Staffyluv

My sister lost her beloved male stafford to a brown snake and just could not bear it, so went out and bought the first male pup (that looked like Pappy) that she could find... Buddy was a cute puppy but by the age of about 20 weeks, he was shaping up to her female stafford.. I mentioned that at his young age, I thought that was very unusual... The female put him in his place but by the time he was 9-10 months old, he was bigger than her and would not take it lying down. He attacked her and then she backed down... They also had another pup (sharpei x mastiff, Tex) and Buddy used to beat up on him all the time... Very rough play to the point where the other dogs got hurt (a lot).. Fast forward to when he is 14 months old and he bailed my sister up in the yard, so she finally had him desexed (I told her it may not make any difference to him and I think he has something wrong with him)... 3 months later, my niece was calling to her mother and Buddy had her cornered and growled at my sister when she tried to move him.. She called her husband and the vet and the dog was put down an hour later in their back yard... To this very day I believe that Buddy had something wrong with him from the start.. He always walked around with his tail in the air, he would walk past you in the lounge room and look sideways at you and growl, he constantly hurt the other dogs and he always looked like he was ready to have a go at anyone or anything... I wished they had done an autopsy on him to see if he had a brain tumour or something because I really don't think a dog that is loved and cared for, just 'turns' on its owners for no reason...

Geez disorder I have only just seen this thread - poor little man. It just breaks your heart to see and hear their pain. I am so glad that he is on the road to recovery.

thankyou, have you used then yourself for anything? We used All Natural Vet Care in Sydney for Ollie (we are in Canberra and they liaise with us via phone and email)... They treated him with chinese herbs and supplements when he was undergoing chemo... I highly recommend them

I would be requesting a follow up with the fine needle aspirate - a result of 'showing not much', simply would not be satisfactory in my opinion...

Please don't just up and take the dog as your mother suggested - think of how you would feel if he did that to you... Perhaps offer to buy his share from him as you are both the registered owners and put to him that you believe that you can give the dog the better home with the yard and cost to raise the pup etc... You may end up needing someone to mediate the situation if you can't reach a decision together... Most of all stay calm about it all, I know it can be an emotional drain but try to stay calm for everyone, including the pup

Rest in peace Buddy Please pass on my condolences to Kelpie-i and her family

Wash your hands, put the cream on your finger and wipe across the eye that needs it... give a small treat or a quick play and say good dog, good dog straight after it - they learn to associate being good with getting it done:)

I am so sorry Rozzie... Bless her heart, she sounds like an angel... Rest in peace Abbey...

That is true - we had the unfortunate luck to come across one moron who was mouthing off about a dog fight out near Yass, NSW... Apparently an organised 'sport' that you can bet on (God my stomach still turns when I think about it)... He turned up here at our place with a friend of ours - our friend was very apologetic and did not realise his 'friend' was into that... We reported it and they did get someone (a few years ago now) who was 'keeping' to many dogs... We were told that sadly once they (dog fighters) are discovered, they just pack up shop and move somewhere else...

Thanks fifi, it's ok we've been having a bit of a laugh, but since I started the thread i wont get drawn into it to far Agree with fifi, spiff - unfortunately here on DOL you can't please most of the people most of the time I think you have a great idea, sounds perfect for us - 1 dog and grown up kids who don't holiday with us anyway... The opportunity to go on a holiday that might just be kid free is absolute bliss to us... I will be on the lookout for your business ad... Good luck with your endeavour Colliehound - sounds great too..

Absolutely... Ollie has fish oil as well and he also has fresh fish like tuna and salmon (not the canned stuff).. I did offer him sardines once and he walked away... spottychick, yes I know about the ground flax but unfortunately chemo damaged his stomach and digestive tract somewhat and his diet has to remain pretty bland, so it is only the oil for us.. The ground stuff tends to give him runny poo, so we avoid it now. We did try it in the beginning and we still have some here.

Just my opinion and I don't know jack about breeding: I don't understand why we need/want cross bred animals when there is already so many great breeds of dog to choose from... My understanding is that pure bred dogs are bred to a standard and good breeders will health test etc to make sure the pups will be as close to the standard and healthy as possible... With cross bred animals, you can't be sure of what you are going to get - the pups could have the best or the worst of what ever the original breeds are... So back to my original point - why make more, when we are still perfecting the original??

