Oscar (AmBull)

We didn't make it last weekend but we will for sure this weekend! Can't wait to see all the dogs, Oscar has grown so much!

Thanks so much for all the great input and suggestions, it has really helped me get my head around what is going on. I think I will just leave him to it and as Erny said just wander around the garden and practise "give" "take" some more with him and his toys. One thing that I am concerned of is we will be getting another dog in the future, not any time really soon as we still have a lot of work we want to do with Oscar before adding another puppy. But will this have any impact if we had two dogs and fed them both bones? Oscar gets Raw Meaty Bones daily so I wouldn't want this to be come an issue when adding another puppy to the pack. Again thanks so much all the responses were great and much appreciated.

Yes because I want to supervise him and also I don't want it to turn into a bigger issue such as resource guarding. If I feed him in a smaller enclosed area will he get used to it and then eventually not care if I am there or will I always have to feed him like this as long as I want to supervse him. Am I just worrying to much? Could this turn into a larger issue or is it a fairly normal/common thing for a dog to do? Thanks

Oscar is now 6.5 months old. Oscar is running away from me as soon as he gets a bone and taking it anywhere out of my sight and eating it there. It is really frusterating. I have never taken a bone off of him and if I ever take anything from him I have always swapped it for something else. He had this issue when he was a small puppy but we overcome that, I simply held onto the end of the wings bones etc for a few seconds as suggested to me by DOL members. It has now started again and I have no idea what to do to try and stop it, so I am turning to all of you again for some much needed help.

I have never used a check chain before so I don't know how to use one properly, some people say they are terrible while others say a god send.

Thanks so much again. I think the trainer you are refering to is Mark Singer? I would be interested in people's experiences with him.

Thanks for the suggestion. The games were suggested as something fun to do, like positive reinforcement while he had the gentle leader on. I was told that a harness may encourage him to pull more, so we haven't tried one yet. How does the Sporn work? We have tried the stop everytime he pulls method but he pulls from the start and doesn't look back at us to go again when we stop. He just stays forward ready to go again. I want to get this sorted as soon as possible, as we have tried for several months now with hardly any imporvement and he is getting stronger by the day. He is great in every other aspect, but the walking.

Oscar is now almost 6 months old and I am getting really frusterated because I can't walk him. He pulls constantly and I am now at the point where he is almost overpowering me. We have been doing obediance with a trained behaviourist who has been attempting to rectify this issue with us however so far we have had no luck. She recommended a 'Gentle Leader', we have now been trying to introduce this to him for 5 weeks and he absolutely hates it, even more now than when we first began. We haven't taken him on walks with it, just little ones around the house. The most he has ever had it on for is 5 minutes. She encouraged us to try and play games with him to get him used to it. We have tried this and he won't play at all. We give him high value treats and he still won't have a bar of it. He also has quite a short snout, he snores loudly when he sleeps and snorts when he has the gentle leader on. I am unsure if his breathing is being effected when he has the leader on or not. All I really want to do is be able to walk my puppy. If anyone has any other suggestions or products to try it is much appreciated.

Hi I have no real experience in this however have been dealing with the desexing issue myself. I have an almost 6 month old Amstaff who we have decided not to desex until a later date, unless behavioural issues arise. We will definitely desex him, however were going to wait until around 18 months due to the growth issues. Is it possible for you to add the links poodlefan? I have been trying to get a lot of information on it and havent had much luck, maybe because we were informed of pinhead so I was searching under that. Sounds like you have found a breeder you are really happy with Mich & Jake, I think that is half the battle. Hope it all works out for you and your puppy.

Is September - Sunday the 6th still going ahead?

Hi, I am looking to introduce offal into my Amstaff's diet. He is 5 1/2 months old now and is getting: Breakfast: Royal Canin Maxi Puppy Dry Food Lunch: Frozen Roo Tail, Chicken Carcuss, or fresh chicken wings and legs. Dinner: Roo, Chicken or Beef mince, he isn't keen on the chicken mince so probably finish with that once it is all gone. I have only just found the offal section at woolies and bought a whole heap of Lamb and beef kidney, lamb heart. I tried to give him them that night but he was not happy. He picked up the heart and dropped it fairluy soon and wouldn't even touch the kidney. What I want to know is how do I introduce this stuff? Also looking to start giving beef bones, what kind should I get? My butcher does a bag of beef bones for $2 but I don't know what they are. My dad gets them for his dogs, but I don't know my bones very well so not sure of the cut.

We are currently feeding RC Maxi puppy. Oscar has it one meal a day. We were of the belief that we should feed him the absolute best while he was a puppy for growth. I am very keen to try Great Barko, I am worried however that this may affect his growth. Has anyone fed Great Barko to a pup? The price difference is amazing, however we are happy to spend the money if the RC is actually what is best for him. Just looking for experiences from people with puppies on Great Barko or people who have swapped from RC to Great Barko. I have thouroughly enjoyed this thread, and must admit once I started reading about an hour ago, I hadn't stopped until now, reading every post . Very enjoyable!!!!

My experience is the same as Shellectra. Oscar's toilet training dropped significantly due to weather, when the rain came he toileted inside frequently, and before the rain we thought we had him set on where to toilet, outside. Oscar is now 5 months and I have seen him go outside even in the pouring rain to toilet. We haven't had an accident inside for a long time now, . I think that when they completely grasp the concept it will work, until then you just have to persevere. When Oscar's toileting declined we had to go right back to basics, taking him out all the time, we even blocked off certain areas of the house to make sure he didn't have an accident. I gave him lots of praise every time he toileted outside and even a treat everynow and then. How old is your puppy?

Does your chicken mince include bone? Yes the mince includes bone. Give him offal too - liver and kidney - species unimportant. A whole sheep's heart is a decent sort of snack too (this is a muscle meat though, not offal) We find it hard to source offal where we live but I will look more closely into that. How many times a week would you suggest this? Is there a reason you're avoiding beef & lamb? No real reason, other than that I have been told that Amstaffs can be sensitive to beef and lamb just isn't really available to us. Thanks so much for the great response.

I am new to the breed and we have finally settled (the last month or so) on a diet regime. He is now 5 months old and actually loves what he is getting. Breakfast is always approximately a cup of Royal Canin Maxi Puppy. Lunch is normally some sort of raw meaty bone, we rotate frozen roo tail, frozen chiccken carcass' and either chicken legs or wings sometimes one of each. Dinner is either raw chicken or roo mice. We have also just bought a bag of roo chunks to try. I am wanting to know is the diet we are feeding is nutritious enough or are we lacking something important? We also put in a raw egg no shell to his mince probably once a week. I think we need to add some sort of fish, are cans of tune, sardines etc ok? Thanks

I have no real advice on the topic as I am only new to the amstaff as well. Just wanted to say I feel terrible for all three of you! I am a complete stress head as well and would be freaking out much like you if that happened to Oscar. Just shows how quickly things like this can happen. Because the Amstaff can be so boisterous and full on I know I think Oscar is almost invincible, seem to forget he is only a fragile puppy. I hope that Electra has a speedy recovery and is back to her playful self in no time. In the mean time Rhino will have to just chill on his own, he and Oscar sound very alike, Oscar is borderline lazy :D, and will refuse to leave the heater for his dinner. Hope your night isn't to sleepless, keep us posted on her recovery. Sending mine and Oscars love!

We start obediance next week, but it is only a 5 week course? Do you know anywhere in adelaide that does it regularly? I live in the adelaide hills? Also we do need to work on heel, he is a real puller and it is something we are trying to get sorted out. We were reccomended a gentle leader? Thanks for the help.

Oscar is extremely switched on and food motivated. He already knows: sit drop stay come leave look crawl and picked up high five after two sessions on monday. So I am wanting to know some new tricks and how to execute teaching them to him. I am new to dog training so any help is much appreciated. I was thinking roll over but don't know how to teach that? Also he has a toy basket is it possible to get him to put toys in it? He takes them out himself, I just think that would be an impressive trick if possible.

Reading this I feel quite lucky, Oscar is a bit of a night owl like myself and I love my sleep ins way to much ! He will wake up when my partner comes home from work, at about 8-9am, often won't even get out of bed. Partner feeds him dry food in the morning, which he eats when he wakes up. Sometimes he has slept till 12 with very little activity all morning. He is not a morning puppy, just like I am not a morning person, . Although seems when ur two are sleeping, is when mine is most active and gets into the most trouble. Otherwise once I go to bed he is happy to sleep right through. Wish I could help, pups are looking as absolutely gorgeous as ever! Sounds like you are sorting the problem out quickly, good luck.

I never thought about it like that. I guess he doesn't get as much praise as he was as most of the time he just goes off and does it himself without me even knowing (he has access to inside and outside all the time). He was starting to toilet inside a lot more due tothe weather so we have made an effort to try and reverse this and teach him the right place to go is outside, which has worked well. when he was around 10 weeks he started eating his poo however grew out of that within a week, and even now he isn't eating it just carrying it around and playing with it like a ball. I am sure it is just a phase, was just wondering if there was any reason he would be doing it. Thanks for the input!

My 17 week old Amstaff pup the last two days has been bringing dried up poo inside. We regularly pick up and bin his poo, we have no idea where he is getting it from. They are really solid though, but not white. He doesn't appear to be eating them just carrying them around leaving them places. He has access inside and out all the time so he just does it when he feels like it. What does this mean? why would he be doing this? He has a stack of toys and stuff, yet seems to want to play with his poo?

Are they on the inside or outside? Oscar has tiny little bumps on the outside of his lip?

Does anyone have any suggestions for obediance training in the adelaide hills. I know of one, of which is extremely hard to get in contact with and a very large waiting list. Really wanting to start ASAP. Any suggestions is much appreciated.

You are very lucky then, Oscar is a snatcher, but is doing very well learning gentle. We had figured out a way to give him treats so he could't accidently get us with his teeth, they are razor sharp. How are the pups going anyway, they look great in your signiture!

Are your puppies gulpers? I was very scared of the RMB as well when I first got Oscar and started him off with one neck, while I watched sitting on a chair rather nervous. He was fine and to do this day I have never had any problems. Plus being amstaff's they are quite good with their teeth as I am sure you know, I have lots of little puncture marks on my hands as he is not one for getting a treat gently, but imporving. But I have found that I don't have a gulper, he quite likes to chew and savor his food for a while. He doesn't have necks anymore as he is to big for them and not much left to chew, however I do give him wings, because of the shape he takes quite a while to chew one of them, and he also gets frozen carcasses, which he spends the whole day on, going back and forth when he is peckish. Maybe try and find something you are comfortable with them having, I tried the chicken necks as it was small and I felt it would be fine and it was. Hope you find something. Oscar loves nothing more than a couple of wings for lunch.