just1more

As they other have said, don't even bother feeding weetbix to her at all want a waste of weetbix and poor lil' thing gets nothing from it As for the puppy kibble, if I was you I'd start mixing the proplan you have with the pal kibble 25%proplan/75%pal then 50/50% then 75/25% to help her lil' tummy adjust. I don't know about others but with my stafford at 8 weeks I didn't bother soaking the kibble anymore. If you think she needs it do it but she definately wouldn't need it soaked after 9-10 weeks. Her eating it hard is also good for her teeth :)

Hi, I have 2 SBT's and have sort of half crate trained them. They both don't mind being in the crate for any amount of time but I don't use it every day, only when we go to shows (once a month at the most) and when we go visiting family and they are nasty and won't let my babies sleep inside "free" :laugh: so crate training is good for places where you take your dog but it might not be "puppy proof". I have my crate sitting on our patio all the time with a towel over the top and they use it like a kennel...meanwhile the kennel sits there unused...well, they actually used it for a chew toy it is also good (in my case) if they have a playmate and Staffords being staffords, don't know when to stop "playing" sometimes so it's good for a "time out" place where the can learn to calm down :) As for the feeding, I'm also with everybody else on this. Find out what the breeder is feeding (they should give you a sheet outlining what, when and how to feed but everybody is different) and if you are happy enough with your choices on what you want to feed your pup then slowly introduce the foods mixed in with what the pup is already on and slowly wean out the other food. Go into the Health and Nutrition section on here and go through some of the pages as there is heaps of others that have asked these same question and ones that you might have thought of too :) Others are right in staffords being very pron to tummy issues which can been shown in many forms including skin issues (scratching, redness, poor coat condition etc) also runny poos and farts etc. My girl has none of these but unfortunately my boy has all of these and it can be My boy can't have beef or lamb and fatty things but is fine with chicken, turkey and fish. When I first brought him home at 8 weeks he was on 4 feeds a day - roughly 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm. Around 10-12weeks he dropped back to 3 feeds and then about 18-20 weeks 2 feeds which I still do now. Only feed them as much as they will eat in about 20 mins then take away anything left. With a stafford I reckon bones are fine even from 8 weeks. Chicken necks and wings are great Even at that age staffords have very strong jaws (and MOST love to chew esp when young and teething) If you are worried just make sure she only has them when you can sit there with her and watch and take any away that she hasn't eaten. As she gets older woolies sells fresh turkey necks too which is good as they are bigger. When they were little I would freeze a few necks together and give to the pups frozen as it would slow them down and make sure they chewed before trying to swallow!! I still do it now (even in winter...QLD) I buy whole chickens from woolies too(cheap) and chop them into "serving size" skin, bones and all, freeze them then feed them (very good in summer) If you go to the butchers or a pet food place they usually sell pet mince which is usually ground up chicken frames and bits and pieces with is also very good at 8 weeks as they get the goodness of the bones without you have to worry about her choking on them Throw in a little natural low fat youghurt and some sardines in springwater for breaky every other day too. It's great for their coat. I also freeze this into "iceblocks" for summer. Maybe an egg, shell and all too, every now and then. Well, I think I have babbled a bit tooooooo much so I hope this has helped a little. Ask as many questions as you can if your not sure so you can feel right in making the best choise for you and your lil' girl

So weird, I recently just wormed the family (the first time since I was a child too) After google it all the most common worm in humans is actually pin/thread worms which pets DO NOT give us. Pin worms are very easily picked up (mainly by kids due to the whole hand/mouth thing they do so well) from anywhere (toilet seat, taps, linen...anywhere someone that has them has touched)!! The eggs can actually be air-born so when you do worm the family they suggest washing bedding in HOT warm but be gentle taking linen off the bed so not to spread eggs into the air and all over the room!! I'd never really thought about it until now I have the kids so must remember to do it a bit more often...than never...lol :laugh:

