Some advice on a 11 month old

Hello from Ronnie and I again

Having had him now since 18th October 16 he has settled in absolutely brilliant I think. Doing well at puppy class been fantastic with other dogs, knows had to walk to heel ( if he wants too working on this ) plays fetch and drops again as walk to heel. Oh likes rain which is good as I live in Bolton 

Question is after he dinner ( twice a day ) he has started getting cushions off the settee and humping I know it his hormones and have given him a old dog bed which has his fun with. Bar taking them all away any other ideas please ? Food I give him is Harringtons wet n dry 70% dry 30% wet. 

Also a question on castrastion at what age do you think is ok ta ? When we got him he hadn't had any injections and the vet was he needs to have the op. I've read up on it and hopefully all being well when he is 2 years old is our aim. Just wondering if others have done it earlier ? Reason I ask also is my last dog Boxer bitch we had done after first season and wondering if we did it to early. 

Jamie

Hi Jamie, They usually recommend 18 months for neutering as their body has matured Blimey Ronnie Likes the rain that's a novelty

OK can't offer advice on the cushion thing as all my Staffys have been girls but as regard having the OP, it's as contentious as the question of when to have a bitch spayed. A lot of people would say after the first season or two for a girl. I think your probably about right with Ronnie for aiming at about 18 mths - 2 years. Others may say it doesn't matter but personally I think it's best to be done when an adult so as to have got all hormones of adolescence.

Hi harringtons Isn't a high quality food theres good reviews on allaboutdogfood.co.uk the best time for castration is after your dog has matured around 3 years old there have been people that have had the operation earlier i don't know what their views are .xx

Our dogs have always been done early as they due to being rescues. The problem is that I have no idea how they would have been if they'd been neutered later. We've certainly not had a dog that had health issues that have been attributed to it, and behaviourwise I personally don't think we've had problems due to early neutering. I know there are many who feel it can cause behavioural issues, though. If I had to choose now, I'd probably neuter around 18 months or so but earlier if there was reason to.

If Ronnie is only doing this after meals, it sounds likely he's reacting to something in his food and my first guess would be high sugar/carb content. Although Harringtons isn't great, I don't think it's full of additives or sugars, which would be the first things to consider. Looking at the list of ingredients, though, it does have beet pulp (i.e. sugar beet), and although the sugar has been extracted there may be enough for him to react to. Sugar for dogs is like sugar for kids, some go rather doolally.

Try a higher quality food that doesn't contain sugar, additives, beet pulp or grain. Yes, the price per kg will be more but generally you should find you need to feed less as you're not feeding fillers that have minimal nutritional value and come straight out the other end.

Hiya ta for the advice. Hasn't done in for the last few days, definitely think it was more his age than the food but shall look at other foods. 

As didn't know beet was in it, he does lick the bowl clean unlike 100% dry. Coats silky and shiny too. 

Yeah only thing Ronnie had was a microchip other than that nothing till October. As for the OP will stick to our plan of 2 years as will be 25 then unless anything untoward occurs, which I doubt very much. 

Was at puppy class yesterday with him and he just lays on the full on his back with his tackle all on show, trainer said she'd find it hard to train him as he is so funny, and after 10-12 weeks he knows his name, some similar age don't know there's.

Is he generally really giddy after his tea when he goes for the cushions?

I have started taking Phantom out to chase s big Kong toy around in the garden. He doesn't hump much but his boy dog bits are coming in, I can tell he has that testosterone craziness and doing a physical bit of play works that off. He is too excited to fetch but he loves chasing the toy and barking and jumping. Plus, it wears him out for the evening.

Maybe you could redirect him with a game in another room/outside?

Hiya yes think it's definitely testosterone here, when his lipstick comes out he doesn't know what to do, he doesn't like it goes all sheepish and worried haha 

Feed him before the walk the other day and he didn't have his love 20 minutes after that. So will just keep mixing it up for him, walk wise food etc keep him thinking I would say is the best way forward for Ronnie. 

Tennis ball is God for him over food too so Yeah could and will play fetch with him, we still have to have 2/3 balls as loves in if he gets 2 runs off and tries to keep them from me. Is very funny when I get the 3rd out as drops both.

be careful if feeding before a long walk. exercise directly after a full meal can lead to bloat, which can kill!

Hiya yeah I know thanks though.

Just a walk around the block, oddly he has stopped now the cushions are under a throw over