Staffyluv

No crying last night at all. A tiny wimper when he reailsed I was up at 7am this morning but I ignored it until about 20 minutes ago when he was quite again and I let him out. A very proud foster mum here...

Thanks. We have been turning away from him and ignoring the pushy behaviour. Today after he woke up and after each drink, I encouraged him to go into the yard and I stayed with him - he toileted each time. I really don't think he is going to be hard to teach.. I also think he was picking up on my stress of him not understanding me - hence the no sit or anything until I relaxed and then it just happened again and again.

No but I will work on that one too pers, thanks. I really need to get a book on NILIF - it looks really interesting from what I have googled so far

We have just had a breakthrough... We can sit on command. And we can come when called (maybe he is recognising his name now - how long does this usually take??) We have just spent a few minutes with him and he sat on his own, so when he was sitting I put my hand on his lower back and said, 'sit' good boy and gave him a pat. He stood up, so I said 'sit' again and he sat... Just making sure, we did it again and gave him a food reward - now everytime he looks at me, he sits... I knew he was clever - I am confident now we have a breakthrough, it will get easier and he will become more confident. Mita I actually thought that meds may be an option if he still gets upset by say Wednesday this week. Only because I am going away. I will ask the vet about it tomorrow. I agree too that he does not appear to have had a lot of human love in the past as he is just adoring us - he is on our heels no matter where. When I am on the computer he is on the spare bed behind me. I will go and get a wire crate tomorrow - I know it is the best thing for him. Thank you for all the suggestions - keep them coming, it all helps and we all get to know him better the more we talk about him. I will take some photo's tomorrow and post them up.

Yes he sits when HE wants to. If I ignore bad behaviour like the jumping - when he tires of it, he will sit and look at me (so after he has been sitting a few seconds, I say 'sit' and pat him - not much, just a nice soft pat on the head). The way he runs and jumps on really high furniture (the table for example), I don't think he has any back problems and he often lays like a staffy (frog style)...

He has energy to burn but as a foster who is not yet vaccinated (Monday), I am not allowed to walk him for 2 weeks. He won't be desexed until I come back from QLD after November 8th. We have been playing ball in the backyard of a day and with a rope toy of a night - he is actually really good at playing with these toys on his own, he throws the ball and bounces it and wrestles with the rope toy - but only when I am around. If I come inside, he dumps the toy and won't stay outside at all. I have been trying to stimulate his mind with training (going very poorly)... I realise he is a working breed and needs lots of exercise and he will get it as soon as his vaccs kick in. But for now, we have to be content with what we have. I have had him on lead here at the house quite a few times - he herds you, walks from one side to the other then around behind you - tis funny..but cute.. He is not a puller but I dare say I don't walk fast enough for him as he takes a few steps and then stops and waits for me to catch up to him. I also had him on lead when I took him to the vets on Saturday morning after the tick episode and he was fine with another dog growling at him (no reponse, he just stood beside me). I have had a variety of people come and go the last couple of days and once introduced he is fine with all of them and happy to meet people. He is not timid and shy - I would suggest more 'wary'. My son did notice that when you lift your foot up off the ground (he raised his knee to stop Gussy from jumping on him) - Gussy went straight down onto his belly... I fear he may have been kicked before at sometime in his passed.. The same happens if you raise your voice (I yelled out to Cory yesterday and Gussy went down on his belly and flattened his ears out) - so possibly been yelled at a lot too, poor baby. I think I might get a kong and freeze some treats into it for when I go out. This might keep him busy enough to not miss me so much but again, if he carries on, then I am just rewarding that behaviour aren't I??

He can't stay in my room. He can get out of his crate and he is not house trained. If he was house trained I would say fine but a grawn dog toileting in the house is not on. He just spent 3 weeks in the pound behind a cage door. My laundry door is glass so he can see everyone buy once the house is dark he starts crying. The biggest issue is I have to go away for a week on Thursday and my son is going to look after him while I am away. He is now having reservations due to Gussy not behaving and crying whenever he can't see me. Which I totally understand but it does not help me or poor Gus. I hope he settles a bit before I have to leave next week. I will just keep perservering with him

