lanabanana

So nice to hear that 3 boys are going to get a new buddy to play with. I have a 10 year old daughter who is right into animals and she is also a bit of a roughouser. While we have never had a purebred my daughter has grown up with a staffy/lab, a staffy/boxer, a lab/somethingorother and most recently a foxy/shih tzu. All were/are excellent with my daughter and loved her to pieces. The first mix was beautifully patient and tolerant, the second wa shighly energetic and very protective of her, the other two are both quite high energy and are very gentle with my girl. I would personally recommend adption from a shelter as I am sure there will be some gorgeous mix down there who will match the family perfetly. I think any dog going to that home sounds very very lucky. If you are after a purebred, I always have to get a vote in for the Staffy. Just such awesome little dogs. I grew up with staffies, among other breeds (and even though I have never had my own pure staff, they are the reason I tend to lean towards staff crosses when getting a mix). They are just so eager to please. They would love nothing more than running round with 3 boys. They can get a little excited but if they are exercised regularly this keeps them a bit more even. I have never met a staff I didn't like. They are always happy. And they have pretty good trainability because they wanna make you happy. As much as I am not usually a JRT fan, I think they would be a good match too. Good luck in helping them choose the right dog!

He is really cute! I have a foxy/shih tzu mix who looks very similar (although she is black and white) I don't know if he is crossed or not but he is lovely

I just want to say, not all those non-tool ways of dealing with pulling work. I have owned a number of dogs and all were very easy to train to llw, until my big boy. He was a beautiful walker for a while, now he is a chronic puller. We tried many different things, including stop start and turn around and walk in circles to absolutely no avail at all. I am by no means professional nor even expert, but I have had a few dogs so I am not totally clueless about teaching a dog to walk nicely on a lead. However, nothing worked for my boy. I would spend the entire walk being dragged, get home and have sore arms and it became so stressful for everyone that my OH refused to come out for a walk with him, I was not enjoying the walk (which to me is a nice way to spend some quality time with your dog - not just for exercise) and I am pretty sure he wasn't liking it much either. It got to the point where his walks had dwindled down to pretty much never. I wanted to walk him, and he sure as hell wanted to go for a walk but it was not an enjoyable experience. Like someone else said, while you are working on the issue/training you still need to be able to walk your dog! I started a thread on here asking for advice, and had lots of helpful information. In the end, we purchased a Gentle Leader Ezy Walk harness - clips at the front. I didn't even know you could get "anti pull" harnesses, I thought they would all make pulling easier for the dog. Walks are so much more pleasant. Does it stop him from pulling? Not 100% but it allows me to regain control of him very easily if he starts really lunging out to the end, and he slackens off much quicker. So he is now getting many more walks. They are still not as enjoyable as I would like them but we are increasing in frequency the nicer he becomes to walk. Once he is walking beautifully in his harness, we will start making a transition to his flat collar and dealing with any issues - while keeping the harness attached initially. I have reintroduced rewards for wanted behaviour on walks and this will continue when we transition. I dont care if I sound like a terrible owner but if I hadn't bought the harness, my boy would be having to make do with playtime and zoomies round the back yard, with maybe a walk chucked in every now and again because I havetemporarily forgotten he is horrid to walk. Now, he is going out often and will only get to go out more as he improves, so if that means I have to use a tool to get him out there as often as I want and he needs, then so be it!

How many dogs were involved int he fight and who started it? If they both started it, I'd be going half or thirds or quarters (depnding on number of dogs). If your aunts dog started it then She should pay - though not for the wart removal. If the other dog started it then tough luck, they pay thjeir own bill.

its not the children who dont have respect for the dogs, its the people supervising them. We dont rough play, we do hi 5's and other rewarding games. We teach respect. We do high fives and stuff too but my dogs love nothing more than a good play fight with mum or dad, rolling round the floor or yard. I love rough play with my furkids, they are dogs thats what they do with each other and I love being able to do it with them. I teach respect to both my child and my dogs but respect doesn't exclude rough play. They can and do go hand in hand.

