New 3 year old staff who seems stiff

I've had my staff 7 days she's was in a very un active home , never even climbed stairs before! She's fantastic so far however since being very active and found a Kong toy that she love's she seems very stiff when settled. Is this normal? Will she loosen up a little? She's OK when gets going. Also she doesn't eat her food in one go. This is the first staff I have ever had I'm used to labs. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank in advance

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Hi from me & Katy, your girl is not used to exercise so you will need to build her up gradually. At such a young age she shouldn't be stiff after resting, how much are you exercising her a day?

She's been given about 15 mins in the morning and half hr at night. Today she's had 20 mins walk. She's just non stop with the toy, like all day. We've taken it off her then after 2 hrs lounging she's just really stiff on the back end. Once she gets going again she's fine. She's just not had the room in her previous home to run and walk about.

It could well be just the extra exercise that she's having, like us when we first go to the gym!
But to be on the safe side I'd take her to the vet for a once over, just in case.

Yes, she probably should go to the vet for a once over, especially as you don't really know her past history (possible injuries, parents' health etc).

It could just be stiffness from unaccustemed exercise - we all know that feeling getting up after unusual exercise.

Food wise, I'd take up whatever she doesn't eat & wait till her next meal. She might be used to 'grazing' with food available all the time. I don't much like that myself.

Re:her toy. Let her have it for restricted periods until she's settled in with you. All day isn't advisable as she won't have any 'down' times, where she can rest & recover - very important, especially for a young dog who won't regulate themselves!

P. S. Welcome to the forum!

Thank you for your advice. She's used to grazing but wasn't eating enough to feed a pigeon. I've added a little bit of meat to her complete food and she's eaten it all up. Her previous owners have fed wagg throughout her life. We think she has spent alot of time in her cage on mesh with a blanket so not very comfy and not much room at all. I'm going to slowly change her diet and add cod liver oil. What would be a good diet for her?. I'm going to give it a few days then if no better take her to the vets

Hello and welcome.

I would think a change in food could be a very good start.
www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk can give you a good idea - wagg scored 0.8/5

Many here will recommend a raw or barf diet but it isn’t for everybody. Maybe try to reorientate in the best quality kibble you can afford

By all means check out the food comparison site, it'll help you see the better quality food & the price range.

I would personally recommend a complete raw mix (Nutriment, Benyfit, Country Hunter are just three), but if you prefer a kibble, then Taste of the Wild, Millies Wolfheart or Orijen are all good.

Thanks I'm going to research good quality food... 0.8/5 wow that's shocking! I dare not go raw I will look at the other food on the list. I cannot believe how much I love her it's like she's too good to be true. X

That’s the staffy charm

Macymoo wrote:Thanks I'm going to research good quality food... 0.8/5 wow that's shocking! I dare not go raw I will look at the other food on the list. I cannot believe how much I love her it's like she's too good to be true. X

Why 'dare not'?

I would need to educate myself on it first as I've only had her for a week. I'm just worried about the balance of poulty, beef ,chicken ect and then all of the vitamins the dry food has? Are the raw diets all set for you?
Thanks

Macymoo wrote:I would need to educate myself on it first as I've only had her for a week. I'm just worried about the balance of poulty, beef ,chicken ect and then all of the vitamins the dry food has? Are the raw diets all set for you?
Thanks

You can DIY, or you can buy ready mixed. The ready mixed have the right percentages of bone/meat/offal, plus any vitamns/minerals that 'may' be missing. You don't need to do anything except feed it!

It's really simple & there are no grains/colours/preservatives etc.

But if you want to feed kibble, try to choose the best you can afford.

I personally ignore the raw diet preachers, in my humble opinion they're the equivalent of vegans. It's unnecessary and expensive and closer to an ideology than reasoned advice.

I'd agree that a visit to the vet is a good idea, sooner rather than later.

My vet feeds his dog nothing but bog standard Sainsburys kibble. He treats with kibble, makes the dogs breakfast and dinner, all with the same food. Both he and my previous vet, plus my other half (who is a doctor of medicine and has specialised in gastroenterology and nutrition) see the raw diet as nothing more than a fad and a money making scheme. It's not bad for the dogs persay (although switching to it too quickly can cause serious issues with vomiting etc), but it's simply not what it's proponents think it is.

This hugely ambiguous "my dog looks really healthy on raw food" line I read everywhere is nothing short of comical.

Anyway, find a half decent kibble, something around 30-40% protein with a good balance of other ingredients. Your local farm shop is a good place to look, or local agricultural store, as they sell food for working dogs that tends to be good quality at an affordable price. It isn't marketed/advertised to gullible idiots (which you pay for), and doesn't have a nice pretty picture on the front to make you feel superior by buying it, so you just pay for the ingredients. That's it.

I think I pay about £1.50 a kilo or thereabouts for my kibble (maybe less). I get it from Wynnstay Agricultural Group.

No, grain is not bad for dogs, and there is zero scientific evidence to back that up, so go ahead and buy kibble with grain as long as your dog isn't allergic (which I'm sure you'd know by now).

You can substitute the diet with the occasional can of tuna (canned in spring water NOT brine or oil) a pigs ear a week, good treats and if you really want a shiny coat, a couple of teaspoons of salmon fish oil in his/her food per day will do that.

