JustUs

Hi guys, Just wondering if the bengo crate comes with a divider?

Thanks so much Sandra

Thank you both for that information :) Possibly a stupid question, I'm assuming the answer to be a yes, do the Blue Pieds have the same issues?

I'm a lot confused and hope that someone can help answer some questions for me please. Now I know that Blue SBTs are undesirable and I know they are popular and hence the prices are terribly over inflated. I also realise that a lot (most?) breeders of Blues breed Blue to Blue which is why they have so many undesirable attributes. But what I'm wondering is if there is ever a good Blue Stafford, who meets the Breed Standard for personality? For a family, like us, who will NEVER breed or show but adore Blue Staffords. I'm unsure of why but my heart skips a little beat for them. Is there a way to get a good well bred Stafford for our family? If that is answered in a positive, how on earth to we find a reputable breeder as even the ads here on DOL, seems to be full of the warnings that other SBT breeders warn about.........

Maxiewolf, Brutus sounds gorgeous

Thank you again Greymate for answering those questions. I am a novice with the whole dog thing but very proud of the dog Dex has become so it is really good to know that he is doing the right things and that I haven't caused him to be a sook lol. Also good to know that I am doing the right things, like using a firm voice and standing inbetween them when possible. It is just sad that so many people dont do the right thing and then we all have to suffer

Thanks so much for the reassurance guys. Do you think that he knows in this type of instance that the other dogs are a danger? Because he goes straight into submission rather than just greeting the dogs, normally if we are just walking past an unrestrained dog he will just ignore it or say hi or if they rush up he just waits while I send the other dog away. I also wonder if I am going to make the situation worse by trying to get the other dog away. It is funny you say that Mrs Rusty Bucket as neither of these dogs had collars on, but one was a lab and the other a brown heeler type dog so I wouldnt have thought the owners would have been worried about the new laws. One other question as I googled but cant find the answer.....hubby and I were wondering last night if it is also because we are his pack leaders that his expection is that we will take care of the other dogs for him? Guess I will start walking with a weapon, dont know that I would want to use it but I would if I had to as the last thing I want is a DA SBT especially in Vic right about now!

Hi, I haven't been around the forums for a while but this place was a wealth of knowledge when we decided to add a dog to our family and now I am in need of advice please Long story short is after lots of consideration we got our SBT just over 2 yrs ago, with all the info gleaned from this site he is just about perfect for our family....perfect temperament, knows his place in the pack, great bite inhibition and good manners when out BUT twice now I have been bailed up with him by dominant stray dogs and I am wondering if maybe he is too submissive and that makes the situation worse? Yesterday it was two stray's that we had the problem with and they were really dominant, not at all scared or phased by me, and Dex did the submissive thing but they just wouldnt let up. In the end my daughter backed away and one of the dogs sort of followed her and it still didnt raise any sort of reaction from him. I guess in a rambly way I am asking if he is *normal* and for any advice, even if it is just how to deal with freaking strays as I am way too nervous to take him for our walks today. Thanks for any advice at all

Thanks for the advice poodlefan

Not much Poodlefan...........we drive down the street then get out for a little walk and then onto Gloria Jeans for coffee and lots of interaction with people, he is creating quite a stir as he really is a little gorgeous honey. So in saying not much, I guess the actual walk would be 15 mins tops and its just strolling around the CBD but I so cant wait till he is old enough to walk with me, the rest of the family and Dexter drove home today while I walked on my own and I was so jealous of all the other dog owners out walking. I want my big boy

Hi again Sandra, Thanks for taking the time to reply again, nope it's not anti pull just a standard type I think, the petstock guy showed us all the diff types and this seemed to suit him best, he also showed heaps of others that we could use later if needed but hopefully we wont need to. Nope no info about just using the collar and lead and he was crazy pulling but with this as it hold all his mid section (if you know what I mean) he was just trotting along beautifully beside us and responding to heal instead of just choking himself. Also took your advice and got some special toys to play with only with us and he loves it, as soon as they come down he wants to play, but he has been really fantastic since yesterday with wanting to play and coming to us and even more independant and staying out in the lovely sunshine on his own instead of sooking as soon as we come inside.

Hi Teal, We are new puppy owners too and I cant recommend crate training highly enough, it really is the perfect way to train your puppy. Our boy cried for about 20 mins the first night and that was it, we had the crate in our room for about 5nights, then moved it back to its day position in the dining/living area. He usually sleeps without any crying or toilet accidents for about 8 hrs at night, then if we go out during the day (longest about 3hrs so far) we just pop him in with his wubba and kong, and water bowl. He is really happy in there and will often pop in there of his own free will during the day. As I said we are only new puppy people (3 weeks today) and not at all experts but crate training is wonderful

Yep it was really horrible, but we were also so proud of our gorgeous boy for coming straight back, if it had of happened yesterday morning it would have been very different. We actually went down to petstock and got him a harness as he kept tangling in the lead and she was trying to undo him when he got away, and the harness is awesome as he isnt pulling at all now when he walks.

Yep Poodlefan of course we have, if it makes you shudder imagine how much shuddering was going on at our house!!

