Couple of questions....

Hi there. Just a couple of questions (and possibly silly ones at that!) from a new Staffie owner:
Should I discourage his tail chasing? He goes mad doing this and its funny but will it hurt him?
I know Staffies are known for they're "talking" but if I say no to something he "talks back", should I discourage this or embrace his cheekyness?
People keep telling me he is going to be big by going from the size of his paws Is this really an indicator or just an old wives tale?

I'm sure I will think of plenty more silly ones as the weeks go on lol! x

No questions silly! Ask away, we can only answer through our own experiences.

Chasing the tail is one I would discourage but its not a worry, it won't hurt him and to be honest I think he will grow out of it, my first was a mini whirlwind, I thought it was so funny to watch!

Moo answers back to everything I say! Again I think its there personality coming through!

Paws, well yes if a dog has large paws its generally said they will be big, I'm not sure in the truth of it, but sounds right!

Winston used to drive us bonkers chasing his tail ( it is very long! ) but we always tried to distract him, as it can develop into a really bad habit.
Regarding the talking back, it is a trait of staffys to talk !! Sometimes Jethro makes noises that sounds like he is being strangled!!

i'd discourage the tail chasing. as for the size of his paws,not sure about that, although marley did have big paws when he was a pup and now weighs around 20kg and is about 17 inches tall at the withers

Phew... I didn't know "talking back" was a staffy trait! Gabbi does it every day during her "manic 15mins"... I thought it was just her being cheeky, it's very cute though.

I keep getting told she has small paws so will be small!

You're where I was at 6 weeks ago - 3 month old staffy and lots of questions, I now have a 4n'1/2 month staffy and lots of different questions... thankfully the guys on here are very helpful and have been through it all before for us

Good luck!

Thanks guys! I feel like a new mum again
Yeah we were told he would prob be big and after seeing his daddy i know why lol.

I'm sure i will have more questions soon xx

Agree on discouraging the tail chasing. I don't know if there is a scientific correlation between large paws and a large dog but I believe it as well

Tail chasing is usually grown out of, my girl did it too, its fun having a tail! The only problem is if they only do it one way they can become stiff on the opposite side, curve their spine if they do it A LOT and some dogs have been known to bite off the ends of their tails. They also don't have a notion of where they are going so will likely bump into everything.

As for the paws, it usually is an indicator, but not always. My lab x spaniel had huge paws like you would think it was a massive new foundland dog, but he was not much bigger than a spaniel but had the huge body bulk of a lab.