Cleveland

Oh and yes, blackun your comments are not helpful AT ALL.

Thank you all for your replies,I have been following along and taking everything on board. I am not a total novice to American staffies and managing dog aggression, without going into it to much my brother moved home with his lovely but very dog aggressive Am Staff (with papers from a registered breeder, father was a European import.....probably had something to do with his DA) for 12 months and we had the dog. He was a shift worker on long shifts so i looked after the dog a lot. There was no dog parks (i dont like them) so long walks and jogs with me along bike tracks and beach etc. I used to have to keep him on a leash and muzzled with a metal one that he could drink and pant through because of the amount of dogs that people just let run up to us despite me yelling get your dog! He was very much 'ill finish what you start' and the slightest posturing or challenge from another would set him off. We broke up a few fights when his aggression started showing as he matured and it not something i ever want to do again. He was a sweetie with our dogs at the time, small maltese cross females would would snap and snarl at him and he would just take it as 'they love me' and never batted an eye lid.... but he was muzzled when around them in the house as we just didn't trust him 100%. We had a large dog run out the back for him when we were not home. It was stressful at times taking him out constantly being on guard and scanning for other dogs etc. I just don't want the management and stress of that again. I haven't had much to do with SBT hence my question. I have spoken to OH and told him honestly concerns and opinions etc and while still keen to get one i think he realises im not happy and not risking my cairn. Plus i do not want a high needs dog again, i want a dog to throw in the car with cairn and bubs and take for a walk/to beach/to families homes without worrying about managing behavior. He loves his bully types so his compromise is an English bulldog or Australian bulldog. I know Aussie bulldogs are relatively 'new' but im having to compromise here and i would love and English but don't think we can afford the maintenance vet bills lol. Anyone have any experince with Australian bulldogs?

Thanks everyone, the replies are much appreciated. Basically my concerns have been others thoughts too, introducing an unknown pup that may or may not be prone to aggression with such a size difference is going to be a gamble. We are not looking at getting an adult with such a size difference, i have heard a few stories of so called rescues fobbing off dogs just to get them out the door. I wont bring another mature dog of such a size into the house, we will only get a pup off a registered breeder. As it is i think partner and i are going to have to have a frank discussion on this. I dont want to risk our little dog, and i know he would be horrified at the though of something happening to her as he loves her as much as i do but he is a bit blinkered because of our old staffy. I think he thinks they will all be like him I know for a fact though with him working full time shifts and me part time shifts and a bubs the dog isn't going to get the training a high needs breed should, being very honest and realistic it just wont happen. Thanks again. Oh and i would LOVE a frenchie but OH isnt so keen.

Im not looking to stir and this is an honest post so please bare with me. We lost our old American Staffy to cancer recently, now he was a total sweetie and very very placid and laid back when it came to other dogs. Not an aggressive bone in his body, so we bought a female cairn terrier to join the family and they were amazing together, but herein lies the problem, she is now on her own. I am after honest answers, Stafford breeders please join in. Are American Staffords inherently dog aggressive? Are English stafford the same? Now i know we cant judge a breed and there will always be exceptions (like our boy) but as a trait do they have aggressive tendencies towards others? I personally know 3 American staffords (males) and they are AMAZING with people, so friendly and lovely, but very dog aggressive! Despite early socialisation, training and even getting a behaviorist involved they cannot be trusted around other dogs. We would like to get another but i have serious concerns about the behavior i have seen first hand, and already having my little cairn i do not want to risk her at all. Someone suggested English staffords rather than American as being more 'doggy safe'. I have emailed a few breeders asking questions regarding temperament (its a must as we also have a baby and cat as well as our cairn) and none have replied. Sorry for the essay, but its weighing heavily and i guess i just want some honest feedback. Personally i would be happy with another cairn or westie but the other half loves his bigger dogs, i even suggested a golden retriever but hes pretty set on a stafford. edited for spelling!

