BigDaz

When your dog's get extremely thirsty but wont drink their water because there are "floaties" in it (seriously).............but then will try to drink out of the gutter during a walk.

I am glad everyone doesn’t consider a rescue dog a "roll of the dice", otherwise there would be a lot more dead dogs. I am also a little confused how you would not consider a pup a roll of the dice; I have known some purebred pups that have turned out less than desirable. At least a reputable rescue may be able to match the right dog to the family.

Try to talk your house mate into crate training, this is something I did not particularly like and didnt do, and now regret. When it comes to a need to keep the dog quiet after an injury or operation, being crate trained will be a god send. As for bedding, I went through 7 or 8 snooza's before I decided to just purchase blankets form Big-W and fold them up as the bedding

Be really careful with shade cloth, I came home to find one of my Staffies hanging by her arm ( or front leg). She had jumped up on the shade cloth and got a claw caught, she twisted around trying to get free and just wound the cloth tighter around her paw. It was 4 years ago but I still feel sad when I think of what must have been going through her mind while she was stuck there.

He has now given up on a Husky and is looking at other breeds, which I am quite happy about as I didnt feel he had enough knowledge of the breed to deal with them effectively. On the downside, he has gone back to looking at puppies rather than rescue as the lack of response has put him off.

I have Staffords, I have no choice! I have no issue with my dogs giving me a lick on the chin, one goes straight for the ears for some reason, that I cant stand. I even let rescue dogs give me a lick on the chin if it helps them to feel comfortable.

Thanks for the information, he is in Victoria so a Rescue in Victoria would be the preferred option. I dont know a lot about his situation, I really just got involved by talking him into a Rescue instead of purchasing a pup, well, actually my first discussion was based around how much work a Husky can be.

Does anyone have any contacts at http://siberianhuskyrescue.org.au/. I managed to talk a guy at work into adopting a Husky from a rescue instead of buying a pup, I did advise him of the challenges with owning a Husky (Not that I have any experience, I deal with Staffords). He contacted this organisation on a number of occasions regarding a girl he was interested in form their web site and has not really heard much back from them in a couple of weeks. Could this mean they have rejected him as a possible owner or are they just not good at responding to potential owners?

Or a 12 hour whelping during the night, breech births & a trip to an emergency Vet at 2am to get puppy formula to feed the puppies, because the mother doesn't want to know the puppies she's had, while she is still pushing out the others. Then the 2 hour feeds for the runts of the litter, who are too small to compete with the bigger stronger pups. Although I understand the sentiment, I wouldnt wish either on any dog to prove a point. Realistically, morons like the OP's family will be around forever, the Government doesnt do anything, if the BYB makes twenty bucks for smokes they are happy. Then there are the dodgy ANKC registered breeders who flout the laws in their own way........real animal lovers and dedicated breeders really cant win.

I dont think people are "dwelling" they just have an understandable interst in their dogs past. I have no references or expert knowledge but I deal with a number of rescues and often wonder why a dog is the way it is. I will meet a dog that has possibly suffered so much neglect, yet they are still so loving and affectionate, it just makes you wonder how or why a dog turns out the way it does. I also think knowing a dogs history could assist with dealing with a dogs current behaviour, but in most cases this is not possible.

Has there been a change in diet, my two are allergic to beef.

I stopped giving my Staffy's pig's ears when they started trying to inhale them, they didnt look overly safe to me. They now get Bully Stick, Bull Chew, Beef Stick, whatever you like to call them, in our house they are known as Pee Pee's. If you can get your hands on a nice big Pee Pee, it lasts for ages, my girls usually get a couple of goes before they are done. Being Staffy's, Pee Pee's are the only thing I have found last more than 2 minutes.

She is a beautiful girl, she deserves to have a really good home, I wanted to take her home myself but my two would be a bit full on for her. She seens to want a quiet life, a typical couch potato. :laugh: Daz,are you able to post her pics from the Staffy Rescue site? Im only a volunteer so I am not sure if I am aloud to re-post their photos. People can always go to Facebook and look up Staffordshire Rescue Victoria and see the two photo's they put up today of you picking up Cougar. Actually, a link may work....dont foget to "like" them http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stafford-Rescue-Victoria/150583675018703

She is a beautiful girl, she deserves to have a really good home, I wanted to take her home myself but my two would be a bit full on for her.

