raz Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) This is my original post. There's no quote in it. I was told they were originally bred for rodent control, not bull baiting. Is that true? eta ahh right. I see what you mean now. Thanks Dougie Edited July 15, 2009 by raz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindadiosa Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) Deleted by Mod. Duplicate post to another thread. Edited July 24, 2009 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kman80 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Hi Guys...Becoming really obsessed with this beautiful breed having never had a pet of any kind before. My husband and I want to introduce a beautiful red SBT girl to our family. (us & 7y.o boy) The more researching and reading the more I would like to have that special presence of this breed in our lifes. They just seem to have a magic about them. My husband has always been around dogs and his dream is to own a SBT and so is mine now. My question, one of many i guess, but the one that concerns me the most is: We both work full time and leave home from 8am till approx 5pm Mon - Fri. I would like to know what would then happen with her being left alone for so long?. What do people do when it comes to leaving them at home alone? Initially, Im aware of the demanding routine we will need to establish but I guess it would mean us taking a week off work between us and i'm afraid that will be it. I'm open to any suggestions. Hey, We have a staffy and are in a very similar situation. I think it's all about giving your pup as much exercise as possible when you get home from work or before work (about 45-60min walk). This is the amount I spend with mine, of course if you have a pup, you can't exercise too much. My boy is now about 17months, and we go for an hour walk when I get home or a quick walk in the morning. Usually on the weekend we go to the beach or go to a big park with a group of other friends/dogs. So we spend alot of time together on the weekend to make up for the lack of time together during the week. Another thing that we do is take our boy to a friends house for the day every now and again, so my dog plays all day with another staffy and they do their staffy thing together (they are both males and they just wrestle all day). By the time I pick him up, he is absolutely buggered! He usually sleeps on the way home!! Another important thing that I think you should do is provide your dog with a variety of toys and marrow bones. Have plenty of toys but not all at the same time, rotate so he/she has something different toys each week/fortnight. It's all about eliminating boredom. I'm no expert and i am not sure if what i do is text book perfect but it seams to work well for me. My dog has never destroyed the garden or anything that he shouldn't so I can only assume he doesn't get bored while we are at work. Another surprising thing is that we live on a very small courtyard block. People say that your dog needs plenty of space if you are going to leave your dog at home. I don't know if my staffy is lazy or if the breed is happy to live within a small area but my dog is always happy as larry :D I hope this helps and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindadiosa Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Thanks for all that info!! when you leave in the morning where do you leave him? Laundry? Crate? Backyard? We are still tossing the idea of a crate or puppy pen, but we definetely want her to be with us inside when we are home. We also have a laundry where she could be during the day but I wonder if all the toys in the world will get her bored as it is most of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 If you are looking at bringing a baby puppy into the home, it will be close to 12 months before a puppy is ready to anywhere near the amount of exercise previously suggested. A baby puppy will need your time and attention but not 30-45 minutes of exercise. Puppies become tired when you exercise their mind, they get anough exercise just running around the back yard and playing games for the first 6 months or more. The laundry ( unless heated ) is a heat sink and no place to leave a puppy or dog during the day. They quickly become bored in a confined space and they also require sunlight and fresh air to grow and be healthy. If you are unsure about leaving a baby alone in the back yard, build a dog run, with a covered area and a kennel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kman80 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hi, Yes SBT123 is absolutely correct, I don’t suggest exercising a young pup for 30-45min. I was referring to exercising my dog and he is about 17months. I started to increase our walks from about 12months. I even heard that a pup shouldn’t jump out of a car until around 12 months when their bones are more developed and they should be carried or lifted out of a car. So excessive exercise, strenuous or physical stress on the pup’s body should be avoided. Maybe someone with more experience can confirm on this. When my dog was a pup, I never left him in the laundry or a create all day, this I wouldn’t suggest as a pup will be confined without any movement/freedom. My pup was always left in the backyard, just make sure that your yard is puppy proof. When we get home, our dog is always inside with us and sleeps inside at night. Also make sure you participate in puppy classes so he/she