Staffyluv

Yep, we go for a walk to the end of the block and back and then just walk in the front door (sort of like, it is something we do every day).. It really only takes a few minutes and walking can help destress and it gives them a chance to have a sniff after being in the car.

I find fosters settle if they get a routine of the same thing every day. After the ride home and a decent walk, we enter the house. My fosters are always bought in and out the front door only (never the gate in the driveway and so far, touch wood, I haven't had one escape). They are bought in and taken straight out the back to toilet and we stay there until they do - then lots of praise. This also gives me a chance to suss them out with the chickens. Then we do the usual stuff that I do every day (if it's early, I go to work - I work from home). We take them out to toilet about every half hour or so to begin with. Dinner is served, we make them sit and wait for the food (at the same time each day) They are shown their crate and are treated to go in the crate. Then we settle down and watch TV or I do the washing or whatever. I keep it as normal as possible. For bed, (out to toilet first) they are put in the crate with a chew and the crate is covered on both sides (so it's like a nice safe cave). I shut the door. In the morning, we get up and go to the park for a run and play (we do this every morning, unless it is bucketing down). Then the normal day continues again, with the same feed times and bed times. If you are calm and just go about your business, they will often follow you until they become more comfortable. I find it takes most about 3 weeks to totally settle into the routine but some pick it up quicker..

Touch wood, I have been VERY lucky here. Zig pretty much takes everything in his stride and doesn't seem to care if a foster wants to be the boss. With fosters, they have all seemed to be nice enough dogs and no real aggression issues (apart from the last two wanting to eat my chickens). If play gets a bit over the top, I just tell them to chill and so far that has worked in curbing any over the top behaviour. So far all dogs are fed together (note that I only have one foster at a time here), play together and even have bones together (supervised of course). Like I said - I have been very lucky.. I am thinking that Mila will probably be my last foster here because I can't handle them wanting to eat my chickens. The chickens are as much pets as Zig is and he is fine with them (we leave the gate permanently open and they interact with no problems).

K9 Pro backpacks Here is a link to the Ruffwear backpack that I bought for my boy - we use the harness but not the backpack (he has HD and can't carry the extra weight).. If you are going to do the harness and backpack thing - at least buy one with a well adjustable harness, so the load is actually carried well. Cheaper ones, probably won't have nice thick strapping, good buckles that sit flat and don't pinch in areas.

I lost the doggie love of my life just over 4 years ago (only 3 weeks after losing my husband) - it was horrible at the time but a friend who is involved with rescue, told me about a little dog that needed fostering, just one week after losing my boy. The house was so quiet and I was so broken, I didn't think it was a good idea but I just decided to go and meet this little guy anyway. So off I went to the pound, met Gus and organised to bring him home the next day. The next day my son wanted to come along to pick him up and while we were there he asked the ranger if he had any Staffy's.. I said no way, it is much too soon. But we met 3 of them. The two older dogs were not what I would have looked for in a dog but the younger one, was an absolute heartbreaker.. So 3 days later, we went and picked Zig up from the pound (as a keeper).. I've had another 7 dogs through now and I could have kept most of them but I tell myself that there is a better home of their own out there for them. Honestly, it is a wonderful feeling to hand over a foster to a home that truly adores them and to see them all so happy, well - that's why we do it. I have Mila here at the moment and she is as sweet as can be. I personally do some training with all my fosters before they go to new homes - I like them to have some manners and always suggest that their new homes keep up the training at their local dog club.

I wouldn't worry about what anyone else thinks - just concentrate on your dog and what you want him to do.. Shoving training treats in, is often a good way to distract them and keep their focus on you. Start by doing this at home - use lots of his favourite treats and every time he looks at you - give him another one. Then add 'look' as a command (or choose a command that you want to use when out and about), with the treats when he looks at you. Only spend a minute or so on it a couple of times a day. Once he is focusing on you at home, take the training out to the driveway. Once he can focus on you at home and in the driveway, take the training out onto the street in front of your house. Once he has that down, take it on your walk.. It won't be long before he is doing it everywhere with the word 'look' or whatever command you choose. Build it up, set him up to succeed and get the reward - don't take him out and about and expect him to be able to do what he does at home (with little or no distraction). Another thing to consider is what treats you are using. In a low distraction environment (like home), maybe liver treats or schmacko things are fine - but unless they are his most favourite thing in the world, they won't work out on a walk (where the distraction level is so much higher). You may need to resort to BBQ chicken or cheese or cabanossi or cooked sausage, when you are out and about. I know my boy will work for a squeaky ball or a tug toy, much better than any food treat I could offer.. I can't remember who told me but they put it like this - would you do any job for the same pay? Some jobs are worth much better pay than other jobs.

I found it is the only kibble that Zig can eat and not get fat on or end up farting. I buy the 'Primitive' or 'Coastal Catch' ones. Mind you he only gets about half cup a day, plus raw feeing.

I am so sorry Sars - it is always the most difficult of decisions, to give them their wings. Thinking of you.

Happy Birthday Lola! Great photos Huga.

If there is anyone making profit in rescue, I would be very surprised. Bella came into rescue with a dislocated hip, torn cruciate and a few other things. Her surgery alone was over $2000 (thank doG for those that donated but I still paid nearly $1000 towards her health personally), not to mention she was in care with me for nearly 6 months by the time we had rehab after removing her femoral head and fixing her knee. Then there was desexing, feeding, worming, tick and flea control, training. She was sold for the grand total of $400!!! She is just one of my fosters - I don't think rescue would ever even break even on a foster dog.. Thanks to the generous public who donate money, time and goods that help rescue so much. Yeah, huge profits in rescue (not)...

Not sure if anyone has posted the link to the DOL forum Amstaff thread but here you go anyway My link Any breeder that starts offering discounts for registered or unregistered, I would run a mile.. Good breeders know what their pups are worth and that is what they charge and they will know which is better on a mains or limited register and will do so accordingly. And they don't charge extra for a pup because of its colour - red, blue or brindle, the only difference in price should be because they are pet quality or show quality (just my opinion). The link I added has loads of info on the correct health testing and I even think a few breeders have posted in the thread. Good luck finding a pup from nice lines, with all the health testing done at a reasonable price.

I would think to help cover costs like mating costs (bring the bitch to the dog or vice versa or AI), health testing, feed, ultrasounds, xrays, registration, microchipping, vaccinating, buying litter boxes and other things needed (electricity for heating and cooling) etc (even helping cover the costs of previous or subsequent litters that are not as profitable as some litters), to weed out those that may not be the best home for the dog, to help cover the cost of their time and training of puppies (lots of pups are toilet trained or leash trained by the time we get them). I realise that a lot of the time breeders don't make profit or don't make much profit but if they do - why not?? We usually sell things to make money - if we are good at breeding dogs and do the right thing, I think they should make a profit.

I have one of the friendliest, most tolerant dogs that I have ever come across in Ziggy but even he draws the line with some dogs and their 'friendliness'. We have a couple of owners who let their dogs off inside the dog park and they are friendly but they bounce all over the other dogs, jumping on them all the time and one in particular humps every dog it sees. Personally, I just call Zig over and we leave and go for a leashed walk down at the town park. I would rather do that than try to explain to someone that their dogs manners suck. Most people are NOT open to hearing that their dog has an issue in meeting and greeting or playing nicely. I guess what is nice for one person and their dog, ins't necessarily nice for another person and their dog. I won't tolerate dogs jumping on Zig and have actually been yelled at for being a sook about it. I simply asked the guy to stop his dog jumping on Zig because he has bad hips. He said no wonder the dog is a sook because the owner is.. I just left the park because I really don't want to deal with people like him. In saying that, 99% of the time it is really nice at the park - we tend to go pretty early and don't run into the loons very often. Just every now and then, one will show up early.

Yeah, it was pretty awful at the time and I was shaken up by it at the time. I did my own research and found his 'lost dog' notice on a local facebook page. His dog looks nothing like Zig. His dog was about half the size of Zig, was completely black and his ears stood up. Zig is brindle, with a white chest and 4 white paws and has ears that fold over.. I understand that his second language was English but there really was no excuse for his behaviour that day - no matter how much he was missing his own dog. I am grateful for the help of the police (even if I did have to give them a load of information and push them).

I had a guy actually try and take Ziggy off me at the local leash free park. He claimed that Ziggy was his dog and I stole him back in September last year (I've had Zig since 2011).. He tried to take the lead off me and pull Zig out of my car window. When he left, I went home (another route) and dropped Zig at home and then went to the police and reported the matter. The guy turned up back at the park with 3 other men (about 20 minutes after I left), according to the people that were still there after I left that day. Police had to tell him to back off and I had to produce paperwork to prove Zig was mine and I had purchased him back in 2011.. You have to be vigilant with your dogs when out and about - you never know what sort of crazy is around the corner.

Still use mine most of the time but I also managed to get my hands on a Kelly Moore 2 Sues bag and I love that one as well. Here is the Porteen Gear bag that I bought years ago Day 17 May - Bag (I love my Porteen Gear camera bag) #fmsphotoaday #porteengear by Jodie, on Flickr Here is the 2 Sues bag Kelly Moore 2 Sues Bag by Jodie, on Flickr

I would leash my dog and leave if he chased a dog and pinned it down (he wouldn't because he doesn't do that).. I really dislike seeing dogs chase other dogs and especially puppies, just to tackle them at the end of the chase and it is obvious that the one being chased isn't having fun. I watched a puppy being chased by a dog at the leash free park once and the owner thought it was having fun, until I pointed out how stressed the pup was and she should take the puppy back into the puppy/small dog side of the park. Some pups can handle themselves and don't 'scare' easily but I would think most would be quite frightened by a bigger dog chasing them. Sadly some people really are clueless when they see dogs reacting with each other.

Heike will come to you and so will Raelene. Highly recommend both ladies. Heike helped me with Zig ages ago and I take Zig out to Raelene's Noseworks classes.

I have a rescue boy (amstaff) who has HD (worse in his right hip). He is 4 years old now and we found out about his hips a couple of years ago - he kept pulling up lame and limping all the time. We feed raw, with a bit of kibble. We supplement with Blackmores Osteo Chews (can't remember the name of them exactly). He has cartrophen every 6 months and it does make a difference for him. We also see a chiropractor every 4-6 weeks (depending on how he goes). I keep his weight on the lighter side and exercise him daily. The chiro is probably where I notice the biggest difference in his movement - she keeps him in alignment and it seems to make a big difference to how he carries himself. Good luck with your pup.

I tried a no pull harness (actually a few different ones) on Zig a couple of years ago and gave up - he still pulled like a machine. So I gave up and just trained him to not pull. He still will pull in an excitable situation but I tend to divert his attention and walk in a different direction now.

Zig loves the leash free park and we go every day. We take his ball and a stick to throw it with. He is ball obsessed but if another dog picks his ball up, he isn't reactive and is happy to follow them until they put it down. Here he is with a friends GD girl. Zig and Maisie by Jodie, on Flickr He loves it when puppies come in to play (although our park has two separately fenced areas, for small dogs and puppies and one for larger dogs). Zig and Riley by Jodie, on Flickr This one wasn't taken at our leash free park but over at a local dog club (after hours) - taken by the wonderful Ruth, from Ruthless Photos We have Daxter, Bella (she was a foster from a while ago), Bruno the dog and Ziggy.. ruthlessphotos-5078 by Jodie, on Flickr I have no problem calling Zig away from the gate (I hate it when he makes himself part of the meet and greet committee and blocks the gate) or from other dogs or groups of dogs. Zig tends to avoid the dogs that are over the top and if there are dogs there that are out of control, we leave. Probably my only peeves about the park are humans who don't pick up after their dogs and people who give treats to other peoples dogs. I would never treat someone else's dog and I ask people to not give Zig treats either. So far I have only had one person 'offended' by asking him to NOT give Zig a treat. Idiot was offended and tossed a handful of treats on the ground. I immediately called Zig away and then he had a few dogs fighting at his feet over dropped treats.. Mostly though, we are pretty lucky - we see the same group of people and dogs every day and they all get along like a house on fire (there are about 20 dogs in the wider group that we see - usually not all there at the same time).. There is everything from an aged (15 year old) JRT, a mini Schnauzer, a great dane, a DDB, labs and a couple of staffies. It is a diverse group and amazingly they all get along really well.

Yep you are right, apologies - it is cartrophen injections and we do it every six months.

Cartrophen (edited for correct injection) injections - my boy has them every six months (he has HD and his right hip is much worse than his left). We also see a canine chiropractor every 6 weeks - this alone has made a huge difference to the way Zig moves. I am looking at stem cell therapy for Zig. At the next round of x-rays, they will also harvest the fat from near his kidneys and then 'extract' the stem cells (or whatever they do). We will store them until we decide to use them. I never thought I would consider femoral head removal but I had a foster dog here and she came into care with a dislocated hip, that was left untreated - the only real option for her was to remove the femoral head. I was amazed at how quickly she recovered and how quickly she was up and around. I kept her weight right down, so it didn't put extra pressure on her good leg. I now keep Zig's weight on the lighter side, which helps. Good luck with your dog - it is hard to watch our pups in pain.

Ask in the general forum for recommendations on holistic vets in your area - someone should know one.

I will go and find your other threads on Tex, so I understand a bit better - maybe ask Troy if he can merge all your threads so all the info is in one place - and see if he can move it to the Palliative care forum too :) Personally I wouldn't be going on just 'advice' for holistic care - find a good holistic vet. We used the lovely ladies at All Natural Vet Care in Sydney and they were fabulous. I'll keep in touch and pop in more often to see how Tex (and you) are going. Good luck Ci.