Staffyluv

I love your updates on Stevie... She is such a pretty girl...and you are doing such a great job with her...

I thought all pets slept on their owners bed They do in this house...

I have used comfortis on Ollie for 12 months before he passed away and now on the new dog with no issues at all.. Perhaps some dogs are more susceptible to the ingredients than others.

These were the holistic vets that help Ollie live 5 years longer than was thought even possible when he was dxd with MCT... I highly recommend them...

Lots of fun at Weston Park again. Ziggy was the first to discover the very large puddle that doubled as a swimming pool for a few of the dogs... He spent lots of time chasing, being chased (trying to get Lando's attention) and swimming in the big puddle... We tried the big dog park for a bit but he is unsure over there, so we headed back to the smaller dog park... He is much more confident and at home with the little dogs... We went back over to the big dog side just before leaving and he seemed a lot better but there was another pup in there this time... I am going to make this a regular Sunday thing, each week at around 10ish because he is such a loon and has so much fun... :D

Pre bath is a good idea as there is plenty of dirt to roll around in...

Just giving this a bump to see if anyone else wants to come and play n Sunday at 10am at Weston park, yarralumla. Not sure we will,do a BBQ but we are definitely up for a play date again...

It is a sad world we live in when my first thought went to the possibility of someone wanting to steal our boy.. I was talking to my son about it a while ago and described the guy and he thinks he knows who he was... He said if it is the guy he is thinking of he is harmless and a bit 'thick'... And that he probably just really liked Ziggy Edited for spelling and my iPad being a witch...

I agree, he would never have come to the door if he was planning on stealing him... Zig is mostly inside with me in my office or outside when we go walking, playing or training.. We seem to spend a lot of time together, so I am confident he is safe. It just freaked me a bit that someone would come to my door after seeing us a block away from home... I feel much better about it this morning. Glad you're feeling better. You never know, the guy may have spent the whole half hour just working up the courage to knock on your door That is exactly what I was thinking... Still, I have to confess I wanted to give him the whole - why would you want a cross breed dog to put over your cross breed bitch blah, blah, blah... Ziggy looks like a staffy - just a really , really big one.. At 10 months old he is now 22kg - I am thinking he might be crossed with something very large...

I agree, he would never have come to the door if he was planning on stealing him... Zig is mostly inside with me in my office or outside when we go walking, playing or training.. We seem to spend a lot of time together, so I am confident he is safe. It just freaked me a bit that someone would come to my door after seeing us a block away from home... I feel much better about it this morning.

I did not realise this guy had followed me around the corner or I would have kept walking... It was about half an hour after our initial chat that he came to the door.. Now I think about it he seemed much less interested once I said Zig was desexed... I have checked outside a few times and there isn't anyone around, not even any strange cars in the street... I called the police but they did not seem that interested but did suggest if he turns up again to call them. Hopefully it is just me over reacting and we won't see him again.

Yeah still working from home.. I think you are right and he will be fine... I was just a bit thrown when he turned up here... I think anyone Zig did not know would have a hard time getting near him anyway as he can be really standoffish if he does not know you...

The house is locked up tight. Ziggy is a great little guard dog, I will hear if anyone comes near the house... I am going out tomorrow to get a big padlock for the front gate. Our front and back fences are near six feet high but the side ones are only one and a half metres high.. I think the side ones will be OK as we have neighbours on both sides.. I am freaked about it... I am hoping that he was just curious and wanted to use him to breed (but Zig is so timid and did not ev en go near him when he stopped us earlier)... Hopefully I am over reacting...

Ziggy and I were out for an afternoon walk and we were stopped by this big burly guy and he asked if Ziggy was a pitbull.. I told him no and that he is a staffy cross... He wanted to take a pic of him but I said Zig does not like the camera.. So he wanted to show me his pitbulls... They were huge in the photos... He was pretty insistent that Zig was a pitty, so I just shrugged him off and said I had to go. This was about a block away from home and around the corner. I did not even think to check if this guy was watching where I was going.. Well he turned up on my doorstep half an hour ago and just wanted to ask if Zig was desexed and if not could he use him when he was a bit older... I told him he is desexed and he is of no use for breeding to anyone.. He commented that it was a shame and left... I am a little freaked as he must have followed us to find out where we live... Zig is scared of strangers and most things. He is really timid unless he knows you... I am terrified this guy is going to come back for him when I am not home or something... Is this a matter for the police? Am I being paranoid? Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated...

