FB Rescue_Adoption

Name: Stella Sex: Female Date of birth: 28 April 2007 Age: 12 weeks old Colour: Black Breed: Stafford Hobbies: Eating Loves: Food and food Hates: Being left out of any activity her human people are doing!

Apparently a 15 second swim for a dog is equivalent to 4 minutes of running!! Because of the pressure on their lungs and air cavities in their bodies, no wonder they gasp like they do afterwards. I'm going to take some photo's next week when we go to our next swimming lessons so that you can all see how bad she is!! THEN I hope to post some photo's of a nice relaxed stella after a few weeks to hopefully show the improvement!

Loved the video! I'm glad to hear that your dog learnt to swim. I have now booked Stella into doggie 'swimming lessons' at Woof Pur Ney which is not too far from us. http://www.woofpurnay.com.au/dogpool.php We went there for the first time last night and although Stella had a life jacket on - she looked absolutely TERRIFIED the whole time, even being lowered into the pool she was making these wimpering noises and as soon as she felt nothing beneath her she was panicking badly! she got through two laps and we had another go after she had a rest (equally as bad). How long did it take your dog to get over the fear? I don't think Stella even realised she was buoyant with the vest on because she was too terrified to stop and feel that she wouldn't sink. I've committed to weekly lessons for 4 weeks, hopefully she will improve. :rolleyes: poor baby was soo terrified - I can't stop seeing her face panic stricken like that.

OMG a DUCK that can't float!! What the *&^^!! I can't believe that!

Yes, I've been thinking about how to help her with this. I think I'll take her down to the dog beach at brighton and get in the water with her, she likes being close to me so I'd be surprised if she didn't follow me in. Life jackets for dogs too funny! I guess it's not only Stella that has had problems swimming then if someone has spent the time creating a life jacket for them

Hi, I always thought that every dog could swim, that it was a survival instinct but today we were at the Park and there's a lake close by. I threw the stick and stella went after it before realising it she'd jumped into the lake after the stick. I watched her grab the stick, then drop it as she realised she was in deep water for the first time. A look of sheer terror came over her and then she panicked and froze She started sinking before moving her arms and legs again but her body was vertical and she kept bobbing up and down, I was frantically calling her to me and was just about to jump in to get her when she lunged forward and made it onto a ledge where she was able to jump out. Can't every dog swim??? Is it just mine? She scared me half to death and now I feel nervous about it every time she goes near the lake I get worried. Any suggestions? Anyone else have problems with their puppies/young dogs (staffy 12 mths) not being able to swim?

poor baby, I would be using the process of elimination test wise till you come up with a proper treatment plan, sounding like it could be serious. My staffords sometimes get gunky eyes and I bathe them with camomile tea, they clear up quick smart. not sure if this helps you or not

I have farty pants Staffords. LOL!!! couldn't help but laugh, my staffords produce some real stinkers too! They are raw fed as well, but stink really bad if I give them pork!

This is EXCELLENT! I bet your dogs look fantastic!

As beautiful a breed as Goldens are, I think you will find that you have created an environment for ongoing issues here. Even watching them closely, there will always be potential for dominance games which could escalate into serious trouble for one or both of them. (I'm wondering what breeder would allow the homing of two male pups!!) I wish you all the best however, I can't help but think that one would be better off being rehomed.

Thanks so much for the fantastic information I've found on these links! It's benn really helpful!

Thanks Everyone! We are now working in the backyard only and Max is making progress so thanks for your suggestions/advice!

Hi, I have two staffords. 1 is very well trained after 18mths of ongoing formal training, the other is 4 months and is worse than I can ever remember the other one being. The little one - Max is a nightmare to take out of the house. He goes out every day for 10 mins to the park across the road and the whole time he pulls and surges ahead with excitement. I've tried standing still until he calms down but then he just about runs on the spot to try to get ahead. I've taken him to an oval that is fully enclosed and let him off the leash to run it out for a few mins before I ask anything of him on lead in the hope he will be calmer after he releases some of his energy...it doesn't seem to work. While he is just 4 months, what should I reasonably expect from this puppy in regards to training and attention span? He is just SO gung ho! He loves food but when I use it as a training aid he seems intent on bouncing up and down on the spot to try to get a hold of it rather than listen to what I'm asking. Is his puppy brain too small, young, undeveloped to take in what I'm asking? I'm becoming concerned that I won't be able to manage him for a walk when he is older and stronger at this rate. Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

what do you mean by "VAN"? I'm feeding heaps of RMBs but with the offal, not too sure about how much they need of this type of food as it is fairly rich

It seems like a good substitute, although I must admit the sight of it is kind of eeewwww! She seem sto be enjoying it tho!

