got a dog today :)

[FartBlossom]

Just wanted to share the news about our addition to our family.

It has been something we have been looking into and thinking about for a while now and today we got one. We weren't planning to get one today, but knew it would be within the next couple of months. It all came about today because last night a FB friend commented on a post about a puppy for sale. I didn't want a puppy, but it made me think about getting one now so we did.

Its a 22 month old Staffy and very active so far. We are wondering if its an active dog or if its just active today as its in a new place with new people. Well time will tell.

We are all very excited, but a bit nervous too.

They calm down a lot at around 4-5 years.

Do you know much about its background? Staffies are meant to be great family dogs, good with children, but not so good with other dogs.

Is it male or female and is it neutered? Neutering can help calm dogs.

Is there going to be someone at home all the time with the dog?

Are you all kitted out and ready for your first night?

Lots of questions . Do you know why it's being rehomed, - 22m seems quite old to 'sell' a puppy?

I took FentonPup out for his first proper walk today, we have progressed from laying down and rolling on the lead and biting it so that's good

At the risk of raining on your parade, you've done a very silly thing. No responsible dog owner would sell their dog on Facebook.

The people who do this tend to be the kind of people who have not bothered to train the dog and it's become too much for them to handle or they've just found out it has x, y and z health problems and they can't afford the vets bills.

They'll also lie through their back teeth to get rid of the dog for what they think is a fair price and recoup some of their losses. I'd be right if I guessed they either have to move or have just taken on more hours and don't have time for the dog wouldn't I? Bollocks, they have. They haven't bothered to train their dog and now they can't handle so they're passing the buck to someone else

In your favour you went for a Staffy, which, luckily for you, are fairly healthy breeds and want nothing more than to please you, they're also excellent with children and are nicknamed the nanny dog because of their natural love for children.

Get the dog insured now as in right now. Vets tomorrow for fleas, worms and a full health check and a microchip. You can discuss nuetering or spaying while you are there.

Book into a training class this week. The decent ones round here have a waiting list. Devil Dog has been on the waiting list for obedience classes with the only positive trainer in our town since early last year. I got an email yesterday to say if I can pay the fee now there is a cancellation for August's class otherwise he is in October's group, almost a full 12 months after I applied.

If this is the case in your area I would strongly advise that you pay out extra and do some one to one sessions before any problems become noticable.

Good luck OP. I truly hope it works out for you, not least because I adore staffies and it breaks my heart to hear about them being passed from home to home because no one has bothered giving them the training they need. They can be boisterous, but they love to learn, simply to please you, all they need is someone willing to put in the effort.

Its male, not neutered. We were thinking about the neuturing to calm him down, but we're not sure if 22 months is quite old for that?

The other female dog they had, had puppies and they were worried about the level of activity this dog had around those puppies. They did also mention about being out a lot leaving the dog at home.

Yes there is someone around here all day which is why I was happy to have a dog.

He came with his stuff so have everything he had at the old house.

He is 22 months as I didnt want a puppy so got a dog.

We have been thinking about getting a dog for a couple of years now so I have been looking into it for a long time and doing all my research. Yes he's a bit livlier than we imagined, but nothing that we can't cope with. I personally wonder if the previous owners got him and couldn't cope as he is really lively, but like I said time will tell if its because its all new for him or if he's just a lively dog. either way its all good.

We have a 15month old staffy male. He had him from 8 weeks. He is very bouncy and giddy. But as others have said all he wants to do is say hello to everyone and get sone love. he is great with our DS (6), when we all go on walks he wont leave his side, gets fussy if he cant see him etc. im looking forward to him calming down in a yr or two, but also love watching being a "daft pup" ( chasing tail, being suprised when he trumps etc.
We took him to training and he was very quick to learn.
Good luck and enjoy.

crossed posts there.

Didn't buy on FB saw another dog on FB, but not this one.
Insurance is sorted earlier today :) Will look into the training, but we've had no problems with it following orders such as stay sit etc.

