wotan

Lukas paw paw Cream/gel what ever u wanna call it LOL

Its in supermarkets and chemists red tube or tub just put it on moring and night and after a few times they will be good as new and soft

Yep this stuff is amazing. Our Staffords paw pads were dry and cracked from skidding on concrete chasing balls. After aplying this gel each night for about 2 weeks his paws became perfectly conditioned again We still use it once a week to keep them in good shape.

We transitioned to Blackhawk a month ago and all is good. We were using Artemis which we still think is a high quality product (albeit expensive) and would happily go back to it if need be. Although, the value/freshness and delivery service of Blackhawk can't be ignored. Great local product

We buy "Brunswick" sardines in Olive oil, simply because its the only brand that doesn't have have Salt as an ingredient.

My dogs' vet recommended the 3 yearly and said this is what he did with his dogs.

The "3 yearly", or the "12 monthly once every 3 years" ?

I wouldn't mind knowing the answer to this one also.

My pup had his last vacc in Dec "09 (Protech C4). The vet has the marked next treatment for Dec this year. So (as per AVA guidelines) does this mean he can go without for another 2 years, or is the type of vacc for a 3 yearly treatment different?

I found chicken wings way too small & easy for my stafford pup, he would basically snort them

When we upgraded him to the bigger and slightly more challenging Turkey wings he was one happy camper

I remember our SBT pup being the worst car traveller!

His first trip ever with us in the car after being picked up from the breeder ended in him being sick in the back seat ;) What a start!

For about a month after this it was the same...he would virtually get sick just at the thought of going for a drive. We thought we would be stuck with a dog that could never travel in a car. Training was becoming difficult, especially when he couldn't last 5 mins even before driving off!

The big turnaround came when we decided to travel at night. This way he had plenty of time to digest his dinner, have a small night walk (purge the system) tired & ready for normal bed time. So we would throw his bed in the back seat and off we go. For the first 10 mins of the drive he was typically fidgety whilst in traffic, but then once we hit the highway he curled up and slept for 2 hrs straight.

So in one trip he spent more time in the car than we could manage in one month previously! Needless to say we persisted with night travel for a few weeks to build his confidence with the motion thing before starting small daytime drives to parks etc

Well I am happy to say that since 6 months of age he is now a confortable passanger. He will do 3-4 hr plus trips day or night without a hassle

He even conquered the great ocean road drive and in the same weekend learned how to swim....diving straight into the ocean

We never bothered with tablets/medication etc as we wanted to keep things as natural as possible.

Good luck with it, start training immediately and be persistant!

thumbs up for artemis

Ingredients are great, coat is shiny and best of all he loves it!

Speaking on Dobes and from my experience - will let the shepherd people do their thing.

Dobes - have to be with you, must be indoor dogs, need to be worked - obed etc they are much happier if they have a job, need a good hard free run everyday, love to exert themselves physically, though they are more than happy to spend the day on the couch with you if need be, totally devoted to their family - adults and most certainly kids, are normally highly intelligent, very quick to learn, should be outgoing and exhuberant but on alert and aware of all around them, are great guard dogs but don't bark for no reason, love going everywhere with you, are funny - crack jokes and think they are funny , can be possesive of food and toys, are lovely to live with, great company, good travellers, great with other breeds but must be socialized, love a good bone, love to free run - did I mention that ?, love to work with you, love to help you do whatever you are doing, love to help cook dinner , love to keep your feet warm while you are on the computer , YUP they are velcro dogs, sooks, clowns, jokers, totally adorable and the love of my life - wouldn't be without them .

I was waiting for the catch, but it never came

After reading that I think I'm going to trade my SBT for a Dobey...how much do ya think I would get on changeover

Hi wotan - our puppy is exactly the same as that. He goes to the door and waits for us but doesn't make a sound. How did you train your dog to make a sound without having a lot of messes along the way? I guess right now our default is to let him out so that we don't have a mess in the house but it really would be great if he could make some sort of sound to let us know he wants to relieve himself rather than just standing by the door. Our puppy is almost 11 weeks now and for the last week or so, has not had any messes. Thanks heaps!

Are your back doors to the yard glass/see through?

