ellz

Definitely let the breeder know. If it were me, I would request at least a second opinion before proceeding. From there things may get difficult and options will need to be discussed. One thing that I would like to put out there, and which may not be popular, but is actually standard under the law is that if your expectation is a full refund, then it is within the rights of the breeder to expect to have the puppy returned to them.

If you want to see more US dog shows, check out AKC.tv There are also breed profiles and a heap more content as well

You need to go back to basics. Firstly, have the carpets cleaned so that no deep odours remain. Dogs tend to be creatures of habit and if they can smell where toileting has occurred before, they’ll head to that area to empty. Then it’s back to basics of toilet training and it’s an endeavour that will require you to put in a bit of effort if you’re going to succeed. Keep the dog within eye sight at all times. Crate or pen it when you’re not able to do that. After sleep, play or car rides, physically TAKE the dog to the designated outdoor toilet area and stay with it until it has accomplished the objective. Keep it on lead so that it cannot wander off or get distracted. Consider using a phrase such as “wees and poos” or “go potty” or whatever so that it becomes a trigger command. After the deed has been accomplished…get excited. Make a big happy production to show how pleased you are. Take note of the body language of the dog before it toilets. This can be useful inside to help you perfect the timing of your dashes outdoors. If there are accidents indoors, don’t chastise the dog after the event. It simply won’t understand and you run the risk of creating a sneaky toileter. Clean the area properly, give yourself an uppercut for botching the timing or body language and go back to basics.

Personally I would be running a mile. Ideally a puppy should come from appropriately health tested parents. The GSP as a breed is prone to a few health issues such as gastric torsion, hypothyroidism, hip dysplasia, Osteochondrosis Dissecans, von Willebrand’s Disease, entropion, pannus and lymphoedema. Most of these disorders can be ruled out by DNA testing and those which cannot can be identified physically. As far as cost goes, that’s between the person who bred the puppies and the prospective purchasers. Nobody has the right as a third party to dictate a price. For a carefully bred, health tested puppy from a registered breeder, the range would be from around the 2k mark up to potentially 5k. Realistically a backyard bred puppy would cost considerably less but at the end of the day, any person can put any price tag on something and it’s nobody else’s business. Any goods (and sadly, dogs are considered to be goods in the eyes of the law) are only worth as much as somebody is willing to pay.

Dog parks in general are ok, but if they’re off leash free-for-all scenarios as most seem to be, you might want to think again. Whilst it is very important for all puppies to have early socialisation, Stafford puppies can on occasion be quite problematic. They’re not always a breed that plays nicely with other dogs despite early socialisation and quite often, they’ll play nicely with others until the day that they don’t. And you probably won’t get a lot of warning that the mind set is changing. Staffords adore people and will walk through fire for children, but they don’t always extend the paw of friendship to other canines. They are supposed to be “a gentleman unless set upon” and to a large extent, this is accurate. The problem is that often it doesn’t take much more than a side eye or a muffled growl to start a rumble. And while they may not be the instigators, most Staffords would do anything to ensure that they’re still standing at the end. On leash is much safer and a properly controlled situation is the best one to be in

15 minutes is way too long! It’s like asking a 2 year old human to run a mini marathon! Your child is old enough to learn some basic but important dog ownership rules…. 1) Never disturb a dog while it is eating except for an emergency 2) Be polite and never try to take a toy or bone from a dog unless you’re physically training it to release. Google resource guarding…..you don’t want this to start 3) Let sleeping dogs lie. Puppies need sleep to grow and develop. They may be cute while sleeping but like all of us, can be grumpy if woken suddenly. As mentioned, a safe space such as a pen, a crate or even a mat which can be declared “dogs only” is safest.

The breed standard was written prior to the knowledge of genetics. And you need to remember that the original breeders were mostly very much working class and without much education. A dark slate nose can sometimes appear “almost” black in dogs with good pigmentation. It’s like the fact that genetically, there is no pure black in Staffords. Even the darkest looking dog will have stripes somewhere.

