Staffyluv

That sounds like a realistic protocol Olie was on vinblastin and lomustene He had vinblastin one week, lomustene the next and the third week off Then we did it all again His took about 6 months but there were a few weeks when he couldn't have it because his blood cell count was out. At the end he went on macrolone and was on that for a while, I would have to look it up. Ol had MCT grade 2 no clear margins and multiple tumour sites. It was also detected in his lymph nodes. Now that you have the results and the protocol if you want to use an holistic vet, it would be a food time to contact them so they can work out the best supplements to help keep him well. Good news on the low grade and clear margins.. Happy dance

Wobbly I think you are onto something with the adolescence thing.. I do remember (it has been a lot of years), having some issues with Ollie when he was around 2-3 years old.. We had another set back this morning and I think I am going to stop walking him altogether - so the only exercise he will get is in our yard, I just can't deal with the pulling etc anymore. He has really injured my elbow and I am about to go and go to the doctors as I can't move it. I don't want to keep him cooped up at home, I think he will go nuts and dig more (The only times he doesn't dig is when he gets plenty of exercise). But at this point, the only time he behaves is at home. I will still go to obedience on Sunday and hopefully I can convince one trainer to come to our place so they can see the difference in the dog - he is like 2 completely different dogs. One is calm and happy to work and train (at home) and the one out is a nightmare some days. Don't get me wrong, we can have days out walking and he is good - no real pulling, if I say leave it when we see another dog - he does, if they other owners want to say hi, he can even wait for a dog to come to him 'some days'. But these days are getting rarer and rarer. Thanks for the link to the happy treats - I will order some and see how we go, cause nothing else works. I had devon this morning and at home for 5 minutes he was great, taking it with heeling, waiting etc. I put his collar and lead on, he got in the car gently, he waited until I called him out of the car and then he started. I stopped about 2 feet from the car and waited with treat in my hand in front of him and he sat in front of me and he wouldn't look at me (it is like I am not there some days).. There wasn't anyone else around us, there was only the park in front of us - maybe I need to take him to a different place (or that might be worse, new smells, sights etc).

It was only her 4th day there - these things take time and from what you have said, the fact that she stayed there like she has is fantastic. Are the Uni girls still willing to work with you on this? If so, I wouldn't give up on that just yet - it may take some time and if they are willing to help, then hopefully it will. Do you take her toys, bedding etc when she goes over there? (to make it more like home) You have not failed her. In fact you have gone far and beyond what a lot of people would be prepared to do. I wish I lived closer, she would be an ideal day time playmate for my boy - he gets so lonely and bored and would love a buddy to hang with all day (and I work from home - if I am not here my 21 year old son is).. Wishing you lots of luck

Yep he works well for them at home... He will even work without treats at home, just for a pat or a tummy scratch or even a good boy.. Where can I get happy paws treats? I haven't heard of them. I am willing to bake a leg of lamb at this stage. I am hoping that a trainer at dog training can help us because I really am so incredibly frustrated with him. It's like he is two totally different dogs.. Is there an ADHD for dogs?? :laugh:

I am using the time I have. Even taking time out to do 4 ten to fifteen minute sessions is hard at the moment and that is about all I get out of him before the distraction sets in again.. My actual workload is pretty high at the moment - leashing him, walking down to the park and training all takes at least 20 minutes or so (breaking my work day up like that isn't easy with my current workload). I wish I had more time, someone else to out but I don't. As I mentioned above, I have finally found some treat type foods he will eat - honestly, it is all crap food and I hate giving it to him. After yesterday with trying all those things out on him, he is scratching like crazy today. Apart from that he only eats RMBs - I still make him do some work at home for his meal. He has to sit and wait and look at me for it and I am handing it to him (not putting it in his bowl, so the food comes from me).

My thoughts exactly. I don't see any Stafford at all.

I was going with this too. Looks like a puppy to me. Have you checked his teeth tp determine age? Same.. GSP x was the first thing I saw but then I have never been much good at guess the breed.

I answered your post in the general thread but I agree with WW.. Keep his life as normal as possible, including his routine of walks, training, play and meals..

The best thing you can do for him is keep life as normal as possible. If you normally go for a walk in the morning or evening, still give him the chance to go. It may be a little slower or less enthusiastic but he will improve. I am so sorry for your loss.