Yes we were very unhappy with the whole thing When we originally called the lady on the phone was quite airy fairy about the whole thing and gave the impression it was no big deal and just fill out the paperwork with our $50 application fee (for goodness knows what!) and it would get processed. Then in the mail it came back rejected. We called back and spoke to another person in charge and he was rude and unhelpful and basically said you are only allowed 2 dogs, deal with it. No refund on our money. Grrr. We had a very old partically blind, deaf and housebound boy who had just lost his sister and was going downhill badly. We thought he would die basically. So we bought a puppy to give him doggy companionship, he loved her but she was to full on and needed another playmate, so we wanted to get another westie to keep her company etc. My old boy was a quiet old soul and you would never know he was there, no trouble at all. We explained to the council all this and they said don't care, not a good enough reason. Not sure what would have been good enough.

We tried to get a third dog permit through West Torrens Council. Paid $50 and put in the application, there was nothing about neighbors consent or approval. It came back as a firm no, you are only allowed two dogs not three, the explanation was they don't approve of more than two dogs no matter what the situation. We have a big house and land and it was small westie and a cairn with wanting another cairn so not big dogs. They wouldn't discuss it further and were very unhelpful.

We bought our westie from a breeder in NSW 3 yrs ago and flew her to SA. She cost $1650 at the time (not inc. flights) Looking at recent prices $1800 is pretty standard. We also have 2 cairns, one cost $1000 2.5 yrs ago and the other $1200 1.5yrs ago (different breeders in SA) I second if they aren't fussed about colour go a cairn, they are personality plus and just as fun to have as a westie. Personality plus plus! Our westie is gorgeous, is nick named the 'emo' as she is a bit of a princess at times (eg HATES getting her feet wet and refuses to go out in the rain etc) and loves to show her emotions through her ears and talks to us constantly. Pulls a really good sad face. She is a true terrier though when it comes to killing small animals, birds, mice, rats, lizards etc she has killed it and an avid hunter. She does have skin allergies which are controlled with cream/spray when they flare up. Awesome little dog though. The cairns are a bit more robust allergy wise and all 3 have rock solid great natures. One cairn hates water but happy to get as dirty as possible the other you cant keep out of the water and is often found lounging in her clam pool. The cairns will chase but ours don't have the same high prey drive as our westie. I cant recommend them highly enough. Tell your friends they really should look at a cairn, as someone said essentially the same dog if what they want is a fun loving spunky little character.

I know here in SA there are quite a few nursing homes that have one or two pets that actually live there with the residents. Lots have the traditional budgie and fish tank but we are starting to see more have animals that residents can interact with. One has two cats that float around as they wish and are allowed to sleep on residents beds and visit whomever they want to at the time. Quite a few others have a single cat that lives on site. One has a German Shepard that belongs to the manager that comes to work with her everyday to and visits but goes home with her at night. Another has a rescue Jack Russel that lives there 24/7. It was funny we went there one time in the morning to pick someone up and as we got in the lift he ran in after us, apparently he has a set routine of visiting his 'favorites' that includes a few residents in the first floor first thing in the morning during breakfast time. He goes room to room visiting, but staff did say he wont visit everyone, and one lady has a habit of trying to hide him in her room or lock him in her ensuite so he cant leave, or dress him in her clothes lol. Staff say he avoids her room now. He is quite a character and its really nice to see him trotting up and down the hall way or sitting waiting for someone to use the lift so he can get in. I love hearing stories about nursing homes acknowledging the benefits animals make for the emotional well being of their residents.

