Staffyluv

This is the issue I was and still do have with Ziggy.. There is a lot in his training thread about it... He is getting better but if I take him out, he has to be starving for me to keep his attention with food. He is toy (ball) focused but that has its own issues.. Especially at training when I am squeaking a ball and others are trying to keep their dogs attention... So we went back to no dinner the night before or breaky before training on Sunday mornings. Persistence, persistence, persistence.... If I let up for a couple of days, he goes right back to ignoring me when other dogs are around.. I have also found that shorter training times more often work better for him. He gets no off lead time when there are other dogs around, unless he is calm entering the park.. As soon as he looks like his excitement level is escalating, I pull him out and we go home.. Last time we went he had all of 10 minutes running around before he started ignoring my recall.. He was leashed and we left.. I have had loads of awesome advice, some works and some didn't, each dog is different and you just have to keep trying until you find what works... With Ziggy, it is training that wears him out better and more calmly than being allowed to run riot at the dog park... As much as he seems to love it, I find his attention and behaviour goes AWOL when he is given this kind of freedom...

Poor kid, what a horrible ordeal.. Has anyone heard if his dog made it?

Agreed - silly...

Super cute - congrats on the new puppy...

I love Staffords, so I tend to stick with what I know.. Yes, they all have their individual personalities but you pretty much know what you are getting... I let my old stafford go last October (25th) and had another boof head (albeit a pound staffy x) on the 1st of November - when it happened, I just couldn't stand how quiet the house was and realised that I needed another dog in my life. Ziggy is very different in personality to Ollie was but they are both similar in so many ways.. I didn't look to replace Ollie (that just couldn't happen, he was irreplaceable) - instead I looked for a new dog, a new pooch to share our house with.

Thanks all, Fat head is fine this morning - he had a big sleep in (til after 9am) and seems like himself completely today.. I hope that teaches him a lesson - to leave the wasps alone (but I doubt it)...

haha, I've not seen a squatter wasp but I bet they are nasty as the others... It is on my to do list this weekend, along with a million other chores I have let go (because it is to easy to take him for a walk and a play to do housework)

I check the facebook page each day.. I haven't seen anything posted about finding her. I hope she comes home soon..

He is fine this morning. Still asleep on my bed but that is pretty normal, he hardly ever gets up before 9am... He had a pretty restless night and got up a few times but I'd say that might be the effects of the polaramine. It might have made him feel a bit off.. I checked those nests on the back deck at dawn this morning and at dusk last night and they are definitely empty, there is no activity at all.. I think the wasp that was in the office was from somewhere else... Hopefully it was a random thing and I won't see any more of them.

That's good news..

I am so sorry DR, I have just seen this... RIP big boy, there are plenty of DOL dogs at the bridge to meet you...

I have her as my Facebook profile pic (after someone else suggested it).. I am miles away but you never know... I hope she comes home soon.

Haha, that is what my son wanted to do.. But I pointed out that they are attached to the house under the deck roofline.. The house is insured, however I am not sure we would be covered...

I gave him a dose of polaramine when it happened just in case.. Maybe that is why he is so flat tonight.. My poor baby, I have never seen him this quiet.. He still wants to play but it's half hearted...

He ended up being stung by a wasp, so I am keeping him quiet.. He just had a cup full of ice cubes and he seems fine.

I looked at some pictures of wasps and it looks like a European wasp... The nests on the back deck look empty, there are no wasps coming or going from them.. They sort of look a bit eroded to, like they have been there a long time (can't believe I didn't notice them before)... I am thinking that maybe they are old and the wasp came from somewhere else. Poor boy keeps scratching at his muzzle, I think it got him but not by much... He has just had a heap of ice cubes and he seems more settled again now...

Zig was bored this afternoon and hanging out in my office. So I pinned the screen door so he could come and go as he pleases. I saw him snuffling around over behind the filing room door and then he yelped. Checking it out there was a wasp crawling around there. He seems fine, I can't even see any swelling, so I am hoping he didn't get stung. I went in search of a best and found a few smallish ones on the back deck.. How do I get rid of them? TIA

Poor lad is really bored - his walk was cut short today and he has no one to play with.. He keeps brining me things and hiding under my desk.

Ziggy is 26kg and he gets a whole chook frame every day for breaky. He has a barf patty or roo mince for dinner (about 200g, it's been cut back from 250g as he was putting on weight with training treats on top of his 2 meals a day)...

It has been a whole year since he went to sleep... Every day I miss his smilie face and even his farty bum... It seems so unfair that they have such a short lifespan compared to ours... October has been such a shity month. I have felt like a mess most days this month.. I won't talk about the nights... 2nd saw 1 year since Dan passed away 11th saw 1 year since Dans funeral 25th is a whole year without the pooch... I know it will get easier with time but I don't think I will ever like October again...

I don't really understand the rationale behind posts like this ... , sorry. Blackdogs- that would have been scary - glad you kept your cool, and have a responsive little dog :) There are so many people now who just do not have positive experiences with dogs ..and who get very defensive /reactive I probably should have put a smilie face next to the last line.. As I really didn't mean I would actually do it! I am not violent and wouldn't throw rocks at someone.. My boofhead and I tend to leave situations that are uncomfortable very quickly as he is afraid of lots of things. However throwing rocks at little dogs that are running away from you (whether you have had a bad experience or not) is animal abuse...

What a moron.. I am glad he missed your dog. He is lucky it wasn't me and my 27kg boofhead.. I would have thrown the rocks back at him (and I'm a pretty good shot)..

I like Yarralumla as it has 2 fenced off areas - one for smalls and puppies and the other for big boys and girls.. I have had Ziggy in the small dog and puppy side as he gets a bit afraid of the really big dogs sometimes. But I remove him if he gets a bit loud for the little ones. I believe Casey has a great park and the one down at Tuggeranong is supposed to be OK to. The one over here in Queanbeyan leaves a bit to be desired - it is fairly newish and the trees have not grown, so not a lot of shade and it gets quite hot up there.

Hi just aw this. Have a read of Ollie's thread. He did have multiple tumour sites. His MCT was systemic and had moved into his lymph system... Ours was grad 2 no clear margins when dxd. We were given 12-18 months and he lived 6 years.. We removed the largest unmourned and the others that were suspect initially. He did have a tumour in one of his toes a few years later but that was a round cell tumour and aggressive according to the results. Initially we did chemo (vinblastin and lomustein sp?) plus holistic support while having chemo... Chemo for dogs is nothing like chemo for humans. They cannot give them the same doses they give us... They simply prolong life with chemo in dogs, they are not curing the cancer... The holistic vet was invaluable with diet and supplements. Diet is so very important for cancer dogs, as is supplements to assist the dogs immune system.. Anti histamines are important with MCT patients as the tumours release histamine and this creates more problems for the dog with allergic like reactions.. Good luck.. Talk to your vet about Palladia, they have had great success with that drug for MCT patients..

Have a read of Ollie's thread on mast cell cancer.. He was grade 2 no clear margins with multiple tumour sites.. The first time they got no clear margins they went back and removed more tissue and muscle from his rump (the site of the biggest tumour) and still were not successful in getting clear margins. He had chemo and was holistically treated and lived an extra 6 years (after being given 12-18 months if he had chemo).. I know of a few grade 3 dogs who lived many years, with and without surgery... Diet has loads to do with cancer patients and how they do... A good holistic vet is important as they can check blood tests etc and give supplements to help support the dogs immune system.. Anti histamines are important with MCT as the tumours release histamine when they are active. Ollie used to take a whole polaramine tablet each day and rarely had a histamine release.. Good luck.