Raelene

We always have "stacks on" when it comes to sleeping at our place. The Frenchies and Staffies LOVE to snuggle up together. They are so cute as the weave themselves all over each other - don't know how they can sleep like it. Here's one such pic of the three of them sleeping away while I was on the computer.

I've been using Nutro for quite a while now for both my own dogs (a couple of which have allergies) and some of my rescue dogs. I have been very happy with it and have found it is tolerated very well. I use the Chicken and Oatmeal one. I have also used the senior and found it very popular with the senior dogs (and the younger ones if they got hold of it). All natural ingredients, no offal etc. I live in ACT area and get mine from Petbarn. I have also used the Advance Tuna and Rice and was happy with that, however it is now getting very expensive. R

As those above have said - Indy needs off the couch.... Why don't you PM Cosmolo on here - she could also likely provide some details for recommended behaviourists near you. Is there any reason why Cayenne isn't desexed? Although not the answer to this issue, it may help a bit also. Good luck Raelene

We have 6 desexed bitches - 3 x staffords, 2 x frenchies and 1 x foxie. They all live happily together however the foxie, nicknamed "the Enforcer" tends to boss everyone around - no one takes an ounce of notice of her though. They range from 4yrs through to 15yrs. Only the foxie has a dominant nature, the others tend to be fairly easy going. I think the secret is matching the temperaments well, and leaning towards a more submissive nature than a dominant one. And lastly, ensuring that you are a good leader and consistently enforce the rules of the house makes life so much easier. R

I wouldn't do it either..... It is dependent on breeds however it is a LOT of work to get it right. The consequences of "partners in crime" can also be a lot to deal with if they are active, playful types. Unless you have a lot of training experience, you may find it very time consuming and at times frustrating. You need to ensure that the commitment you start with will continue until the dogs mature. I find in rescue that a lot over people over estimate their "true commitment" to their pets training. Training takes a lot of dedication and if you have a puppy it is critical to train and socialise it, for it to become a happy and balanced adult. With regard to getting kitten and puppies separately - if you do get them at separate times it is important to ensure that puppies are well socialised with kittens/dog friendly cats as part of their normal socialisation/training regime from an early age. Even if you don't own a cat, it will lay down a great foundation for a well-balanced dog and will mean it will be easier when you do get kitty. Like-wise if you get kitty first, try to set up plenty of positive situations with cat-friendly dogs, so that when the pup is introduced the cat isn't too overwhelmed and just becomes a "runner" which is likely to incite play or prey drives in the dog. Getting a kitten that has already been raised with dogs is good too, and a great base to start working on the socialising side. Dippa, sounds like you are doing a great job. Possibly watch the length of walks and type of surface you are walking on for such babies, in particular the Ridgeback (large breed), as it may be a bit hard on the joints and cause arthritis later in life. Breeder and vet should be able to advise. Be very careful if you are walking on concrete. Re the aggression issues, if the BC is deliberately starting fights at 4mths, it may be an idea to seek professional advice (recommended professional - there are lots of people/vets who may not give right advice and make it worse). Desexing is important too. Separating them may not be the answer, it is not "fixing" the problem but in a way avoiding it. If you are not there to separate, later on it could get nasty. The pup needs to know that what he is doing is not appropriate nor allowed - he needs to "learn" how to behave appropriately. To me this is a very big "red flag" situation. Many people don't seek advice early enough and it is MUCH harder to fix later and people tend to wait until the issue escalates. Aggression needs to be taken very seriously. Good luck with your babies and so great to see you are so committed to them, keep up the good work! R

