VB MAN said..
^^^
Having spent the last year or so down the park with mates and their mutts, (my decision to get a hound was not an instantaneous thought)
The one thing I have observed, is that the only hound getting hassled, is the one on a leash

Have also seen this down the beach when babysitting sisters dog, (some tool rocks on down the beach with his "**** with me and I'll let
my dog **** with you attitude") and the next thing you know all hell breaks loose

All the other mutts are unleashed and boogying around fine together, rarely, if ever, have I seen any agro

Not having a go at you personally Ricardo, but if yours is the only mutt needed to be on a leash, maybe you should consider getting him
nutted or make efforts to become a better dog owner

Veebs

That's a bit rough. If someone has their dog on the leash and in complete control, then it is incumbent on other owners to control their free ranging pets from harassing dogs on leads. I have two staffies - my 8 year old bitch desexed Serena is a wonderful dog, great with the family but can be aggressive to other female staffies, especially young ones. Don't know why. She is on leash secured to a harness so she can't slip out. The only time i let her off the leash if there are no dogs about. Otherwise, I don't take any chances. The number of dog owners that have zero control over their dogs at the off-leash dog park is asthounding.
just my opinion from many years of staffies and dog parks!

Lol..

Theres a sucker born every minute

How much Is the desexing? What vet? I know an excellent vet who has excellent pricing in the northern suburbs. shock horror eh!!! No package needed!!

I would be really reluctant to buy food or flea treatments from a vet.

Stick to sentinel for flea / intestinal worms / heartworm. Monthly chew thats fantastic. You have some decent food options these days depending on how much you want to spend

Vets WILL charge, often significantly, more for their product. Have they bought up pet insurance at all? These days its pretty much a must have. Since insurance has become so popular, surgery and specialist stuff has gotten far more expensive.... my mate has a 9month old french bulldog and its already cost them 6k in vet fees alone.

What food have you been suggested to feed?

Nutro / Advance and Eukanuba are pretty good places to start but it's really worth having a look at Blackhawk puppy. A 20kg bag is about $100 so it's pretty good value.

Another option is a BARF wet diet. I fed my shepherd this for 6 months but at its not as good value for money as decent biscuits.

I remember when I took my lab in for the chop years ago. I asked the vet in advance for an estimate of cost and he said it depended on the weight. I stood there with puzzled look on my face for about 30 seconds until it dawned on me that he was referring to the weight of the dog as this determines the amount of general anaesthesia required and not the weight of the dogs nuts!!!!

Also in regard to feed we used to alternate between a good quality dry food and home made mince with some vegies and rice or pasta mixed thru it, easy to make and cheap as.

Will be lookin at other insurance options

Not just the one they're trying to flog me, as that works out more expensive than his food bill is gonna be

even if kept on premium munchies

Veebs

VB MAN said..
Will be lookin at other insurance options

Not just the one they're trying to flog me, as that works out more expensive than his food bill is gonna be

even if kept on premium munchies

Veebs

How much did they want?

There seem to be so many "outs" in the various PDS but damned if you do, damned if you don't with the price of vet fee's always increasing. I think RSPCA seems to have a few options. I know their economy and accident one would be about $10pw for my dog but even that seems limited.

I've been lucky with Rex for the previous 8 years. I was offered insurance but in that time, he's only cost me $1600 in problems and that was Christmas week last year when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a toe removed as a result but the vet pushed hard for me to get further cancer treatment (that might not work) and specialist appointments at Murdoch. It was all about the $$$.

The confusions over Pit-bull and Staffies are not new. The best way to differentiate they are as follows...
(1). Height. Pit-bulls are leaner and taller.
(2). Snout. Staffies have shorter snouts. The triangle formed between the eyes and nose is a clear indication. Staffies have a near "equilateral" triangle, while the Pit-bulls have an "isosceles" triangle shape.
(3). Ears. I believe Pit-bull's ears are quite likely to stand up. Staffies' ears most likely to be floppy.

I have English Staffies for the last 13 years or so. What I find endearing is that they don't bark much. In fact, mine three successive staffies hardly ever make any noise. Whether they are too lazy to bark, or thought it is a waste of energy, I don't know.

A young chap walked up to me and said that he also got a Staffy, and the reason he did so was because he saw how well-behaved my Staffy was. Yes, he was a great dog. Children loved him as we walked past the local kindergarten. He would press his face against the fence, and allowed adoring children to pat him.

The best moment was when we walked past a school sports gathering for kids. Children sat down on the grass to listen to the teachers' instructions. My dog got right among them, and sat down and listen to the teachers, as if he was one of the students ! It was quite funny and endearing.

I taught him not to harm Bobtail lizzards and not to chase sheep. I live near the farms, any dog which chased and attacked livestock faces a definite death sentence. He even avoided the grazing Pink and Grey Cockies by walking around them.

There were many great moments and memories with that dog. But I had to teach him and be firm with him. He wasn't nutted, by the way.

VB MAN said..
^^^
Having spent the last year or so down the park with mates and their mutts, (my decision to get a hound was not an instantaneous thought)
The one thing I have observed, is that the only hound getting hassled, is the one on a leash

Have also seen this down the beach when babysitting sisters dog, (some tool rocks on down the beach with his "**** with me and I'll let
my dog **** with you attitude") and the next thing you know all hell breaks loose

All the other mutts are unleashed and boogying around fine together, rarely, if ever, have I seen any agro

Not having a go at you personally Ricardo, but if yours is the only mutt needed to be on a leash, maybe you should consider getting him
nutted or make efforts to become a better dog owner

Veebs

Firstly its not a leash free beach and secondly if people have there dogs off leash they should still be able to control it ,I let my dog off at leash free parks and he is fine with other dogs but that doesn't mean all other dogs are fine with him

VB MAN said..
Once again, I'm not having a go at you personally Ricardo

But what I have observed over the last year or so is that other mutts pick up on the fact that a singular mutt is needed to be on a lead

Dunno how it works, guess it's a doggy thing, but I've seen it over and over

I'll be unleashing my mutt asap, but on his first few outings I'll have my mountain bike handy just in case he does the bolt

Veebs

What I think it is is that the dogs all want to go up to each other to meet and greet. The dog that's on the leash can't move out of the way, and is also a bit threatened because they are on the leash, next to their owner.

If the same dog was not on a leash they would still go up to it, but the meeting would be a bit more even because each dog can move away if needed.