OK thanks for the advice and maybe I shouldnt have used the word issues, but was just a word. Something very strange happened late yesterday arvo and he is now acting exactly as I thought a puppy would!! Much to my horror, our daughter let his leash go this morning and he rushed out just onto the road but then to our delight he actually turned around when we called him and came running back with his tail wagging We have already booked in for obedience school, starting tomorrow so yes hoping that will help us with some extra info. And in regards to not sitting before entering the house, of course we had trained him to do that before expecting him to do it :D and I did exactly as you suggested and left him out untill he did as he was asked. Food wise he is now eating really well again and we have also just purchased some Royal Canine as I am not all that impressed with the food he was on. Thank you so much for the vote of confidence tdierikx, really appreciate it. I think I must have sounded a little dumb in my original post by some of the replies but it was just hard to try to compress what I was trying to say down so that it wasnt an even bigger post than it was. Anyway thanks again everyone, our whole family is really appreciating all the clever and informed information because as new dog people, there is only so much reading you can do before it becomes totally confusing

Thanks heaps for the info Sandra, was starting to think we had a broken Stafford! I really thought they were a little more like velcro, but yes you are right having him being independant is a good thing and he really is still a sooky lala but only when he want's to be. When you say what have we got to offer thats better than whatever else he is interested in, I am assuming that means the tasty treats and lots of pats, yes? have those in plenty but as you say the world of our yard is really interesting! And he does listen better inside so I guess it's just that he is intested in other things.

Hi everyone, We have been using this site for so many answers since bringing Dexter home 3 weeks ago, but have another couple of issues and spent hours trawling the site and haven't really found the answers we need. So if all puppy experts wanna give their opinion that would be great, should add that we start at the local obedience school this Saturday morning so hopefully that will help also. Before I start listing his problems I just want to assure everyone that we totally adore him, and he was probably a little spoiled so maybe that is to blame a bit, and he has also picked up so many great habits and is really adorable, has crate trained with no probs, is as close to toilet trained as a 14 week old puppy can be ( ie no accidents but we are very vigilant and take him out on a very regular basis so not sure if he is trained or just doesn't have a chance to make a mistake) The biggest worry is that even though he seems to adore us, it's on his terms (when he wants a snuggle or when there is nothing more interesting to do/see/smell), where as we were expecting him to always want to be right there with us. For example he was left outside earlier as he wouldn't sit before he was allowed to enter, and he cried his little heart out. But then when I went outside, he was happy but after a little pat just went of and totally ignored me! We all feel a little unloved The other thing that concerns us is his recall or well lack of, will come if it suits or if we have a tasty treat (and he is totally fussy on what his treat should be). We are planning on buying a retractable lead today and cook some more chicken breast and just practise for ages.....is this along the right track? Also with feeding him, he seems to be losing weight and some days is a total piggy, then other days will pick a little and be fussy and go without.......any ideas? And the last in the list (for now) is how totally stubborn the little sh1te can be, like earlier today, he refused flat out to sit before coming inside and ended up outside for about an hour before he would sit, what is up with that? He has sat before entering since a day or two after coming home and then just decides out of the blue that he doesn't like that rule now Just to add with the recall thing he hasn't been growled at for not coming, so thats not the reason for his refusal. Sorry about the epic essay but we really really want to do the right thing with him and so love him already that we don't want to stuff him up Thanks in advance for any advice ;)

Photos are now in the general dogs discussion Pesh, cute cute cute! We also worked out that he is only 11weeks and 5 days, the breeder must of lost track of the weeks, so that was a bonus. He is now eating really well, is totally settled, sleeping all night in his crate and also going in briefly by himself during the day, seems to be house trained and will sit when asked and also when not asked if he thinks there might be a treat in it! Thanks for all the advice and I am sure I will be back asking for some more.

Thanks for all the advice. He is doing really well now, he has eaten 2 small meals( on a plate instead of the s/s bowl thanks for that tip) and is sitting when asked and then given one of the little nutura dry food kibbles as a reward. And did I mention that he is totally gorgeous :rolleyes: I am having trouble getting the photo's to load but will try again now.

Thanks Bax, we already adore him, he is so so cute. He is eating a little, as training rewards and he is already sitting really well so I guess that is all good. Still trying to work out how to post pic! So sorry you had to say goodbye to your boy, I cant imagine how sad that must have been.

Thanks guys If it's normal to go off his food then that's ok, it was the same food as the breeder used so that's why I was a bit worried.

Hi Everyone, We got our 12week old Stafford last night and he is so so gorgeous but after thinking we were so prepared we need a little advice please. Dexter is not really interested in food at all, which means he really doesn't care about all the lovely kongs that we bought and we cant really bribe him to stay in the crate...... he is enjoying the Nutra puppy dry food that we got for him but only if it's hand fed as a reward, the problem with this is he has never had dry food before so we are only meant to use a little bit over the next couple of days. He is really happy and excited and seems to be loving our company but we are in a bit of a spin as we really thought it would be about food rewards! Any advice greatly appreciated My husband is out taking pics now so we will post some asap