just1more

Thanks everyone for the replies The uTube clips were great to see it in action! I was looking into the show stackers too. I'm actually in the process of teach them to catch their treats too :) Thanks again

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers as to how to teach my furkids to free stack. We are newbies to the show ring with 3 shows under our belts now but have a few coming up in the next couple months. They are both staffords, my boy 9 months and my girl is 8 months. Both are very willing to please and fairly easy to teach as they love their treats ;) They both stand well and hold for a good amount of time once stacked but once I have asked them to "stand" I can't figure out how to encouage them to move to stack by themselves. They will let me stack them manually but I find, especially with my boy, that he doesn't "hold form" ("keep a strong shape"/drops his back) and can also turn out his feet more than normal whe I move his legs under his shoulders. If he's wondering around the yard and naturally stacks/becomes "alert" due to seeing a bird etc. I praise him for his "stand" but when training I don't know how to encourage him to step each foot to these same positions that he needs to be in (if you know what I mean). Any help would be great. Thanks :)

He looks pure to me but doesn't look as tho he'll be a "big boy"/thick set. He's ears do look a little big but it might just be part of his growth. A lot of Rotti's aren't the most attractive dogs when they are going thru their growing/late puppy years My boy Odin (sadly missed ) was just plain ugly some months but by the time he was 18-24 months old he was just stunning!!! Some days it honestly looked like his back legs were long than his front and visaversa, his ears were really floppy and big and then a week later perfect etc etc... but personality was just beautiful the whole way thru!! He was my big teddy bear and even at 55+kg he would still try and curl up in my lap to sleep So ur boy may very well be pure but just going thru the "fuglies" at the moment...enjoy :)

I have a nearly 6 month old SBT destructo dog and she loves a ice cream tub with very diluted stock frozen with either a turkey neck or chunk of chicken etc with pieces of cheese, apple, carrot etc. Keeps her busy for a while. I also use juice/ice break/soft drink bottles etc with a couple small treats inside. Make sure the bottles are the thicker plastic though as my girl does rip thru softer ones like the plain milk/cordial bottle very easy but most of the time because there are treats inside, I find all the little bits around the yard coz she just wants the treats. Treat balls/kongs that have been frozen with mince inside also keep her busy.

Have posted your flyer on the Sunshine Coast Obedience Club FB page and also SCARS (Animal Refuge) FB page. Hope some one finds her soon.

Thank you. I think I've got it now...now to continue on our merry show way. 2 shows down and counting :D might get some points one day. If not, I still have the best dogs laying beside me now anyway even without a CH at the front of their names :p

Ok, so unless they come first overall in their breed then there's no points for ANY win in any CLASS ie. minor puppy of breed or minor puppy of group wins equal no points unless they beat all other classes in their breed and/or group. Ok, I get that bit now. Thanks

Thanks everyone Pretty sure I understood all that So, I entered my boy in a show last week end and he won Minor of breed so for that he gets nothing, right? Was there something I should have received for it? I see dog profiles in here and they note all their wins, so if you don't get anything how do/can you prove it? He went up against the rest of the boys and the open boy won and intermediate was second. The open boy went up against the open bitch and won, then I think she beat the intermediate boy. I then went in against the other minor puppies in group and the tenterfield won so we went home. If my boy had won BIG minor puppy would he had recieved points for that even though he didn't get BOB? So, BOB get points, then if they win BIG they get more and then BIS more up to max 25 points total.

Hi all Was just wondering if someone could point me in the direction of where I can find out about how points are obtained in conformation shows, or if you have a sec, tell me how it all works here? I'm new the show scene and just want to know how the system works. What do the dogs have to win to obtain points? How you go about "collecting" them? etc.... Nice simple terms would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks everyone The way our new training was talking (she had notice me looking at Ripley) it felt like what I was doing was wrong. Ripley gives no indication that he has an issue with looking me in the eyes and I also find that if I am wanting focus and don't look him in the eyes he's more likely to look around to see what I'm looking at like he thinks I want him to go to or focus on that "spot" instead of doing as asked. I only do only use loving mummy eyes with him as I'm so proud of how well he does at obedience for a young SBT and so willing to please

Hi all Just a question to see if I'm doing something wrong or not.... I went to obedience with my boy Ripley last night and had a new trainer. Whilst do some basic stays she told us not to look our dogs in the eyes/stare as they will feel threatened and not want to stay. She said to pick a spot just over the top of their heads to focus on. I understand the whole feeling uneasy with looking in the eyes thing but I have actually trained my boy to look into my eyes as a focus exercise for him. He's only just 6 months old and it has worked well him to do this but now I'm wondering if I should stop it at some point as he gets older? If I stop it how do I get him to focus on me without direct eye contact as he is a very excitable and never focused well until I taught him this. Thanks

It might or might not be a staph infection. Both my staffy's had a skin staph infection and both presented differently. My boys started on his head in little pimple bumps and a dozen or so red yucky looking pimples on his tummy after 48 hours his whole trunk was covered in pimple bumps under his coat (he does have sensitive skin) My girl only got half the amount of bumps over her trunk and only a couple yucky pimples on her tummy. Both at around 4 months old (they are different ages, and it can't be passed on). Took them to the vet, they did a skin scrapping to confirm and put them both on anti-biotics for a week and pyohex wash. It did take a little while for the skin to heal but the vet told me it is very common for most puppies to get it but the severity is different so most people don't even notice it. It basically is the puppies own skin producing to much bacteria and getting into a small scratch on them. My girls was much milder than my boys and the vet was even going to put her on anti-biotics but decided "just incase" as I picked it up very early because I was paying attention after my boy had it. As I said, it might not be this but wouldn't hurt to ask if it is