Websites grading dog food are about as useful as every other "non bias" website on the Internet (a la TripAdvisor) ....i.e not useful at all. You may as well ask the Marx Brothers for advice.

You don't have to spend lots of money to have a perfectly healthy dog.

Also, whoever her previous owners are should be banned from having any more animals, period.

Absolutely disgraceful.

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Good grief. What a rant!

Raw feeding ISN'T a 'fad', neither is it bad for dogs - I would d say it's a thousand times better than Bakers, for example.

I agree that grain isn't 'bad' for dogs, but neither do they get much good out of it. And wheat is a known common allergen. Grain is usually in a dog food as a 'filler' and gives virtually no nutritional value for canines.

As to your vet feeding nothing but Sainsbury own... shame on him! He can afford a better quality food than that. Does he also recommend annual vaccinations?

The AllAboutDogFood site is useful, because it breaks down the ingredients into readily understandable sections of what is or isn't needed, and compares prices.

Just because you don't like raw feeding, or spending much on your dog's nutrition, doesn't mean nobody else does.

Raw feeding ISN'T for everyone, which is why I put a couple of recommendations for GOOD QUALITY kibbles.

Lol, OK mate, my vet's a bad person who knows nothing about dogs, and after spending £2k on a champion bloodline Staffy I'm too tight to spend money on nutrition.

Or maybe, just maybe...it's nonsense.

Anyway, you keep believing everything you read, I'll keep thinking for myself. No biggy

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Pabby1980 wrote:Lol, OK mate, my vet's a bad person who knows nothing about dogs, and after spending £2k on a champion bloodline Staffy I'm too tight to spend money on nutrition.

Or maybe, just maybe...it's nonsense.

Anyway, you keep believing everything you read, I'll keep thinking for myself. No biggy

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If you spent £2000 on a Stafford, you were robbed. I'm sure your dog is gorgeous, but no Stafford (no matter how many champions are in it's pedigree) should be sold for that amount.

And yes, your vet IS talking rubbish, and as you didn't comment on it, I assume he DOES agree with annual vaccinations?

I've no idea what he thinks about annual vaccinations, I couldn't care less. I'll do my own research on that subject and act accordingly.

I also do not follow his feeding regime, again, because I do my own research and act accordingly.

An average price for a champion blue is between 1600 and 2000 depending on the bloodline and markings (or lack thereof). Its hardly being 'robbed' if they're all the same price!

Deary me...

But they shouldn't be, that's my point.

NOBODY can tell the quality of a pup just because of the 'champions' in its bloodline.

Blues are not rare, and a solid blue is very often highly inbred or bred from two blues, which is largely not recommended by top, decent breeders.
They are NOT all that price. But it depends on how closely you look at parentage - not just the ones with 'ch' in front of their names.

Anyway, that's off topic.

To be honest I have no issue spending that amount on a puppy, I think a couple of grand is nothing for an animal you'll own for 12-15 years. If all staffys were a bit more expensive it might stop the kind of owners we see all the time being dragged along by 'Tyson'.

And yes, blues and inbreeding is an issue, on that we do agree, but this can be avoided with careful research and vetting of breeders.

I'm currently in the process of exposing a puppy farm for blues I discovered when searching for mine, but that's a separate subject I may post about when I start to see results.

Cheers.

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Hi Macymoo, congratulations on the rescue! Lovely to hear of dogs getting a loving home.

I used to feed Misty Raw and she loved it (then again she loves most food) however after a few years she did start to go off it so we put her on Orijen which she adores.

It's a very high quality food. She was on bakers when we got her and very hyperactive. I think a raw diet is great but there are good quality kibble out there and personally I would always go for grain free.

Can't wait to hear more about your dog. I think the stiffness could well be from lack of exercise but agree with others re a vet check.

Thanks for all of your advice. I have had all of her history emailed to me by the vet because I was worrying she had bad hips or something, the owners rang them and said I had now brought her so seeing all of the notes it does seem that she has been in her cage a lot. I'm getting her into the vets Wednesday, meanwhile she is now eating he rest of my old boys royal canin with abit of meat and shes loving it.
Pabby 1980 you are right they should never have a dog again, its was the wrong decision for them to make as the lady was disabled and her hubby was struggling also, I can say they did love her loads and the vet report does show this but the exercise is a big thing for dogs as we know but apart from this they did try. I was a labrador fan but my god this girl is adorable and my daughter whos more of a cat fan is bragging to her friend that her dog can do high five

That’s a great update Macymoo

That's a great update! They are such an intelligent breed. The Staffies and staffy crosses we have in our training class are always the first to pick things up. They just love to learn and you can teach them so many fun tricks. Misty kept a group of children enthralled in the park once as they loved watching her high fives, go rounds etc.

Wonderful - thank you so much for the update!

Hi & Welcome from Flo and me

A high five from a Staffy is very common. They are clever and very loving (I guess you’ve experienced a Staffy cuddle by now)

As for food, just to throw my two cents worth in, I think barf/raw is as nature intended but for some or indeed most it isn’t always practical. I would say that a Sainsbury’s own brand would need to be looked at to see exactly what’s in it as I don’t know but agree that wagg is very low quality.

The link provided above is great as it will give you some basis to make a good choice from.

Well done on taking a Staffy into your life, it can be quiet nervy if you’ve always been another breed advocate given Staffies reputation though it sounds like you’ve been won over already