ellz

Personally I only believe in crating in a car and recommend it highly to all of my puppy people. I've known of people who have been involved in accidents and their dog/s have either been badly injured, or have escaped and ultimately been run over or disappeared, or which have made attempts to help the people in the car very difficult due to guarding and/or confusion. A good crate is by far IMO the safest method of travel.

In my experience, some Staffords just seem to have "death breath". For no apparent reason. My old girl is always one of those who just seems to have yuckier breath than everybody else. Clean bill of health. Had tonsils removed "just in case", is on a good diet, gets plenty of bones, clean teeth. Just smellier than the others who are on the same food etc. She's also the best snorer, burper and farter in the house so my opinion is that it is just stinky air that is coming from all orifices.

Considering $850 is around the going price for a companion puppy, I can't see a problem.

IMO there are three major considerations for any food. 1) Your dog/s eat it. 2) They do well on it. 3) It suits your wallet.

Have no idea why the Periactin works, but it does. Is highly recommended by many "old-time" breeders.

Periactin from the chemist.

Raw chicken bones will bind up even further.

If she is particularly prone to constipation on a canned food, I'd be wary of giving her too much bone content in her diet as that tends to bind them up as well.

If she were a skinkid I'd suggest using ice cubes in small sections to freeze the ice solid so that it can be cracked off easily without leaving too much residue (like putting a tablecloth in the freezer to get wax off it without leaving a mark). Failing that, maybe you could disolve it with a hot bath? Hmmm...dunno....what a dilemma. Hope she's ok and doesn't suffer too many ill effects. Oh and for the areas that might be scalded, maybe some sorbolene + vit E cream, or some aloe vera could be the go?

You could try increasing her fluid intake. That would be my first point of call for constipation. She may be eating the grass because of the water content so it could be related in that respect. If she won't drink willingly, try adding some brown sugar to the water or give her some weak chicken broth or chicken noodle soup but go easy on the salt which can create more problems in itself.

It's not unusual. My now deceased red boy was the same. And if a car happened to backfire near him, he'd fair on poo himself! Think about it from their point of view. They don't know what cars are. They are a lot smaller than a car and cars are very noisy for sensitive ears.

If he is happy to settle in your room and you don't mind him being there, then let him. He has come from a litter with brothers and sisters and a mother with him all the time into a new environment. He will feel insecure and look to you, his new family, for comfort. You aren't giving in to him provided you still set the boundaries and stick to them.

Dunno about that. It's pretty hectic at my place so it's probably only a matter of time! School hols are on us once again. So far I've already had to referee about 8 fights. *sigh*

Why ever not? And besides....the OP states in her first post that they went with a toy breed.

Yes, but in general, the OP gives a lot of information in her first thread. Certainly enough to see that it is a SWF of some description and therefore you'd be recommending toys that are suitable for toy breeds. And surely it is ok to ASK the breed and not get all silly and start suggesting the next great conspiracy and insinuating dishonesty and problems just because the OP hasn't been back to answer?

Ask by all means, but don't jump down their throats en masse and start getting all paranoid and accusing if they don't answer.

Why else would you post????? Tell me you're being sarcastic please!! You would post to ask advice, which is exactly what the OP did. She didn't ask for the third degree about what breed the puppy is, which isn't essentially anybody elses business except hers in reality anyway.

Sheesh, why is everybody so hung up on the breed? Does it matter in the long run? What IS it with DOL lately?

Hey guys, ease up. Pointless jumping down the neck of the OP now, the deed is done, rightly or wrongly. Now the best thing we can do is to help to make the whole thing easier for the OP and thereby make life easier and better for the puppy.

Unfortunately elongated soft palate is more common in Staffords than most people believe (or admit to). If your bitch is as severe as it sounds, then I certainly wouldn't be breeding from her. IMO jury is out as to whether it is genetic, but I personally feel it could almost certainly be considered a man made issue with the favour towards shortening muzzle length and increasing head size.

Some years ago, my the 17 week old Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy shattered his elbow in a freak accident. At the time, the options given to me were surgery or......(insert the "or" yourself). He had the surgery and sailed through it. Pins, plates and screws were inserted. He was on crate only restrictions for 8 weeks and then gradual exercise after that. Once the fracture had healed, the option was given to either leave the hardware intact or remove it. I opted to leave it there for further support for growing (rapidly) bones. I never regretted the surgery and he made a complete recovery afterwards. In fact, his recovery was so complete that only those who knew the hardware were there could detect it. You could barely see the scars and his movement was as good as it had been previously. At the age of 10 months, he made his show debut and won a Specialty Best In Show from the Puppy Class under a South African Breed Specialist who was astounded when told what the dog had been through to make it that far. I'm so sorry that the accident happened, but trust in your vets and let them help you to make the right decisions for your girl. But above all don't beat yourself up because it could have happened anywhere, whether you were with her or not.

I gave up on them and went to The Barf Shop who provided EXCELLENT service.

Of the two, I prefer Doggyman. I like the way they work and they are also kinder on the hand/arm. However I've recently received a slicker from a friend who owns this business. It's great. Very much like a doggyman but feels a lot lighter in the hand IMO. Also comes with a dinky little comb to clean the hair out of the brush.

Because it can. Nobody knows exactly why they do it. Perhaps it is a throwback to dogs in the wild who may have cleaned up after themselves to remove their trail to make it harder for predators to find them. Perhaps it is a cleaning regime when they don't think their environment is clean enough. It is even suggested from time to time that it is a lack of certain vitamins and minerals. About all you can do is pick up as regularly as you can and don't let it lick your face unless you can close your mind to where its mouth has been! :D

Used to use it many years ago when working at a large breeding kennel in NSW. Didn't do those dogs any harm that's for sure. We used to go through a lot of it though so I'm not sure how cost effective it would be. It was originally created as a dehydrated food for the dogs in Antarctica because the bags used to take up less room and not go rancid as quickly as "normal" dry food.