Hi

Hi all,

I'm Carl and this is Venus. She came to us as a rescue last year. We think she's about to turn six.

She's a really well behaved girl and we have no issues with her other than she'll eat anything and is always begging for treats and will stare at some of the family whilst they're eating.

She knows not to with me as I don't usually give in to it!

We think she thinks she's still a puppy rather than a 4 and a half stone monster! On a night she'll dive on me in bed and lie between my legs, resting her head and paws on me.

She loves licking people - she is literally obsessed and gets a bit narky if she doesn't get to lick someones face when she wants to. That said, she does understand "No licking!".

When she wants to go out for the toilet she'll patiently stand beside the door to let us know what she needs but she has no problem opening interior doors herself.

She knows where the treats are kept and will stand there and look at us then where the treats are. Her communication skills are amazing!

If she's ready for her dinner she'll stand and look at her bowl and wait as long as it takes for us to realise that's what she's doing.

We're going to have to train her out of her separation anxiety as we always have to have someone in the house with her - which is fine, we work from home but could do with getting out and about without her on occasion.

We have two pet rats and she loves to go into the room they're in and stare at them. Can't tell whether it's to play with them, eat them or just out of instinctive curiosity. Once or twice she's got too close and they've snapped at her so I think she's more scared of them than they are of her - which is really funny given the size difference.

Anyway, been meaning to sign up for a while, looks like a good forum so we'll pop by from time to time.

Hi & welcome.

Venus is absolutely beautiful!

Hello & welcome!

Hi & welcome to the forum

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Hi Carl from me & Katy, welcome to our forum Venus is a beautiful young lady
With her separation anxiety what does she do when left & how long have you left her for? I think after this lockdown finishes there is going to be a lot of lockdown puppies that are going to struggle!

Hello and welcome from my girls and me.
I agree that Venus is gorgeous too 

Hi all,

Thanks for the welcome, much appreciated!

Jenc  - She initially thinks shes going on a walk and then if you lock her in she whines and scratches at the front door in a vain attempt to open it.

Longest she's been left alone is if I'm moving car from the drive into the garage.. now she does seem to be calmer when I come back but not sure what she'd be like for longer.

Apparently, in the rescue centre, she was throwing herself against the cage to try and get out before we took her away.

She's very much a people dog so we're going to start telling her to stay a couple of mins in a room with the door closed and reward her if she does well.. increasing the time gradually and then doing the same outdoors.

We have a camera we can put on so we can watch her behaviour!

That said, we can probably permanently maintain someone here all the time - unlike many, we are lucky to both be able to wfh full time on an ongoing basis. Must be difficult for those who won't be able to, as you say.

This morning she was waiting for me to get up

Oh bless her What you have suggested is the best way to start showing her that you will always come back. As she is a rescue that is what has caused the problem I believe. She went out with her family to a place & left there, she wouldn't understand why

Jenc wrote:Oh bless her What you have suggested is the best way to start showing her that you will always come back. As she is a rescue that is what has caused the problem I believe. She went out with her family to a place & left there, she wouldn't understand why

Couldn't agree more. When we take her out in the car she whines for a good while before she settles. We think she fears we're taking her away.. she's always a lot happier on the return journey.

Just thinking about some of the other behaviours she shows...

...She'll lie on her back for a tummy rub then have that big staffy smile and be going "aaahhh aahhh" with wide eyes. We think she enjoys this..


...she will also just sit and stare at nothing, in that regular staffy seated pose..

Am curious as to whether these behaviours are typical staffy behaviours as it helps us understand her better.

Bit of Katy's story: She was advertised in the local paper as a 6wk old pup, when I went to meet her the woman said she was bred by her uncle up north. He gave her to his niece at 5wks & she wanted to rehome her after a week When we met Katy the woman's 2yr old daughter was slapping her There was no way I was leaving the pup there!
She settled well & one day I had to work & hubby had to too, I took her with me & asked my customer to have her indoors whilst I worked outside. She cried the house down as she thought she had been left again, I only worked 1hr instead of 4!
Now she's happy to be left at home to sleep
If Venus is showing her belly that's the sign that she is happy & safe with you
Staring into the distance with bum tucked under & legs forward is a happy position too.
She loves & trusts you

Jenc wrote:Bit of Katy's story: She was advertised in the local paper as a 6wk old pup, when I went to meet her the woman said she was bred by her uncle up north. He gave her to his niece at 5wks & she wanted to rehome her after a week When we met Katy the woman's 2yr old daughter was slapping her There was no way I was leaving the pup there!
She settled well & one day I had to work & hubby had to too, I took her with me & asked my customer to have her indoors whilst I worked outside. She cried the house down as she thought she had been left again, I only worked 1hr instead of 4!
Now she's happy to be left at home to sleep
If Venus is showing her belly that's the sign that she is happy & safe with you
Staring into the distance with bum tucked under & legs forward is a happy position too.
She loves & trusts you

Thanks Jen - so glad you rescued her from that horrible family. We're slowly getting her used to me not being there (she's like my shadow!) but its definitely good to know it can be done...

She does, we've also got pet rats, they're in a cage in the only room she can't open the door of herself. She spends half they day begging us to let her go and see them then sits staring at them and sniffing the cage.

One of the rats developed the habit of being able to get out so I've just added a mesh to the cage so that's impossible now, also means we're more comfortable letting Venus go in unsupervised. We have a camera on the cage and my home office is right next door so its fascinating watching her left to her own devices in there!

Oh I love rats, I had Dumbo rats When I got Katy I still had one indoor Guinea pig, she would just watch it in it's cage & sniff him if he was on my lap

Jenc wrote:Oh I love rats, I had Dumbo rats When I got Katy I still had one indoor Guinea pig, she would just watch it in it's cage & sniff him if he was on my lap

Aww yeah - bet she spent half her time trying to work out what it was

Venus does exactly the same. Every now and again one of the rats may try (in vain) to give her a nibble. Venus will try to retaliate but can't get to them so just runs away whining. Think she's fascinated, scared and her hunter instinct all come in to play in equal measure!

Thanks for the welcome here, have really appreciated it!

Glad to have you here

Hi.