My SBT boy was about the same weight as your boy at that age. My boy is very mature for his age (body/growth), is also very well muscled and well boned so has always been heavier than the "norm" but that's the way I like it :) He grew very quick up until 8-10 months then stopped putting on weight but became much more muscular. I always make sure I can feel his ribs and have a nice tuck-in between his rib and hips. Not only is it better for then to be lean but I personally think they look better like this too as they get to show off their muscles If your boy is eating well, and more impotantly pooing well and his energy levels haven't dropped dramatically then it might just be a growth spurt. What are you feeding him? At that age my boy was eating about a cup of raw chicken (I would by whole chickens and chpped then into 6 so he got the skin and bones) and maybe 1-1.5cups of advance puppy kibble a day. Every other day I'd give him some natural youghurt and sardines. Some days he'd want more some days less. Just because he looks like he's lost weight doesn't mean he has either as muscle weighs more than fat, and as Pav Lova said, judge him by his tone, condition and coat. If looks good and feels good than he probably is good I have attached a pic of my boy at 8 months of age. You can't see the tuck in this pic but it is there...not the best pic either :)

My girl has had this. we think it's either a reaction to a bee sting or ant bite. My girl doesn't get too bothered by it luckily but it has only happened a couple time so far. I took her the vet and he said he could give her an antihistamine shot but coz it wasn't worrying her didn't. The lumps went down after a couple hours and were completely gone in about 12 hours. We have some human antihistamine at home now just incase (recommended by my vet and was given the dosing rate) but haven't had to use it yet...spring is just around the corner tho. Here is a pic of her lumps ... It's horrible when these things happen to our furkids. Hope yours isn't too trouble by it

I have had my 5 children at shows and never had a problem. Like other children in those days they did as they were told and never caused a problem. I can/could take my grand/great grand children now and still never have a problem. I know it can be done with some kids but not all kids CAN be "trained" to be contained/content. My 6 year old probably wouldn't be a problem but my 4 year old is, well...only 4! Plus on top of that he has some other issues that we are sorting out at the moment so to say it's not that hard or having your own children there and never had a problem is all well in good for some but for some off us we have little people that need a little extra help just to do "what is expected" and it's not their fault OR their parents You should feel very blessed and proud to have brought up the kids that you have obviously done so well with :) Also, some don't have the support system around them that others have too so have little choice than to rely on "outsiders" to help. Family and friends are great if they are like that but then you either have ones that live no where near you, work most weekends, have families of their own which they only get the weekend to spend quality time with, then there's the great ones that love to guilt trip you simply for asking for help etc etc. If the support system was the same as the way it was in my grandmothers day we wouldn't need these things to help as it would be give even without asking (miss my grandma sooooo much ) I give my family my 100%. My dogs are my only outside thing I do so it would be nice sometimes to not have to worry about a million things that I do as a mum for half an hour at a show to do "my thing"...hope that makes sense

This is my problem too and I'm just getting into it and really enjoying it all so far :) I do understand the problem with insurance and all, I was just wondering what other thought. Some have had some good ideas though...just dreamin' I suppose :D ...can't wait til my 2 are old enough to able to be trusted to do the right thing by me and others :)

Hi all, I'm new to the show scene and love the few shows that I have been able to attend. I have noticed that a few show organisers come on here trying to get more entries for their shows and it got me wondering...has anyone every tried or thought about providing a creche for competitors kids? Make them pay for it by the half hour or so, have a time limit on how long the kids could be in there so it doesn't get "abused" and only provide it if numbers are worth it. I know from personal experience that I would attend a lot more shows if I had someone to help me with my kids while I was in the ring. I know there are some people that would love the kids not to be there at all but if you want number at shows to go up wouldn't this be one idea that could be looked at? My husband works away so I can only do shows that fall on the weekends that he is home but if I had someone to watch my kids for the half hour or so while I was showing the dogs, I would attend many more shows as I just don't do it with them by myself as it's not fair on them, me or others around (and you can't crate kids ). Feel free to shoot this idea down but I know if it was provided I would support it. It's one way of possibly helping boost entry numbers? What do others think? :)

