skully

I've just organised a crate to fly my Stafford to NZ with Qantas, it's plastic.

My dog loves VAN, but lots of grains come out the other end. Is this normal or is it not digesting properly?

we feed her roo/beef mince mixed with Vets All Natural musli stuff which does have a lot of grain type stuff in it. Also Optimum kibble for morning meal and in her kong wobbler. She gets liver treats for training and chicken necks. We got some short cut bones from glenmore meats for her over christmas which were probably on the fatty side...maybe that's it - i gave her one of the leftover bones earlier in the week.

Last week i realised i was late in giving Pebbles her worming tablet. I noticed she had been having some runnier than usual poo's and had seen some mucus in a couple of them i found in the yard. I gave her a big bone and after her tablet it seemed to clear up and i was only thinking today how much better it had been and i shouldn't worry so much. Just noticed this in the yard. I've picked it up and put it in a container cause i think i should take her to the vet tomorrow and show them. Now i'm REALLY worried... any one seen anything like this before? She hasn't eaten anything out of the ordinary that i know of.

that's so true Dougal - i thought the same thing. My dog barely barks, but the people upstairs have a screaming child!!!

Pebbles gets so excited at the vets, especially being so close to other dogs. She whines and whines and wants to say hello to all the other dogs. So i usually have to wait outside (it's a very small waiting room and high pitched whining and crying drives ME nuts let alone other people in the waiting room).

We challenged our strata (we're renters) as we were given permission by our landlord. The by-laws stated that pets were allowed with permission from strata and that they couldn't refuse any reasonable request. As we have a 60m2 grassed backyard in our ground floor flat we argued the point that it wasn't unreasonable to have a dog. they originally said no and we asked to go to mediation to argue our case, they refused again and we said we would take legal action - they had an emergency meeting and gave us permission. There is one nasty old lady in the strata comittee who hated us from the get go, but none of the other members had a problem with it. We get along with them all now except the nasty old lady! Our dog has never made a peep! I have a friend who just bought off the plan in St Leonards and their by-law was dogs under 11kg allowed...

i think it's a great idea!

why did they call the English Staffordshire Terrier AKA pit bull?!?!

crying here....

I'm not bull breed bashing, because I own a staffy, and even with dogs he loves, play sessions have to be short and sweet otherwise he just gets overstimulated and doesn't want to stop when the other dog does, and that's when the problems start, even with the lovely dog-social ones. good so it's not only me! Short and sweet play sessions sounds achievable and keep me in control.

Socialisation is about a lot more than allowing your dog to play with other dogs. If fact, your dog sounds like she needs LESS of that and MORE control around other dogs. How to teach that? I agree with HW, with the exception that most dog clubs don't seem to train that well either. Learn to engage with your dog and teach her a recall. Train a "go play" as well as a "leave it/come one" so that she learns that she doesn't get to play with every dog. If it was my dog I wouldn't leave her in a day care ever again. Lots of uncontrolled dogs being supervised by young girls doesn't make for a safe environment. Chances are the only lesson she would learn there is to become a bully. I'd rather spend my money on a good trainer (lots aren't good...) and learn to engage her rather than spending it on day care. Thanks Megan - yes I tend to agree, I don't think i'll take her to daycare again. I will look into the bull breed education day out at dural. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone - very much appreciated :)

she's 18 months old. Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

We go to obedience at Leichhardt Dog Training club on sundays. She's moved up to 3rd class and we've been complimented on her progress. Last weekend though we were doing some recall exercises and as soon as my husband unhooked her lead (following what the instructor did) she thought it was play time and ran off after some other dogs. So i am now doing off lead training in the small fenced park near our house when we're on our own (no other dogs or people). She has so much fun off lead and her recall is getting much much better, but lately i haven't been letting her off her lead at the dog park where we do obedience because she runs to meet all the dogs and they can snap at her (she is very boisterous). She especially seems to annoy dogs that are chasing a ball. She doesn't take no for an answer and just wants them to play, then is escalates and i have to put her back on lead and walk away. I'm getting very frustrated because I'm not sure what to do to curb the behaviour.

Any tips on how to further effectively socialise my dog without having any immediate friends with dogs that she can play with (ie. supervised in the backyard)? The only place to take her is the dog park, which has many dogs and often over excites her...

In an effort to educate pebbles about playing with other dogs politely, we decided to enroll her into doggy daycare to try it out. At the park she normally runs over to other dogs to have a play and case, which often results in other dogs not on her energy level having a go at her, which then results in her never being let off the lead to play. I want her to know that it's not play time ALL the time and she should be able to calmly interact with other dogs as well. (I am aware that her running up to dogs at the park isn't acceptable and we are working on training for that - this is not what this thread is about) I had expected to hear that she had been running around playing with other dogs non stop when i went to pick her up, but it was quite the opposite. The daycare staff said she had been fairly quiet and kept to herself most of the day. She had still hardly sat still (fell asleep in the car on the way home), but hadn't interacted very much with the other dogs. I thought it was strange.... They said next time she would be better, once she knows we'll be coming back to pick her up and not abandoning her etc. has anyone had any interesting experiences at day care?

Mind gets a rash on her belly when we mow the grass!

he's gorgeous :)

From what i know of the French Bulldog breed i'm sure they'd get on - my worry is they'll want to get on ALL the time. My husband reckons we should just cut a hole in the fence! heh

My 17 month old Stafford Pebbles is about to get a new neighbour. Our fences are 6 feet high wooden pailings (over lapped so you can't see through) and we have new neighbour's that have a french bulldog. We met them in the stairwell yesterday and they said they have the dog but haven't brought it to the new flat yet. I am just wondering how Pebbles will respond to it and if there is anything i should do to or keep an eye out for while they get used to each other? She loves other dogs and thinks it's play time ALL the time, so i guess i'm worried she might try and get to the other dog?

the last couple of weeks her eyes have been getting very gunky and the eyes are a little red. i assumed it was just springtime and a reaction to all the extra pollen etc in the air. will take her to the vet for a look and see if they can refer me to an opthomologist in the area.

Hi Stafford16 - how was this diagnosed? i'm having trouble with my 16 month old girls eyes at the moment

is that something a vet would only see if they look for it specifically? She just recently had her yearly check-up...

its just usually a creamy white colour. sometimes it's crusty in the morning but still of that colour. she doesn't have gunk in that pic, i just thought i'd share it as i think she's adorable!

I can tell it's springtime....my 16 month old english stafford ALWAYS has gunk in the corner of her eyes. I'll wipe it off an within 20 mins it's back! is there anything i can do to help it? it doesn't seem to bother her, i'm just forever wiping gunk out of her eyes... grrr