IMO all pets should be desexed. There is no real reason for them not to be. Desexed dogs are less likely to have exert their authority (note I said less likely). There are wayyyyyy too many irresponsible dog owners who have accidents or intentionally backyard breed. Registered breeders also need to be more diligent with what they are selling and who they are selling them to. Too many pups are going with papers (and without papers), not desexed. I hear so many general public saying they have a champion bloodlined purebred, it should (and does) get bred to any other dog of the same breed or to crossbreed in smaller ones. They feel that because it came from a registered breeder, it gives them the extra clearance that they would be breeding appropriately ie. "of champion lines". ANKC need to make a concerted effort to make showing desexed dogs worthwhile. This means pet dogs can still support the capabilities of the entire parentage. Nobody has really put effort into it from what I've seen, it has never really got off the ground. I voted yes - I think you are onto something here but it would need to be handled carefully and not just be completely mandatory. There needs to be reliable and policed exceptions for those with good reason not to desex. As for the chances of it being successful, it will be about as successful as the understaffed Council run shelters are..... In ACT all dogs over 6mths old must be desexed unless a levy is paid for an entire animal. Hmm I don't think I have EVER heard of one person being prosecuted in the several years this has been in place. In fact, I don't think a lot of the regular public even know.

All of the above have good reports. I found this in the newspaper the other day but have no knowledge of how good it is as I hadn't heard of it before: Home Away From Home Let your dog holiday while you do! Short/long stays welcome, lots of freedom and attention in home environment on secure acreage, no kennels. Ph: 0422 048 172

Now I see that my special little Frenchie is just that - all Frenchie.... So much of what has been described is Claire all over - Super affectionate A total clown LOVES the company of her doggy mates (always sleeps curled up with someone) Very much conformation standard Is cat like and can spring to great height in a single bound Is intelligent - this girl works a situation so that the outcome suits her and if that means sitting and waiting for sometime for a dog to give up a toy or something she will.... she will also use her affection on the husband so he will pick her up and cuddle her, giving her access to me on the other lounge (he feels very used here) (Oh she does like to try and suck your ears) Completely food motivated Trainable and is getting better at it but there is a bit of "is it worth my while" to it sometimes (we also got her as a 2yo so some of the exercises were very new to her) House training - hmmm I see that is generally an on-going thing - okay but not reliable She eats advanced sensitive skin (tuna and rice), minced organic chicken frames, with green-lipped muscle powder and looks fabbo (You do need to be careful with bones - they choke very easily, we chop and bash chicken necks and occasionally she'll be allowed to gnaw on a very large brisket bone but alway under very close supervision and only whilst the bone remains large.) No problems at all with food aggression, I do feed her separately but only because she is so slow by comparison and the others will want to pilfer her dish. She doesn't try to take the other dogs food, though she will sit reasonably close by and stare - willing the dog to give it up. As far as she is concerned, left food is her gain. I'm surprised how effective this technique can be for food, toys, sleeping space. Must be somehow intimidating?? She lives happily together with 4 other girls. Her downside is she does have some allergy issues but they seem to be generally mostly under control Claire is our first Frenchie - previously (and currently) we have mostly had staffords. I must say, the Frenchie is incredibly endearing and though they have to be managed carefully, they are so rewarding and lovable. She is the first dog to COMPLETELY win my husband over and have him treating her like a baby princess. I highly recommend them as a lovable family companion! We are looking forward to adding another at some point in the future. R PS. I don't know if others find this but mine likes to get dressed up. She has a couple of favourite outfits and will actually get them out herself and bring them to be put on, hold it up and she'll put her head in... PPS. I have also used Oakwood Shampoo and found it very good.