'The other female dog they had, had puppies and they were worried about the level of activity this dog had around those puppies. They did also mention about being out a lot leaving the dog at home.' or they took him on from a free to good home ad purposely to breed with their bitch and now he has done his bit, they don't need him anymore. They'll sell him, sell the pups, then once the bitch is in season again repeat the whole sorry process again It's very common and why us posters who are involved in rescue hate people advertising unwanted pets on FB etc.

Staffys are incrediably bouncy as pups and adolosecents and very active, but also very eager to please. You've got your work cut out for you, but it will be worth it in the end. He will probably get more active once he has settled down, not less so

Book into training classes. Read up a bit Karen Pryor's - Don't shoot the dog and Jean Donaldson's - The Culture Clash are great places to start.

22 months is plenty old enough for neutering. The vet might want you to keep the dog for a week or so just so you get to know him better and would be able to spot any reaction to the op, but get it done as early as possible. It can help with some unwanted behaviours but it can take as long as 18 months for all the hormones to settle down after neutering so it is by no means a miracle cure.

You can always pop him in the post and send him here. My house contains a staffy shaped hole

You can have a dog neutered at any age. I would say get it done ASAP.

We got one of our Staffies at 10 months (although he was given to us, we didn't buy him) and he was crazy. Our other came from Battersea and was 18 months old and he was completely mental - he had been seriously mistreated and had never been inside.

Both are lovely pets, but extremely aggressive with other dogs out of the house.

You probably got a lot of hard work ahead with settling him in and training etc, but he will probably make a lovely pet.

They do drive me mad sometimes though!

I loves bouncy dogs. It's been months since I threatened the Devil Dog with the sausage factory . He is just a normal, happy, calm dog now, which is good for him, but I'm bored

I'm not even worried about taking him to a whole class full of other dogs and I am fairly confident that he will walk through his bronze award (a leetle bit worried about the down stay and recall because they're not his stong points right now, but he's indicated lately that he's more than willing to learn)

He's been to two classes before. The first class advised us not to come anymore and that he might need some extra intensive work before he was ready to work with other dogs . The second class kept talking about wolves and told me that he pulled on his lead because I allowed him to sit on the sofa so he thought he was walking me needless to say we never went back.

He's been on this waiting list for ages. I am vair excited and only a tiny bit nervous about him showing us up again

We had our first rescue (we have 3) neutered when we got him. He was somewhere between 3 and 6 years old. It costs more the bigger the balls, which is why most people would choose to neuter a pup!

I agree with what Dooin said. And staffies are great.

I had the same problem as Dooin with finding dog training classes for an adult dog. I couldn't find any near me that weren't full of pack leader nonsense (it doesn't help that I live in the middle of nowhere). So it's a good idea to get him neutered and book him into classes ASAP.

Hmm my dog is definitely not a wolf, he just wants to sit up on the sofa with us.

Oh, we went through a lot of behaviourists before I found one I was happy with. Dh was getting very annoyed and still keeps asking if I am such an expert then why don't I a) train the dogs myself and b) "go round to people's houses to talk to them for half an hour and then charge them £60 for the priveledge" aka become a dog trainer.

We were happy with the last behaviourist but he came to us from out of town and his obedience classes are not accessable to us, so we went on this waiting list once we thought he'd be okay to learn around other dogs without attempting to eat or dry hump them to death

I am happy that the lady in charge of this class does not think my dog is The Lone Wolf in disguise. I've talked to her on the phone and emailed and I happy that she does not use pack theory or adversive techniques, plus he's pretty much trained now, I just want a shiny certificate to prove how clever he is to people

That's great, DOoin. He sounds well-trained by now so shouldn't think he needs the class, but he will get his certificate :).

Fenton, your pup is absolutely gorgeous! Love that picture of your two legged pets as well !