New staffy owner

Hi guys and girls

I've just had my home visit with the RSPCA and will be taking home my first ever staffy and first ever dog Calvin tomorrow morning. So excited! When we went to the centre we didn't have our minds set on any particular type of dog and il confess to not really have given staffys much thought in the past, but once we were there all the ones we liked best ended up being staffys and one special little boy in particular. It will be a learning curve for me and Calvin as he is still very young and hes my first dog but my OH has had Labradores and Alsations in the past. This forum has been great for getting info whilst we have been waiting for the go ahead. Off now to the shops to get all the doggie gear and prep the house for his arrival.  

if you got any question please ask xx

You wont get much sleep tonight, too excited!   Enjoy your shopping trip.

good luck for tomorrow, and dont forget the photos. You will be fine, as theres all the help on here.   

very excited for you xx

So glad to hear your home visit went well, they can be quite nerve racking can't they, we had one before Rocky came home.

You will find loads of information here on the forum and please just ask if you have any questions.

BTW - we do love pictures   

Congratulations! Perfect little new year present ey. I have to admit before I got my little cuddle monster I didn't give staffys much thought also but now that I have him. No matter how mischievous. Best decision I ever made

Oh and if you have any questions. Everyone here is so amazing they helped me so much glad I joined

I remember our home visit from RSPCA before we got Oz it was a bit scary also we weren't looking for a staffs in particular but the minute we saw Oz and what a character he us that was it for us, never looked back and staffs all the way for us now. You'll get some great help here, no question is stupid we all cone across things we don't know about x

Ooooh I bet your soooooo excited

So excited for ya best times ahead any questions just give us all a shout

Ooh how exciting well done for rescuing there are so many that need good loving homes. Hope he is home with you now look forward to pics xx

Hows it going?   

well done you for rescuing, I wish the pathetic excuse of a 'rescue' I got my boy from had bothered with home checks etc, walk in hand over a measley donation, and the dogs yours.

Hi guys

Yes waiting for the home visit was nerve wracking as we didn't know what to expect and I barely got any sleep the night before due to worrying. We visited calvin 4x in the week before the visit and had grown very attatched to him :-). The actual visit was a lot more relaxed than I was expecting, just a quick look around, and some questions, about 30 mins all together.

We didn't really sleep the night before getting him home either due to excitement. Everything has gone well since getting him, we had a few minor dramas getting him into the car, he seemed scared of it and went a bit crazy once in. We think maybe his previous owners drove him to the middle of nowhere and kicked him out. He was sitting in the boot (no boot shelf) and I sat in the back seats stroking him, after a short while and some treats he seemed to be content. We went out for an hour and 20 mins walk once we got back. We are lucky as we have a castle with nice and spacious grounds a short walk away, he said Hi nicely to a few other dogs whilst on his leash. We went to an enclosed area, there were no other dogs and let him off the leash as he wont do a poo if hes on his leash. He was very well behaved and had a good run and some games of fetch and chase. He only ever runs a short distance ahead of you before turning round and coming back. He likes to run circles around you, perhaps he thinks hes a sheep dog lol.

Hes been very good in the house, he hasn't chewed anything and its turned out that hes aleady been house trained . We have 5 pet gerbils in 3 cages in the front room which I was worried about, but other than a quick sniff hes paid no attention to them. It was very cute because he was clearly knackcered but kept fighting off sleep till the very last moment. He slept in our room with us but in his own bed, though he did try to get in ours with us.

I don't have work again till Friday, our plan at the moment is for me to be constantly with him for the rest of the weekend, take him to vets to be registered Monday, then go out for short periods of time, gradually increasing the length of time I am gone so he gets used to being left for short periods and knows that we will be coming back. I work shifts, mostly nights and my OH works 9-5, one-two days per week he will be in the house by himself but my work is a 5 min drive away and I will be coming back in my lunch break. I also get 8 days off in a row every month which I think wil be great for bonding.

I cant get my photos to upload to photobucket directly from my computer, so Im putting them onto facebook, then hopefully I can get them on here for you guys to see my beautiful boy, why anybody would want to get rid of such a lovelly well behaved dog is beyond me. Hes currently sharing a cwtch with me on the sofa and sleeping.

