Zac will be 5 months young next Monday. We have had him for almost 2 months now. It has been a full on two months, but I feel as if we have turned a corner with him.
Staffys are incredibly fast learners. He is fully crate trained. Has all the basic commands down pat. Will not touch his food until we give him the OK. Jumping up (on people/the couch) & bite inhibition training took a while longer. He knows not to jump now. His baby teeth have started falling out, so he isn’t biting/nipping as much, although he will still do so, if overexcited & during rough play. ‘Keep him calm’ is one of the best pieces of advice I have received.
Have been socialising him with local dogs at the park near our home. Furthermore, he gets along fine with the other dogs at his doggy day care centre (2-3 days per week). The staff adore him there.
I must say that others were spot on the mark in terms of the affectionate nature of this breed. It’s unreal how much he follows us around & wants to be with us. He hates it when we head out (even to the letterbox). At home, all he wants to do (when tired) is curl up on our laps & fall asleep. He can be stubborn (when he wants to be), but is generally very responsive to commands.
One funny thing is that he is sheet scared of balloons. Just can’t stand them. My son blew up a few & Zac wanted no part of them. Wouldn’t even look at them & hastily exited the area they were in.
Japan is super dog friendly. There are free dog runs everywhere, not to mention so many dog-friendly accommodation options. There are even ryokan (with onsens) that welcome dogs. Spring is imminent, so am looking forward to a few camping trips with Zac (and the rest of our family).
So great to hear he’s become a wonderful (and very good looking!) family member. My friend’s Staffy is also very cuddly(likes to sleep under the blankets ).He is terrified of thunder - I have spoken about the thunder vests mentioned on here.
Thanks for the update & pic… time flies!!
If you cannot afford to buy a thunder vest, wrap the dog up in towel as you would a baby. It works.
Also Rescue Remedy buy from cheap pharmacy or a health food shop. A couple of drops on the dog’s tongue and in the dog’s food and water. If it doesn’t work fast enough, take some yourself. It really works.
Thanks kindly, @miss_ellie & @loyalandproud - it’s hard to imagine life without Zac now. Very integral part of the fam. And I reckon I have met more of my neighbours in the past two months than I have in the past decade or so.
We get about 10 clients a year who lose their aids to dogs.
The high frequency squeal makes them attractive targets.
Incidentally - how much did you pay for your aids?
Prices are about to come tumbling down.
At present l am staying with friends in Spearwood, Perth. As l have a tendency to wake early l walk their 2 dogs to a nearby local park, where plenty of other doggie people do much the same thing. In the 5 weeks l have been doing this, l have met a couple of dozen people and their dogs. Next week we are moving to a bigger place, that is only 5 mins drive to a dog friendly beach. Perth is fantastic for dogs, and there is also plenty of native bird life around in the morning. A wonderful way to start the day.
The replacement one cost about $3000, fortunately it is covered by my household insurance. Seemed weird making a claim that the dog ate my hearing aid.
They are Siemens Signia units that have rechargeable batteries and blue-tooth app on my phone to adjustment volume and other things.
Just lost our other dog today. Molly - she lived in the shadow of Floyd a bit but was never the same after he went. She was a beautiful dog. No dogs at home now to give us the Wheaten welcome - strange feeling.
So sorry Mackster. Have loved seeing photos of your beautiful dogs. It is the most unreal hollow feeling. We are dogless for the first time in our lives & while it brings opportunities to do things we’ve never done we still miss them every day. Such amazing family members.
Yep- it’s a strange feeling. We have a 2 and 4 year old and feel like we have let her down in terms of walks but we still cared for her as much as we could. Only -15% survival chance of what she had and couldn’t put her through it.
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).He is terrified of thunder - I have spoken about the thunder vests mentioned on here.
