Rehoming High Drive Stafford

[Mavriksbt]

Hi All,

I don't know if this is the place for this but I've been pointed here by the Evil Beagle (blame her LOL).

Now, I have an 18 month old stafford to rehome. Firstly, let me say this is not a decision I have taken lightly. I am an experienced obedience trainer but even I know when I have bitten off more than I can handle. Q is my first adult male and I know when to call "uncle".

Q is a pedigree staffordshire bull terrier with extremely high prey drive. This has made him unsuitable for our home as we have cats, pedigree cats which we show and breed. We have never had any problems with ANY of our other staffords and our cats previously. I have owned him from a ten week old pup and he is currently obedience trained and also in the final stages of becoming ready for competitive agility. I feel he would also suit a schutzhund home or tracking, endurance, flyball, literally any dog sport. He is very smart but a real handful of a boy, full of vim and vigour. He is very solid, brindle with a full white head. Q gets on well with other dogs and loves to play and play rough. He has been brought up with kids and I would prefer older kids due to his exuberance. NO BIRDS, NO CHICKENS, NO CATS! He works for food, he works for toys, he works for the hell of it, he works in drive and he is a prancy, bouncy boy full of attitude.

He will come with his pedigree papers, he is wormed and vaccinated. He also has his own lupine collar and lead.

**PLEASE NOTE- Testosterone filled w*nkers who believe a stafford is a status symbol need not apply. Pet traders look elsewhere, this young boys new home will have serious vetting before he is allowed to leave here, I value him too much to let him go to just anyone who will pass him from pillar to post. Only enquire if you are serious.**

I can be contacted through my email address. Please don't contact me to flame me. Holding my kids and telling them that one of beloved pets is dead is hard enough, dealing with people who have no idea what we have been through is even harder, guilt trips won't work because I am already on one and will send people postcards from hell if they wish.

OK. So, [email protected]

Cin

[Nekhbet]

why dont you send him back to his breeder?

[Staranais]

Have you tried a good behaviourist to get the prey drive under control? Can be a good option if you have the time & commitment to do the work.

It sounds like you're describing my old stafford boy (except he also liked to munch on other dogs). He was always a high drive dog, and always dog aggressive, but he was also very, very well controlled & well behaved by the end of his days. And safe with cats, despite having killed one before I adopted him. Took a lot of work, though.

ETA: no flaming from me, there were days when I almost wanted to drop my old dog off a bridge! Learnt a heck of a lot from him, though.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Staranais

[persephone]

Is he castrated?

[WreckitWhippet]

So he's actually killed something ? You need to be loud and clear about what he's done and under what circumstances

[Vickie]

So he's actually killed something ? You need to be loud and clear about what he's done and under what circumstances

Ditto.

I have owned him from a ten week old pup and he is currently obedience trained and also in the final stages of becoming ready for competitive agility. I feel he would also suit a schutzhund home or tracking, endurance, flyball, literally any dog sport.

He sounds like a great dog for competition in the right hands...however...

many of these sports involve training & competing around other dogs. How sure are you that his intense prey drive will not be triggered by someone's toy sized dog? From a prey driven dog's perspective, some of them move very enticingly. Honestly, before rehoming him to a sports environment where he will be around little dogs moving fast & erratically, I would want to be 200% confident that he would not be triggered into prey drive.

[staffylover81]

Hey Cin,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having to rehome Q I know how hard this is on you to do just know that if you need to talk or have a hug or cry about it I am here for you

I have known Q since Cin got him at 10 weeks from the breeder and know how much work she has put into him in regards to his training etc and know for a fact that if she could keep him she would and that she has done everything she can in regards to keeping him and that this is not just a spare of the moment decission that she has just come to. From seeing Q in action at Obedience and Agility Training first hand I know that he is going to be one fantastic dog in the rings when he gets in there he just need someone who has the time and experience that knows how to handle a high drive stafford to have him (that is not to say that Cin doesn't know how to handle him as she does) if I could take him on I would but I don't think I could cope with 2 high drive dogs right now.

Cin let me know if there is anything I can do to help out as you know that I am always here for you if need be and I hope that he finds a fantastic home.

[Yacket's Mum]

I have had to honour to met and play with Q and as I own a very accident prone greyhound who is not allowed to play very much with other dogs I can say that other than being a boofhead he was great with my greyhound. Cindy has put in an amazing amount of work into him and he will be great in a home with NO cats ect and someone who will continue his training. He has been to plenty of agility and obeidence trials as a spectator and there has never been an incident and he trains in a club where there are small dogs with no problems.

My heart is breaking for you Cindy in this very hard decission you have made we are here for you with what ever you may need. Hoping for a wonderful outcome to this special boy.

[WreckitWhippet]

It's great that he comes with character references but that doens't answer the question of what he does/has done and under what circumstances.

[Gayle.]

Don't underestimate what you might find at an obedience trial either.

A few weeks ago, I was competing at the Morwell trial with my girl, the obedience rings were set up on the Vintage Car Club grounds, next to the obedience club grounds (the agility was there).

And shortly after the morning trial began, what should wander out from behind the car club rooms, but a chook. I kid you not. It spent most of the morning pecking along the driveway beside the rings and fortunately, no dog made a run for it.....but I suspect it would have taken just one, and about 20 others would have been happy to follow and the chooks life would have been considerably shortened.