is well socialised and adds something for you and your pup to look forward to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankafanhock Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 G'day Everyone, I only found this forum this morning, and I had to join immediately. So many knowledgeable contributors, it seems fantastic. I hope you all don't mind me firing out a Q straight away? We've got a 2.5yo Staffy and he goes crazy in the car. He bounces off the walls, but the main issue is the excited crying. The woh-woh-woh-woh-woh that most Staffy owners know about. It is something we've tried to sort out without much success. We've tried ignoring him, very difficult but seemingly ineffective. We've tried using "sit" to calm him down, which actually works for about 2-3 secs but then he's back into it. We've tried rewarding him when he's quiet, loses interest in the food and prioritises his craziness over treats. We've got a big station wagon and we ended up fixing his lead in the back and giving him just enough slack to wander around the back area without being able to climb over into the back seat. This actually seems to work best, but to reward him we let him off again if he's quiet and he's right back to it. We think part of our problem (we know it's not his fault) is that we can't figure out (for sure) what's causing it. It's not surrounding distractions, because he does it at night, we're 80% sure it might be excitement. Probably 80% of the time he is in the car he ends up going somewhere cool like a puppy friend's house, the park, lake or beach. We've tried taking him everywhere, even non fun places where he doesn't get let out but maybe not often enough. We went through a period where we would drive down the street and if he cried we'd drive back home, put him in the yard and drive off without him, but that doesn't seem to have worked either. Are we not being consistent enough, do we need to see these things through a bit further? Has anybody had a similar issue, it's very undesirable? Any help would be super-fantastic. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 The car is obviously a very exciting place for him, it means he's going somewhere, there's often a reward at the end of the ride for him and there's plenty to stimulate his senses when driving along. I would suggest a crate in the back of the wagon, a 30 or 36 inch should easily fit it there. Not only will that effectively control his movements in the car but you can also cover it over. I would also go back to the basics of putting him in the car and going nowhere. Sit in the driveway for a few minutes and if he's quiet reward him and take him out again. You may well find that a crate is the cure all in the car on it's own. It is for many dogs as their movement and what they see is restricted. I crate train all of mine, they learn very quickly to get in lay down and sleep until we stop. By the time they are 5 or six months old, the car is not an exciting place and they can ride free ( restrained of course ) if we want them to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aziah Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 We've got a big station wagon and we ended up fixing his lead in the back and giving him just enough slack to wander around the back area without being able to climb over into the back seat. The dog should be secured either with a harness/seat belt or in a crate when in the car, he should never be loose in the car - we have seatbelts to protect us if we have an accident, you should take the same precautions for your dog. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 As others have said the dog needs to be secured in the vehicle for its safety and yours. I would suggest the excitement comes from everything moving around him/her - secure the dog so that it cannot see all that movement (in a crate as suggested by Warley or behind one of the front seats on the floor of the vehicle). They tend to settle a bit if they can't see 'stuff'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainy Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Diesel is the opposite if he is traveling in a crate he gets car sick and vomits, he prefers to sit in the middle back seat with a harness on has not vomited once. i think it depends on the dog just like human travel sickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankafanhock Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Wow folks, great advice. Much appreciated. The travel crate idea seems to be the popular choice, never even considered it. Especially being able to cover it also if need be. Already on eBay looking for a suitable one, thanks again. Well worth a try. PS - Diesel is a very cool looking Staffy...