Just my 2c, but if your puppy is smart enough to be taught to ring a bell to go outside, then it should be even easier for it to do something natural (bark,whine/whinge) to be let out.

IMO, if you use a bell there is no back up plan. For example, what if bell breaks/falls off or if you take the dog away/friends house and don't have a bell what will the puppy do? If he has become reliant on a bell, the poor thing will not know what do do next

The good thing about a natural alert, wether it be barking/whining is that it will only get louder/longer until it gets your attention

Our pup (8 months now) was a lazy bugger, he used to walk to the back door and just sit there and stare back at us like we were his royal servants expecting the door to be opened for him. For a while we made the mistake of doing this, but then we realised if he ever needed to go at 3am in the morning, he could not just stare at us (he sleeps ground floor, we sleep upstairs).

It took a couple of weeks to perfect, but now he walks to the door and starts whining to be let it. I still make it a point that he has to whine loud enough to be heard otherwise its not good enough and I won't let him out. Even just this morning, I thought I heard a whine but was busy....next thing I hear a loud sharp bark. There he was at the back door giving me the hurry up (I need to do a crap ) look.

Be carefull with cheap and nasty toys from the $2 shops. They are generally made from poor quality plastics and before you know it the dog will rip into it and will wake you up at 3am vomiting chunks of plastic

I find that toys made from dense rubbery material (like Kongs) will be safer and last longer.

You'll probably find that there are no difficulties whatsoever with a complete frame. Because they are such an irregular shape, it is difficult for a dog to just sit down and chomp through one without at least pausing a few times to consider the next mode of attack.

I find that gulpers have no problems literally inhaling chicken necks, and not much more of a problem with wings. I can slow this down marginally by freezing them and puppies get necks crushed.

Yep my 7 month old SBT has been inhaling chicken necks & wings almost since day one They are simply too small and uninteresting for him. I find large frames & maryland are great, good portions of Lamb flap & turkey have plenty of flesh and bone to crush.

For folks living in Melb or visiting Melb, there is a great family owned Pet Stock store in High Street, Northcote called Salce. http://www.salce.com.au/

They sell just about anything for any animal for the same price or most times cheaper price than online stores.

I buy Interceptor Spectrum & Advocate from them cheaper than priceless pets online. Also get Artemis dry and other stuff for our birds at great prices.

A while back we went in and purchased a heap of stuff for the puppy, the lady was so nice she gave us $20 worth of freebies Now you can't get that kind of service online or from Pets paradise.

I feed Artemis and actually find it quite economical - a little bit goes a long way for us. I see people with very similar breeds of the same age and they feed twice as much Royal Canin as I do Artemis, for example. I admit that's something I didn't originally consider beyond reading that with premium brands you don't need to feed as much, but I didn't think about differences within premium brands

Never had any issues with palatability, but then again, I've never had Gypsy refuse to eat anything, so maybe not the most discerning of taste buds

Another vote for Artemis here, my staff gets just as excited over it as he does raw!!!! Ingredients are second to none, its economical & coat looks nice and shiny.

I feed a combination of roo tails, lamb flaps and necks, chicken wings and carcass.

In addition to that they get a can of sardines each a week ( 2 x half cans )or a can of mackeral, a couple of raw eggs a week, a small amount of liver or kidney, some natural yogurt. I don't process any veg and keep it very simple, they get all of the carrot peels each week, any left over cooked veg, some pieces of apple or other fruits.

There's no set amount for any dog and no going by body weight. I've simply observed my guys closely and those who are high energy get more. I've kept it simple and the dogs look wonderful on it.

Which is preferable, hard boiled or raw egg?

So far I've only tried hard boiled, he has fun breaking it up before gobbling it. Never tried raw.

What's his weight like Wotan?

He is approx 12.0kg's. Now I'm not sure how that compares with other other SBT's at 19 weeks. I only go by his physical appearance and feed him according to his growth spurts.

He gets 3 meals daily:

Breaky - Artemis dry approx 80grams (plus every other day add either extra yoghurt or sardines or veg)

Lunch - Dry again approx 80 grams

Dinner - Raw. Its either chicken wings/neck/carcass or lamb ribs etc. Normally he will get approx 150-200 grams raw.

