Advice needed

mrcol1000

We have been away for two weeks with family and my parnters mum keeps giving my staff tibits from her plate (which we don't do). We also make our staff work for any food usually by giving us her paw in return for a treat. Anyway it ended up everytime my partners mum eat anything our staff would sit next to her with her paw on her lap being very quiet and still. I know its probably bad behaviour but it was very cute. Also when she does something wrong she can sense it and in the space of 15 secons will flash through every trick she knows and its impossible to stay mad at her.

When we got home from two weeks away she burst into our flat before us and ran around everywhere tail wagging like mad all exicted to be home. Although then we had the battle of the sofa where everytime you get up she will jump onto where you were sitting and pretend to look confused when you tell her to get down.

Akom

My wife and i wanted a dog and after a lot of research decided to go for a rescue Staff. Found a great rescue home that had a loads of Staffs. We both fell for a brindle one that was around 10 months. It wasn't until we got him to the vets for his jabs and chipping that we found out he was a cross. The vet thinks he was crossed with a very big dog as he has a very thick neck. I must admit this did scare us a bit however the vet assured us that he had a Staff temprament and providing we were very disciplined with him and got him socialised with both other animals and people he would be fine.

This was back in November and boy has he grown. The vet was spot on. I had a very firm (not aggressive) hand with him to start with and he is now growing into a fantastic part of the family. He loves doing tricks - Paw, sit, lay,give, leave etc - and loves nothing more than curling up with us on the settee after chasing a ball around.

Some tips that have helped me:

As suggested earlier, Kong chew. He loves it and can't destroy it. We fill ours with peanut butter, carrot or his favourite apple.

The dog whisperer on Sky. All his tips have worked for me as he teaches you to treat a dog like a dog and not a person. His key phrases are: Always give your dog excersise, disciplin and affection and in that order. Also always use calm assertivness. Never be angry as your dog will feed off this.

This has worked very well for me and Rascal.

I believe your dog will be whatever you teach it to be with a twist of it's own personality. Thats why they're mans best friend.

UKTigerlily

Akom wrote: »

My wife and i wanted a dog and after a lot of research decided to go for a rescue Staff. Found a great rescue home that had a loads of Staffs. We both fell for a brindle one that was around 10 months. It wasn't until we got him to the vets for his jabs and chipping that we found out he was a cross. The vet thinks he was crossed with a very big dog as he has a very thick neck. I must admit this did scare us a bit however the vet assured us that he had a Staff temprament and providing we were very disciplined with him and got him socialised with both other animals and people he would be fine.

This was back in November and boy has he grown. The vet was spot on. I had a very firm (not aggressive) hand with him to start with and he is now growing into a fantastic part of the family. He loves doing tricks - Paw, sit, lay,give, leave etc - and loves nothing more than curling up with us on the settee after chasing a ball around.

Some tips that have helped me:

As suggested earlier, Kong chew. He loves it and can't destroy it. We fill ours with peanut butter, carrot or his favourite apple.

The dog whisperer on Sky. All his tips have worked for me as he teaches you to treat a dog like a dog and not a person. His key phrases are: Always give your dog excersise, disciplin and affection and in that order. Also always use calm assertivness. Never be angry as your dog will feed off this.

This has worked very well for me and Rascal.

I believe your dog will be whatever you teach it to be with a twist of it's own personality. Thats why they're mans best friend.

What a great post, he sounds lovely! I'm the opposite, I rescued a Staff x, and she turns out to be a full Staff (Tho looks more like a x) lol they're great except for the baths!

Akom

Thanks Tigerlily

He is a great pet though he does on occasions remind us he's still a bit of a puppy.

OH reminded me we actually got him in September not November. Doesn't time fly when your having fun.

Not tried bathing him yet as he's not got that muddy yet. Could be interesting though

dirtyflannel

everyone seems to get staffies but they need a lot of exercise and i know of loads that have a bad habit of chasing their tails and it can be difficult to get them out of the habit same with jack russells small dogs but need loads of attention

UKTigerlily

Mine does ok on only 2hrs a day of exercise so not that much! She sometimes chases her tail but when she does, she lies on her back & sorta tries, not often tho! She's so far the easiest Dog i've had so i'm glad her old Owners at least appear to have brought her up fairly well

foreign_correspondent

UKTigerlily wrote: »

Mine does ok on only 2hrs a day of exercise so not that much!

Thats why she is so chilled out and happy Tigerlily - she is a lucky dog - I reckon a lot of dogs are lucky if they get 20 mins a day, and there are some dogs on this street that I have never seen out for a walk!

han2505

Hey all,

wanting a bit of advice really,

We got our dog just over a year ago now and were debating about getting another dog for a companion for her as we work FT.

I have a couple of questions:

1) what are peoples experiences with 2 dogs?
2) what type of dog should we be looking for, we have a collie cross at the minute?

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks xxx

oystercatcher

Hello,

We have two dogs, Beryl the Peril now 3 1/2 came first she is a terrier X bichon cross, small fluffy very sociable and quite naughty when it comes to recall when there's rabbots or squirrels nearby !!
We had B from a puppy and she was so sociable and as I work part time we decided to get her a friend so when she was 10 months Dennis the Menace arrived a shiz-tzu X bichon cross (from the same family) Dennis is a teddy bear for me and DH but quite snappy to the boys (teenagers) and other people, extremely snappy and nasty to BIG dogs , he does like smaller female dogs (despite being castrated!) . When we got him as a puppy we didn't know he was a bad tempered ratty teddy, assumed he'd be like Beryl as they have the same father and came from a family with loads of animals and people around so were very well socialised. Never mind we love him as he is !

Anyway B & D are best mates, they love each other, play together follow each other around a lot , but not all the time. I'm sure they are very good company for each other particularly when they are left. I pay someone to walk them when we are going to be out all day. It's not fair to leave them for too long!

It's not much more work, if you walk one dog you might as well walk two, same for feeding and bathing. They don't eat an awful lot so the food bills aren't too bad. The big drawback comes with the double vet bills and grooming bills ! I choose not to insure them as we have savings but that also would be a double expense if you chose to insure them.
They can be quite noisy at times as they sometimes go mad and rush round the house playing together and woofing a lot but it doesn't last long and they do stop if told to !!

I haven't a clue about breeds that would go with a collie cross. Maybe someone else would have an idea.

If you think you can afford another dog why not try a rescue dog and take collie cross along and see if he gets along with any of the 'inmates' .

I got one of each sex as read somewhere on the internet that that is the best combination for friendship. Aparrently two females can get quite competitive and fight, same for two males but I think this depends on the individuals. My best friend has two female dogs and they are best of friends to each other! Both of mine have been neutered so no puppies thank you very much!!

Hope that helps

Oystercatcher

han2505

Thanks for the quick reply.

Holly is crossed with a whippet/greyhound, we got her from dogs trust and they werent 100% sure. She has lots of energy and is very playful. We think that she is approx 2 years now.

She gets a walk in the morning before walk, we pay someone to walk her at lunch every now and again, or my partner comes home and plays with her and then we walk her again at night. We just feel that she could do with a companion during the day.

We are intending to visit Dogs Trust at the weekend and see if anyone takes our fancy. I dont know what type of dog to look for though. We were thinking of getting a younger or the same age to keep her company but as much as I want a puppy dont think it would be fair on them when we both work full time.
xx