Hi :) A white mark on her muzzle would not go against her judging and being so young still and so small of a spot, it may actually grow out completely. As long as her actual nose is black, her black-brindle coat with white markings anywhere on her is fine in the standard :) My black-brindle girl has a white chest, "dirty" white chin and a couple white toes on each foot with one foot nearly all white and she got her first points towards her title a few weeks ago At 3 weeks old it is near impossible to tell if they are going to be "fit" to win in the ring but in the few shows I have been in and to, ever stafford I have seen is different and every judge seems to favour different "looks". My girl had never placed high in her first 3 judgings then got BCC and RUBOB in her 4th show My boy has always gotten first in his class (except our first show) and always plays bridesmaid to a titled open dog so far in his 5 showings but he's nearly 1 year old now so still hasn't finished growing/maturing yet so I'm holding on to hope there I started off not knowing a thing about showing. My boys breeders don't show and my girl came from Vic so very little can be done to help teach me over the phone :laugh: I'm getting there, need to stop being so shy tho and go and talk to the other showies but am have fun learning along the way. If you do get into it just letting the steward and even the judge know that you are new and tell them to tell you what to do. All the steward and judges I have met so far have been really good and giving tips to me too which I needed! I picked my boy at 3 weeks old and would love him to bits even if he wasn't to the "standard" for showing as he's the best boy for me

Hi :) I went thru all of this last year when I got my 2 staffords...yes TWO!! Crazy I know but it's worked out pretty good for me this time but might think a lot harder about it next time LOL Anyhoo, I don't think it's wrong to consider price in regards to what you are prepared to pay for a pup. I think there are far to many breeders out there IMO just trying to make a quick buck especially the ones that are clearly breeding just for colour. It's bloody obvious when they mate 2 blues together and they get a couple "throw backs" in their blue litters so they sell the black-brindles at a huge price difference to the blues that they got BUT still sell the black-brindles for more than you'd pick them up for from a breeder that got them from a non blue mating as they "have blue lines". If you stick to what you think is a fair price (which I think is the average price)you can use the other monies how you stated, obedience, vets/needles and of course all those lovely things you need to buy for the new pup...that being a stafford pup, will be promptly destroyed in seconds With picking a breeder, I emailed heaps and/or phoned them. Trust your gut with it. If they don't answer all your questions or seem to hesitate or well, don't seem helpful now then they probably won't be helpful later. Some of the breeders I talked to were, well, not people I would like to know so I wouldn't buy a pup off them. I am now quite good friends with both breeders that I got my 2 off :) My boy I got from a breeder where I visited them a few times and they were good. My girl I got from Vic. I emailed her breeder a billion times :laugh: I asked fo pictures of her (from birth and up) and her parents, previous litter, her lines (I was looking for a show dog so needed to know this but still good for you to know) any health issues either parents/previous litter had, how many litters breeder had had, how many litters mum had etc. I gave them a run down of who I was and my family, my home, my previous pets etc. She also posted video clips of her dogs and the litter running around her place which was great My girl flew up to Brisbane at 11 weeks old. She was ok but took some time to settle which was mainly to do with her personality, so I wouldn't rule out getting a pup from interstate. While you can hope and wish for a 100% healthy pup there are no guarantees. Both my 2 parents had health checks done but my boy has a few issues. He can't have any beef or lamb products(which seems to be quite common) as he gets an upset tummy so has to stick with chicken, turkey and sardines. He also has a slight allergy to one of the weeds in our yard which does seem to be get less with age. My girl can have beef and lamb but holy dooley you know about when she eats it as she can clear a room :laugh: But they are both beautiful dogs and I won't change a thing :) Hope I have helped a little. Good luck, you've picked one hell of a bred :)

My boy is the same with beef amd lamb meat AND bones. He gets the runs and REALLY bad gas My girl doesn't get the runs but does get the gas too They are fine with chicken and turkey tho so that's all they get now. I have to freeze them to slow my girl down and make her chew instead of trying to swallow them whole so that's going to be fun over the witer months

