FB Rescue_Adoption

it never ceases to amaze me how much hair a swf can shed at certain times of the year. My auntie doesn't bother storing the vacuum cleaner anymore because it gets used almost daily to suck it all up. I would say a good brush every day with one of those rubber brushes should help pick out the loose hair from the coat.

this is an excellent response... while Staffords are great with children, having small children and a puppy = a lot of work if you want them all to be well balanced. I'd consider a different breed, better still a different type of pet which may be more suitable.

I agree with most points being made about the breed here although I have found that mine need a lot of exercise - at least an hour a day if I hope to have their energy levels on par with mine by the time it comes time for me to sit down and watch some TV. Without a good run next to me on the bike they have been known to literally bounce off the walls!! If it's terrible weather outside - it's off to the dog pool for laps which also does the trick! Also, regarding separation anxiety issue - I believe it's how you condition them moreso than a 'breed specific issue' as such. If you make a fuss first moment you walk in the door - yes, the dog will become anxious waiting for your arrival when you're out and suffer anxiety - without a fuss coming and going shouldn't be an issue.

No probs, he looks really cute! According to the breed page for Am Staff's - the average weight is 25kgs. http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/inform...ire-terrier.asp All the best with him :-)

He looks like an American Staffordshire Terrier to me, especially when I look at the ways the ears fold. English Staff's ears - the fold is quite tight, whereas the Am Staff ears fold is looser and doesn't overlap quite as closely. His height and weight would be ok for an Am Staff but he seems to have too much bone/height for an English Staff.

Here is some more info for you if you wanted to check it out (I forgot to mention in my previous thread): Woof Pur Ney - http://www.woofpurnay.com.au/ Training - http://www.woofpurnay.com.au/training.php Hope this helps, good luck

Hi There, I used to go to Sherbrooke but now go to Woofpurney', they have some fantastic Trainers there and I'd have no hesitation in recommending them. They are on the corner of Belgrave Hallam Road and Heatherton Rd which is not too far from Belgrave at all. The Trainers are all fully qualified, full time Dog behaviourists and trainers who do it for a living as opposed to volunteering on weekends which is sometimes the case at other dog clubs. I've achieved more in the past 3 months with my two going there than a whole 12 months elsewhere. Really great.

yep..sounds just like typical steffy behaviour to me!

Thanks Guys! I'm going to book an apptmt with my Vet and say it's for anal glands to be expressed and hopefully they won't sting me for the full consult fee...thanks for the tip with that! And the Kerri oil, which I have been using, this has definately been helping and it's looking better already. :-)

Try to prevent her from being too active. When Stella was desexed (staffy) she was back to her normal active self after the first day and she started to develop a small bulge around the site where she had surgery, the Vet mentioned that if we hadn't have kept her still after that point when we recognised it she could have done some damage to layers of internal stitches that were required as a result of the surgery which could have been bad news for her. I'd try to restrict her activity by at least 75% for the following couple of weeks just to be safe.

Hi There Fellow DOL'ers, Have been experiencing an issue over the past few days with my Stella that I thought I'd put to you all to see if others had experienced this at all.. It generally happens in the morning after she gets up, she takes herself into the hallway which is carpetted and sits on her bottom and swivels in a circle! When I first saw it I thought: a) Worms? OR b) Impacted Anal Glands (Build up of fluid) However, she takes Advocate monthly which controls most intestinal worms and she is on a raw diet which normally does a good job of naturally expressing her glands. I've checked the area beneath her tail and there are small raised lumps in the area that seem to be very itchy. I'm thinking of taking her to the Vet to check them out just in case.... Anyone have any idea's what this could be? or had any similar experiences?

Kavik - Sorry to hear of your troubles - I can sympathise with you and god knows I've been there with my Stella when she was younger. What I had to learn for myself was that I was actually exacerbating her condition following the advice of so many others trying to help me. During her first year, her skin was constantly red, inflamed and permanently itchy. She'd scratch and bring on secondary infections (tiny white pustules of bacteria) through all the scratching, not to mention the thump, thump, thump in the night of her scratching herself reverberating on the floorboards!! To say, we were totally being driven nuts by it is an understatement!! I tried it all.. and it only got worse!! Malaseb, cortisone tablets - fine while she was on them otherwise she'd be itchy again. Basically, my best advice is find what works for you and do your own research. The worse thing I did was put Stella on Hills Z/D and bathe with chemical rinses like Malaseb and Pyohex....they were just making it worse for her. Bit by bit, I tried different things - today, she has a glossy coat and with careful management is hardly every itchy. I have her on a natural raw diet only, some yoghurt, sardines and egg but mostly raw meat and RMBs, some small amounts of offal (not more than 5% of total intake). I bathe her in a natural skin cleansing solution that I got from this website: http://www.naturalanimalsolutions.com.au/ If you say you have trouble keeping the weight on your dog - two words - Chicken Wings!! Does wonders... and you have the benefit of good meat to bone ratio for each piece. Not sure if this helps but I am glad I didn't continue with my Vets advice of all the chemical washes and drugs and dry food - in my opinion - that just kept me going back there time and time again spending large amounts of $$$ for little to no return. Good Luck! it is a very frustrating thing to go through..

