maxiblack

We're taking our two dogs to Tweed Valley Pet Resort this weekend, we preferred them over Bark Royale because they will exercise our two dogs together in the exercise area and will not add any other dogs into the mix. Will let you know what it is like :-)

You could try http://www.goldcoastpets.com.au/, they may have a Brisbane contact. Good luck

We're going through a similar thing at the moment except our dogs have been together since Bundy was a 5 week old puppy, he is now just over 1yo and Maxi is 7. Maxi is a quiet and placid desexed female dalmatian x and Bundy is a demanding desexed male staffy x. The aggressive behaviour surfaced last weekend and I have been beside myself with worry because I don't want to give Bundy away and I don't want to destroy Maxi's spirit. We contacted several people but went with Dr Cam Day, he is very helpful and experienced (but extremely expensive) and he was available when we needed him, others are all very busy and we didn't want to wait any longer than we had to. We've been advised to keep them separated, supervise their limited interaction (on leads), continue to walk them because they seem happy then and to remove any bones/pigs ears from the yard (Bundy is a bit of a resource guarder). It's only been a week and we're exhausted, at the moment it feels like one step forward and two steps back. How are you going with your two? Did you contact a behaviourist?

Yes, Bundy was desexed at 8 weeks - he's a pound puppy and they don't adopt them out unless they have been desexed.

We've recently had our 1 yo staffy x vaccinated (C5) and since then he's been lethargic and exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards our older dog. Up until now the dogs have gotten along well. We've been in touch with Steve Courtney and he's suggested that it could be vaccinosis, something I've never heard of before and I've emailed Dr Steven Holloway to ask him about the effects of vaccination. I'll certainly be doing my research and getting further advice before having him vaccinated again, it's been very distressing and all we can do is keep the dogs separated and keep an eye on him until it either wears off or until we can meet with Steve.

Thanks, am trying to be positive and while vaccinosis sounds horrible I prefer that to the possibility that this could be an ongoing issue, he really is such a beautiful boy.

Well, the happy ramblings of yesterday have gone and Bundy is again being aggressive towards Maxi so on the advice of Steve (K9Force) we're keeping them separated day and night and will have to supervise any interaction. Steve has been a great help and eased our minds a little although I'm still very worried because Bundy and Maxi have had such a wonderful relationship up until now and it's heart breaking to see it turn nasty. If this is a result of a vaccination then I'm going to be reluctant to have him vaccinated again next year, I've read a bit about vaccinosis but up until now had never heard of it. Has anyone else experienced this? How common is it? I've read of puppies dying because of reactions to vaccine, but they've all been less than 6 months old. ;) :cool:

This morning we've been for a nice long walk with the two of them and they've been fed and have been happily wrestling and sleeping in the backyard. I don't know if this will last but the 'tough love' will and with some hard work (and possibly a behaviourist) I'm hoping we won't see any more of this aggression. Still, I feel as though I'm walking on eggshells.

I have emailed K9Force (?) and someone here on the coast (Craig Murray) seeking advice/help but being a Sunday it means that we can't get immediate help and advice. Getting rid of him is the very last thing I want to do, he is such a joy to have around and he's my responsibility so I'll do whatever I can to keep him.

With all my heart I hope that this is something that can be fixed, I'm not getting any sleep tonight and I feel sick with dread as to what tomorrow (today?) may bring. Bundy is in the garage with his bed, coat and rug, we live in QLD so it's not as cold as further south. He hasn't made a fuss of being in there, was very meek and cuddly which surprises me, he doesn't like to be left out and usually cries when left behind.

Bundy is a 1 1/4 yo staffy male (desexed) and Maxi is a 7 yo dalmatian x female (desexed). We've had Bundy since he was 5 weeks old (foster puppy from AWL) and both dogs have always gotten along well apart from the occasional 'scrap' in the backyard or growling over a bone. Friday Bundy was vaccinated, yesterday he was fine but this afternoon he has been very aggressive (growling, hair raised and snapping) towards the Maxi and she is quite placid but will defend herself. she is now very wary of him and we've had to separate them. He has been to obedience training and they get regular walks, but I have to admit we've been very slack of late and we've also been allowing him to sleep on the bed and get away with sitting on our laps a well. Definitely have only ourselves to blame however we're very keen to change our behaviour but are concerned about what to do in the meantime, tonight he is sleeping in the garage and she is inside on her dog bed so that they're separated. We took them for a long walk after the first instance which we assumed was over a pigs ear but it seems to us that the aggression is surfacing when we're around. Separated, he is very quiet and sleeping on his bed in the garage. It is so upsetting and I know it's my fault, I love this little boy and don't want to take him to the pound but we have to consider our other dog and future visitors to our house so we need help/advice. He is always good around people including children and has been well socialised since we've had him.

