Staffyluv

Unfortunately a lot of average people seem to think "Why BUY a brand new dog when you can get one from rescue?! The shelters are overflowing why do you contribute to the number of dogs in the world!?!?" etc etc etc. Pretty much saying anyone who buys a dog whether it be from a pet shop or from a breeder is evil and deserved to be shamed because they didn't adopt one already in need. I've heard it so many times. Stupid argument, but there are stupid people unfortunately. Now see I had never heard that until I came to DOL - that some think you shouldn't buy from a breeder or pet shop when there are dogs to be rescued from pounds.. Each to their own - breeder or rescue (or both) in my opinion. The main one I hear is why are rescue dog so expensive when they are going to die anyway - going through the whole; cost to get them out, desex, worm, vet treatment if needed, food etc until they are adopted still doesn't seem to wash with some people - some still think they should be $50 because they were going to die anyway.. One of the biggest things that I don't get in the whole pet industry is why on earth would anyone want to pay $1000+ for a cross bred dog, (talking the unmentionables here), when you can buy a perfectly good pure bred dog from a breeder who health test etc etc for often less money.. Or get a rescue for about $300 with all their work done..

PETA at its very best, they managed to market that message well. Honestly, does anyone really believe that a pound pup dies because a purebred breeder breeds?? Only someone whose maths knowledge is at a pre-Grade One level. And believe the world is explained by all or nothing. Dogs turn up in pounds because of known risk factors. There is evidence that dogs from purebred breeders have a lower risk factor. No, that does not mean that all dogs from registered breeders will not finish up dumped. Nor does it mean that all dogs who don't come from registered are at high risk. It means that, statistically, dogs from registered breeders tend to be at lower risk. In fact, registered breeders who follow a responsible path in breeding/numbers of litters/raising/homing their dogs are actually preventing dumping, because they're lowering risk factors by doing that. This is how I see it to - maybe I do hold the majority of the human race at a higher level than I should?? I don't think you see anywhere near as many purebred dogs in pounds compared to others (crosses or not so well bred dogs)

PETA at its very best, they managed to market that message well. Honestly, does anyone really believe that a pound pup dies because a purebred breeder breeds?? I know there are extremists but generally I think common sense prevails and the average person does not think that if a purebred breeder has a litter that means that pound dogs won't get a home. If breeding was left to the purebred dog breeders, I doubt we would end up with so many in pounds. Not breeding pets (compulsory desexing) and the removal of puppy mills would make the world a lot nicer place for mans best friend...

There is no excuse for intracardial injection to euth... That dog screaming was just awful...

Thanks, it is just not the same when you have had them around for over 14 years..

It is 11 months tomorrow since we had to let my boy go.. I can't believe it is nearly a year. I am really not looking forward to next month - on the 2nd October it will be a whole year since we lost Dan and on the 25th Ollie will have been gone a whole year as well.. We all miss them so much. A couple of doona days might be in order..

Personally I think it would be an individual choice. I do think, no matter what age, that we need to have a plan in place for our beloved pets and what will happen to them if anything should happen to us (not just death either - divorce, temporary or permanent disablement)... I can't imagine life without a pet of some sort..

Oh wow, that looks like it was so much fun... She is so pretty, surely it wasn't her??

Wow, he is so cute and a gorgeous colour..

Thanks Sheena but no I haven't read it.. I will now though. Ziggy is not aggressive at all, in fact he seems to vary his play style depending on who he is playing with. He can play with little pups and great big dogs.. But he is definitely reactive - towards other dogs. I started with a clicker but it didn't take long for him to ignore it once we started at training with other dogs around.. I will have a read of the whole thread tonight, thanks for letting me know.

Kav, I never even considered no free fetch sessions - what a great idea... I have that dried fish here and it has been in the dog drawer since the first time I opened it - the smell is so bad that I was heaving when I opened the packet, so that one is a no go for me (I don't care how much he likes it).. Chicken necks might be OK to - I will start the no food unless from me on Saturday (way to busy this week with work to organise the food into bits that I can carry around).