Hey guys, thanks again for all the advice. I contacted the council, they will not come out themselves but stated i have the legal right to trap the cats and take them to the AWL. Then they will be scanned for a chip and if found suitable may b put up for adoption, or be euthanised depending on capacity/temprement etc. I tried a few rescues, most are at capacity and cannot accept anymore. One rescue did state realistically if the cats have such poor temprements they may not pass the temprement test and may be euthanised anyway. They also cannot accept if im not the owner. They recommened council advice of cat traps and handing into AWL. At thsi stage i cannot mentally deal with this right now knowing in all honesty they (or at least the big one) will be PTS. So i will continue to feed them, make sure they have water and shelter and give it another couple of weeks, then ill make a descision. Im pretty angry and upset that it has been left to us to have to deal with the heart breaking reality of taking them to the awl knowing they wont come out. They are not ours yet we have to deal with the consequences of idiot owners. Oh and i did try the rspca twice..... on hold for half hour both times as of yet havent spoken to anyone.

Oops forgot to add i will contact the rspca and see what they have to say about it. I got hold of the little one today, no tattoos in her ears. I dont want to get in trouble, but realistically these cats are the third lot she has had in 2 yrs of living next to her, the others before had kittens.... then all went missing. I dont think she cares what happens to them

Thank you for all the replies and all the points of view put forward. This is not easy for us, we love animals (hence have been feeding these cats for months) but it cannot go on now that she has packed up and left. We are not in a situation to take them much as we would if we could. Our dogs would be fine but our cat has serious aggression issues when it comes to other cats. Its not fair on the cats, i would never let them go hungry but its not fair to live in my front garden either, not a fun life being stuck in the heat of summer and freezing in winter. I even thought about buying dog kennel and putting it out for them, but realistically when my cat gets out the house and gets hold of them he beats the crap out of them. We try to manage this but accidents happen and he gets out. We have called the council (closed) and left a msg regarding the situation and for them to please call us back. I have also emailed a rescue group feeling them out as to where they stand on rehoming cats that are not friendly, bit wild, and as of yet unclear if they can even legally take them. In this case i don't even know what sex the cats are, im pretty sure one is a female, she is tiny, half the size she should be, she just never grew. Ill hopefully hear back from the council tomorrow. Just very frustrated, angry and sad that im left to deal with this because she couldn't be bothered. Thanks again i really do appreciate all the replies.

Hey guys, Sorry its not a doggy thread more a what to do in this situation. My irresponsible neighbor has moved out taking her 2 small yapping dogs with her.... but it seems she has left her 2 cats behind. We have been feeding her cats on and off for the past few months when i found them starving in my front garden wolfing down old bread i had thrown out for the birds. They are strictly outside cats, as were her poor little dogs, rain hail or shine they were locked outside all year round. They barked all night so bad we had to swap bedrooms to the far side of our house due to the noise. We tried talking to her about it... nothing changed. She would regularly go away for the weekends and leave her animals outside to fend for themselves while she was away. We usually ended up throwing food over the fence for the dogs. So disappearing is not uncommon for her. However she has actually moved out, started last friday morning throughout the weekend. She left the dogs behind over the weekend but came back for them sunday night. The 2 cats got left. We saw her again on wed during the day in which she put out her rubbish bins (they don't get collected until friday) Shut her front gates (never ever done that before) and thats the last we have seen of her. She has left a whole heap of crap in the back garden and an old wardrobe sitting in the front garden for the past week. Not impressed at all. So now the bins are still sitting out on the street, house locked up and no sign (usually we hear them they are pretty noisy with the kids)of her in 5 days. The cats are living in my front garden, crying for food all the time, running to our front door etc. We are feeding them twice a day. We cant keep them. What do we do? Council? Welfare league? I put a note on her door tonight asking if she was taking them home or had she abandoned them? (i was pretty pissed when i wrote it) and she needs to be responsible and take them or take them to welfare league she cant just leave them behind like rubbish. I just dont know how to call to come and get them. We already have one cat that was a stray no one wanted, he is a bit feral, will not take to another cat.... tried to kill them. Taking them on is not an option or i would. They arent the friendliest cats, they are obviously scared and had a rough trot, will hiss, scratch etc. Sorry for the long story im just so frustrated with this woman, she has been nothing but bother and now she has finally moved out she couldn't even take her bloomin cats!!