Aww I love dog and cat friendships. I have had 2 x staffy x's, one lab x and a pitty x who were all raised with cats. We got Chevy and Lennox (staffy xs) and then we got the cats. Unfortunately, the first kitten we ever got, Lennox killed. I was at work and my OH had accidentally left the back door open (only had the kitten for about 3 weeks and he wasn't allowed out yet). At the time the dogs were outdoors dogs and they had only seen each other through the sliding door and not been intro'd. OH reckons the dog was not being vicious, but had played too rough. We will never know as we never actually saw the killing, my partner ran out kind of as it ended - I think Lennox was about 6 or 7 months old. Anyway, we kept the dog and for a couple of years I pined for another cat but was too scared because of what happened. Well, when Lennox was 3 I finally bit the bullet and got a kitten. I spent 4 months introducing them slowly (not to Chevy, Chevy was allowed instant access because she was one of those dogs who just knows, if mum brings it home that means its family). They became best mates. To the point where Jaffa (the cat) had kittens and would actually go and lie down with the dogs to feed them. Then we kept one of her kittens who was a bit skitty always and she was even better friends with Lennox than Jaffa was. She also had kittens and took them out to feed by the dogs - as soon as they could follow her!!! She owuld even leave them with the dogs - I always kept an eye though (yes I know about speying etc, but was young and a bit silly, but know exactly where all the kittens - old now are). We kept one of those too and while he grew up with the dogs, he never liked them as much as the girls liked the dogs though for the short time we had the putty x with us, he loved him and they would play fight for hours at a time - the cat always winning. Jaffa used to sleep with them at night in their kennel - usually taking up half the kennel while the dogs cowered at the other end LMAO. Barney (lab x) used to chase Jaffa and sometimes, if she was in the mood she would run for him, other times she would just look at him and he would always freeze lol. I just think cats and dogs have fantastic little relationships. I don't have any cats now and am not likely to be getting any more but I do miss having cats.

I agree that size can be what makes up your mind about pulling. I don't like my big dog pulling coz he weighs about 36 kgs and is solid muscle and very stong. But our little dog pulls too and she only weighs 5 kgs so it's not a problem - in fact you can barely tell she is pulling lol. Mind you, you only have to give a very light pressure on the lead and she feels it in her harness and immediately stops pulling

Unfortunately that is the going price but can vary anywhere between $1500 - $4500. Dependant on age you could get a mature dog for btwn $1500 - $2500 where as puppies generally go for $3500 - $4500 & dependant on the breeder that might not include papers. Tell your friend to save save save & research as much as possible. Patiences is definately the key, something I know nothing about ;) :D She wouldn't wait and went for the cheaper, quicker option of an Aussie Bulldog To be honest, we have discussed getting an Aussie instead of a British. A british is what we want but we had heard the Aussies can have less issues. I haven't researched it yet as my partner wants a purebred British (he is English and said "why would I want anAussie when I can get a british). But we did discuss maybe getting an Aussie with say 86% british in the hope we would et the proper british look without quite so many health issues. No need for any lectures though as we will not be going through with that option LOL Hate to admit it but I have seen Aussies ;) ;) u would've sworn were Purebred british. Unfortunately lana anyone who determines percentage in an ad (especially if they ain't purebred) & this is only my opinion is full of crap, how the hell can anyone determine that sort of percentage . You also have to remember that first an foremost an Aussie is a crossbred mutt the potential puppy you buy could have 2 or 3 different breeds in it with all these breeds each carrying there own health issues. :D ;) to for deciding against that option & I 100% agree with ur partner why buy a replica when you can have the real thing. Oh yea totally know about the potential for health issues etc. We didn't go to far into it though, I don't even know what they chuck in the mix with the BB. Yea, we are def happy to get a purebred one day. Especially my OH, he has wanted one for as long as we have been together (12 years) and we have done lots of research etc. I love them too but not quite as much as the OH LOL. He is even very specific on the look he wants LOL. It has to be red and white (I am not sure if the colour is called red) with the majority of the face and head being white. We might need to start looking now lOl Going by the "vetting owners" thread, I am a little worried that when it comes time to find a breeder and our new puppy that we won't get past the first stage LOL

Wow, how do you get such preciseness with the percentage of breed in a cross bred dog? I have never yet seen an 'aussie' bulldog that looks anything even remotely like a British either. They look more like a boxer if you ask me. LOL sorry, I was plucking the percentage from thin air. It is not an actual figure. Though, I imagine you could come up with a "reaonable accurate" percentage by deducing parentage, i.e. if one parent is bull dog and one is something else then it would be 50%, then if you took that cross to a pure bb then the result would have say 75% bb. I don't know,I am not a geneticist and just made that figure up LOL. I looked at a few websites and have seen a number of aussies who look like purebred bb.