Love the photo! My two like to sit on eachother when we have visitors and then they look around as though it's nothing unusual at all! I think you may be needing to go back to basics, the NILIF program is great, fantastic for re-establishing your leadership.

Maybe you could try calling them? I think they are made by PAL, you would normally find a customer service number on the packet.

You may also wish to read the Puppy Development Calendar which can be found at the top of the thread to learn about how important the first few months of a dogs life really is, being that the puppies are so young, they really should not have been allowed to leave their mother for another 3 weeks. Puppy to puppy interaction is very important at this stage as they learn about how to interact with eachother, what is acceptable behaviour and so on. I would suggest you allow your dog to play with his litter mate your uncle's pup as much as possible in the near term so that they learn these behaviours. All the best.

Chicken Wings, chicken wings and more chicken wings... I would start with one per day and increase by one or two per week. Sure fire way to stack on the pudding!

Thanks Jules, I will definately contact them! Keep your eye out for an oversized red and white Staffy and a black girl with white feet!!

Hi , the best place to start would be at a club. I did agility with my obedience club, but there is also seperate agility clubs too. It depends on where you are located. Your dog has to be 18months plus before they are allowed to do all the activities ...mainly the jumping. However you can still do the weaving, tunnel, A frame and the board walk just to get started Thanks so much! My puppies (Stella - 2yrs, Max 7mths) would love to do this.. sometimes when we go to the park (and it's just us there, no kids around) I encourage them to go through the tunnel of the childrens play equipment and climb the steps and then go down the little slide. At first they were like 'hey, what is up with all this??' but now after having done it each week for about a month now, they know what to do and I can sit Stella at one end and call her and she will do it all by herself! Sometimes she gets so excited about it that she barks through it the whole time!! I think she would love to get into this and I would love seeing her enjoy it! I've enquired at 'Action Dogs' and have put our names on the (2yr!) waiting list.. I may enquire elsewhere also...does anyone know of any Agility clubs in Vic, Eastern Suburbs that they would recommend?

Wow! so you guys are getting your own stuff? Is that so you can practice at home? I'm really interested in Agility but I don't even know where to start.. can you guys give me any info on where I could go to learn more about how to train in this sport. It looks like it would be soo much fun

Hi, I've been raw feeding my new pup and have noticed that he seems to be growing quite fast, certainly a lot faster than my previous girl who was mostly raised on super premium EP Holistic Select with the odd chicken carcass thrown in. Is there a danger with raw feeding causing dogs to grow too quickly? At the moment my boy is 5.5 mths and is on one cup of EP in the morning and for dinner alternates between RMBs - chicken wings, carcasses, necks, lamb shanks, flaps, lamb hearts, ox tongue/cheek, sardines (whole fresh) with yoghurt and an egg once a week. He looks very shiny and healthy but just seems to be 'bigger' than some other staffords his age.. Should I be concerned at all?

Basically with insurance for pets, most of them will offer cover for 'illnesses and accidents' sustained by your pet - anything from broken bones, torn cruciate ligements, cancer and other conditions that can be diagnosed throughout a dogs life as well as any nasty accidents and injuries that result. The majority will not pay 100% of these costs they will pay 'up to' 80% of costs - there are only a few (HCF is one of them) that will cover up to 100% of costs. Note - day to day expenses are not covered e.g. Vaccinations, and any 'routine' pet care costs. Things to check for are - Waiting Periods, annual limit for accidents and illness - check and read all 'exclusions' and make sure you understand what you are covered for. Most of the information in the PDS is self explanatory. Good luck! I've always made my money back from some acccident my crazy pups seem to have from time to time throughout the year so I am happy with my policies.

Try this for an interesting read...I've now stopped all the 'multi use' products on the market and only treat my dogs now if they have a specific issue which they haven't in the last 12 months. Natural is best.

Labs flaps :p :p :cool: (sorry, couldn't help it) Sandra - too funny! oBviously not those 'flaps'

My two have policies with HCF - which I've found to be fantastic! They have already paid out two claims - no questions asked. Cover is for Accident and illness - up to 100% of costs incurred less the excess. (up to $7,500 annually). I think it costs me about $30 per month per dog but I get a 10% discount as I also have personal health insurance with them. PDS can be found here for those that wish to compare. http://hcf.com.au/pdf/Petcover_Product_Dis...e_Statement.pdf

thanks, I'll look into this NILIF program.. Max gets reprimanded each time he displays this kind of behaviour so he knows it's not appropriate, the difference is...other times he is reprimanded for doing the wrong thing, he 'gets it' and over time and with consistency he improves yet, when it comes to this particular issue - he tends to dig his heels in so to speak and refuse to co-operate which is why I thought I'd ask about it in this forum. Lately, I've been separating them to play with them so that I can prevent their 'arguments' but I don't think I'm addressing the problem and working out a way to help him understand how to play more appropriately. thanks for your thoughts on this.. I'll keep searching for a solution that might help to rectify in the longer term