Hi Alfie&Maya, I just wanted to share my story with you. I made the mistake of buying two female Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppies from a breeder. I came do DOL much as you have, seeking advice on what seemed excessive fighting for my girls at about 9 weeks of age. I was given a lot of advice on this forum to return one of them right away, I was told I had made a big mistake and they would end up killing each other. My initial reaction was shock and agreement that I should return one, which was heartbreaking. At some point during the thread Underdog Training put some perspective on my situation and suggested I think further before giving one up and look at getting someone to assess the fighting, as well as discuss options for controlling their behaviour. I also contacted the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club for advice who gave me some good advice as well. Nearly 5 years later I have two female littermates who get along amazingly well, they know each other so well, but I also realise this could change at any time. It has been hard work training wise and by no means do I have the best trained Stafford’s around, but I have two people friendly (they are SBT's) and for the most part dog friendly Stafford’s you could meet. It is a huge commitment though and a hell of a lot of hard work. They each have their individual issues which I could have addressed better if I had only had one dog, but overall they are great dogs. If I had my time again, I would only get one, but I am so glad I didn’t give one up when advised as such by numerous DOL members. I am not advising your situation, just explaining mine as I don’t know Huskies at all, but then I didn’t know Stafford’s either. The other thing to understand is I am an absolute dog lover, there is nothing I would not go out of my way to do for my dogs.....they have cost me a fortune but you may not be in the same situation. Sorry for the long post but it is an important subject. Edit to add: What I perceived as agressive behavior was Staffy's playing, but this was specific to my dogs and I would suggest if you are concerend to have someone assess you dogs.

25 years ago I went to a mates place, when I walked in this little dog ran up to me, I bent down to pat it and it rolled on its back for tummy scratches. I thought I want one of these, I asked what it was and was told it was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It took me another 20 years to be in a place where I could devote time and energy to dogs, now I have two 4.5 year old Staffy sisters. So for me it was not overly scientific and doesnt help you decide. The one thing I did think about and may sound strange, I always wanted a dog I could lift by myself should something happen to it and I needed to take it to the vet.

My two Staffy's are not allowed in the bedroom, they are stuck in the rear sunroom.........with their own heater in winter and their own air conditioner in summer.

Just throwing this out there as I really have no idea, does this sort of playing help to teach bite inhibition?

Why are those leashes not banned, they are such a risk to all involved, I cant stand them. Also, to defend the OP, I walk two Staffies and if I need to get their attention I give them a tap with my foot, so people will probably have a go at me. These dogs run into doors and each other at full speed, shake themselves off and continue, my foot is the least of my worries.

That doesnt sound like much fun. I did the same thing with one of my Staffy's. The poor girl was torn between dealing with the pain and chasing the ball, so she was sort of running sideways, I felt so bad. I dont think I got her as good as you got yours though, she wanted to still play ball with one eye and she looked fine after an hour. Really just pointing out that it does happen to others as well.

I was going to ask, how do you ensure the dog knows to use the steps. One of my girls has ED and I put a step in front of the lounge so she can easily get up, now she jumps from in front of the step.

But now the pup can hopefully go back to the owners who possibly mistreat it, dont look after its medical issues and generally possibly just dont care about it, now it can have years of suffering. Sometimes the "right thing" is not necessarily the best thing. Edit: In case it is not clear, I am not having a go at TheCheekyMonster.

Vets make an educated guess, GP's make an educated guess, and the difference is we can accurately define the symptoms, but in the end they both guess (understandable). I think what it boils down to is, were all avenues explored when it comes to diagnosis. My biggest gripe is not being referred to a specialist early enough, Vets tend to "try this" then come back in a week, if that doesn’t work "try the next thing". My girl had ED which was not diagnosed for months until I was referred to a specialist (I didn’t know how this all worked previously), because of the months of mis-diagnosis she now has severe arthritis for which I have been trying various costly treatments. She had to go to the Vet tonight because she cant jump (unrelated to the ED, seems to be in issue with back legs), I was told to try Rimadyl for her current issue and see how it goes, if that doesnt work bring her back. My reply was, if Rimadyl doesnt work please give me a referral to the specialist.

Maybe think about getting a behaviourist in to teach you some training methods that will overcome the fear the dog feels, rather than trying to avoid the fear.

Favourite: Staffordshire Bull Terrier, nothing else compares! Least Favourite: Poodle, mainly standard but not a fan of most Poodles.