Clearly and unfortunately this rescue group are trying to rip off the general public by using the public's naivity (sp?) to their financial advantage - by conning people into purchasing something that they "believe" is purebred, but isn't. It is sad as it puts this group in the same league as a petshop. Either that or there is a distinct lack of dog knowledge in those that prepare the website. Hmm I wonder if someone were to take them to task over the "false advertising" held on their website where they would end up? Firstly advertising the labradoodle as a purebred.... He certainly doesn't look like he comes close to anything more than a crossbreed and one that would shed everywhere at that. My understanding is the more generations the closer they are to a poodle coat (correct me if I am wrong). "To my knowledge, the Royal Blind Society trashed the breeding program some years back as they could not get conformity among the off-spring. I also believe that to this day, this has not been achieved and is no nearer to happening than it was when the Blind Society started the original breeding program approx 20 years ago." - I have seen many, many, Labradoodles and less Groodles at dog training. Barely any were alike - different sizes, and coats that ranged from shaggy steel wool type coat (that were usually unkept and matted) through scruffy like this guy, to a poodle type and finally a very odd short-haired one that looks like a fine labrador with sparse and individual long hairs poking out all over it - fortunately the owner adored it. Most were very clever but very active and generally unruly as they were not suited to the owners lifestyle/abilities. Oh and then there is the several with hip displaysia.... To advertise a Bull Arab as pure is sheer lunacy. Not only is it a crossbreed, it is a crossbreed of several types - a regular bitza. And even moreso over time as people trial other breeds in it to see which makes a better pig hunter (adding wolfhound, pitty, etc). The BC certainly doesn't look purebred either.... I agree with poodlefan, if you don't have the papers, don't say purebred. It is misleading and that is not what rescue is trying to portray. There's no reason to make a bit flash about it being "purebred" - unless it somehow has proof. Disappointing to see a rescue seemingly openly and willingly trying to mislead the public. That gets me on my goat a bit. R

Hmm I'm going to try this on my allergy prone staffy and frenchie. We have tried quite a few things and though it is MUCH better than it used to be, it's not perfect. I add Goochy's Green Lipped Muscle Powder to their food and the oldies move better and their coats are shiney as. As for the scratching above tail, years ago we had a cattle dog like that and she was severely allergic to fleas and couldn't have one or she'd go crazy, so might be good to monitor this. The other issue she had was hormonal and she had to have added Omegas etc in her diet to assist but it seemed to be around "heat" times. Rae

Just happened upon this thread - Cosmolo - DELIGHTED for your family. After a tumultuous emotional ride, fantastic to see it turn out so positive! Can't wait to see pics of the lucky puppy that will be the new "baby underdog". CONGRATULATIONS! Happy New Year to you both too! Raelene

What a terrible time you guys have had! Sending healing vibes to Grover and hugs to you both. Hope Grover is back on his furry paws very quickly. Raelene

I have two allergy dogs out of 5 - both came to me with allergies. I have wormed them three monthly with a worming pill but as we don't have fleas, have not had a need to use flea stuff. One is a blue brindle staffy, the other is a frenchie. To my knowledge the staffy has had allergy issues since she was young. The contributing factor I could see in her is anxiety and possibly the breeding to get the blue colouring. I adopted her from the pound, though had contact with previous owner afterwards. To my knowledge the frenchie has not had any spot-ons etc used either. I'm sure a lot of chemicals used could influence the immune systems, though I doubt the reasons for mine being allergy pups would be attributed to these. I have used advocate and had heartworm injections in my old staffy and to date she has never had an allergy. I'm feeling that it is possible, but there are probably other underlying factors. R

Thanks 4paws. Gosh if only everything that came out wasn't "controversial"...... I googled "use of beet pulp in dogs " and found several articles, including these couple of more positive, how confusing: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=...44&aid=2705 http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=12828 I haven't finished looking as yet (but best do some "work, work") but noted that most of the negative information so far has been on forums. 4paws, I couldn't find the info that you posted, can you either pop the url here or pm it to me? Ta Will be interesting to see what affect it has on my dogs with allergy issues (they already had these when I adopted them) and whether it increases the issue (which we have generally under control at present) or not. Laffi, I was not wanting to add fibre to the dogs diet in particular (some of mine have different diets depending on their needs - I have another that doesn't metabolise fat very well) but looking more at the ingredient in commercial dog food, and in particular, the one that I purchased last Saturday - Nutro. R

