slightly miffed and a little concerned.....

stez1234

stez1234

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Hiya,

As some of you are aware I adopted an 18 month old staffy cross from the RSPCA a couple of weeks ago.

Last night we went to our local vets to have her second injection. The vet proceeded to tell me that she is not 18 months old and is more like 8 months!!!!

This would explain her very puppy like mental behavior and inability to listen to me!!!

How is it possible to age a dog so incorrectly when the vet seemed to be so convinced?

This is not the first time as a friend at work has also adopted a dog from the same RSPCA recently and they have got her dogs age wrong as well by quite a lot!

What now concerns me is do I need to change the way we do our training??

I will be taking her to training classes hopefully starting in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks
A xxxxxx
 
Immediate thought is that you might need to reduce her exercise!! I look forward to hearing your updates... oh and btw... where are the photos?!
 
Hiya,

I did add photos to my post before but as you asked so nicely here are some more.....

Let me know how old you guys think she is.....

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How vey strange.

We adopted Biscuit 2 weeks and one day ago and we were told he was definalty not chipped. Vets found a chip :eek: But we checked with his old owners and they did say that they had handed him in at the shelter.

We have only just recived his papers as another voluteer stole them because he didn't want me to have Biscuit.
 
Hopefully staffie experts will be able to enlighten you more, but my first thought is she doesn't have any knuckle left so looks as if she has finished growing, which in my breed would maybe make her more than 8 months, but staffs may grow quicker. Presumably the vet went off her teeth, has she perhaps not got all her adult teeth yet?
It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that RSPCA had got her age wrong though, I have very little faith in them I'm afraid.
 
Bettyboo222 said:
How vey strange.

We adopted Biscuit 2 weeks and one day ago and we were told he was definalty not chipped. Vets found a chip :eek: But we checked with his old owners and they did say that they had handed him in at the shelter.

We have only just recived his papers as another voluteer stole them because he didn't want me to have Biscuit.
Click to expand...

WTF?! Did he want to keep Biscuit? Mental!
 
To be honest I am not sure I believe the vets either. But looking at her compared to other staffs she is a lot smaller and far less bulky than them. A couple of good friends who are a lot more knowledgeable than me have agreed with the vet after meeting Holly!! I don't mind what age she is I just want to make sure I am doing the right things at the right times.

Thanks
A xxxxxx
 
If she is a staff x she could be crossed with a smaller breed so will not be as big as pure staffies. Having said that she looks longer in the leg than a pure staff in those pictures, if you google for images you will see that they are quite a short legged breed.
Perhaps you could contact the RSPCA again and try and find exactly what history they have on her.
 
I can't see any immaturity so 18 months would be a minimum guess.

Vets often don't have a clue. I got a locum once who asked was i planning to breed from the bitch on the table as I'd just told nurse,who I knew well, she'd gone best bitch at the breed club show. I said hardly likely and he started saying well this breed is rare and if she wins surely you should breed. His face was a picture when I said Best in Show went to her eight year old son & she won from veteran.
 
In the rescues defense it is very hard to age dogs, diet and enviornment can have a huge impact on teeth and developement. Certainly to my eye she looks likes she's an young adult dog, I wouldn't class her as a puppy. She's a bonny little thing and well done for taking on a rescue...esp a staffy wish more people were doing the same!!:(
 
I am no staffie expert, but she looks older than 8 months to me.

As JSR says, ageing animals when you don't know their history is a bit of a minefield, so please let's not start RSPCA-bashing... they saved this little mite and got her into a good home for goodness sake, can't we just say well done for once??
 
MurphysMinder said:
If she is a staff x she could be crossed with a smaller breed so will not be as big as pure staffies. Having said that she looks longer in the leg than a pure staff in those pictures, if you google for images you will see that they are quite a short legged breed.
Perhaps you could contact the RSPCA again and try and find exactly what history they have on her.
Click to expand...


Staffies have been so bred out that she could well be a "pure" staff by people breeding on cheaply but she is too long legged to be deemed one by breeders or KC standards. Bitches are a lot less bulky than the boys anyway and don't have quite the same breadth of head. Breed standard for bitches is 14" at the shoulder which will probably surprise a lot of you! Having seem a number of staffies and crosses I would say she looks older than 8 months and nearer the 18 month but thats purely on a photo. Either way, she is very pretty!
 
She looks alot like Dex in a different colour........ we (rescue/vet/me) reckon dex is probably 12-24 months.......
 
My first thought was (apart from shes sooo cut) that she looks quit tall. Her body shape look very similar to my 18month staffy. Her features look in proportion. When I look back at my puppy photos she had some strange growth spurts, huge ears, out of proportion muzzel ect.
My dog has had a very settles life, we had her at 8 weeks, no job or home life changes so she is calmer but she can still b very immature and dizzy, no attention span ect I think they can b a dizzy breed at times so she could be older
Good luck shes beautiful
 
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