I wouldn't think he was overweight as I see it (his ribs are felt easily) and he looks good.

He is booked in to see the Vet tomorrow morning. I don't know of any local chiro's so i will ask the Vet.

Unfortunately in my case contacting the breeder is NOT an option. The breeder is young and inexperienced and bare in mind this is a breeder that sends puppies home with instructions to feed weetbix/milk and mince beef, oh and Eukanuba "because all the other breeders do"!

If that wasn't dissapointing enough, when I mentioned that I would swing him over to a much more nutritional dry like Artemis and raw chicken/lamb/roo etc, the breeder said "oh don't do that, the pup will get used to eating expensive food and it will cost you to much!" WTF!!!????

Yep folks alarmingly this type of breeder still exists (and to top it off the pup also came with mains papers without any question )

And before anyone asks the obvious question why I bothered buying from this bonehead breeder, I had no choice once the wife picked him out....and life is already complicated enough without having an unhappy wife

Thanks for the replies and some answers to those are:

- Yes I am only hearing the popping, there are no visual signs of any joints popping, no inflammation or discomfort. I am also able to manually extend his legs/joints freely and I can't hear any popping at all, so almost certainly its happening under full load.

- It is not an isolated incident, it will happen most times he gets up to walk/or stretch which is why its got us so worried. Before this week there was absolutely no sign of any popping at all.

I wll get it checked asap with my vet and the chiro sounds like a good idea.

To be honest all the advice and info you would ever need about crate training is right here on the forums

There is a heap of threads and info on the subject if you do a search...it worked for us. Crating turned out to be the best thing for our puppy!

Noticed the other day our 18 week old SBT has developed "clicky" or popping bones on his hind legs. I have been watching closely and I am pretty sure its coming from the joints below the knee area . Its most noticeable when he gets up from lying down or sitting.

Its a bit of a worry when your pup sounds like an old man getting out of bed

Physically he is fine/fit, very active and shows no signs of discomfort.

As for diet, since we picked him up at 8 weeks he has both raw and is on Artemis dry which he likes and looks good on. He also gets sardines, yoghurt, egg and some veg etc

So I am pretty sure his dietary requirements are being satisfied, but am unsure why the clicking/popping is starting now?

soft drink bottles(plastic)..with dry food in.

I thought I'd give it a go with my 15 week old staff.....he absolutely loves empty bottles now (even without food in it), keeps his attention for ages or until its destroyed!

I found the round bottles are the best as they roll around when he kicks and chases them.

Thanks for the tip!

yes we are a little exhausted as well.....picked up our Stafford on Sunday (he is 8 weeks old today). In 2 days/nights with him so far he is doing well and these are my following observations:

The positive:

- Beautiful looking dog and loads of personality

- he is becoming confortable in his crate

- Eating well, huge appetite!

- Developed a routine of: play/learning in the leadup to a feed> then he eats> then sleeps for a good 1-2 hrs> then outside to toilet.

- Was warm in Melb yesterday so had his first bath, didn't winge at all and smells good!

- Good bladder control, goes without a wee for upto 4 hrs during the night and will wait until morning to do a poo.

Small negatives (he is a pup afterall hehe):

- Has very sharp teeth and bites/nips when he is fiesty, my hands have scratch marks all over. But I worked out that a firm command of "no!" and a soft smack on the nose works well, as he then turns his biting onto his toys instead.

- For some reason he tries to chew on concrete and am worried he will damage his pearly whites..not sure how stop this?

- He is toileting outside on command which is awesome, but I'm convinced he is on a quest to soil every square meter of the yard! I know its only early, but any tips on how to control the randomness and confine it to a smaller area? I have tried rubbing a (carpet mat size) piece of fake grass in his wee and placing it outside, hoping he will sniff it out and go back there, but thats not working.

Some things I'm still not sure on...

I normally dispose of his poo straight after he has been (without him looking). Is it better to just leave it there for a bit and have him used to it being there, or should I just keep removing it immediately? The reason I ask is that one time maybe he was just playful or hungry, but I could swear he was going to turn around and chomp into it so I forced him away from it before he had the chance!

