jackie_a1

Ok so I regularly scope, www.sydney.gumtree.com.au in general and I always find myself looking at dogs and puppies for sale . Anywho I came across this add and it reminded me of something that happened to me the other day. Now in relation to what happened to me I was walking with my boys (long story short) came across a group of three young lads about 17 - 18 maybe? One had a pure bred rottie and the other kid had a female chocolate 'bullmastiff.' First thing I thought when I saw her was she was gorgeous and she had a pure chocolate coat with a white mask and if I can remember white paws etc. I said ooh what a beautiful dog is she a pitbull (as she closely resembled a pitbull) the young lad answered, "No actually she's a bullmastiff!" I said. WHAAAAAAA? She has the size, colour, weight and general looks of a pitbull if not pitbull a cross bully of some sort. I said her head is not of that of a bullmastiff (she had a long lean head not a box head ) and he said they always look like pitbulls until their heads fill out. I said dear boy Razor (who was playing with Cocoa (that was the dogs name)) is a bullmastiff cross. I didn't really go on a rant because I don't think these lads cared, or would listen anyway but Boss played happily with the dogs and we left. NOW my point is. Bullmastiffs always have to have a black mask http://www.bullmastiffsonline.com/standard.html So why is everyone ripping off any bull breed as a BULLMASTIFF?!!!? Razor is only half but 90 percent of his looks are bullmastiff and this dog had a white mask?! Where did this kid buy this dog cause he got severley ripped off. Also the dogs in the gumtree add the black one looks to (ME) like a sharpei? (Scuse the spelling) Sorry guys had to have a rant.... Edited to add the photos not the link.

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/amerpit.html

I don't think so BadBoyz. Regardless if you think am staffs are or are not the same breed pitbulls came first. The am staff was a show version of such. So how could a pitbull be an amstaff? When am staffs derived from pitbulls?

Haha thanks Sandra (Most of the dog breed abbreviations I get but sometimes I get stumped) I know many people who say they are the same breed of dog and many who say that they aren't. I'm a bit on the fence with this one also. (edit to say: Thanks Gecko I'm a little slow )

Exactly Nek. She probably sent Tina home so she didn't have to provide the care. Obviously because I was 14 I didn't know much about parvo if it had have been now I would have lost my mind.

AST NO MORE abbreviations Quick edit to say: What did you vote Nico?

To the DOLers that voted no can you explain why you think they are not. And to those who voted yes could you explain why you think they are in fact one in the same.

Sorry SBT I'm a bit out of the loop with the abbreviations could you do a glossary term for me on ADBA and GDBA. *hangs head in shame*

I didn't really provide an other because I wanted to see yes or no answers simply. Ellz I know it's a murky area but what do you think So far most voters are heading towards 'no.'

I have seen this question lightly touched but never elaborated so... Is an American Staffordshire Terrier a Pitbull?

Hey Goosey, So sorry to hear about your relatives staff . Hope he recovers. My rottie pup was 5 months old when she contracted parvo I only had her a few months, but she did pass from it. It is such a long and intricate story but the only reason she passed away was due to the vets stupidity. I took her straight into the vet once she showed symptoms the vet told me it was parvo and put her immediately on a drip to try and rehydrate her etc. After ONE night on the drip she was making a recovery and the vet said I could take her home and nurse her myself (at the time I was barely 14) so my parents and I took her home (unknowingly how sick she was) and she stayed with us for four days and deteriorated rapidly. The vet gave us electrolytes for her water and special food HOWEVER she was continually vomiting and was extremely ill. I took her back to a different vet who could not believe the other vet had told me to take her home. He said a minimum of a week on I.V fluids and she needed to be isolated etc naturally we went back to the vet lost our minds and got a complete refund and never used that vet again. Unfortunately five days after being admitted Tina passed it was too much stress on her body. The vet had said without question she would have pulled through if the vet hadn't sent her home. In saying that I am a vet nurse student and if caught early have seen plenty of parvo cases pull through but keep in mind it can be fatal. Hopefully because the staf is twelve months old his body will be a little more resistant and able to fight where as a puppies body is a little more fragile and their immune systems aren't as strong. In terms of disinfecting after Tina passed I was told parvo can stay dormant for years so I bleached my entire backyard (the concrete part with a water bleach solution) and kept the grass area hosed down (I heard lime powder works well?). The car I didn't disinfect I used a steam cleaner on all the seats and sprayed some glen 20 disinfectant and let the car air for a few days. I got another dog six months later and have never had any of my dogs contract parvo since. Let me know how the pup goes hope I've helped a little ;)

