Taliecat

Ooooh!! Come on Jolie! Lol.. I just wanna see the cuteness

We've got a big strong amstaff boy as well and getting a sporn head halter was our best investment ever. The sporn harness pull the head down instead of to the side, so there at apparently less neck injuries. I did a few positive reinforcement sessions before we went on our first walk to get him used to the halter before we tried it out and it's made walks a breeze. We can literally hold the leash with two fingers, not that we do in case we see another dog. We had used a front attachment harness, but we found it next to useless as he'd just charge onwards with it, until it was pretty much chocking him.

OH thinks 3am Saturday morning will bring puppies, I'm hoping late this afternoon, for maximum puppy time

I'm excitedly checking if puppy time is upon us, I can't begin to understand how excited you must be!

Thank you! That was perfect timing

My OH thinks 7 pups as well he's an iggy lover and I've been showing him pictures as she's gotten bigger.

Wow! That's an amazing piece of technology, it's just got so many uses. I for one would be interested to find out exactly how many hours a day Dozer spends sleeping. I'm pretty sure it's around 21..

I'm gonna take a wild guess at 6 or 7... 4 girls, three boys?

My goodness, she's so big!

I just spent ages reading the tale of Piranha the lab.. I think back to when dozer was a pup and think he couldn't have been that bad.. But I'm sure I'm just remembering the good bits. Now he's happy to snooze for 20 hours a day and doesn't nibble on my legs/shoes/anything he can reach unless we're playing.

Oh those sharp puppy teeth are horrible! I went through a similar stage with my amstaff when he was a pup. You're doing the right things! I still use the yelp when my boy nibbles to hard. I think stopping play immediately, with a yelp and removing yourself or the pup from the situation is a good strategy. I also found relief from covering any biteable parts with rid insect repellent, it tastes horrible for dogs and I swear it was a key factor in keeping my sanity until his adult teeth were in.

Oh yeah, I try to stay in touch with all my families and promise unlimited ongoing support and help. I even provide free board to any of our pups anytime. ;) Wow! That's amazing support!

We didn't crate train Dozer as a puppy, I wish we did because crates are fantastic. We actually started crate training Dozer as he'd bark to come inside with the housemates of a night time and at that stage I wasn't home of an evening and he couldn't be trusted not to steal any socks, undies or towels he could get his mouth on. The other key reason was when I hurt my back I couldn't have Dozer sleeping with us in the bed anymore because he would push me into weird positions and I'd wake up virtually crippled until I could get my muscles to relax. Now he takes himself to his crate at bedtime (it's next to our bed) and when the crate is in a central location in the house he'll just chill in it. If I was a dog I'd love his crate. It's got a mat for the base, a base sheet and a mink blanket to snuggle into.. I may have tried it out once or twice!

Dozer is only 2 so a youngen. He's given dinner at 5pm and the patio gate is closed between 5pm-6pm depending on how dark and cold it is, might stretch to 7 in summer. Once the patio gate is closed, it doesn't get opened until morning, usually around 8am, Sometimes earlier if he wakes up in his crate sooking and whining to go out. If he gets to sleep in the bed, he's refused to get up some mornings until 10am at which point he races outside for a wee. He hasn't needed a night time wee in ages, and lucky for me he rarely if ever gets an upset tummy for emergency poo time, and that's a very different whine! Thinking back, he was a dream to toilet train, and rarely made a mess in the house from about 10-12 weeks. Eta: he's got frequent access to water up until I have my last smoke before I turn in.

I probably won't take a dog to markets for the next decade.. But I did like taking Dozer when he was a small pup, but my highlight of dog friendly market trips is seeing the lovely oldies. I can't help but smile at any wagging tail so I'm probably a biased party

OH really didn't take much convincing, I'm on board!

I've sent OH a link, but I'm pretty sure he needs a "dad's favourite asshole" and maybe 15 others... P.s: Steph, Why do you do this to meeeee.. I have this vague memory of OH looking at me with the most serious expression and saying, "stop spending money on junk ".. That was yesterday.. Oh but I need them!

When we had Lucy she would take herself on adventures every now and again, squeezing through gaps, under wire fences or over fences to go for a wander. She'd also help Dozer to get out (this was before he was dog aggressive) and they'd go on a merry trip through the neighbourhood. Our old neighbours fondly tell stories of how he was looking out the windows watching his wife chase Lucy up and down the street one morning , when he'd finally stopped laughing at them he opened the front door and gave her a whistle and Lucy ran straight to him. Since Lucy was rehomed we've only had one incident where the housemate didn't lock the gate properly and Dozer ran across the road to bark at the neighbours dogs, and came back as soon as he saw the housemates! I would have been chasing him through the streets! We've now blocked off access to that gate so there will never be a repeat! Speaking of chasing him through the street, one day Dozer's collar came off as I was doing loose leash training in the front yard of our old place and we'd just moved house. He ran right into the elderly neighbours house through their back door and onto their couch before racing off down the street! I'd never met the new neighbours before that, but we were quite friendly after and she always gave the dogs a pat through the fence on her way home.

Dozer loves gentle scritches between the eyes. He'll also walk over and place his rump right under your hand as an invitation for scratches. I did just take my hand away from rubbing his tummy to type this, and I got a "not impressed mum" look..

Oh I would think all my Christmas's and birthdays had come at once if a dropped a set of antlers for me. All that money I could save on chews for Dozer

We crush panoramis and mix it with either cat food or sardines

Oooh... Lovely sardine breath! I love how excited my boy gets when I pull out a tin, I hate the fishy kisses LOL! I also find it interesting that you don't need to qualify for the royal show, I thought of it a bit like a final testing ground!

I absolutely love the picture with his hair clipped back so you can see his eyes . He's a stunning boy!

Thistle is so beautiful and I love seeing her videos. Sounds like you two are the perfect pair. Dozer's latest trick is "fist bump " which I taught him because the boys would always ask for fist bumps and he would look at them blankly. I really want to try 101 things to do with a box but OH cleaned out the garage and we have no boxes left! That sounds like a good excuse to purchase something that comes in a large box to me

I prefer a fish based kibble for my itchy yeasty amstaff