Just a quicky i did see on the QLD floods a man being rescued via the helicopter in the cage/winch and they brought his little terrier (looked like an aussie)up with him. I know its not always feasible with large dogs but i honestly wanted to hug the pilot and rescuers for letting him carry his little dog up with him.

This is breaking my heart I cannot imagine my OLD boy being abandoned in a pound just because he is old. He will be 19yrs in january, we bred him (maltese x ) when i was 10yrs before we knew any better and he is the last of that era to go. His mum and sister whom we also kept have passed. He is pottery, mostly blind and deaf, has dementia, on a bad day will toilet inside, skinny but still has a good appetite and sleeps most of his days away. He is well loved, had a bad turn a couple of weeks ago and we thought it was his time so had round the clock vigils for 2 days where all the family came back to mum and dads and spent turns sitting up with him so he wouldnt be alone throughout the night, we didnt want him to be alone when he passed. Turned out the old battler fought it off and sprung back, but it makes me want to cry thinking of the oldies whose family dont care anymore (how you can do that to your beloved pet is beyond me). If we put old dougal in a pound it would kill him. The stress on the poor soul would do it Makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

Hey, just after any advice/experiences people have with having their cats leg amputated? This is not our cat, however we may* be getting one (if she survives) I was at working night shifts when i found a cat hit by a car laying on the pavement by the road, turns out another crew had seen her hit by a car a few hours earlier. She had run out in front an actually run into the wheel, knocking her into the air. They stopped and moved her off the road (the car that she connected with didn't stop) and thinking she would soon be dead they had no choice but to leave her (on their way to a job) She looked to have massive head injuries and not really moving. I came across same cat 4 hrs later, alive but in a bad way on our way home to station. I rang the council, who put me onto the rspca emergency line...well 30mins on hold i gave that up. So once the truck was back i jumped in my car with another crew member and we went back and collected her. I waited for the vet to open for 40mins, all the while she was laying very still but as soon as you touched her very agitated. I thought she would be euthanised for sure. She was desexed but not microchipped and no collar. Turns out she has a broken jaw and some spinal damage (front leg is totally numb, no deep pain sensation and paralysed.) However 4 days later she is still at vets slowly improving, however much to every ones efforts no owner can be found. We have tried everything and the staff have contacted RSPCA, AWL, councils, all the other local vets in the area, its been put on lost dogs, gumtree etc, no one has come forward. The poor cat lay on the side of the road for 5 hours, my partner and i couldn't bare the thought of her not having anywhere to go to if she pulls through, so we have offered to adopt her if no one claims her. Sooooo we are looking at jaw being wired and amputated front leg. We have told them we would give her a loving home if she pulls through (no surgery until she is stable and they think she will have a decent quality of life) Anyone had a cat with only 3 legs? Do they cope alright? Obviously we want quality of life here so honest answers please.

I haven't seen any more than a couple of brief news reports in ad breaks, however I don't think we can assume the owner didn't say sorry, the media will put on what they want to put on - he could have said it and they never showed it. I'm not saying he DID say sorry, but we can't always believe what the media wants us to. And I haven't seen the full report. I work for the emergency services. I now more than anyone media will give sensational biased reporting depending how it best suits them. I also watched his interview and can tell you someone who states 'not like she died, ah well it was only a dog, takes 2 to tango as they say' did not apologise or show remorse for someones innocent pet being eviscerated. Media like to beef up stories as much as they can and the more he spoke the more they would have shown, highly doubt he apologised. Dogs that are that aggressive and dangerous should be euthanised. No questions asked.

The owner wasn't there when it happened. Council workers followed the dog back to his house after beating it off with shovels. The poor dog in question was an elderly 12yr old being walked by the owners neighbor. The local vet was called to the scene but the small dog had been eviscerated and didn't have a chance and was humanely put to sleep. Thoughts and prayers with the family. My worst nightmare. Reading the article im furious the owner of the large dog not once apologised or expressed remorse for what happened, only that he was going to complain to the manufacturer about the broken collar. What a joke. Happy to pose for a photo but not once said sorry.