As long as the OP doesn't mind reading a novel ;) :D so true!

While my daughter was raised with dogs and knows exactly how to treat dogs with respect, not everyone elses children do. My dogs will tolerate pretty much anything from children and this is how they should be. In an ideal world all children would be taught proper behaviour round dogs but not all are. If my dogs can't escape it (which is never the case) then they will sit there and tolerate it. They are not often in the position where they have to "tolerate" behaviour from extra rough children but whenever the dogs have been (or past dogs have been) they are excellent. I have never owned a dog that I could ever say was bad with children. They have all been excellent. Actually, correction, our little dog has only been round miss 10 (and sometimes the kids at afterschool care) so not 100% sure if she would be good with kids but she does think being punched int he head is a great game. LOL at how that sounds - I am sure you all know what I mean. Anyway, I am trying to say, kids are rough but when they "hurt" a dog, particularly a good sized one its not as painful for the dog as we imagine it would be and I don't have a problem with a bit of whacking and jumping on. My friends rough children have taught my dogs patience and tolerance. EDIT: Just to clarify, excessive roughness is always stopped but a bit of rough play is good, the dogs love it. They are so rough with each other it's ridiculous.

I started a thread in the training forum called "Chronic Piller - help!" that has heaps of information in it all about this. Have a read - some fantastic and useful advice.

Unfortunately that is the going price :D but can vary anywhere between $1500 - $4500. Dependant on age you could get a mature dog for btwn $1500 - $2500 where as puppies generally go for $3500 - $4500 & dependant on the breeder that might not include papers. Tell your friend to save save save & research as much as possible. Patiences is definately the key, something I know nothing about She wouldn't wait and went for the cheaper, quicker option of an Aussie Bulldog To be honest, we have discussed getting an Aussie instead of a British. A british is what we want but we had heard the Aussies can have less issues. I haven't researched it yet as my partner wants a purebred British (he is English and said "why would I want anAussie when I can get a british). But we did discuss maybe getting an Aussie with say 86% british in the hope we would et the proper british look without quite so many health issues. No need for any lectures though as we will not be going through with that option LOL

Mine don't have any siblings (they are mutts so we have never met them) but I used tohave a dog who recognised and hated bull terriers. He was attacked by a bull terrier when he was about a year or so old, then another time we were at the beach and my dogs and me and my kid were sat on a blanket, and a bull terrier came and stood near my daughter and growled (at my dog) and my dog took immediate offence and a fight broke out. Anyway, ever after if he saw a bull terrier, he would go ballistic.Hated them.

Aww your poor thing. How scary. I don't carry anything. But with all my dogs the first thing I do is drop the lead so they can defend themselves without being restrained. Except for the little dog, she is in a sling harness so I can whip her straight up off the ground. I have never been in that situation with my current dogs but with my last two (both staffy x - one with lab and the other with boxer) I was often approached by a large bull mastiff x type breed who would start getting aggressive but usually a yell would scare him away. My dogs were both placid as (although the one with boxer was hyper) but the staffy/boxer would not tolerate any aggressiveness from dogs around me or my daughter. Anyway, this dog would approach and get aggressive and one day it lunged for my dogs so I drop my dogs leads as it was the only thing I could do. I had my kid (who would have been about 3) and my first thought was, let the dogs go and move the kid out of reach. Anyway, after one beating from my dogs, the dog never approached them again - and it never escalated into a full fledged fight but it was enough to let him know they didnt put up with stuff. That dog was always allowed to wander the neighbourhood chasing kids and stuff. A few months later I was coming hom from work one night at about 11pm, and it (I didnt realise it was that dog at the time) darted out from behind a parked car and I went straight over the top of it. Stopped and got out and the dog had bolted. I realised it was that dog when I saw him at home limping a while after I ran it over. But after that, it never got off the property again. No, I didn't go and tell them I was the reason their dog had a permanent limp - they were scary gang member types. Sorry, gone way OT.

