leec

My darling old Eddie use to do this too and Maggie would growl or just move away when she had had enough. Sometimes she would nearly be dripping in wet kisses, especially her ears :laugh: We'd just dry her off if it got that bad. They were both staffies, so no long coats to bother about. He most certainly had dementia and his eyesight and hearing were also going. He was a dottering ole fella by this time. I can't say why your friends dog is doing this, but it was a normal thing in our household until Eddie went over the Rainbow Bridge.

That's my doggy retreat yard. I have to admit it is brilliant and the pups love it. It is such a nice feeling to go to work and not worry that they have escaped. I would suggest a specific house yard, or a yard like mine if you have a climber. Snake mesh is so important. I have livestock and I introduced the dogs to the stock on lead and on the other side of tbe fence. My boy still finds my horse too exciting, so the dogs are always leashed when near the horse - I don't want anyone hurt. Lots of walks around the new environment helps too, skippies are always a problem down here, my dogs are not allowed to chase them, its just too dangerous. Over time they are learning, it's all so exciting when you have space and interesting smells, but they will learn that this is just "home" eventually. Good luck with your move and yes, photos please

Thanks for the information and links. My co-worker and I have just donated and are happily awaiting our purple poppies to wear. What a fantastic initiative.

RIP Dash, what a cutie. Yes, the snakes are scary, I have already seen a 4 foot RBB and the neighbours have seen a brown, we live on acreage so no getting away from them, you just have to be aware and scan the surroundings. We have actually snake meshed the new dog enrichment garden and I am feeling a hell of a lot better about leaving the dogs in there during the day while I'm at work.

My dogs have boundaries, and rarely challenge them, so in that respect not spoilt. BUT, I have just spent thousands of dollars on a new 'enrichment garden' (otherwise known as a yard) for the rescue boy who can climb our gates !! I don't mind though, I know he is safe. They also get whatever they need food wise or medically, again the rescue boy has skin allergies! They sleep where they like - their beds, our beds, the couch. They come with us in the car for drives and we spend as much time with them as possible. Oh yeah, they also have their own hydrotherapy pool - that's the dam :laugh:

Yep, my 2 know the difference between my shoes, work shoes, paddock shoes, dog walking shoes, man do they make a racket when I put on the walking shoes. You best believe that I had better high tail it to the leads and not decide to have a toilet break with my shoes on - both dogs barging into the loo and bouncing up and down and yowling their heads off - "Hurry Up MUM, couldn't you have done that before!!"

Thanks staffyluv. He's not 'really bad' just gets the itches and chews on his feet. I don't like the steroid tabs as they have long term side effects, that's why I thought I'd try the spray, but he still chews his feet! Sometimes I think it might be habit, its most certainly more prominent at certain times of the day. I have got som calendular tea from Ernie and it does help but I can't douse him in it constantly throughout the day unfortunately. Thanks for the info though, I'll look into it :) BTW, my last girl succumbed to mast cell tumours, broke my heart

Zig has a contact allergy to grass at our obedience training ground - I put sorbelene cream on his tummy and give him a polaramine tablet before we go and it seems to have 'fixed' the problem of him ending up itchy. My old SBT used to have a polaramine tablet every day for histamine release. There are plenty of other antihistamines on the market that work if you need them. Good luck, allergies are hard to get on top of sometimes. I have Chadley on the steroid spray that you use every couple of days (I have totally forgotten the name of it). I'm not entirely happy with how he is going but I figure it is better than the actual steroid tablets every couple of days. Would you believe that an actual antihistamine tablet is better for the itch but also better for long term use in dogs??? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Oh there is carpet, blankies and cushie padded pillows in the cubby for their relaxation and pleasure (I have no doubt that nothing will last very long)! Yes, for a couple of rescue puppies they sure have been adding up the $$$$.