Its so funny to read this thread because we are going through exactly the same thing in our house at the moment, with a cairn as well! We have a 9yr old american staffy boy, a bit pudgy, a bit arthritic, and i finally got my wish of getting a little cairn of my own (family has westies and cairns) and she brings out the 'monster within' lol He has never been a playful dog with other dogs, friendly but a bit aloof, more interested in people than dogs and a very placid and gentle boy. We have never seen him actually play with other dogs before and since getting her he has become a different dog, the transformation is amazing. He plays everyday, he runs around the house with toys (never interested before) he plays the 'snappy' game with her, he lets her boss him around, jump on him, chew on him, pull his tail, share his bed etc etc. We joke that she is the brain and he is the muscle, he lets her decide the game and we watch her run shoes/slippers/toys/branches anything really up to him, eggs him on and before you know it he is ripping apart a slipper he wouldn't have dreamed of touching since being a pup. He has a new lease and life and is acting years younger, she really has brought new life into our old boy and its fantastic to see him acting like a big goofy puppy again. Embrace it, i think it great :)

There is a link in the article to a new article staing pups have been found in a shopping mall stairwell. Tip off. It also states pups have been returned to their owner and MOTHER for a rest. Mind boggles.

I was absolutely grief stricken when my heart dog died a few years ago at the grand age of 16. She was the sweetest, most lovable little maltese terrier mix, my first dog and i loved her so much. I was devasted, cried every night, couldnt stop thinking about her. One night i had the most vivid visit/dream from her, she ran wagging her tail in the doggy door and i had such a sense of peace, i was cuddling her and thinking she is ok, she is ok. I woke up for the first time since she passed without crying and feeling really calm and peaceful. She had come and visited and let me know she was at rest and she was fine :) After that i could look back at all the good memories and laugh and smile instead of crying, and often at night i would hear her little nails clicking on the floor boards of my room, or feel a little body snuggled under the covers with me where she used to sleep.

Ah Ha! Awesome info, thanks for that, good to know its only disgusting wont hurt her :)

ARRGGHH!!! My 10 week old cairn puppy is eating her own poo! We only just noticed she was doing it a few days ago, she doesnt do it with all of them all the time, but occasionally we see her grab it and run, or stand and eat it (as we are running towards her telling her Noooo... haha) Only when its out in the garden. She gets fed advance tinned puppy food and purina pro plan biscuits, she is a bit of a fussy eater but never goes hungry and is a happy bouncing puppy. Toilet training is a bit of a nightmare, shes not really toilet trained at all, occasionally she will poo on the paper but its a hit and miss and forget about ever peeing on the paper. We take her out literally every twenty mins to half hour and we can spend 10 mins out there, with no toileting, come back inside and boom, pee on the rug. She is crated at night in our bedroom and we set the alarm to get up twice during the night to take her out, which works well, she pees and comes strait back to bed. But during the day its terrible. Why would she be eating her poo?

Percy can i suggest you seek professional medical help yourself in the form of a psychiatric/counselling assessment. Your post read of an inability to think rationally and someone who is suffering from grief/depression because of your loss. This is not about vets, thats just an outlet your brain has formed to let you vent or blame someone for something that happened. You are not reading what others have wrote and putting things into perception. You have had sound, knowledgable advice and are showing nil insight into what has actually happened. I am sorry for your loss, i have gone through something quite similar myself and whilst it was horrible i did not tar all vets with the same brush nor did i refuse my other dogs vet care and treatment when required. I simply changed vets. As a side as a health professional i can assure you we cannot cry or show emotion at every patient we lose because we need to kept functioning, if we did we wouldnt be in the job we are. I dont want my vet to fall apart when my animals are sick/dying, i want them to think clearly and do their job. Just like i do at work.