necks, raw or boiled eggs (with shell). That is better than any tinned stuff and severely lessens the risk of allergies down the track. Crate train. Essential in my opinion. Take it from someone who had to rebuild a laundry after our special needs Stafford decided he couldn't hack being in there one day; and another Stafford who decided he'd had enough of staying at the vets and wrecked their crate for them :rolleyes: It's not to be used or viewed as a punishment, it's a saving grace, especially when they come to view the crate as their little safe haven, their little den. They will go happily to their crate in this way. Hope this helps. Good luck with her.

have a look at the k9-pro website, they might have something similar PLUS they're in Australia and I've only ever had good experiences with them :)

It gets worse Not only did Tank die, but a few Staffords have been stolen around the Maitland area, one of which was dumped on the side of the road, the bastards had ground his teeth down. The ONLY reason to do this is so that their own pit dogs don't get hurt when the bait dog tries to defend itself. They take away its chance of survival I have chains and locks on all my runs, gates etc, there are 2 gates to get in or out. I'm hoping that's enough. Word on the street is that it's not just the one bloke in his van with cages on teh flat top - they come in numbers now. We are letting anybody and everybody know. This has to be stopped.

If symptoms persist ... see your vet LOL