Oh dear, I think I need to come clean, I didn't mean for you folks to think I had built this fence!! It has been professionally made by a fencer, but with a couple of things changed/added/re-designed by me and OH. Geez, wish I could fence like that, would be a hellova lot cheaper :laugh:

Thank you all so much. I'm really not sure Chelsea is a determined 'digger' but I do know she isn't very fond of water, I'm happy to buy her a pool all of her own and fill it with sand and toys tho :) Rain, oh golly, what is that stuff. It will only get dryer here for a while yet. Poor Chadley has his contact allergies back again, it happens when the grasses start to dry off. Our average rainfall for the year is only about 350mls!! Good for my horse tho :)

Thank you, I try hard :laugh: On a serious note though, we live on property and IF by chance he did get out and go wondering into the sheep paddocks, the farmers have the right to shoot him. That's the way it is and I'm not prepared to take the risk, that's why I had to build them something that would work for everyone. Thanks for the pats on the back everyone, I really appreciate it.

Oh geez, that sounds like too much fun LG. My two are full on staffy adolescents and as such they play hard, and you're right - I'd never leave them alone with something like that, but could be good fun when we are around - I'll look into buying/making something for them. They have heaps of balls, tug ropes etc to keep them occupied as well, but of course, their brand new cushy soft beds in the new cubby house are the favourite thing at the moment to tug on !!! :) Yes, it was a lot of effort, but I didn't like the idea of these young dogs spending 8-9 hours in a (very large 4 x 4m) kennel while I was at work. It is unfortunate that Chadley jumps/climbs and we did not know this when we brought him home from Stafford Rescue Victoria. We found out pretty quickly, but by that stage he had wormed his way into our hearts and we couldn't send him back. Anyway, he is much better off with us :)

Thanks everyone :) As far as digging under the fence line it should be pretty hard as the fencing wire is attached to a straight wire top and bottom as well, it is a very well constructed, sturdy fence. But, just in case, when we put the snake wire up, we will be bending the last 6 inches or so under, so no digging :)

What a great idea - she is a digger, he is a water baby :) Might have to get another shell pool so they have one of each. Thank you for the compliments, I'm pretty chuffed about the yard, considering it nearly caused WW4 with the OH. And yes, we are in central Vic, very dry here already and will only get worse, this yard will have lots of shade all day long, we made sure of that :)

Yep it is, but only up the top and yes it is reinforced also :)

And the tunnel :)

I'm not sure what's happening with my photos, so, here's one of the fencing.

I wanted to thank everyone that gave advice and ideas for my staffies enrichment garden. It has taken a while, but it is finally complete. The yard is 30m x 15m, yes I know it's big, but I have 20 acres, so lucky puppies. It has lots and lots of shade, a lovely new cubby house, tunnel and in summer of course, there will be the half shell pool. The yard was only completely finished yesterday and hubby and I still have to attach the snake mesh, which we will do this weekend. I was home sick all last week and each day when I went to feed my horse I put the 2 dogs in the yard to see if the escapologist would be able to get out. So far he hasn't even tried! He's had a look at the fencing and I think he's stumped on how to get out. The top of the fencing is just over 6 1/2 feet!!! I am feeling very confident that we have a solution to our problem and I'm just so happy that soon my fur-kids will be able to spend their days in a safe zone with lots of enrichment while I am at work, YAY.

OMGoodness, what cute little bundles and beautiful Mumma. I want to just crawl through the screen for cuddles and sniffles too

My girl has a 'thing' for our adult female neighbour. There are 4 people who live next door, but the mother, good god, Chelsea can't get enough of her. Chels will pretty much ignore the rest of them, but for the mum she will crawl on her belly, whimper for attention and roll over for a belly scratch. Interestingly enough, the mum is not particularly overly dog loving ??? Strange!

I have also always had 2 and for the past 15 odd years, always staffies :) This new pair are certainly quirky :)

Ok, here's my two. Had to get in the obligatory upside down shot of the resident boofy and Chelsea wrapped up in my silk scarf - the colours suit her don't you think ?

I had an entire male staffy live inside with us for 15 years. Never had a problem with him having an accident in the house until he was very old and suffering dementia, occasionally then he would forget and lift his leg Poor old darling.