Taliecat

Yep, my boofy amstaff ends up hogging the pillows in winter. He'll sleep on the floor or even outside on the patio (he won't come in even for cheese) on a really hot night, and creeps higher up the bed once it starts to cool down. I'm trying to get him to sleep in his lovely cosy crate instead of putting my neck out..

I live in a very dog filled neighbourhood, and had received a handwritten complaint in the letter box about our dog barking. Now I'm at home all the time, I've found my dog barks very little, but the dogs around us are constantly barking all day until their owners get home, and there's a big dog behind us that howls and barks for hours on end. Poor thing sounds so unhappy. There's so many houses with dogs I can't pinpoint where it's coming from, apart from behind my bedroom wall.. Edited for clarity

I love the wanmock!

The applaws kibble is aussie made. There's actually quite a glowing review on petfood advisor.

Sounds like absolute rubbish to me...

Oh he's just too cute in that jumper!

If I was given NOI, I would be off to the vet myself as well. There is no way Dozer would be able to cope in a pound environment or pass the breed assessment (unpapered amstaff) let alone the temperament testing.. I shuddered at the thought of Dozer in a pound environment. The constant attempts to get to other dogs, and the knowledge that in the past he has transferred his high level of arousal onto my OH and myself, the lack of freedoms, no couch or bed with minimal human contact. Having a reactive, high drive dog is a challenge for any owner. Then we factor in his strength and that he's was our first dog. Sometimes I wonder if we made the right choice because he'll never get to have a normal life for a dog. He's not the perfect dog, but we're sticking with him even though our doubts and working with him a lot. He's a terrible dog around other dogs, and seems menacing when he greets doorknockers (only ever the religious callers and even then he'd just pee on them in excitement if they were introduced.) or if you play tug with him it does sound like he's feral and going to eat you.. People who have been invited into our home get to see him as the big soft goofball he really is, the dog that thinks he's still small enough to curl up on my lap and talks to get pats and cuddles. The way he'll talk (yowls and yips and aroooing) to us and our housemates when he's excited or someone has gotten up for the day or while his food is being prepared. In some occasions he'll talk back when he's on a sock stealing mission and he's trying to barter treats for socks. It broke my heart when he reached maturity and decided that he was a people dog and didn't want to be around other dogs. He is mostly a pretty lazy snuggler, he's not overweight in the slightest and has good muscle tone but I feel terrible that he doesn't get walked as often as he should because our neighbourhood is full of numpties with offleash dogs and SWFs that are running around in unattended front yards. We do trick training at home regularly, we play fetch and he's got a home alone bungie toy that he gets a good workout with. He'll also race around the yard a couple of times a day to make sure no cats have snuck in, but for the majority of the day he'll nap on the grass or at my feet, content with somewhere comfy to sleep and the company of his owners.. If you couldn't find somewhere that is safe to walk your dogs, what would you do to supplement training and relieve boredom?

Oh what a cutie!

Hit by car would be my guess.. Took a while of me looking on the Facebook page to no avail

10-15 minutes is a very long time for a baby puppy.. You may need to scale it back to just a couple of minutes in the outside pen, and focus on calm behavior before the alone periods. IMO, I'd be popping him in the enclosure without playing with him, wait a minute or two until he calms down and then open the enclosure and let him come out and repeat this a few times a day. Make being alone in the enclosure a non-event, just like you would for crate training. The fun and games before the alone period may be counter-productive at this point, and may be better served after a couple of minutes alone.. Here's a link for crate games as well.. I found it useful in training my boy with his crate: http://www.sithappens.org/PDFs/LoginArea/HandoutCrateGames.pdf

MazNat is it possible to start the pup off with very small sessions in the enclosure? Pop him in there with a treat or a special toy and do very quick sessions of him being alone, as soon as the crying /fussing stops lift him out and have a bit of a cuddle/play etc. Look up crate games for a fun way to get pup used to being alone. With a baby puppy I wouldn't be leaving him in the pen for any extended periods until he's a bit bigger and he's used to it.. He's in a weird place, his mum isn't around, his siblings are missing. He's going to need some extra comfort until he gets used to his new life. Do you have a crate, or can you set the pen up in your living room? That way he can't get into mischief, but he'll still be close and able to see you.

I understand the confusion, when I first started looking into bull arabs it just seemed to be a bunch of random pigging dogs. But there are dedicated breeders that aren't just or out to make a quick dollar. The registry does have a breed standard, it's not just whatever you think is gonna make a good lugging dog.. Bull arabs are a bit of a messy exampleas they are still in the development stages. American Bulldogs are actually a recognised breed and are shown in confirmation in a number of different countries. No one appears to have taken the steps to get them recognised here. Steve actually posted a number of years ago on what it takes to get a breed recognised here. Which you can find here: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/223678-how-many-new-breed-accepted-by-ankc/page__st__15 Edit: American Bulldogs aren't recognised by the AKC, but a handful of others which is why they aren't recognised by ANKC as yet

Using the bull arab registry as an example, they have a standard (breed standard) , they do health tests. They track pedigrees and are looking to develop the breed and do hope to have the breed officially recognised. There's a clear difference in the direction between the two.

A back yard breeder is your average joe who goes I'm gonna make some cash and breed my staffies/labs/insert breed her. No history of the breed, no health testing, no standard, no records of pedigree in most cases, they're not doing it to improve the breed. No interest in showing or getting their dogs recognised by a kennel club.

There is a bullarab registry that's working on getting the breed officially recognised. I believe there is also one for Bosdogs and American Bulldogs. There needs to be a recorded history, pedigree and standard for developing breeds or breeds not yet recognised by the ANKC in my understanding.

Just went through the whole thread again and I can't see how anyone has supported BYB. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding about other registries?

Aww. Absolute cuties, the both of them.

Oh wow. So beautiful.

This appears to contradict your previous statement of : Which one is it, you had a pitbull or you know nothing about them?

Wow! That is just stunning!

I might switch over, Dozer has thrown up once and been off colour for a couple of days after panoramis.. Just need to find another product for worming and heartworm..

Omg, I'm literally squealing with how pretty she is

That's really interesting.. Peas are a major component of ivory coat, and that's the food that coincides with Dozer's yeast issues.

Dozer lost coat condition on black hawk, refused to eat ekunuba as a pup and we had him on ivory coat, and he looked fantastic but got yeasty.. And omg the farts on canadae were horrifying, and could clear the whole house. Now he's doing quite well on VIP grain free.. As others have said, the best food is the one your dog does well on

So beautiful.