Hey Kirs, Hope your girls are alright, I know how bad it can be first hand. Lucky and Razor were both entire males and lived happily and without aggression for a while but every few months (it became weeks as Lucky deteriorated) they would get into a massive blue. Lucky weighed 65 kilos and was a dane x cane corso and Razor is a bullmastiff x pitt so imagine my face when they would snap. It would always be without warning and Lucky would react. Razor was highly food aggressive (towards Lucky) and would growl if Lucky came to close to his food whilst he was eating. Razor would just growl with no intention to react but Lucky (who was also dog aggressive) every now and again would snap and it happened so quickly. They always used to have little tiffs whilst Razor was a puppy and it was nothing but Lucky turning Razor on his back and standing over him but as Razor became an adult he began to fight back which escalated the situation. Razor and Lucky would fight and to my neighbours it must have sounded like I owned a dog pitt because it would just be savage growling and blood flying everywhere. Lucky would always get Razor on his front legs (and he has permanent scars from it ) and Razor would just go straight for Lucky's face. It would always last 20 - 30 seconds because I ALWAYS intervene. If I didn't they'd both be wrecks, normally the hose was enough to stop them. The worst injury Razor ever had was a chunk of skin on his eye lid missing a cut nose, and one of the bites on his leg got a bit infected but (I do vet nursing) nothing I couldn't patch up myself. Luckily I've never had to plan a trip to the vets because of their fighting. I don't believe in letting them fight it out. Not at all. I always supervised eating, always fed them very far apart and always ensured whilst getting bones and treats that they didn't invade each others space however the big fights would always happen when I went back inside and would have to run outside like a mad woman. The first time I was in shock and shaken up and was quite slow to react but as it happened a little more regularly I made sure to intervene promptly. I never seperated my dogs after the fight, after I patched them up Lucky would walk over to Razor and lick the blood off him and groom him then they'd snuggle together and go to bed.

Hey guys, I've read through all your posts and they are all informative. I never really knew the process of how one becomes a registered breeder. So from what I've read 'most' breeders show their dogs first. Like someone mentioned before what about the working lines? Is coat colour etc less important for working lines when being bred? Seeing as they're are bred for their capabilities? How do you know that your working dog is an exceptional specimen?

SBT who decides whether the dog is worthy a specimen to be bred from? Also say Jane does this. She shows her dogs and learns all there is to possibly learn (for arguments sake) then what?

So how would Jane go about breeding? Would she have to buy a papered puppy from a registered breeder? Once her pup (lets say it was a bitch) was of age and suitable temp would she have to look for a stud male? Or buy one? And what will make Jane's pups more sought after then any other respected border collie breeder? Edited for clarity

Hey fellow DOLers. I was just thinking the other day we hear a fair bit about backyard breeders and irresponsible breeders but how would one go about becoming a respected registered breeder? For example. Jane loves dogs and has been raised with them her whole life specifically (lets say border collies). She has the space (i.e big backyard) and the financial security to become a breeder she also has the time. She has good knowledge of dogs, puppies including training and the importance of socialisation, and wants to become a registered border collie breeder how would she go about doing it? (Jane is a hypothetical person and the breed is also it could be John wanting to breed bulldogs etc) What are her options, what steps should she take? She currently owns no dogs or other pets at the moment. And don't worry guys not planning on becoming a breeder or breeding was just thinking of breeders and never really knew the process of how they got into breeding. Breeders feel free to post how you became a breeder etc.

http://www.massivekennels.com/ The perfect example of what a pitbull SHOULD NOT look like.

Hey Diva! Thanks so much for that! I'm gonna quit calling them english now. :D

Sorry to jump off topic but it was said that there is no such thing as english staffies in this thread. I just want someone to elaborate for me I have always thought english were a classified breed?

So true Rott. I suggested that perhaps his pit had cane corso in it and I was met with a massive lecture about his breeder blah blah blah it was one of those ok nod and agree. Plus I was an 'AUSSIE' so I knew nothing about pitbulls in the American line according to him. But so true imagine carrying these 'pitbulls' back in the day you'd probably have to strap a saddle on them instead.

And Jed true that. I bet if we searched news stories in Australia with accompanying images NOT ONE would even actually be a real pitbull.

Lo Pan believe it or not I have seen a 'pitbull' at 60 kilos. He wasn't pure bred (BASED ON MY OPINIONS) but his owner was adamant he was. It was while I was in the states. He was a neighbour of my uncle. His dog looked more like an American bully cross. In Australia I haven't seen anyone with a dog that big but it's quite common in the states. Razor is cross bullmastiff cross pitbull and he only weighs 37 kilos. The majority of his looks is bullmastiff so that's where the weight comes from definitely not from the pitt side. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/americanpitbull.htm

The ones in America Abi are all cross bred with American bullies etc to make them roid munchingly huge. A TRUE pitbull is a light framed athletic dog who is quick and very very sporty i.e enjoys running moving. Not like these specimens you see now a day they weigh an excess of 40 kilos and have heads on them like mastiffs and are slow and big. It's a misconception people always have. Pitbulls are massive and bigger than most dogs its false. Pitbulls should weigh between 10 - 30 kilos ideally. But now they range from 20 - 60 kilos. Just because we have been exposed to images of these giants doesn't mean thats what the breed represents. Most images they use on news programs to show the pitbull are american bully hybrids with cropped ears (which everyone knows isn't legall in Aus) so the media bombards us with these images so people will think this is what the pitbull looks like. When in reality it doesn't. Edited for spelling.

Abigail go to this website and read this. http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html

Hey SBT can you elaborate? I always thought 'english' was the correct term?