I might just add that many pups from large litters can leave for their new homes with mites in their ears and other warm area's like the arm pits..but one dose of advocate cleared these up for our little Max! ;)

Just check that you are not putting too much pressure on his chest cavity when you hold him, this is like a baby's cranium and is very soft when they are little, if too much is prssure is placed here the pup will stretch it's head up and open his mouth for more air intake..besides this the babies grunt and squeak a lot which is soo cute ;)

Hi, Check out this link: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com For some reason the Holistic Select is recommended in the review whilst the EP Premium for Senior dogs isn't but I'll let you do the reading I feed EP to mine also but just the Holistic version.

Hey There, I feed BARF once a day for my 18mth old stafford in the evenings about 6pm - she is fasted one day every couple of weeks. Max is just a bubba (15wks) and is on 3 meals a day. Natural yoghurt and oats for brekkie about 7am. A chicken wing or couple of necks or something similar, usually a RMB of some type for lunch and BARF for dinner - veg/fruit pulp with a meat - sardines/roo/beat or Lamb. All doing really well - NO MORE SKIN ALLERGIES FOR STELLA who used to suffer terribly!!! And I do believe fasting one day a week is beneficial to give their system a chance to eliminate.

Thanks so much! I have decided to enrol Max so if you see a red and white pied stafford puppy, that will be Max and I! Hope to see you there!

Hi There, Congrats on your new puppy! I've recently been through what you are going through (our max is now 15 weeks) so thought I'd lend some advice. At 8.5 weeks there's really not much that you can expect from a puppy that age, although it's a great habit to get into doing 5 mins of training a day, just remember that his attention span is extremely limited. If you haven't already check out the puppy development info that has been pinned in the 'puppy problems' section - I find this really helpful and have it on my fridge at the moment. With the sleep all day up all night pattern that he is going through at the moment, you'll find that he will sleep most of the day up until about 12 - 13 weeks and as he gets stronger he will be able to maintain his energy for a bit longer. At the moment I would concentrate on toiletting outside once every hour, on the hour is a good habit while he's really young. If you are crate training him this is an excellent schedule and you'll find he picks up the toiletting habit outside very quickly. During the night can be a little more difficult, may be best to set your alarm for every 2hrs unless you have a sq foot of grass in this pen. With Max we had his pen in the tiled area and at night he would be in his pen with crate door open - he'd sleep in the pen but then in the pen also was a square foot of grass - the type you can buy rolled up. It starts to die very quickly with the toileting but they get the idea to go on soil/grass which helps them too. Sounds like you're doing the right thing and spending heaps of time with him which is great, remember the next 8 - 10 weeks will be crucial for his social/human interaction development so once he's had his shots (+10 days for them to kick in) enjoy taking him out for new experiences which are positive for him. Good Luck

I hate articles like this, when are people gonna realise that a dog is what you make it. Every dog has the potential to be a menace, as does every child not raised properly, time to make the owners more liable for their own irresponsibility.

Care to share a recipe? I know some people add eggs, yoghurt to the vegetables which need to pulverised for digestion, is this correct? then add the meat which is minced last? Then again, I think each person may do it slightly differently..

thanks puggy puggy.. I tried asking him and he said that he didn't want to give away his recipe but I will tell him when I see him that I'm concerned about the level of calcium he is adding and need to understand even ballpark...how much is in a kilo of his food. I used to feed BARF which is good but is getting too expensive and I don't like the move to the new packaging in recent months. Preferred it how it used to come, just in bags. The Roo recipe was especially good but that is really expensive now. Sometimes I think it's best to do just do the work, find the time and that way we know exactly what we're feeding eh? Yes, I will slap myself on the hand for going down the easy route with this...

Thanks! I've been onto this lady from ProK9 lately and will have her come out to help out to make sure we start off on the right foot or paw! I should say! thanks again for your advice!