Hi Wotan,with the poo eating stuff,my pug puppy would do the same,he gave it a sniff and a lick,and god knows he would have eaten it if i hadnt caught him,i think it is more of a curiosity thing.I sprinkled Cayan Pepper(the really red nasty looking stuff),it will burn his mouth or nose,but after a few times,he will not even look at the poo.It is better off to leave it in the yard with the Cayan powder on it,just so he knows,when he does a poo and it is still there,NO TOUCH POO POO !!

Well today he did a poo without me noticing, so not sure how long it was sitting there. Good news though, it looked untouched and he had no poo breath (sigh of relief) so all is good.

The powder sounds like a good idea...will give it a go just to be sure his poo dosen't end up on the menu!

I am in a similar situation currently building a house and trying to keep an 8 week old SBT entertained...its not easy. I can sympathize with the noise too, the shill cries, squeels, howls you name it he does it. If I recorded the sounds he makes, I'm sure it would make a great horror movie soundtrack

In the 4 days I have had him I have been doing the following:

Every day after morning play/learning session is over, I will give him one hour "alone" time before lunch. Ofcourse he hates seeing me leave his play area in the backyard, then the cries/howls etc start.

After about 5+ minutes of this, he starts to realize he won't be getting any attention and then he just mopes off and lies down. Obviously in that one hour he does do a little more whinging off and on, but in just 4 days I noticed that each day is a little better than the last.

Then when one hour is almost over, I will only go to him when he is NOT whining and by this time he is pretty well exhausted, has his lunch then a nice long sleep.

Now I know one hour is hardly enough time each day to get out and do house building stuff, but I figure getting her into a routine over time will allow you to get out a bit more. I am also hoping in this time the cries will subside.

No puppy expert here, but just my 2cents! Good luck

Mistral would be the most obvious with his likes for music.

He dosn't enjoy techno, it sets him on edge, he gets silly and starts pacing around the house trying to get outside.

Heavy metal however he loves and will often fall asleep with it playing.

With a name like his, I guess he really is a true heavy metal "fan"! (sorry couldn't resist )

yes we are a little exhausted as well.....picked up our Stafford on Sunday (he is 8 weeks old today). In 2 days/nights with him so far he is doing well and these are my following observations:

The positive:

- Beautiful looking dog and loads of personality

- he is becoming confortable in his crate

- Eating well, huge appetite!

- Developed a routine of: play/learning in the leadup to a feed> then he eats> then sleeps for a good 1-2 hrs> then outside to toilet.

- Was warm in Melb yesterday so had his first bath, didn't winge at all and smells good!

- Good bladder control, goes without a wee for upto 4 hrs during the night and will wait until morning to do a poo.

Small negatives (he is a pup afterall hehe):

- Has very sharp teeth and bites/nips when he is fiesty, my hands have scratch marks all over. But I worked out that a firm command of "no!" and a soft smack on the nose works well, as he then turns his biting onto his toys instead.

- For some reason he tries to chew on concrete and am worried he will damage his pearly whites..not sure how stop this?

- He is toileting outside on command which is awesome, but I'm convinced he is on a quest to soil every square meter of the yard! I know its only early, but any tips on how to control the randomness and confine it to a smaller area? I have tried rubbing a (carpet mat size) piece of fake grass in his wee and placing it outside, hoping he will sniff it out and go back there, but thats not working.

Some things I'm still not sure on...

I normally dispose of his poo straight after he has been (without him looking). Is it better to just leave it there for a bit and have him used to it being there, or should I just keep removing it immediately? The reason I ask is that one time maybe he was just playful or hungry, but I could swear he was going to turn around and chomp into it so I forced him away from it before he had the chance!

Hi I'm new to the forum and wow loads of great info to be found here!!!

For first time SBT owners wanting to know more about puppy feeding requirements/frequency, could we please have some guidance on the following questions:

1. How many cups/grams of dry food per day?

2. For variety, what else can be mixed with it? (ie egg, yoghurt, sardines etc)

3. When to start introducing fruit/vegetables and which ones are recommended and not suitable?

4. When can they start eating raw chicken and beef, and are cooked leftovers a no-no?

5. Real bones or substitute bones, which is best for growing teeth?

6. As with other breeds, is there an age/height/weight guide for SBT's?

Opinions & recommendations appreciated!