megan_

uh, a puppy needs to be out and about a *lot*. The critical socialisation period ends at 16 weeks, so you have a very short time to put in a lot of socialisation. If you wait for all their shots you will miss the boat. Sad reality is that parvo lives in the soil so even if your dog never steps foot outside your house you can walk it in. Risk of parvo vs risk of having a dog with lifetime issues that may include fear aggression due to under-socialisation - I know what I'd pick. This doesn't necessarily mean long walks though.

yip - nothing to do with the new laws (although she is happy to paint it that way...).

Pedigree (new name for PAL for a few years now) does do wonderful things for rescue, so if they're the ones providing the food then good on them! I'm sure the dogs aren't fussy.

For a private pet sitter in their home I pay $35 per night. They are qualified trainers though. Uess you really need the money I'd be saying no....

When you are scared of a dog it is hard to follow advice. Often people who are scared of dogs display behaviour that looks like aggression to dogs (tense up, stare at the dog, fists clenched etc). When someone is scared of dogs and comes to visit I put the dogs away. That way, everyone is calm and safe. I know that would scandalise some DOLers (putting the dogs out to accomodate a human, how dare she!) but they're dogs and it is good for them to learn that not everything is about them. I wouldn't be inviting the nasty person to my house regardless of what club he belonged to. If there was no way to avoid inviting him I wouldn't have the club members at my house (I'd arrange to meet them at a pub/coffee shop etc). Personally, I'd see a behaviourist to help determine what your dog is really thinking, and come up with appropriate behaviours (I know you say your dog isn't scared, but this might be his calming signal/way of dealing with being uncomfortable). I used to think that behaviourists were for viscious dogs and that consulting one was an admission of defeat. Not any more. I now know that having someone objective look at my dogs and my relationship with them is a great value add. I wish I had seen Erny sooner! You love your dog. It is hard to admit that things might not be as good as they can/should be. I get that, but I'd see a behaviourist anyway. Who knows, you just might laern something?

Keep them physically seperated, with a barrier in between. I feed my two in a crate, even though they have never shown resource guarding behaviour. They only get bones they can actually eat and get fed them in their crates. They soon learn to eat up. I'd love to leave them bones to bury/munch on for hours but I accept that it isn't going to happen in a multi dog household. I wouldn't do it any other way. A family friend fed two dogs together that had been eating in peace for 8 years. Then one day the staffy attacked the ACD while they were eating bones. Result was a dead ACD. Just because things might look okay for a while doesn't mean that all is well.

Target touching (my hand, an object), then extend to touching the object with nose, paw etc. I like these because they are really useful for training other things too.

People are suggesting a prong collar without the qualifier of consulting a professional or whitout even knowing what the OP has used? Pring collards have their place, but I've never heard any trainer saying they're the FIRST point of call. To the OP - I say go the training route, it seems to be what the bully people are suggesting too.

I cut my ckicken into tiny pieces when it is semi-frozen and then roast it until it is almost crisp - it has a very strong smell and they love it.

Just be careful with cabonassi (sp) - it is very high in salts, preservatives and sulphates. If you're going to use it, only use tiny, tiny amounts. I roast chicken thighs in the oven - they loooooove them and they're 100% additive free.

What a terrible fluke accident. I sometimes worry about the games my guys play, but I'd rather they have a great life than be wrapped up in cotton wool, never walked (we could get attacked by a stray dog), never do agility, never chase a ball etc.

There are still plenty of byb amstaffs being sold on gumtrrr

Zara - you are assuming what most staffy type owners are assuming, however the legislation gives no discretion to officers and doesn't mention temperament at all. If it looks like a PB/PB cross, then it is automatically a restricted breed. Yesterday was the deadline for rego. The govt has made no secret that low socio-economic areas will be targeted.

Guide dogs can be privately trained - this dog might not have come from Guide Dogs NSW. My understanding is that guide dogs don't need to be accredited (you can be asked to show accredidation and rejected from a place if you can't prove your dog is accredited).

yip - people who register their dogs are easy targets. They won't go actively hunting out those that haven't.

To be quite frank, unless they have papers, I doubt they WILL pass a simple exam. Sorry PF, I meant the breeder has passed a simple exam and has two dogs on main. Therefore their puppies are all okay. Take a look at some of the registered Amstaff breeders on DOL and the web - some make me shudder.

It is also condemning perfectly good rescue dogs to death because no one will want to adopt them and then leave them. Meanwhile someone who is a dodgy breeder breeding "HUGE, RIPPED, BIG BONED AND GIANT HEAD XXXX" amstaffs gets a whole lot more business just because they passed an simple exam.

So what DID you do SK?

Chasey? Has Bub been renamed?

Explain vic's new laws and what they mean for byb staffies

Somosmum I got he info from the DPI website's FAQ

DNA testing is not considered proof under the Vic laws. The only way in Vic to prove that your dog isn't a pitbull is to either have the pedigreed certificate or a vet certificate.

The place is not filthy - friends have been there. However, they are breeding companion animals (animals who are bred to love human company) on a mass scale with no real human interaction. They don't hide from this.

Also, these are state laws, joy council laws

Regarding dogs already registered as staffies, the council has to honor that ergo for the remainder of the registration year. Once that is up, then the council will determine whether the dog has PB in it ornot.