3Woofs

My boy is 15 months old now and is only just really starting to muscle up now, where as some of his brothers muscled up early. Buster looked like a pup until around the 13 month mark but noe that he's looking more mature we are going great guns in the ring. Some just take longer to mature. Give him some time, 10 months is still very young.

I have a stafford bitch and an amstaff dog who get along like a house on fire. The bitch is dominant and can be a bit narky with the dog over food so I just make sure they are always separated while eating. When my hubby and I first moved in together we had his family's beagle bitch with the stafford bitch and the beagle attacked the stafford continually and hated her to a point where they hadn't seen each other for a year and the beagle still lunged at the staford at first sight.... so I think dogs of any breed can potentially be an issue and this must be taken into consideration when adding another dog to the family.

I don't totally agree with this. There are a lot of breeders who's lines have blue in there somwhere and have blue pups pop up in litters... it's the ones who breed a crap dilute to another crap dilute and then charge the world for a pup that you need to avoid. There are also some (minority) quality blues out there being shown and used in breeding programs so not everyone with a blue should be put into the unethical basket. In my opinion the best advice in regards to buying a pup would be to make sure the litter was bred for a reason ie. to try to improve a breeders lines, that the parents are health tested, that an entire litter isn't sold on main papers, that they are priced within the breed average no matter what the colour or sex, and that puppy owners will have ongoing support for the life of the dog.

My stafford girl and amstaff boy are pretty much always left together. Though they are separated when they have raw bones. I think it really depends on the dogs. With my two the stafford has been top dog from the start and my amstaff boy is very submissive to her.

Ha.... this is why I use plastic bowls now. Buster thought it was fun to push the metal bowl around the whole yard... I don't think the neighbours appreciated it at all. Only thing is now if I don't pick the bowl up straight after he has finished eating, he then eats the bowl too! I'm up to plastic bowl number 3 now.

I signed it too.

Best thing I ever did was change to a check chain and just kept on constantly shoving treats in my boys mouth to keep his attention on me. I did this for 2 weeks and now he hardly needs any correction and only gets treats when there is a big distraction like a barking/passing dog.

Thanks guys. I really love the look of the leather ones so will get one of those.

I was walking Buster and he pulled suddenly to sniff a pile of old furniture on the side of the road and the metal clasp on his lead that attaches to his collar snapped in half :p . He didn't realise and kept trotting along beside me but I wouldn't want that to happen again and he run in front of a car or something. It was just a cotton lead I got when I joined up for obedience but the metal didn't look really cheap. What lead would you recommend buying in future? How do do know if the clasp in a quality metal or not?

We work 9-5 so my husband stopped home during the day to give our pup lunch and a little play. He then refilled the kong and swapped some toys over so that there were new things for her to play with. We only did this for 2 weeks though because we had another dog and felt comfortable enough by then for them to be left alone together when we weren't home.

For my last few shows I haven't got the numbers until the day before, but for the show this Saturday I received it a week ago. I guess it depends on the number of entries they need to sort through.

I would recommend a 6 foot fence as Staffords can be great jumpers/climbers. Is there any particular TYPE of fence that is best - one that can limit their ability to climb over? I have had a "staffy" climb over a colorbond fence of that height. I have 6ft colorbond all round with concrete underneath. This has kept my stafford in, however she has climbed over a 6ft chainmesh fence. If they still jump 6ft you could get the lattice extented panels that go on top of the colorbond to make it higher

Oh forgot to add that I don't let Buster play with dogs that try to dominate him or dogs that are intimidated by his puppiness. I believe that if challenged most amstaffs wouldn't back down and I'm not willing to put him in that situation. In my case socialising has worked so far but I know this can change and he could become dog aggressive as he matures.

My Amstaff was the same. At puppy pre-school he would get on top of the other pups and play very rough and pin them down. I made sure he was removed as soon as he did this so would learn he could only play if it was nice play. At 5-6 months he wasn't dominant at all and would submit to all the other dogs and even other pups. Now at 8 months he plays well with other dogs including other entire males (while on lead), however I watch their behaviour closely and remove him if the play is getting too rough. I thought I had the devil puppy. He would mouth non stop and I had numerous shredded pants. I just made sure I was firm and consistent with him and now he is such a gentle laid back goof.

Yes I thought the more I took her out the better she would get.... but no she just kept on being sick. I tried just doing 5 minute trips, playing with toys, having the window down... nothing worked she just started drooling and then spewed, usually before I had time to pull over and let her out. I just had to not feed her the mornings we went out and put a couple of towels on the car seat. I really believe it was motion sickness not anxiety because she always happily jumped in the car. I'm just glad she's stopped spewing. I still drive really slow around corners and bends though just incase she starts to feel sick again.

My Missy couldn't get to the bottom of the driveway with being sick and would retch the entire time she was in the car. This was from 8 weeks until recently at about 13 months where she just stopped being sick..... so I guess she just grew out of it.

My amstaff pup and I did puppy preschool at Crown Street Vet in Wollongong... bit too far for you. We loved it We didn't learn much but it was good opportunity to socialise the pups. I would just ring around local vets to find out who holds them.

They look great! Have just ordered some! Will add it to the list! I think I have lots to choose from now so Snuffy will be excited! I love these and give my dogs this same brand but they are half trotters so last longer.... only one a week though.

and this... To this...

from this... To this...

My tuffie lasted 1 hr :p I went to make lunch and then came outside to find fluff and felt all over the yard It was the toughest rating too. The $5 toy I got from the reject shop is still alive though after 2 weeks .

Buster at 8 weeks and at 5 1/2 months

Awww all the cute pups! Missy at approx. 4 weeks and at 6/7 months

In the future I would love to get a Chihuahua and was wondering if anyone has ever litter trained a dog? What do people in apartments do while they're not home? I can't have a doggy door because I have an inside cat who can never be let out and I wouldn't leave a chihuahua outside unless I was there to supervise since I have two staffys who might squash it by playing too rough. Just after some ideas...

My pup had bloody poo for 2 1/2 weeks. Vet said it must have been a sharp piece of bone from the chicken necks we were feeding her and it caused a little anal tear that would bleed every time she poo'd, and I was advised to feed her softened food until the bleeding had stopped. Best thing would be to take your dog to the vet for a check up to make sure it isn't anything too sinister.