Aww you poor person. That sucks. I grew up with my mums two dogs, both bitches, a border collie (older) and a staffy who used to fight all the time and had to be separated. My current dogs have a massive size discrepancy (boy 36kgs and girl 5kgs) and I am always worried something like that might happen because clearly the wee girl would not have a chance.But in all the dogs we have owned we have never had fights, the odd we snap but no biggies so far.Our dogs are together always (I think the chances of a fight ar eminimal though as big boy won't even tell little girl off for biting too hard - such a pansy) Hope your little one gets better quickly.I would love to hear what action you take going forwards for future reference.

Our next addition will be a bulldog, not for a few years yet though. I have no complaints about the high price. We will be researching breeders thoroughly so we can get as sound a bulldog as possible. At the end of the day, no price is too much to get the dog you want. I would have paid that amount for my two mutts if they were going to cost that (they didn't, one was $50 and the other $200 lol).

I dont think I tick too many of them • Nobody’s feet are allowed on the furniture, but your dogs are welcome to sleep on any piece they so choose • All kinds of things around the house are in need of repair, but the injured dog you rescued by the side of the road requires immediate surgery and out comes the checkbook (cause of many arguments due to the fact that the repairs are needed due to dog damage lol) • You and your family haven’t had your annual check up in two years, but the dogs are all medically up to date • You’re more concerned with the dogs’ needs than your own when the budget gets tight (this can also cause arguments lol) • Dog crates double as chairs and/or tables in your family room • You can only remember people by associating them with their dog • You spend more time looking through mail order catalogues for dog supplies than for Victoria’s Secret nighties or Miles Kimball gadgets (I only look at pet stuff in online shops - nothing else) • Your voice is recognized by your vet’s receptionist (even the ones who have only been there a very short while) • Everyone at the office is eager to know if the dogs are all right because you were late for the meeting • The whereabouts of all your important legal and personal documents escapes you, yet you know precisely where to locate the file that includes all the vet records, breed papers and registration • Every gift you ever get has something to do with dogs • Your children (wife, husband, etc.) complain that you always take more pictures of the dog than you do of them (LMAO so true) • While proudly showing off your family album, your guest asks, “Isn’t there anyone else in your family besides the dog?” • Any conversation you’re having is effortlessly directed back to the topic of dogs • Your first concern when planning a vacation is whether or not the hotel will take pets • The number one priority when buying a new house is the size and landscape of the backyard • The only (or at least first) forum you log onto is the animal forum • All your non-dog friends know to dress down when visiting your house • Your friends know which chair not to sit in (LMAO true) • First time visitors wonder aloud: “Do you smell something?” and you really don’t • You become the family dog kennel for all your relatives • You don’t think twice about sitting on the floor because both the couch and the chair are completely dog full • Your desk proudly displays your canine family • More than half your grocery money goes to dog food and treats • You buy a mini-van to give them all enough travel room (not a mini van but we got a $WD wagon for more room for the dogs loL) • The thought of changing a baby’s diaper makes you swoon, but you can pick up dog poop barehanded, if necessary, without batting an eye • Your spouse issues the ultimatum: “It’s them or me!” and you have no problem pointing out the suitcase • You readily allow your dogs to give you slobbery kisses, but you don’t dare wipe a toddler’s nose • Your dogs eat only the most nutritionally sound food, while your favorite meal is mac’n cheese • You’ve just spent $60 on groceries and realize none of it is for yourself. • Your bedspread doesn’t have to coordinate with the bedroom, as it’s always covered with a sheet for the dogs, anyway. Ditto for the couches. • Dog hair in food is just another spice. (not in my OHs opinion LOL) • The part of your will dealing with your dogs is longer than any other part. (dont have one yet but when i was discussing what i wanted to include with ther oh the other day, he said, what about the people?) • •You hate to go to the grocery store for people food, but when the dog treats are gone, off you go with no hesitation, even at the busiest time. • •The most exciting times on vacations, no matter where in the world you go, is when you get to pet a dog (a “canine fix”). • You spend more time on the computer dealing with “dog stuff” than “other stuff” • You have a kiddy wading pool in the yard, but no small children. • Lintwheels are on your shopping list every week. • You can’t see out the passenger side of the windshield because there are nose-prints all over the inside. • Poop has become a source of conversation for you and your significant other. • Your dog sleeps with you. • You have 32 different names for your dog. Most make no sense, but the dog understands them all. • You talk about your dog the way other people talk about their kid.