My girl had the same thing!!! It does take a looooooong time for noses to heal! She did hers nearly 5 weeks ago!! It was a tad smaller than a 5 cent coin size and now it's just about gone. It was the same colour as your boys and the normal colour is just about back now but she probably didn't go as much on to the black as your boys (I know his is brown, but you know what I mean :D ) I bought some bitter antiseptic spray so she wouldn't lick it off but being a staffy nothing stops them I found it didn't do her any good anyway as is dried it out too much and it went scabby and gross. When I took my boy to the vet the other week I took Bindi too just to get it checked and she recommend putting some Betadine which has helped it clear up heaps quicker. I only put it on at night at bed time as she couldn't be bothered to lick it off instead of sleep ;)

Thanks Sir WJ

Dogs and bed...which one suit more or ???? ;) Thanks everyone again...it does help to get other opinions Sir WJ - If you have a pic handy that's be great just so I can show hubby...easier to show him sometime rather than explain ;) and I too would probably get that statment too...especially if he saw the price of some of them Big Daz - My girl can NOT have something that she can, well, get her teeth into!! She has some bedding in the bottom of the crate now but the moment I forget to give her something to keep her "busy" EVERY TIME I left the house (yes, I do school pick up and gone for less than 15mins!!) and she has it dragged out into her yard attemping to "kill" it!! Has to be crated or keep busy this one!! so hoping one of these beds that others have suggested will last a little...might have to bolt it to the patio though

Thanks for the idea Sir WJ Hubby's always looking for something to weld so I might see if he can knock something up for the lil' terrors ;)

Thanks soooo much for that link Nekhbet they look great and even though they are a bit pricey, I'd rather pay a bit more for something that will actually last Thank you everyone for looking and the replies

Thanks for the link I was actually looking at them in one of the shops here on the weekend but thought I'd better ask other for ideas first...I have a habit of buying things then finding out a few days later that I could have got something better/cheaper/more suitable etc!!! I used to have a rotti that was chewer but that was back in the day when they didn't have as bigger variety for our "special needs" dogs

Hi all, Just wanting peoples opinions on an outdoor bed for my staffordshire bull terriers. At the moment they have the kennel and crate but my girl is "Destructo Dog" so is always pull the bedding out or at least trying too With the warmer weather coming in I was wanting one that was up off the ground too so air could get in under it to help keep them cool. So, what would you recommend (brand would be nice ), where did you get it from, do you think it would last at least one summer with a chewing SBT puppy, and also, my 2 SBT's sleep together more often than not but are still both young and growing, so should I get 2 beds or will they grow out of wanting to sleep with each other, especially as it will get quite hot here?...my girl will probably claim both beds anyway if I got 2 lol. Thanks

Hi I haven't read all 7 pages that are up here yet and I'm not a breeder but many of the questions you asked were ones that I too ask many breeders and ....well, most answered the relevant ones but some where, well, quite rude, especially when asking about previous litters I felt if I didn't ask that would make it look like I knew nothing which I thought would be even worse??!! If I was a breeder I would want potential puppy buyer to ask as many questions as possible. If they feel that the potential new owner isn't heading in the right direction then they can either help them and make them a better owner or, try and help and if they refuse to "be taught" then that would be the big flashing red light that maybe this isn't the right person for their furbabies I'd also be more worried if I wasn't getting enough questions from potential puppy buyers. Yeah, your first email might have been a little full on in one hit (maybe ask a few important one in the first email, wait for response and then send the next lot off etc...) I feel like I had a million emails (and phone calls)between my girls' breeder and myself over the space of a month I am now facebook friends with both my furkids breeders so they get to watch them grow up I know it's hard, you are just trying to make sure you are getting the new family member you want, and feel like your representing yourself to the breeder as someone that they want to sell a pup to, but just keep going and if it's meant to be then it will happen

Thanks for the ideas everyone :D

Hi all With the warmer weather coming in quick...plus a way to stop my 'destructo dog' aka Bindi...I was wanting to make some frozen blocks of treats to help cool down and keep my 2 staffords occupied ;) What do I put in them but? I was told by my boys breeder to feeze a block with chicken stock and kibble but I don't like the idea of that much salt from the stock and wouldn't the kibble go all mushy? So, maybe very diluted stock and chunks of meat/offal/apple/carrot etc??? Any ideas would be great Thanks

Thanks also...I did know to do seperate enteries for each section entered

Thank you

Hi all, Just wondering, I'm entering my girl in her first show and on filling out the forms I am entering her in her class aswell as baby puppy sweepstakes. Being a bitch is there a classification that I have to write on there like how you do when entering class ie. boys are class 1 for baby puppy and girls 1a. Or do I just write 'baby puppy sweepstake' in special class. Thanks in advance for your help...this is her first show and only my second showing so still very "green" with everthing terms wise