Ah grumpette, I love seeing your dogs.. Just awesome...

I started with a clicker. Every time I click and say his name he gets a treat (helps if they are food focused) Then I started clicking while he was out in the yard and yelling his name. When he came running he got his fave treats.. Now when we go to the leash free park, I can use his name and he comes running for a treat.. It can be inconvenient having to carry treats all the time. Hopefully someone else can give you some ideas...

Don't get a stafford if you don't like farting.... I am sure it is an unwritten part of the breed standard, as has been mentioned on DOL many times over the years. Most will insist on sharing everything with you... Your meals, bed, lounge, shoes and their slobbery toys.. They also consider themselves lap dogs... So if you don't like sharing everything Staffords are not for you. Believe it or not they shed... Thousands of tiny little eyelash length hairs are everywhere and in everything. I use a dyson and still manage to serve dinner with Staffy hair occasionally...

How old is she babe? Ollie dog used to drink a lot and then regurgitate a bit of it.. Turned out he had reflux and this can be attributed to age.. They do take longer to heal as they get older and the full desexing on an older bitch would be a big deal... Just keep her quiet and stay in touch with the vet.. Take her back until you get some satisfaction if you have to... Hope she is feeling better soon, poor old girl..

What a terrible state of affairs this is for both dogs and their owners... Hopefully the owner of the grey will take responsibility and pay the vet bill himself. In my opinion if I had a dog that was not appropriate with other dogs, there is no way in hell it would be off leash... It is sad but some dogs just can't have the freedom that others can... Also when the OP reports this incident the other owner will have to deal with the possibility of having his dog declared dangerous, all because he was walking on a beach at a time when the OPs out of control dog decided to be spooked and take off... I don't think DOLers will ever know the full story unless both owners turn up here asking for advice. I do hope the grey makes a full and speedy recovery and his owner realizes that it should not be an off lead dog in the future... How sad for everyone involved...

Ziggy will happily oversee the cooking of the BBQ..

Once Ollie had it once, he was prone to small 'attacks' if he ate anything out of the ordinary. He spent 3 days in hospital on a drip because the next door neighbours felt sorry for him and gave him a rissole and sausage from the BBQ (one day when I was out for the day)... They felt bad when I explained it but they weren't to know... If he ate anything fatty, he would get ill again.. I am going to get some lamb bones for boofhead and see how he goes though - he will only get them rarely until I feel sure about it (having had a sick dog, I seem to be over protective of this one because I don't want him to get sick)...

I don't think I have anything on next Sunday so might just put it in my calendar so I don't book anything else... He has so much fun playing at the park and this time I am going to bring a couple of toys.. Thanks for the videos Koala, they are great, it is awesome to see so many doggies having so much fun together at once... Shall we say 10ish again?

Trifecta, I will get some chicken carcasses and see how he goes. I freeze the wings as he tends not to chew them and then throws them back up, silly pup. I always thought lamb was fatty? After having an old dog with pancreatic issues (requiring an almost fat free diet), I must admit feeding fatty meaty bones makes me nervous. But I will,get some as i am sure he will love them. He seems to prefer raw bones to anything else. At the moment he gets a cup of Nutro large need puppy and a tin of sardines in oil for breakfast and a bone of some description (chook wing, brisket bone, turkey neck) durning the day and then half a cup of Nutro and some roll ( from petstock, can't recall the name) or just some human grade mince with some grated/chopped veg added. He has days where he seems to be extra hungry and others where he does not eat a lot at all. I try to take his lead and remove food after about 20 minutes if he leaves it... His weight is good and he seems healthy enough, so I must be doing something right :)

Thanks all. I am relatively new to feeding raw bones as my old boy got fussy and would never eat them. Maybe one every couple of days is to much. I usually give frozen chook wings or brisket bones but could not get the brisket bones so bought him a marrow bone. It was probably 4 times the size of his usual brisket bones (they are about 10cm) and the marrow nine would easily have been as big as a ruler... I bought some turkey necks today so will try him on them tomorrow

Another great fun day watching the dogs having a ball. Definitely going again, either next Sunday or the one after (have to check what else is on)