Their bed. I am not sure what is up with that. They have a sleeping bag in one bed and it is pretty much just a few scraps held together with thread, probably not very comfy. And another bed was an old foam mattress I cut to size, they chewed through the cover and have started putting holes in it. There is one hole large enough for my lab x to curl in and be pretty much lying on the floor. I am pretty sure it is the little one who does all the damage. She also particularly likes toilet rolls - with or without the paper and if I don't keep the bathroom door shut she will go in and help herself. She also used to have an obsession with my ug boots. Wheneevr I woud wear them, she would attack from behind. she seems to have stopped that now. The big boy doesn't really destroy anything unless the little girl starts first, then he will help her occasionally. Probably because he knows we will think it is her.

Full time - 2 dogs (2 adults and 1 child). The youngest dog just turned 1 and we got her at 8 weeks old and we were working, she spent time inside by herself until she was big enough to join the other dog in the yard. Last person leaves in the morning just after 7am, and the first person arrives home between 3.30pm and 4pm. We don't have a social life (fairly new to Oz and have no friends lol) so we are home all night every night and all weekend and when we are home, the dogs are usually constantly with us, although they do spend some time outside by themselves on Saturday and Sunday.

That sounds very negative....full time work for 8 hours is hardly ALL day, EVERY day. Shouldn't it be more about the quality of the time spent with the owner? You may get someone who is home all day but barely looks at the dog. or someone who works full time but then spends every minute at home purely stimulating the dog by playing, training etc. I understand some breeds are a tad more needy than others but dogs are fairly adaptable creatures and providing the time spent with them was high quality most dogs would adjust to being left home alone while the owner went to work surely (that's what I have generally found in my experience). Also, what about situations where there is another dog? That is not at all the same as being left at home alone.

Bugs the hell out of me. Where we used to live there was a creek running behind our house. One of the ladies a few houses down used to walk along the creek with her boxer everyday which would send my dogs mad. She took it upon herself to start feeding them everytime she went past small yummy treats so that they started associating her walk past with the boxer as a good thing. I only found out as I happened to be off work one day as she strolled past and stopped to feed them. I immediately went up to the fence and asked what she thought she was doing. She explained what she wa strying to acheive. I think explained that the older dog had quite severe food allergies which caused her to drop weight dramatically and lose all her hair and she was contributing to the problem (we had our girl on a special home made - sometimes raw - diet). I told her that I'd appreciate her not doing it anymore and that she should have asked me previously. Funnily enough, the dog had been having a flare up of her allergies and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what it was coz she was on her diet, but as soon as the lady stopped feeding them it cleared up (well as much as it clears). She did eventually check if it would be OK to give them cooked chicken which I said yes, but her plan never worked. They still went nuts everytime she went past LOL.

Somebody said they would ask about people you knew in the dog world, trainers etc. What fi you didn't know anyone in the dog world for the breeder to go to to ask about you? Sorry - Cant remember posters name

If the dog has 'skin allergies' it may be food allergies aND THAT MIGHT BE WHY SHE IS THIN - OOPS caps. My special old girl had severe allergies (and we never did find out what to but it was most likely diet related) and her hair would fall out, she would drop weight and her skin would go all black and yucky. In fact, if anyone had of seen her, she got thin enough at some points that you would have assumed she had been starved - especially with the condition of her hair sometimes being almost bald (FYI, she was on treatment but sometimes she had flare ups). So, maybe it's not that they aren't feeding or caring for her - maybe they just don't realise that treatment is available for allergies......I said Maybe

Advocate once a month...that's it.