It's been a while since I logged on and I came across Storm's story. I'm so sorry that you had to make such a decision, my heart breaks just looking at the beautiful photo of such a gorgeous girl. RIP Storm.

Thanks, they usually go to different parts of the yard with bones and pigs ears but Maxi eats alot faster and if Bundy gets distracted she goes and pinches his, likewise if she's distracted (by the postman or someone walking past) he leaves his and pinches hers. We will start feeding them at different ends of the house and see how that goes. The day after the fight (Sat), they both had pigs ears and there weren't any problems at least until this morning. How should we react when they do fight over food? What sort of behaviour should we exhibit when he growls at her like that?

Bundy, our StaffyX is almost 10mo and he recently became the aggressor over a rawhide bone he was chewing on. Our other dog, Maxi (a dalmation x staffy) is almost 7yo and loiters around when Bundy is eating but usually a couple of metres away. Maxi gets fed first and usually finishes first, Bundy can be a bit fussy and often sits near Maxi's bowl before venturing off to eat his food. Anyway, Bundy was trying to goad Maxi with the bone by growling and wagging his tail and jumping around, he left the bone on the bed behind him and started growling at Maxi and then it was on. Maxi is quite placid (a big sook really) and took off but did defend herself resulting in Bundy losing some fur and she also drew a little blood, we ran outside to try and stop them, Maxi was running away from Bundy so we were each able to grab a dog and separate them. It was quite frightening for us, they do alot of play wrestling normally but this is the first time that it has gotten nasty and we're concerned that this will become a problem. This morning he growled at her again while eating his breakfast (again, she had eaten hers and he finally decided to eat his so Maxi was loitering), the fur on his back was ruffled and on its end so we put Maxi inside and kept them separated until he had settled. We are taking him to Obedience School regularly and have been for about 8 weeks, he plays well with others and is a friendly and curious puppy (that chews everything of course) which is why this whole thing has taken us by surprise. If anyone has some thoughts or advice I would be most grateful, we don't want this to continue and because we take our dogs with us to visit family at Christmas time we don't want it to happen with other dogs.

Everything is a chew toy for our staffy, he particularly likes my padded bras but we did buy him some proper chew toys like a kong and they interested him for a little while. The toy he loves the best is an empty plastic bottle, one that originally contained juice, softdrink or milk and if we put a handful of dog biscuits in it then it keeps him occupied for ages. He chases it around the house and yard, it's like watching someone playing pinball because he can't always grip it but his biting gives the bottle momentum and it bounces of walls and doors - I had tears pouring down my face on one occasion because it was so funny to watch. Another thing he really loves is a stubby cooler made from wetsuit material, we even put them on the plastic bottles because they were soft and reasonably indestructible.

Wow! so envious of these people with puppies that have such good bladders, our adult dog Maxi was an outside dog for the first couple of years but slept in the garage during winter and she's been sleeping inside for the past 4 years and we've only ever had one accident. Our little staffy Bundy, 6 months old tomorrow, is a shocker even though we've been taking him outside regularly to go to the toilet, we praise him, his toilet phrase is 'poos and wees' (off BroTown cartoon) and i take him out a couple of times during the night. He generally wakes me at about 1am and 5am but sometimes it's after he's already done a poo inside but I don't know so I'm standing out in the cold waiting for him to go. Fingers crossed that he learns to hold it all night very soon.

My grandfather used to have an English Sheep Dog X called Henry and he was a lovely natured dog who would run up the drive and fetch the paper every day, however he did love to chase chickens and ducks (my Grandfather lived on a farm) and while supervised he never hurt them. Left unsupervised he killed a couple of ducks so my Grandfather tied them around his neck in the hope that it would deter it from doing it again, my Grandfather found Henry sleeping on them as if they were pillows . From then on Henry was not left unsupervised when out of the yard and when my Grandparents went out Henry was locked in his kennel the same as the other working dogs. I personally wouldn't have chooks if it meant not having my dogs, we had both growing up but the chooks were always secure in their pen and the dogs were secure in the yard. A dog will give you 10-15 years of unconditional love, loyalty and companionship whereas a chook will only give you eggs - please think about that before you consider rehoming your puppy.

What a fantastic dog house! I always wanted one for our first dog Maxi but couldn't get anyone to build one for her and being 6 years old I think she's quite happy with the 4 bedroom dog house she has now Our dogs sleep inside at night and have an outdoor area with their outdoor beds for the daytime, it would be great to have something they can get into and feel safe and secure especially during the storm season. Does it take much to encourage a puppy to sleep in there?