If you didn’t agree to the terms of the agreement prior to purchase, then the breeder legally cannot enforce it. A puppy sale is like any other sale. Offer, acceptance and consideration. A contract cannot be introduced or implied after the event. I have been through a situation like this personally and the breeder, despite all of their efforts, bullying and getting friends in high places to do somewhat illegal things, didn’t win.

Also remember the letter limit for registered names. Mine, Ellz, is a bastardisation of the word Elle (in French means she or her). When I registered my prefix I was registering a new prefix having relinquished a joint prefix with my ex-husband. “L” is also my first initial so “Ellz (“L’s or her”) dogs” was my thought process. And the bonus…..a total of four letters gives plenty of scope for names!

A fair price is whatever someone is willing to pay. It isn’t like a production line in a factory where every component has an item price so an exact cost to manufacture plus markup percentage can be calculated. We’re talking about a living thing. There are so many factors involved; timing, location, breed, pedigree, expenses etc. If an individual doesn’t think the price being asked is “fair” then they are welcome to walk away and keep looking. There will always be another individual who is happy with what is being offered for the price!

A final observation..... Whilst I do agree with bites in some breeds being a minor issue and other faults being far more serious (particularly those which relate to health and longevity), in general, Staffords are very popular in the show ring and when you've got a lineup of otherwise good dogs with many virtues and no great outstanding faults, it would be very hard to compete with a dog with an obviously incorrect bite. Many get away with a misaligned tooth, TOO many get away with inverted canines, but the majority would have, at first glance or quick glance, a bite which isn't far off scissor. I've got many tales of winning in the show ring with dogs that had faults in various breeds as well, but because Staffords are very much a WYSIWYG breed, bite is important. Definitely get involved in breed clubs and do some networking and look into performance sports which are great fun for man and dog alike.

Sorry but at that age, my personal experience with the breed and looking at that photo says that it's not going to change enough into a bite that wouldn't be penalised in the show ring.

Staffords are a tough breed, very competitive. Personally, if the bite is as bad as it sounds, I wouldn't be bothering even attempting to show her. You're not doing her or yourself any favours. It can be difficult enough to win with a good dog, let alone one with a major fault such as a really bad bite. You're just setting yourself and your daughter up for disappointment. If you really want to do something with your Stafford, other than allowing her to be a pet, maybe consider obedience. Bite problems aren't an issue there and it can be a lot of fun as well. For myself, I'd also be wary of a breeder who is happy to allow someone to show a dog carrying their prefix if it has a major fault. I wouldn't dream of showing a Stafford with a bad mouth myself and I'd be horrified if any of my puppy people were to do so.

My DNA profiled, champion Stafford came back as a Labrador x Rhodesian Ridgeback. Disclaimer....I won the DNA test and thought I'd have a laff.....I laffed......

Actually, not true. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is known as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier universally and the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier or English Staffordshire Terrier by those who simply don't know, are ignorant or don't care....... Just as the American Staffordshire Terrier (no "Bull") is known as the American Staffordshire Terrier, or Amstaff. In the USA, the Amstaff is sometimes referred to as the Staffordshire Terrier (again, no "Bull"). I think you're possibly getting confuzzled with the Cocker Spaniel which is known as the (English) Cocker Spaniel in most parts of the world, except for the USA, where the breed name Cocker Spaniel actually refers to the Cocker Spaniel (American) which is called the American Cocker Spaniel pretty much everywhere else.........

Stafford x German Shepherd. I can't even begin to describe the offspring but they weren't overly attractive. And for a scary cross, just yesterday saw an ad for Tibetan Mastiff x Sarplaninac. Tibetans have their own foibles, let alone crossing them with a breed that is known to be non-affectionate to all humans, including their owners........

Depends. For show, they can't be shown after 6 months with only one testicle. I've had one drop the second one at 9 months of age and he has gone on to sire litters and none of his sons had the same issue. The disclaimer here is that he did have two at 8 weeks, then it disappeared when he was teething. So if you have the luxury of time, I would say maximum 12 months and if no sign of it then, it's time for neutering and retrieval from inside.