The length of the Lupi harness and the lead together are to long to use at training. It I guess if I bought a shorter training lead, I could.. I find that it really only controls him pulling and I can't 'steer' him in any particular direction or get his attention with it where his flat collar and lead, I can give a tug on the lead and he will look at me to see what next.

Cos, if he pulls towards other dogs I walk him away in the opposite direction. He is mostly compliant but will turn to look back. I use the let's go command and walk away quickly. He gets a chicken carcass for breaky and a barf patty for dinner, I can't really keep these in my pocket to hand feed them. He gets a bit of kibble but nowhere near what he used to and it is only in his kong with a teaspoon of peanut butter or cottage cheese as a treat a couple of times a week and he usually gets this if I am going out to keep him busy. All other food does come directly from me in the form of training tidbits. The only think I have found that gets his attention at all is turkey meat and sometimes cheese.. But it is not an effective tool. I have not given him dinner or breaky and taken him to training and he is stil not really interested in the treats.. When he acts up, we go away from the other dogs, as he calms we come closer. If he starts pulling, we go further away. This in itself is an issue as I can't hear the trainer for most of the lesson because we need to stand at least 10 metres away from the other dogs. She does spend one on one time with us though. After 2 months of training and doing the same thing, you would think he would get it but he just seems to go blank at a certain stage and nothing brings him back. I have tried a really stern NO and a growl but this shuts him down. He drops to the ground and honestly you would think I had just kicked the crap out of him.. Sometimes I wish I knew his history and what it was like for him before I got him.it might make it easier to deal with him. He is not a bad dog, he can be a really lovely boy and he is attached to me because if he thinks I am leaving, he runs after me.. If I open the car door, he is straight in. But he is not a cuddly dog, he doesn't show much affection to anyone. He doesn't like to be patted along his body at all. He likes the top of his head patted and his ears and neck but even then, he will only stand patting for a couple of minutes before going away. But he will play ball all day.. As long as you want to play he will play..

I am lucky as I work from home, so yes, we play and train at home quite a bit. We play and walk first thing each morning. We do simple training things while getting breakfast and dinner, waiting, look at me, sit, dropping etc. We have a two or three 5-10 minute training sessions through the day with recall and basics and this is mixed up with ball throwing, catching and ends with tug toy and/or ball fetching (which is his fave thing). He has all these things down pat at home - put him in any other environment and he is great for a little while and then he loses interest and only wants to be with the other dogs. He pulls towards them, does backflips on lead trying to get off when he is really bad and sooks. I will put him in the car at the first sign of this now. But when you bring him back out, he is good for a minute and goes straight back to unwanted behaviour. He is not food motivated at all - he shows very little interest in food (even treats are left for other dogs).. He leaves his food for ages before eating it and then only eats a bit, he has never finished a meal since we had him. If other dogs have food, he doesn't care. If other people offer him food, he doesn't take it - we have tried everything from shark cartilage, carob buttons, kibble, yogurt buttons, dried liver, dried chicken, dried roo, cheese, turkey (you get my drift - he doesn't care about food). He gets a chicken carcass or a few chicken necks for breaky and a barf patty for dinner (or equal to a barf patty and veg if I make it). Treat wise, he gets a 10cm or so brisket bone a couple of times a week as well as his training treats (we use cheese and turkey most of the time as it seems to be the most interesting to him) The only time I am more important than other dogs is when I say, lets go and walk away - he comes running after me.. But I think this is only because he doesn't want me to leave him behind. He is quite ball motivated but even this is wearing thin. He would rather play with it than train with it. I used to be able to distract him with a clicker - he pays no attention to the clicker at all now if there are other dogs around. I don't allow him to say hello to every dog he sees (we even stopped going to the dog park - I did last weekend just to test his recall and how we were going with it). I put him on the other side of me so I am between him and other dogs but he is strong and sometimes gets around me to get closer to them. We have tried a halti and even the trainer said, some dogs deal with them and he is not one of them - he scratched his muzzle so bad before we could get it off that it bled and I will never put one on him again. We do use a lupi halter that seems to work great for his pulling on lead - but you can't train in one, it is really only for walking him without him pulling. What we are doing is working - albeit very slowly. I guess I should be more patient - but I wonder if it is the training methods I am using and not the dog. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean our trainer, I mean me and the way I deliver it - maybe he needs a more restricted obedience class with a more formal feel to it?? This is our second lot of classes with our trainer, so I will see how we go this second time around. Hopefully he will start to settle. It's funny - I watch the other owners and their dogs sit in front of them or beside them and stare at their owners. All Zig does is pull on the lead toward whatever dog is near him. We have tried standing 10 metres outside the circle and he still just pulls towards the other dogs and they all sit there looking at their owners. I wish I had the same effect on him as the other owners have on their dogs.. I think this is what frustrates me more than anything - it is just like he does not value me at all when there are other dogs around..