I don't know any dog stories like that one but maybe a few human ones from my old home town Thank you :)

ok. Thanks. I'm green but not that green. I know it's quick I'm not going to sit here and say "that'll never happen to me" coz murphy's law just LOVES to kick me in butt Unfortunately for my boy he would literally have to do my leg as well when they are in the room with me as my girl is velro girl!!! I can't even adjust myself with out her "in there" too :laugh: He's a lot better today than the past 2-3 days...I know THAT doesn't mean sh@t but when my girl is sooooo close to me alllllllll the time and I know "that look" on him VERY well, I know when he's just thinking about having a chop They are currently sleeping at my feet and all the times I have had them together (ALWAYS with me...my girl REALLY does not leave my side)today he has not once tried. He looks to me before he goes near her, I say no, he turns around and walks the other way or comes up to me for a cuddle. That's the type of dog he is. I do not trust him not too but I do know my boy well enough that having him seperated from her AND me more than penned inside a pen when I'm home, and my girl locked up in seperate rooms at night and when I'm not home, would stress him more than anything. I was actually looking for tips like give my girl chlorophyll to help mask her scent(yes I know I won't mask it completely) which I think has actually help a little. I took her off it for 2days just before I realised she was starting to "ripening", have back on it now for 48 hours and my boy is nowhere near as bad with her (her discharge started changing on Friday and is light pink almost clear now)and, tranquil paste for my boy like Christian suggested...stuff like this is good and if it wasn't for people who have dealt with season before I would have never knows about it

Thanks for the tips guys I suppose I should word things a bit better as they aren't actually in together unless I am in there too. Unfortunately we are renting ATM so can't do anything too structual but have fenced my yard into sections with the main pen area attached to our family room where we spend 90% of the day in, which has big double glass slidding doors and there is not one inch that I can not see. I have another smaller pen inside that pen which I have put my boy and his crate which is working a treat as he can see me and her so it's as stressed. Yes they were in the big pen together when she first started but even then they were only in there together when I could have the time to watch them and seperated as soon as I walked away. I wish I had other options but unfortunately this is what I have to work with ATM. As I said, I'm new to all this "season" business as I have only ever owned boys before so I know I am going to make mistakes somewhere along the line and I like to get other peoples advice that HAVE had years of dealing with this and other doggie issues. I have just started on the show sceen and at this point in time, this is THE only reason my girl still has her bits. Thanks again and any other things to watch for or you think I need to know would be great :D

OMG!!! Don't think I could even handle THAT!!! :laugh: My boy has gone off his food a bit too. Not touching his kibble at all but if I put him in a pen by himself he'll eat his raw 1/4 chicken but that's all he'll eat all day. He's gone from sleeping about 20 hours a day to maybe 8 hours at night when they are both locked up in seperate rooms in the house. I took him out yesterday by himself just so he could get a break from being near her and my boy is still in there Bloody boys around girls!! :laugh: He seems to be attached to his crate ATM so I tried moving it into one of the fenced off areas of the yard this morning (it's a pen within a pen really) and he seems happy with that so hopefully they are both happy with that coz I need a break from watch them!!....and him watching me to see if I'm out of sight to try something ...never going to happen! Will look into that Tranquil Paste too Christina. everybody

Hi all, My SBT girl is in the middle of her first season. I have never owned a bitch before so besides what I have read and what her breeder has told me, I know very little. I also have a SBT dog who is going through this for the first time too I guessing she just about "ripe" as my boy has handled it very well up until yesterday. Since then he has just been, well... :laugh: I am at home full time so they are ALWAYS being watched and if I do leave the house I lock my girl in the house by herself. My biggest problem so far is that fact that my boy is inconsolable when he's not near her or can't see her. Do I just ignore him and ride it out? Any things I need to know for the rest of this season and others down the road for both bitch and dog? Any tips or advice people can provide would be greatly appreciated

Personally don't see staffy in her at all. I reckon bull arab x ridgie. She looks a lots like an old...well, let's say "friend's", pigging dogs pups and they were bull arab crosses.