Wish me luck - I have cut his food by one third and he is training for treats really well at home with no distraction. I am going to do the same at the park this week very early of a morning and later some afternoons with some distraction to see how he goes. I went to the intro at the local obedience club this morning and talked with a couple of the trainers there. They both think he will benefit from the formal obedience training. So we will be going into a small class of 5 dogs (including him). It is only a 45 minute class (unlike our last classes which went for 2 hours), plus lots of homework for both of us. My first homework was to find something that appeals to him more than his tennis ball. So off to the deli and I bought one of just about everything. Slices of different hams, beef, chicken and salami were not interesting, turkey was interesting, cabanossi is even more interesting. Hot dog was also pretty good but the cabanossi was the one that he took over his tennis ball. I tried cheese, hot BBQ chook as well but he still went for the ball not the food. I also bought some puppy treats (on the advice of the trainers today) and they were better than the ball - finally I have something to work with.

Crossing everything for clear margins.. Glad to hear he is doing so well.

I have a scanned copy of all this stuff on an external hard drive, another one with all the photos and videos on it.. Leave the computers and just take these.

That is exactly how I feel. My kids are grown men now and don't need me anymore.

With no little dependants, I would stay with my dog(s) if I didn't evacuate early and couldn't. In all honestly, I would evacuate early though.

I know it worked for us - Ollie's quality of life was so much better than the vet and oncologist led us to believe it was going to be. Good luck today.

Oh poor Boof. Ollie had a few surgeries, it goes with bloody MCT.. Once it is systemic chemo is your best bet. Ollie's protocol was vinblastin and lomustein. Week 1 vinblastin Week 2 lomustein Week 3 rest Then do it all again for 6 months. He had blood tests to check his WBC a couple of days before each chemo session. A few times it was to low to do chemo, so we had to wait a week and redo blood to make sure he was well enough to have chemo again. Ollie also had more lumps but I chose to stop surgery and just do the chemo in the hope that it put him in remission, which it did. The tumours were still there but no reactive. I am sure they have better protocols now. I know they had a lot of success with Palladia a few years back as well. I am so sorry Anne but wish you both loads of good wishes and luck for a speedy recovery.

Now to me a smoked bone is a cooked bone - and we all know better than to give our dogs cooked bones.. I always think smoked meats - they are effectively cooked. How devastating for the pups family to lose their little dog like that.

That is great that you have a place that can help you both. I didn't know about the exercise thing either.. Our trainer pointed it out as she has a BC that that is exactly the same and she saw it in Ziggy the first time she met him. The more exercise he had, the more he wanted to do. Brain training wears them out and has been a blessing for us on cold wet days (where I just don't want to go out). A treadmill is a good idea to for those days that you can't get out for a run but I haven't done that yet. Although I think it is a good idea for those with dogs that are being retrained into a bit less physical exercise and more brain training. Don't get me wrong - a good run is important but they really don't need a couple of hours of running a day to wear them out. Have you tried puzzle toys - like kongs etc? where you hide treats in them and she had to get it out (I freeze his kongs on hot days and it takes him ages). Frozen ice cream container with a chook wing/neck or some sardines frozen into it can keep them busy for hours. Hiding their breakfast in the garden etc can become a game of find it. (Zig hasn't mastered this one and tends to look at me like I am an idiot but we are working on it). In the training thread there are lots of great ideas on how to help dogs deal with all sorts of things - if you have some time, read some of the threads because you might recognise something in a thread that makes you think ' that will work with Roo'. I have with Zig - the wait command has been invaluable to us as has the leave it command. Good luck

He doesn't eat much but is not underweight either. I did some research yesterday and looked at some pictures and compared him to other amstaffs (he is more amstaff than stafford in build). He could probably lose a little to get that real tucked up tummy that the really lovely shaped animals have. Someone asked about smelly food - if it is strong in smell he turns his nose up. He is even turning his nose up at roo now and that has been our staple of a night for ages. He won't eat liver or kidney.. He won't eat BBQ chook (but will eat raw chook on the bone, like wings, necks and carcasses) He did eat cheese for a while but if it is the matured version, won't take it now. I might try some of those horrible cheese slices that have no smell and look like plastic. Same with ham and other sandwich meats (but I worry these are to high in salt). He was on barf patties but stopped eating them months ago. He seems to only want to eat meat on a bone and occasionally his kibble in his kong. So that is what I have been giving him. He had a chicken wing for dinner last night. He had 3 ribs of lamb on a rack (no backbone, just the ribs) this morning but he had to heel/sit/wait with me for about 5 minutes to get it. Is this what everyone is talking about by no free food??

Thanks Snook, so do I. I don't think I explain it very well either - so that probably doesn't help when others try to offer advice

Blunt is fine (I am not one to take it to heart and get all offended). OK, so getting help with training isn't a good idea? I don't have any issues when there are no distractions - it is when there are distractions that I lose his focus on me. I would have thought that having the distractions (with the guidance of trainers) is how I would correct this behaviour? The first session is Sunday morning (without dogs). I might just go along and talk to them and tell them our issues and see what they say. His first session won't be until the following Sunday - so that gives me about a week and a half to get try and get him wanting food/treats. I really don't want to do another training session on the fringe of a group and not hear what is going on again (we have done that the last 2 times we have registered for training)..

Zig gets about 100-150g of roo meat at night (he rarely eats it, maybe once a week). We walk at 6.30am every morning and he does not even want breakfast when we come home. His chook carcass or ribs can sit there until lunch time some days. Cos, he doesn't look overweight to me and I can quite easily feel his ribs down his sides but in saying that, I don't think he looks skinny either. He is very fit and is quite happy to run for a couple of hours chasing a ball. I usually throw a ball for him before we walk, to kill off a bit of excess energy - he seems to be nicer to walk once he has burned off a bit. Corvus at home he is a total gem. I don't even need a lead on him to get him to heel, stay, sit, drop, wait, catch, fetch, look at that.. Home is about as great as it gets and training at home, he will take treats.. It is just the distraction out. I think I mentioned when walking that he sits just out front of me (head and shoulders past my legs) - no pulling etc, it just seems to be where 'he' wants to walk and trying to get him back to me is, well a PITA because he is always looking around... At home, he walks exactly by my side. I think that having the classes is going to be good because I need to learn to train him with distractions.

Good news - we are in at the dog training club.. Here is an example of his reaction to food. This morning he has had a rack of 3 ribs and that is all he has had all day. My son was having a glass of milk with a couple of chocolate biscuits, Zig walked passed, sniffed the air and went to get his ball and bring it back to him. This food thing has been an ongoing issue as far as training is concerned - our trainer said that not all dogs are food focused (It just makes it much easier to train if they are). We have been using the tennis ball for ages but even sometimes that doesn't get his attention - he is so easily distracted. Hopefully with some formal training at the dog club, with the distractions we will get to the bottom of it..

Actually HD, I didn't do anything that I haven't done previously - I have no idea why he was good today Yep, he is a big strong boy and that is the reason he needs to learn to be such a good boy ALL the time. I don't want to be one of those dog owners who doesn't have control of their dog. I want him to be a good example of staffy cross/pound mutt because too many of them are not good examples. This is really important to me - that I do the best I can for him. Corvus, I think I have mentioned before - he shows no interest in food when out and there is distraction. At home he is happy to train with treats but as soon as there is distraction, I lose him completely - I can hold anything from choc treats, cheese, BBQ, kibble, ham under his nose and he does not even acknowledge it is there. I can drop the whole treat bag of treats on the ground (empty it) and he walks over the top of it to try to see what is going on around him. I have not fed him at night or given him breakfast (so he is hungry) and all we got out of him was about 2 minutes of being able to treat him, then he couldn't have cared less what we had. His fave food is RMBs. He won't eat offal at all and most foods he will try one or two pieces and then he leaves it. He will taste things and then leave it. I have simply given up trying to train with food with Zig because it doesn't work. I think it was you or Cos that suggested not feeding him dinner or breaky before training and then dumping a heap of food on the ground - I tried that and he got out of the car, sniffed it and stepped over the food because there were other dogs at the park. I have sent off an email to the local dog training club and hopefully can get him into the next round of classes. I think it will benefit both of us.. It is frustrating as hell because I see all these other dogs so entranced in their owners and the treat in front of their nose and all Zig wants is to get to the dog that is ignoring him.. (we need a hair pulling out emotion). But again, today he was great - walked beside me, no pulling and we had a nice walk.

OK, he was an angel this morning. Did everything that was asked of him, didn't pull on lead. His recall was good.. He was the dog I want to take for a walk again He came home and had 3 lamb ribs for breakfast and now is sound asleep. I have no idea what I am doing anymore!