Thanks for that - I really appreciate the assistance. I know it is early days but I thought I could at least get him to sit in a couple of days. We have had numerous sessions on lead and off, trying to just get him to come and sit - he won't do either. Gussy won't sit, not even with pressure on his behind and food at his nose. He simply won't sit - he fights it and then backs away, so after a few attempts I leave him and then come back to it again in a couple of hours. I have been trying constantly since he arrived here - even my son has tried. Lead on and off. He won't sit for food or anything - this is the most basic of commands. If I can't even get him to sit after a couple of days, how on earth will I teach him anything else. The same with telling him down - he jumps constantly. As a kelpie and a smarter breed, you would think that being told and put down everytime you jump it would catch on. I do think his previous owners have a case to answer for - the poor little guy is starving for affection. I will look up this NILIF and hopefully that will give me something to go on because I am at a loss as to how to get him to just sit. I honestly cannot afford a professional for training him - hence my request for DOL helpers:) I guess I was just really spoilt with Ollie the last 14+ years - he was easy to train and did what he was asked (up until he developed selective hearing in his old age). I remember a lot of the training stuff from Ollies time at training here in Queanbeyan. ETA: Pers he does stop of his own accord as I simply will not give in to him and let him in - but trying to survive on 3 or 4 hours sleep is horrible (I am on medication to help with sleep since Dan passed away 4 weeks ago, so sleep is hard enough to get as it is)... I would be to scared to put him in a wire crate, I would be afraid he would hurt himself trying to get out and chewing on it. But that is a good idea, once he is more settled and not so freaked out to be by himself (which did not seem to bother him in the pound as he was timid and shy, no barking or anything, just very quite - oh no he is not). just goes to show how much a pound can change an animal - Gussy is the exact opposite of what he was in the pound.

I was only thinking this last night horus... He really did touch so many hearts over his time here on earth - I was truely blessed to be his owner and carer for that time.

Glad to hear she is doing well now - poor girl it must have been very frightening for her.

Our new guys is so cute and adorable in so many ways but he is starting to display some unwanted behaviour He can't be left alone or he cries while jumping at and scratching the door. He wrecked a brand new soft crate last night by chewing a hole straight through the side of it. I understand it may take a few days for him to stop crying when put to bed but even when ignored, he just won't stop - he cried, scratched and barked until about 3am this morning... The neighbour on one side has dogs that bark and I have complained to him over the years and he believes it is his turn to complain. I just had to drop my son out somewhere, so put Gus in the laundry (with his water, bed, toys and a chew - I was gone for about 25 minutes), when I got home the neighbour caught me and said 'that is going to wear thin pretty quick'... I have put up with his dogs barking for years and it has only been 2 days with this boy. He is loud and it is through the night or whenever he is not near me (my son said he does it if I go to the shop or for a shower)... I have never dealt with a dog with these issues before and I am not sure how to deal with them - do I put him in the back yard, so he can spend time alone and away from me to get him used to it? when he is in the backyard urinates on the clothes on the clothes line - I could not believe it when I walked into the yard to see him cock his leg on a sheet (I can raise the clothes line but how would you fix this one?) He has started to hump visitors too which I find most inappropriate - I have only ever had male dogs and none of them have ever done this to people before. Yes we put him down and tell him a firm no but he gets straight back up and starts again.. How do you deal with this one? It starts with him jumping up on someone and when he is put down with a firm down, he jumps up again and again - it is almost like a game to him. But it escalates to him humping whoever he is jumping on. It has been a long time since I did any training with a dog - this boy is a kelpie and around 18 months to 2 years old. I have never tried to train an older dog and his attention span to do anything is all but nil (even with treats). I can't use the pats and good dog response as he seems to get overly excited when he you pat him and he starts jumping and then humping again... He won't come when called, he won't sit - even with a treat at his nose and pressure on his rear to encourage him to sit. I have to keep all my inside doors shut now as he won't poop outside (he pees outside) - he finds a room and poops there (yesterday it was the lounge room). Any help would be appreciated.. I really want to help this boy and don't want to let him down, like his previous owners but I am worried I am out of my depth here...

Yep that is what I thought too... They come into the area via another means - but I thought it was scary that there had been 4 cases of late at the local vets.

I have chosen to foster - but breed etc is not important to me. I guess because I was not in a position for a more permanent resident (we just lost our old staffy earlier this week) but really found the house to empty and quite - fostering was a good idea. However while we were there meeting our foster boy - my son asked about staffys and the pound said they have a young dog in. So we looked, they fell in love with each other and we will be a staffy home again from Monday. This little guy was listed as staffy cross and 12 months old. He looks more like a full staffy (BYB of course, no respectful breeder would allow their pup to end up in a pound) and he is probably only 5-6 months old. So rescue it is for us this time. I guess it depends on your circumstances, what falls into place and how you feel about it.

I went up to the vets this morning and showed them the tick I pulled off - not a paralysis tick, thankfully. There were actually 2 ticks, one small black one and the big, greyish one. It was easy to pull off. The vet said they have had a few paralysis tick cases in lately. Just wanted to let the Canberra region people know because I did not think we had them here - obviously we do. So it is something to look out for. I have checked him all over and he is now tick free. He will be vaccinated on Monday when we collect the pup from the pound (do them both at once)... Then the following week he will be making the trip in to be desexed.. Thanks for all the advice and reassurance last night

Will post up some pics on Monday night - I am trying to get him on video playing with his ball. He plays by himself, throwing it around and chasing it - tis very funny to watch... He has gone to the toilet himself today, so I think he is settling in more now. It was really hard to get a lead on him yesterday but he just sat there this morning while I put his collar on and then attached his lead - so we are making progress.. He is one clever guy.