[Mavriksbt]

Hi To Everyone,

Thanks so much for your insight and help and also the character references.

Ok, his current tally is- three chickens, he and my other two staffords got into a fight (caused my the neighbours idiot dog) that ended in my oldest stafford suffering a heart attack and two of my breeding cats. Is that clear enough?

No, sorry, that was snarky and I apologise, I have been in bed for most of the day with a migraine caused by stress.

I have met a great family this afternoon with who we sat and discussed Q for a few hours, they met him, watched him work, we talked about his bad points and his good points, we talked about the fact that the big boof is mortally afraid of windscreen wipers (gr), I have organised a home visit for Q and us on the weekend and IF that works out, he will have a weekend sleepover prior to actually going to live with them. They are also interested in continuing obedience with him and maybe agility.

Once again, thanks guys, you have made an difficult situation tolerable. And yes, I expect sympathy hugs on Wednesday at training (grin)

Cin

[Nekhbet]

I think where ever this dog ends up you need a behaviourist to sort out his prey drive. working home or not this dog has a serious problem that needs rectification NOT simply more work. A dog that has killed an animal before wont just benefit from a change of environment.

[persephone]

I think where ever this dog ends up you need a behaviourist to sort out his prey drive. working home or not this dog has a serious problem that needs rectification NOT simply more work. A dog that has killed an animal before wont just benefit from a change of environment.

x1

[WreckitWhippet]

I think where ever this dog ends up you need a behaviourist to sort out his prey drive. working home or not this dog has a serious problem that needs rectification NOT simply more work. A dog that has killed an animal before wont just benefit from a change of environment.

agreed and without that , the dog is just a ticking bomb. One cock up or misjudgement of a situation by the new owner, could see the dog kill again.

Staffords that kill cats and chooks are not rare, neither are incidents that involve one turning on another or pack attacks when they get excited.

[poodlefan]

I have met a great family this afternoon with who we sat and discussed Q for a few hours, they met him, watched him work, we talked about his bad points and his good points, we talked about the fact that the big boof is mortally afraid of windscreen wipers (gr), I have organised a home visit for Q and us on the weekend and IF that works out, he will have a weekend sleepover prior to actually going to live with them. They are also interested in continuing obedience with him and maybe agility.

Unless this is a very dog savvy family prepared to work with a behaviourist on this dog, I think this is heartbreak waiting to happen.

What a family think they can handle and what they can handle in reality may be significantly different. I hope they understand they are buying into a dog that can never be walked on lead by a child or go to a dog park or a beach?

I think you need to at least have him comprehensively temperament tested by a knowledgeable professional for your own protection. If something goes wrong the finger of blame is going to be pointing squarely at you. Protect yourself. Unlike rescues, you won't be able to shelter behind Incorporated status if the lawyers come calling.

What is this dog like with small dogs?

[JulesP]

What is this dog like with small dogs?

I was wondering this too. It gets pretty exciting at agility training and I would hate to see a SWF get chomped.

[Nekhbet]

I dont think taking this dogs OK history with small dogs means it's OK. It has fought and killed small animals before. ReadySetGo is right, no matter what the OP tells the family a professional should be dealing with this dog, even a period of boarding and training with someone like Steve Austin in NSW may be the way to go. Expensive, yes. But you want to fix this animal ... a dog like this will spend a lifetime being tossed home to home until someone gets sick of him and sends him to the vet or the council finally nabs him for killing someones pet.

ETA stuff the mortal fear of windscreen wipers ... have you discussed with this family about his head count and that they will need the guidence of a professional? Or did you gloss over that point like you did in your first post on here.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Nekhbet

[Staranais]

What a family think they can handle and what they can handle in reality may be significantly different. I hope they understand they are buying into a dog that can never be walked on lead by a child or go to a dog park or a beach?

That is true.

Kudos to you if you have found a home that is genuinely responsible & experienced enough to handle a dog like this. There aren't many suitable homes that will put their hands up to take a predatory, possibly DA stafford, no matter how sweet he is with people. So if you have found one, good on you.

But if they're not prepared for exactly what owning this dog entails, then it will be quite shocking for them the first time they see their dog kill a cat in front of them or take a big chunk out of someone else's dog. I know, I've been there.

So, I hope you've found the right home.

[Aussienot]

If this dog has such high training, exercise and management needs that he has exhausted a knoweldgeable, experienced, committed dog owner, is placing him with a family that "might" take up obedience or agility such a good idea? Why is he going to do better there? What will they do differently?

It seems to me that way you have described his behaviour would not suit the average family. He has problems, and while you're solving your problem you are passing his along. Maybe this family is extrordinary, but my guess is that this re-homing is not a permant fix for the dog.

[persephone]

If this dog has such high training, exercise and management needs that he has exhausted a knoweldgeable, experienced, committed dog owner, is placing him with a family that "might" take up obedience or agility such a good idea? Why is he going to do better there? What will they do differently?

Perhaps they don't have cats or other dogs? Guess the OP is putting her breeding cats safety foremost ..it would be a constant concern for her , I guess

Such a hard time for Q's owner .... I do sympathise ,but am also convinced that the dog should be assessed professionally and desexed if not already, before rehoming.