Dried beet pulp (filler) made it to # 4 before the chicken fat. This doesn't look very good . I'd been pondering on this and thought I'd ask as I don't know the answer..... We use Speedi-Beet for our horses (dried Beet Pulp that you soak) as a source of fibre which is very good for helping the horse to metabolise the starch and sugars in the correct areas of the gut to prevent intestinal horse issues (colic, ulcers, etc) and laminitis and is widely used for this purpose around the world. Our horses have been doing really well since we have been using it. I note that it was said that it is used as a "filler" in the Nutro dog food. My thought is that a "filler" is an item that is used for padding out the food with a cheap food source, that is usually a cereal, that will fatten the dog but not necessarily provide "nutrition" but will minimise the costs of manufacture. Is the reason for adding it to the Nutro (and I've seen it in other brands of "natural" dog foods) for fibre reasons? I wasn't sure that in my thoughts of what the product is, that it quite fits the bill of being a cheaper fattener? Or am I on the wrong line of thinking? Does anyone know more on the benefits/detriments of using the product (beet pulp) in dogs? Raelene

Ingredients of Chicken Rice and Oatmeal.... Dried chicken, ground rice, rice flour, dried beet pulp, chicken fat, sunflower oil, natural flavours, oatmeal, iodised salt, potassium chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, National anti-oxidents (including mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract), Vitamin C, Vitamin E supplement, Zinc sulphate, Marigold meal, dried kelp, ferrous sulphate, copper sulphate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin a supplement, biotn, riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin b12), vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, thiamine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B1) niacin supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, selenium, vitamin B6, folic acid. Crude protein (Min) 22% Crude fat (Min) 13% Crude fibre (Max) 5% Moisture (Max) 10% Ash (Max) 7.5% Salt as NaCl (Max) 1.2% Linoleic Acid (Min) 3.5% Zinc (Min) 430mg/kg Vitamin E (Min) 500IU/kg Vitamin C (Min) 200mg/kg Just happened to have bought some yesterday from Petbarn (they had a 20% of special) for my dogs - a couple of whom suffer contact allergies and otitis externa. They couldn't tell me alot about the product as it had only just arrived and they are having a training night this week. Although food is probably not the culprit for my dogs conditions, I have found that feeding a low allergy diet is very helpful in controlling their itchy-scratchies. So far no complaints in the flavour department.... even our opinionated foxie is keen to want to guard the bag. Will have to see what the longer term results are. Rae

Higher fences sound good so he can get out and about. Or possibly a fully-enclosed run with padlock off the house with access to house via dog door? There is a non-toxic product called McNasty spray available from www.petsonthepark.com.au which we have found to be very effective for dogs who chew things. It is in a spray bottle but is a bit like the human anti-nail biting spray - very unsavoury flavour but has been not so nasty as to still allow them to be happy to sleep on their beds without the need to redecorate them. Also been handy for the dog who persistently chews the collar off the other dog, dogs getting into the garbage, door frames, etc. Yet to try it on those who pull clothes off the line but that is on the list (by soaking an item with it and leaving it on the line). R

Adding some pineapple juice to the food, OR adding supplement for gut health called "Thrive D" (and only specifically Thrive D) will make the poo taste yukky and stop the habit, but won't hurt the dog. Should also help stop the dog bringing it inside when it doesn't taste so yummy anymore. R

Hmmm, if only they had to prove through DNA testing before identifying as a "purebreed" in the media. Hogswash about purebred staffies being aggressive to people. If they were, there is a big issue with their breeder - that should just not happen. All the pure staffords I know would lick a person to death rather than bite. It's against their breed standard. Typical media.... R

I don't feel so guilty now! R

Possibly one of those new dog loos may be good if you have no grass, or making a small area and placing some turf on it to give it somewhere to go to the toilet. Taking puppy out very regularly (when wakes up, after food/drink and every 30mins to an hr and reward when goes in the right place) will help with toilet training, and not getting lazy. Crate training inside is good too as they tend not to want to go in their bed. If you have a staffy pup (destructa-pup), it would be wise to restrict it's movement in the house when you aren't there (maybe a dog door into the laundry only?) or using puppy pen, etc - to keep things of value safe. Staffords are "temperate" dogs (not so keen on being too hot or too cold), so when outside need to make sure that there is plenty of shelter and warm bedding. Socialising is SOOOO important for a stafford baby to grow up into a balanced adult. Make sure you take every opportunity to socialise your puppy the right way with other animals, etc. Puppies are only cute for such a short time before they become older and more difficult to manage - best to start the right way and take to puppy socialisation classes and dog training, and you'll have a reward and loving companion who'll be a pleasure to have around. Good luck with your new baby - oooh I Looooove stafford babies!!! R