There are 3 vets in the practice that we go to and every one of them knows Ollie's case (even though the practice owner is the vet we usually see) - I think it is really nice that they all made an effort to know Ollie and what we were dealing with. I also like the fact that, even though they did not agree with the holistic approach we wanted to use as well as the chemo, they helped so much by sending Ollie's results to the holistic vet for us and even chatted with them to produce the best outcome for Ollie... The staff a very friendly and always say hi, even if they are busy... The other vets even come into the waiting area to say hi and have a pat between consults if we are there - but then I suppose we have spent a lot of time and money there, maybe they feel obligated to be nice to him The advice is always spot on, they never push you out the door and always take the time to hear your concerns (no matter how silly they might sound)... They do give approximate costs and will call if it is going to go over... I was lucky enough to be offered an account when Ollie was having chemo but I chose not to take them up on it and extended the limit on my visa card instead to cover it.. Just the fact that they offered impressed me... If there was a gold award for veterinary service - our vet and his practice deserve it... West Queanbeyan Vets...

Ollie has cancer and he gets cottage cheese with flax oil on it... Not sure about the ground stuff though - I would have thought it would be a bit rough on the stomachs of most dogs

That is great news...

the red bit is usually good news, from my experience... could be a cyst or fatty lipoma - but it is best to get a needle aspirate done to be sure. Don't just accept it when the vet says it is 'probably' nothing... The needle aspirate takes a few minutes and confirms it is nothing.

Yes you are right, it does change it... Not sure if it helps but at the time of Ollie's dxd, as you know we opted for chemo.. there were 3 other dogs dxd with MCT. Dog 1 (ACD) was MCT grade 2 without clean margins and lived another year (no chemo). Dog 2 (??) was MCT grade 1 with clear margins and is still very much alive after 4 years Dog 3 (cross breed) was MCT grade 3, no chemo and no clear margins lived 6 months.. I know of plenty of other cases as well and it varies so widely on what you do - change of diet, holistic treatment etc.. All these things can have a huge impact on how the long the dog will be here... Statistically even with the chemo, Ollie should have only been here for another year to year and a half - tis going on four and half years now since he was dxd...

Clean margins, grade 2, tumour about the size of an orange, told without chemo it's a 25% chance it comes back. Just wondering what others have experienced personally. We had grade 2, with no clear margins and used chemo - the chemo did help but the tumours are were back in about 12 months from when the chemo finished... Funnily enough Ollie had 2 removed with clear margins but the big one on his rump did not have clear margins and the local lymph nodes showed active Mast cells... With clear margins statistics say about 25% will get more tumours.. Did they biospy the local lymph nodes when they removed the tumour? I am pretty sure it has been a year since Mooper's Jack had his grade 3 removed with clear margins and as far as I know he still does not have any more tumours

PM Mooper, her Jack had MCT 3 removed with clear margins... no chemo

We had a partial tear in both back legs but was still OK to walk short distances... We used Ester C powder dissolved in water (helps with healing) and increased fish oil and vitamin E doses by about 20% for a couple of weeks - no surgery needed... There is quite a bit of info here on DOL about Cruciate Ligament damage/surgery... If you do a search there is plenty to read on it. Best of luck with healing it can be a long process - you do need to stop the dog from doing to much and stairs are out of the question until the ligament is better (rest is the best option and lots of people keep their dogs crated while they recover)... Recovery is different because the tears are different in each dog...

Any chance you could find a new home for him and let him have sleep overs for a little while before it becomes his new home... The sleep overs could start as one night and then a couple of nights and then he could just stay there... I would definitely be trying to rehome before the harder option and I am sure there will be someone out there just perfect for him.. The barking in the backyard could simply be because he is losing his hearing.. My nearly 13 year old stafford has started to bark at nothing and he has never been a barker... Not a lot, he just thinks he hears something and barks.. You never know, he may be barking at birds if it is in the back yard...

I am so sorry for your loss Sarah... RIP Cruise

Oh Helen, I am so sorry to hear this... Rest in peace lovely boy... Hugs to you my dear Jodie xx

Everything crossed for good results for Jodie...

ditto, we use the same dose here... 20kg dog gets 2 x 1000mg a day - one morning and one at night