Thanks, we do put him in the car if he is being a bit difficult - give him a bit of time out.. But we don't really have 'turns' at things - it is not really obedience training. With sit, stay, drop (although we do do those things) - it's more dealing with issues we have with our dogs that create problems. DA dogs, full on dogs, shy dogs.. This trainer deals with dogs with issues in small groups or solo sessions. We started with her because I was having trouble with his recall - which is much better but definitely not where I want it to be yet, so we are still seeing her.. We mainly work on getting the dog to focus on us, follow us and methods of keeping the dog calm, so we can walk away from it and it is happy to wait until we return, improve recall.. It is all pretty basic stuff. She trains the trainer - she spends as much time teaching us as we do with the dogs exercises. With the issues our dogs have, most of it comes from how they react to what we are doing - that is why she has some in groups and others are on their own, just with her. We had a solo session and she suggested the group training. It's amazing to watch her with her own dogs - they are so well trained.

I think I will from now on.. I am going to talk to the trainer about finishing before he gets to that stage, where he has lost focus... I think that will work out better for both him and I because he will still get his training in and I won't get frustrated with him when he stops focusing on me and just wants the other dogs...

The dogs wait in the car while we all chat about what we are doing. Not for long, maybe 5 to 10 minutes depends really on what we are discussing. We work with our own dog in the group. So we do the exercises and our trainer comes around and sees how we are going. We do group exercises like keeping the dogs focused on us while other dogs walk by at different distances (just an example)? The dogs wait with us while she explains what we are doing next. Then we go onto the next exercise. We usually only work on a couple of things in each lesson.. When they finish we put them in the car and we leave.... It's pretty relaxed and she spends lots of time with each of us but when she isn't it is just us and our own dog practicing each command. Just getting him to sit, stand or lay by my side if we have been there for 45 minutes is near impossible... He just wants to say hello to the other dogs. Unfortunately this group of dogs are all a bit iffy with other dogs, so he can't say hello to any of them. The last group, we only had one that we had to give space but this group, it's all of them... I think you have all hit the nail on the head, the class is just to long for him. I am going to take him home once he starts to disengage from the activity... Like I said before, he came home yesterday and slept the whole afternoon... He was exhausted..

My sister's old staffy girl was taken when she was about 9 years old and she was found again when she was 13 years old. Amazing story - Sister lives rural in a small village. Her old staffy used to roam around and get fed by everyone. She spent lots of time at the bakery a few houses up from my sisters place. Bakery employs new girl, new girls takes a shine to Ellie and takes her home one day and never returns to work. My sister and her family were beside themselves but moved on eventually. A new friend of my sisters comes for coffee - sees a bit portrait photo of Ellie and asks how she knows 'Bella' - Sister tells her that is her old dog and she went missing years ago. Friend tells sister - that dog has lived next door to me for about 4 years.. Sister and hubby go and check it out - yep, it's Ellie (microchip proved it). They contact police, bring her home but at this stage Ellie is almost blind and really unwell. She had her at home for about 2 weeks but Ellie was getting worse with them and spent most of her time under the bed or under the table. So, she gave her back to the elderly lady that had been looking after her for the last 4 years as Ellie as scared when she bought her home and they worked all the time and didn't have the time to spend with her. From what I understand, she lived about another year..