Thanks Cordy, good to know that there is something stopping stuff getting loose... Must investigate further on what I might be able to construct. I'm thinking that bleach and other parvo chemicals must damage the breakdown of the septic system, but I'll go read those links. Thanks for that. R

Great work and question Daisy and thanks to those so keen to help out! Drainage, this is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I wonder where the refuse goes to from the pounds? I can only "assume/presume" that it is storm water and goes straight into the various water sources they end up at? What if it hasn't been treated first and what about hosing the left-over faeces/vomit that couldn't be picked up out and into the drains???? I imagine if this is the case it can't do much for control in the community. Although Griffith is coming up in lights for parvo, it really is a huge risk from many other pounds too, just a bad time for it there, next time it will be somewhere else - as much as they all try to minimise it - it is a risk of rescue life. If only dog owners vaccinated their pups/dogs.... Anyway the biggest drainage question for me is how/where does the water go when you live on a farm? I had a scare recently and nothing went into our septic - apart from killing of healthy bacteria it could spread through the grey water system. I collected and put it in an area that is unused by dogs and fenced, etc but gee it was a big effort and not my favoured solution. Is the answer some sort of sump? I have often thought about having a quarantine facility at my place as I'm on a farm and conveniently located but I was concerned about controlling the spread of the disease without adequate drainage being a bigger problem that say in town. For the one scare I had, he was a small and kept in a large c-crate with one piece of black plastic lining the bottom and sides (for any splash - though he never got diahhroea nor blood loss) and I found this effective. The only think I can say though Daisy, it is stressful if one does get sick. Ensuring everything is gloved, booted, not to touch anything unnecessarily, cleaning, feeding, disinfecting. It is really important to have that side of the set-up concrete and the system humming. It's a bit like having a cold and trying not to touch your face and washing your hands after each tissue use etc (husband has low immune system) - you don't realise how easy it might be to transfer it. The other thing was where do you get the disposable aprons and overalls from? I tried everywhere and came up blank. Ended up with a few of sets of old clothes that are well bleached and departed now.... It is a good thread. Steve, if this isn't a rude question - how much did it cost or a setup similar to yours? Raelene

Oh Gail, I'm so sorry.... What a terribly sad time for you. Please don't blame yourself, you do such a wonderful job with your fosters, they are all such lucky dogs to have you able to help them. Though Moe's time was short, he was well loved and brought back to a smiling pooch again - and that was not possible without you. Sending you a huge hug. Raelene

Oh Kirra.... I am so sorry to all the family, Jodie, on their loss. She was indeed a very, very beautiful dog and one that we had nothing but pleasure in fostering. I still remember her waiting patiently at Woolies for someone to come out - but no one did (after an hour and a half)... and no-one tried to even look for her at the vets, nor the pound. Yet she was a dog that had done training in her life and had such a wonderful nature. I recall Cookie's puppies loving her to bits and I'd often find her walking through the house with a couple of baby puppies attached to her furry tail and skidding along the hard floor. And Cookie was more than happy for Kirra to puppy-sit whilst she caught up on a few human cuddles. She was so well behaved. One that you wouldn't mind if she had, had to stay.... Jodie, I didn't realise she belonged to your sister!! She indeed had a very loved and loving time with her family, she was a lucky girl to have had you all! Farewell Kirra, you were one of the special dogs on this earth. Jodie, I'm so sorry that your family has been touched by cancer a second time. Raelene