This pheasant is his favourite toy so far, we named it Percy.

The tennis ball lasted seconds!

Just a few questions now. Calvin weighs 15kg and we have been told he needs to put on another 2kg, we are feeding him James Well Beloved but he only eats half his serving, do you think this is just because he is in a new environment and that once hes settled he will eat it all? They fed him 2x per day in the RSPCA so we are sticking with that atm. He was only 12kg when they saved him. His tennis balls only lasted a few seconds, could a baseball/softball be used as an alternative? They seem more durable and roughly the same size?

Well done on the rescue! Looks like he's settled in really well. In regards to the food it may be him settling, being a bit fussy, or he may just not like the food. JWB is good food, but i've not seen many dogs go mad over it, dry is a bit bland! I'd leave it down for 15 minutes at the most and then pick it up and don't give anything until the next feed time. Don't allow him to graze all day, a healthy dog won't starve themselves. If he's still not eating and dropping weight i'd get him in for a vet check just to be sure, and think about altering his diet. Biscuit won't touch dry food, I have fed raw and nature diet and both are gone within two seconds.

Biscuit shreds tennis balls also! I used basketball type balls from pets at home, she still kills it in 5 minutes but the shell lasts a lot longer and she can give it a good rag. Other than boomer balls, I don't think many balls tend to last very long with bull breeds   The boomer ball could be an option for you depending on his personality type.. I have seen dogs get obsessed with them to the point of bleeding, drooling and injuring themselves trying to burst it! But other less obsessive dogs can really enjoy them!

Oz was the same when we first rescued him, he wouldn't eat properly for days but he soon settled down. I changed his food from what RSPCA kennels fed him . James well beloved is good, I feed Oz nature diet he doesn't like dry but a lot if peeps here feed raw, but whatever you decide, introduce a change slowly not to upset his tum. Tennis balls only last seconds Oz has an oversized tennis ball which oh got from the states which has a squeaky in it, it's a kong one and is still in tact after a few weeks, what about a boomer ball?

so glad its going well,i would keep feeding as you are for the mo,he is still settling in and may just need a bit of time to adjust,they do like their balls but as you have found out they dont last long   

Hes so handsome, and his colouring is like Pixees. I wouldnt worry too much either about the food, but if it carries on, I would change it. We went through a few changes with Pixee too, (She was only 10kg when we had her, now a heathly 19kg) and finally found her a food she loves, which is not dry, which she hates, and not wet, but in between, its called Wainwright Trays. A few staffies on here eat this. You just need to find something Calvin will love. And dont worry about the toys, not much lasts with our staffies   .

Thanks for the advice guys, our plan is to keep with his dry atm, but also give him meaty bones from the butchers and things like liver and abit of chicken a few times per month. I hadn't considered giving him raw meats before, il read up on it and possibly try it once hes settled, the same with the wainwrights.

He has now destroyed the rest of his tennis balls and also killed off percy, luckily we have a few more pheasant toys as they are currently reduced in pets at home and my OH is going to look for a boomer ball on his way home from work.

I finished reading my dog book and staffy book today and became concerned about his eyes as you can see his third eyelid in both eyes (see my first pic of him). So I took him to the vets today and my poor boy has conjunctivitis, the vet was also worried about the almost bald spot on his head but the hair does appear to be growing back, we just have to keep an eye on it, but the RSPCA had given him a clean bill of health with only kennel cough listed in his docs. The vet thinks his weight is fine. We have eye drops to give him 2x per day for 10 days but he doesn't seem to mind it and was a good calm boy for the vet, I am very proud of him so far, he is so well behaved and loving.

Any ideas what would cause a dog to have thin patch of hair or bald spot on their head? We noticed a few other dogs with it when we first went there.

Calvin is gorgeous, the bald patch may be where he has been in kennels but do keep an eye on it   

Max had previously has demodex and has a bald scaly spot on his head, but we used to see it a LOT in kennels.. Called it the staffy thumb!! Think it can be a stressy thing but keep an eye to make sure it's not some kind of skin problem. Hopefully his eyes will get better soon!

Clavin is so cute.

we also rescued a staffy last week, massive learning curve for me and him lol