Thanks guys - I know I am expecting a bit much from him deep down. Like I said, when we train at home it is only for a short time and then at training he is expected to stand still or do what's asked for a long time.. He does get a bit of time out in the car during the training time.. He tends to get really hot in the sun in a short period and need to cool off in the shade with cool water to. Thinking about it, it was really warm yesterday and he wanted to go back to his water quite a bit.. I think the class is just to long for hi To be honest, I am happy to stay there as long as it takes with him but he just shuts down after a while and then starts being naughty... I try to keep the enthusiasm up, I try treats, tennis ball and change over to try to keep him motivated - when he starts this new jumping around on the lead (and can he jump high, it's like he has springs for legs) like he is trying to get away that I lose my enthusiasm and get frustrated. Maybe he is telling me he has had enough. I might ask her if we can attend half classes, she is pretty flexible with classes we can attend - if we miss one in our group, we can attend another group class.

Blimey this dog is frustrating sometimes.. Back at training yesterday. Training started about 10.30am and finished at 12.15pm. Yep it's a long time but there are 5 of us in the group and each dog has its own 'issues'... For the first 45 minutes or so, even our trainer commented on how great he was - he really did me proud. He did everything that was asked of him. Even sitting in the car with the door open and he doesn't get out unless invited (even with other dogs around). Then it started - he was lunging towards other dogs (not aggressively but he wanted to get close to them to play, sniff whatever). He was jumping on his lead, laying on the ground and totally out of control - I had no control over him at all. After about 5-10 minutes of trying to regain control by walking him away, offering treats, tennis ball, I gave up and put him in the car. When we got home, he slept all afternoon - am I working him to much for to long at training? Am I expecting to much from him? He is about 18 months old now. How long is it before he does what I want him to do ALL the time? or at least when I ask him to do something.. We do training at home every day - it might be for 5-10 minutes at a time but it is everyday and a few times a day to reinforce what he learns at training. Maybe we need obedience classes instead of these special type classes? I don't know - I do know I am getting frustrated with 2 steps forward and then 2 steps back...

My old stafford used to get the same thing at the same time of year. I always thought it was something they used at the local park because if I didn't take him to the park for a week or so, it seemed to settle. But Ziggy hasn't been to the park for a week and he is still scratching.. Hopefully the vet can see something because the only place that I can see any redness (and it really isn't that red) is on his tummy... I have washed all his bedding and mine this weekend in hot water, so if there are any fleas that should kill any eggs. My son thinks it is fleas (I don't as we have no bites and I haven't seen any indication like dried blood or fleas themselves) because Ziggy has been digging in the backyard again and when he and Gus came here last year they were covered in fleas.. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of it quick, I hate to see them uncomfortable..

I am going to make an appointment with the vet on Monday.. I have tried Malaseb, I bought the QV and gave that a go today and he is scratching and fleaing himself heaps... It seems to be his tummy, all four legs and his rump where he sits..... I can see a bit of redness on his tummy but he is really dark, so I can't see anything on his legs. He doesn't have any redness in between his toes, which I would have expected if it was a contact allergy... There is no sign of fleas, so that's a good thing. The pimples don't seem as bad as they were the other night. I have just wiped them with a cloth soaked in warm salty water morning and night...

So incredibly cute.. Thanks for the update..

Oh my, so cute... I do not need a puppy.. I do not need a puppy.. If you are affiliated with a rescue group, get them to put him on their Facebook page and website. As a staffy. Staffy rescue will add him to their website for you if you contact them. Let Ruthless here on DOL know about Hamas she runs Bull Breeds in Need Facebook page and she updates it all the time..

Thanks Michael for setting the record straight for us.. In regards to pricing, I don't think it is over the top but unfortunately there are a lot of the general public that disagree.. I would like a dollar for the each person that has commented on rescue organizations wanting $300+ for mutts.. People just don't see that it costs money for everything, rescue, desexing, vaccination, microchipping and that doesn't include food and training that some dogs may need. Or the higher cost medical cases like those that need surgery or other expensive treatments. I think they are all worth much more that rescue orgs charge but the general public still see them as strays needing a home, so they should be next to nothing if we want them 'saved'... The ones that I speak to that complain about the costs, I tell them, what price should you expect to pay for a pet for the next 5 to 15 years?