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleRock Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 For the car travel, l agree with a crate. It helps them settle and mine even sleep whilst in the car. I must admit as mine are well behaved l have become quite relaxed with restraint in the car But you have a good point, l love them and wouldnt want anything to happen in a car accident.... So l think l need to be more vigliant and consistent. I recently added a bitch to our family and even thought they play constantly, my current boy loves the company. Prior he never had a problem being an only child, espeically whislt l was at work. But l think if he had a choice he would prefer his 4 leffed company.... SBT's are addictive Most weekend revolve around them and l love taking them to shows. Its an outing we have together Although since getting my new girl... our neighbours dog has taken more interest in my lot Starting to chew holes in our joining fence!!!! ;) Looks like l'm going to have to undertake some work to my joining fence to stop it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankafanhock Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Completely agree about SBTs being addictive. Although we haven't added to our collection yet, after about 3x months of getting our first ever dog (our current Staffy) we were already talking about the possibility of more. He's nearly 3 years old and still an only child (so to speak) so we've done well to hold off! In fact the breeder we bought our SBT from was moving premises to a larger more expensive and more remote environment so they could breed more of them. Haven't trialed the travel crate yet, still shopping, looking forward to seeing how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butch's dad Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 How are the white staffords viewed in the ring? I'm guessing from your previous post that they aren't a desired colour? Are there any health problems with the whites (ie deafness more common)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 (edited) How are the white staffords viewed in the ring? I'm guessing from your previous post that they aren't a desired colour? Some of the best dogs in Australia are or have been white or predominantly white - so as long as they're a good dog they'll do well under most judges. There is the odd judge with colour prejudice and sometimes US judges get confused between the SBT where white is allowed and the Amstaff where it's not, but on the whole most judges are OK. Are there any health problems with the whites (ie deafness more common)? Dogs with white ears can be more prone to being deaf but no, all white dogs are not deaf and in fact most white Staffords aren't deaf. When the specialised hairs inside the ears which transmit sound are white they don't work (that's the simple explanation!) and dogs with white ears are more likely to have this problem than dogs with coloured ears. Most white Staffords have skin pigment or even some ticking in the coat so they are less likely to have this problem. When buying a white puppy I would certainly be wanting to know what measures the breeder had taken to check for deafness. Staffords tend to have very fine hair and with white dogs they almost always have pink or mostly pink skin, which can lead to problems with sun burn and skin cancer. Allergies don't seem to be worse in the whites, but a white dog with an allergic reaction tends to look worse than a black one with the same reaction. Edited August 7, 2009 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renegade Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I have a question about the dog aggression- what is the best way for someone who wants a reasonably dog social dog to go about finding a Stafford breeder that would have something suitable? Or is it a matter of those seeking a dog social dog selecting another breed?I too have seen many Staffords with separation anxiety. Define "reasonably" Cosmolo Most (properly raised!) Staffords are OK with other dogs that are properly raised themselves, but they don't suffer fools gladly and really don't do well with rude unsocialised aggressive dogs getting in their face - problem being that there's a whole world of dogs just like that out there.....especially in dog parks Lots and LOTS of Staffords do agility and flyball where dogs are hyped to the max and off leash - but they are under the control of someone who knows their dog and it's limitations. It's frequently said in Stafford circles that the Stafford won't usually start the fight, but they'll gladly finish it. I think that people say that is also true of many other terrier breeds, kerry blues, irish terrier, lakeland etc so to be fair to the SBT they are not alone in this I believe and this can extend to other dogs, regardless of their breed, not every dog likes dogs in their personal space I have a Aussie Cattle dog that tolorates nothing and no one and a staffie that is polar opposite and always happy to make friends with everything even chooks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TYLER23 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Just wandering how much hair SBT shed inside the house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Just wandering how much hair SBT shed inside the house? Staffords that are kept primarily inside don't grow a lot of coat so don't shed a great deal - but their hair is quite stiff so sticks to things and looks like bristles. Dogs which are outside a fair bit will grow a fluffy undercoat in winter so when they moult this there will be a fair bit of fluff about - it's soft and short and rolls into nice balls on the carpet :-) It's a simple matter to brush them every day for just a couple of minutes, twice a day if need be for the few days they're moulting. A rubber hound mitt is as good as anything else for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhcp_me Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Hi guys, I was quoted $2500 for a staffy pup by a breeder in VIC. Is that too much or the right price? Cheers, rhcp_me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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