Re-entering a zone I thought I had left many years ago and many of the "lotions and potions" that I swore by are no longer current (or in some cases, available). Not wanting (at this stage anyway) to remove any staining, just looking for recommendations on keeping already sparkly whites, white. Located in Tasmania, so probably most would be by mail order. Have used Plush Puppy whitening shampoo (but not overly fussed with it) and can easily get whitening horse shampoos. Any other suggestions or recommendations gratefully received. Pictures would be nice too if you can do it. Thanks in advance!

I have found Bravecto to be brilliant! It can also be used with great success on demodex. Not licensed for demodex in Australia but studies have shown it to be superior to other treatments by far. I can personally recommend it for this purpose.

I'm a Staffordshire Bull Terrier breeder. I don't agree with juvenile desexing unless there is a reason why it must be done (ie social reasons, medical reasons such as in the case of a monorchid etc). IF it is to be done, then yes, it is best to wait until sexual maturity to do so.

Interestingly, at the Launceston Royal (just finished yesterday), one of the judges was very pedantic when it came to singleton dogs in a breed. Many no-awards and challenges withheld, even on Multi Best In Show winning Supreme Champions. So yes, it can and probably will happen. You're at the mercy of the judge on the day.

Personally, I don't change the type of food at all. I largely feed raw and calcium rich foods like cottage cheese, yoghurt, eggs, sardines/pilchards are all part of a good diet. I may increase quantities slightly as the bitch gets hungrier and definitely divide the meals and feed smaller meals more often as she gets larger, but that's about it. They also stay on the same diet afterwards, again with increased quantities due to the nutrients sucked out of the lactating bitch. Research shows this is healthier and bitches fed normally on calcium enriched diets are far less likely to have issues with hypocalcemia (milk fever). My vet explained this as the levels of calcium being maintained at constant levels in the body so there is no fluctuation which is what can cause issues. And a good calcium rich diet can also help prevent issues during whelping. I'm also not a major believer in switching bitches to puppy foods during pregnancy. Dog foods have come a long way overall since this was considered "necessary". If all you feed is a decent quality dry food, then check with your vet but there should be no problem adding the calcium rich foods mentioned. Also worth noting is that the old practice of giving puppies liquid calcium is redundant if mum has been fed a decent diet and puppies are weaned onto the same diet. And feeding calcium carbonate powder really only provides white-powder encrusted poo, it isn't absorbed readily by the puppies or mum. (Calcium carbonate makes a great grooming and whitening product when grooming however! :laugh: )

In theory, a judge judges the dog against the Breed Standard, not against the competition, so it shouldn't matter whether a dog is the only representative of its breed at a show. The judge also signs the declaration on the Challenge Certificate that states that in their opinion the dog is clearly of sufficient quality to warrant being awarded the title of Australian Champion. Because it is subjective, some judges might be happy to award a dog, others mightn't. As Mjosa said, Group and In Show awards are also there for the winning with a minority, or numerically small breed. Just this past weekend, as the only Lowchen entered at three shows, my puppy won Baby In Group at all three shows and Baby In Show at the third. He's now won 6 Baby In Group and 1 Baby In Show from just 8 shows. He has had breed competition at only one of these shows and he won Baby of Breed at that as well, so it's not nececessarily a fluke. Basically, if they're good enough, they'll win. If they're moderately acceptable, they might still do ok, but you can't fool all of the judges all of the time.

I do. I must confess to amazement and bewilderment when I encounter situations where people don't. And these people usually have the worst behaved dogs. See my thread "What would you do?" for another difficult situation with people/dogs.

Owner has been stupid so far... will this be enough to change her. Time will tell. I'm thinking not, but who knows? I suggested that he may have to choose his battles, private schools have started their school holidays now. He may have more than just an unruly dog to contend with next week.........