Thanks for that Maree, when I took the tick to the vet this morning they said it was not a paralysis tick but they have had about 4 in lately that were. They actually showed me one that was recently removed and still very engorged - hideous things... I think they come up from the coast somehow as they are not usually found in this area. I have checked him over again this morning and can't find anything else on him, thankfully

Just curious, what are they (vet) waiting for. It has been there a few days and has actually enlarged.. If it was my dog - I would have insisted on a fine needle aspirate for a preliminary diagnosis. That should tell you if you even need a biopsy (why put a dog through if if not necessary??) I hope he it goes down and he feels better soon.

I did use the tweezers and removed it last night - all if it and there was another, much smaller tick on the big tick. I got all of it as it was moving around on the paper when I put it on white paper to try to get a picture of it. I am going to take it up to the vets this morning to find out what it is (they are).. I have removed plenty of ticks over the years but have not done so for a long time, so was nervous about it. I was raised on the north coast of NSW and lived there until I was in my early 20s - walking around in the bush up there, we always had ticks on us (makes my skin crawl now but never gave it a second though back then). Just an update on the exuberant Gussy - he is fine this morning. You can see he needs to go for a walk but we will just have to play plenty of games to wear him out (wishful thinking). I think this guy would be awesome at fly ball when he has completed basic training.. he is an absolute pocket rocket. We were laughing at him last night running up and down the hallway after his new toy - his feet don't even touch the floor half the time (he literally flies). I will keep this thread updated as we continue our journey. He is pretty special - I honestly did not think it was possible to smile again this soon after Ollie dog.

He seems fine at the moment. He is destroying the cardboard roll from inside the glad wrap as I type. He is a really lovely little guy who is happy to amuse himself

It turns out he is house trained - he just likes company... He had a sook at me a while ago and when I said OK, he jumped up and ran out the back to go to the toilet... I just removed a huge tick off him. I have it here in a zip lock bag and will take him and it to the vet in the morning as he seems to be OK - he is rolling around on the spare bed behind me as I type... It was a grey/brown sort of colour with red legs - I got it all when I removed it as the horrid thing walked on the paper when I put it down to check the bite mark where it was attached to the poor little guy... He is actually very clever but seems to be happy to let us fumble through different commands to get him to do things.. I put his lead on him again to get the tick and he is really afraid of it, poor baby - something we will have to work on. Cory and I are going to join the local dog training club together when I get back from up north (family reunion from 3-8 November)... Cory will take his new staffy pup (pound puppy) and I will take Gussy along.

tifecta yes, it is definitely a tick. It is grey/brown, with redish coloured legs and fairly full. It was on his left side, about half way down his body. I have removed it and it was moving around on the paper a bit before I put it in a zip lock back. I tried to take a picture of it but they are all blurry and you really can't see it very well. I will take him and it to the vets tomorrow just to be safe. I was wondering the same thing, seeing as he has been in the pound for 3 weeks - unless he got it at the pound (there is a small amount of bush just outside some of the runs ??).

OK we have red legs and I just removed the horrid thing. It is still walking around on the paper and most definitely a paralysis tick based on every photo I have looked at. I have put it in a zip lock bag and will take him and it to the vets in the morning.

Thanks for that - I have been reading as much as I can since I found it. Now I am not sure that it would be a paralysis tick as we are in Queanbeyan (near Canberra) and the pooch was found in Bungendore. So perhaps it is a cattle tick or some other tick?? It sure looks like the picture of a partly engorged paralysis tick. I will keep an eye on him and take him to the vets first thing in the morning as he seems OK in himself (no symptoms of any kind)

OK I have never had a dog with a tick before and just patting the new foster boy and it looks like a tick. Googling has made me panic more as it looks like a paralysis tick - it is a light greyish/brown colour and probably a bit smaller than half a centimetre in length... How do you remove these? Or do I need a vet to do so (going by pictures it looks like it is about half engorged). Thanks in advance

He (Gussy as it suits him better than just Gus) is here.. I have put a post in the general rescue section about him and his antics... We collect Ziggy, the staffy pup, on Monday morning bright and early.. We introduced the two boys at the pound this afternoon and after Ziggy getting right in Gussys face and Gussy telling him off - all was well. They basically ignored each other after that but there was no tension or anything, they were fine.. Gussy plays ball by himself - it is the cutest thing. He throws it up in the air, bounces it, rolls it - he is a real clown, now he is more relaxed with us. I don't have any pics yet but will get some over the next couple of days to show him off.