She is all good now in regard to the lumps and the anti histamine worked. But now she is limping badly following hurting her paw last night. Not sure what it is, but I am sure she will recover. She seems to be having one little drama after another at the moment. A bit of bad luck I hope. Oh no poor lil' girl When I got my 2 SBT's it felt like the first couple months I was at the vets every week Lucky I have nice vets and they actually only charged me their short consult fees a couple times (I'm a bit of a worry wort...but safe than sorry tho ;) ) I hope your girl is back up and well again soon :)

No worries :) My girl did have a lot more bumps on her but by the time I got the camera out and tried to get pics (so I could show the vet) and trying to get a good angle to show the bumps, half of them had gone down and ones left were smaller in size. Chewing on her leg is probably a good guess as to where she was bitten as my 2 do the same thing. Glad the you know now what happen and she's all good now It's just horrible when stuff like this happens to our furkids

This is a pic of what happened to my girl during spring (she was 5 months old) the lumps just came up soooo quick but by the time I called the vet, picked up my oldest from school and got to the vets they had gone down. Home again and an hour later she had them again. Hour later and they were gone. Same thing happened the next day but thankfully hasn't happened again. My vet said it more than likely was a reaction to an insect sting/bite, probably a bee, but with all the different ants around here it just could be that. He also said it's much the same with dogs as it is with people, as in either she'll build up a immunity to it with more bites and time, or the opposite and she could become serverly allergic. I was to keep an eye on her and if her breathing became forced of she seemed "not herself" to get her to the vet asap. Thankfully she seems to have built up an immunity (I think/hope) as it hasn't happened again since and the ants here are worse than ever (with the weather we're having) and the bees have been still around (but it could just be dumb luck with her :laugh: ) I have some phenergan here anyway just in case. Because your girl has skin issues that could be why the lumps are on her so long or she has less tolerance to bites/stings or could it be because (if it was a bee sting or wasp for instance) that the stinger is still in her skin? Ask your vet as may questions as possible and what to do if it happens again. Hope it clears up well for her :) (Hope the pics turns out for you to see...lol)

I bought my staffords a Jolly Ball. Basically it's sort of like those aussiedog balls but half the price. I have also seen bouys (what you attach to carb pots etc) that are similar too. It IS the only ball that has lasted longer than 5mins in my yard!! The only problem I have with it is I have to take it off my boy as he just goes nuts on it!!! He WILL NOT stop chasing it around the yard so totally exhausts himself so his time with it has to be monitored LOL Other than that I put treats in thicker juice/sauce bottles that I have cruched a little, with a bit of peanut butter around the top and they go nuts trying to get the treats out so keeps them busy on the days I'm not home all day.

Thanks everyone will try putting your tips into action :)

Hi all Just chasing some advice on how to "untrain" my furkids :rolleyes: I have a 9month boy and 8month old girl, both staffords, and I have, up until now, taught them to not take treats out of my hand unless told. I have a 4 and 6 year old boys so I was hoping to get the furkids out of trying to take things off my human kids...lol!! Anyhoo, I have done basic obedience with them up until now, but other than fetching a ball, I have not tried to teach them "tricks" as I wanted to make sure they had the basics of sit, drop, stay, come, heel, wait etc (manners) before "indulging" myself (and my boys) with trick traing them. Soooo, how do I untrain them from not trying to get a treat out of my hand? All I am trying to do at the moment is get a basic hand shake but they won't paw at my hand to try and retrieve the treat so I am at a loss as to how to get them to lift their paw off the ground in order to shake hands My boy is especially hard as he won't even mouth my hand try to get the treat. My girl will mouth it but in the past week of trying she's lifted her paw once The only thing I can think of is to try and get either my kids or husband to teach them as they don't do much "training" with them and when they do, if I'm near by the dogs still look at me for approval most of the time however I would like to train them myself if possible :D Thanks

Tell me about it!!! Beautiful in that "pose" That's one thing I really should have throught about before getting a stafford...I'm 6 foot tall and bending over to stack them is just great...not My boy's not too bad but my girl is food crazy so I REALLY have to watch what I am doing with her when trying to get her to stand...plus she's the typical "full of beans" stafford so get her to stay still for a stack is hard enough as it is :laugh: