Staffy pup

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meandmrblue

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Just acquired a staffy bitch puppy today she's 15weeks old and very hyper.shes on bakers puppy food and seems to have sensitive skin, what food do you feed your staffy pups.also she is picking and eating anything she can find I'm a bit worried about her picking up slugs will this wear off? Thanks:)
 
Bakers is absolutely shocking food and full of stuff that will flare up skin issues - pretty much anything else would be better! Try Eden, Arden Grange, Fish4Dogs, Applaws, Skinners, Wainwrights etc. and refer to this website before buying.

Is your concern about slugs due to lungworm? I was discussing this with one of our vets just yesterday and he reckons it's just a very effective marketing ploy by Bayer, the risk of lungworm in the UK is still very, very low. No harm in using Advocate as a preventative if you're worried (and it would rule out mites as a cause of itchy skin issues). :)
 
This thread is useless without pics. Get the pup to your vet to get her registered and checked over. As for food, agree with above poster...bakers is awful.

Speak to your vet but don't be talked into buying the expensive stuff they sell for the sake of it...just ask for a few makes the vet would reccommend. X
 
Hi

I'm usually a major H+H forum lurker but I couldn't not respond to a thread about a Staffie. I'm a HUGE fan.

I have a 3 year old Staffie bitch that we rescued when she was 13 weeks. Bakers is shocking food. I have occasionally had to buy a box in an emergency from the service station and you can notice the difference almost overnight - dull coat, listless dog etc. Horrible stuff.

My staff has a very thin coat and slightly sensitive skin which has improved as she has gotten older. She does better if I groom her with a really soft brush (I nicked my horse's goat hair face brush for the job) once a week. Stimulates the natural oils in the coat. You shouldn't bath a Staffie often either because they have such thin coats. You will need a good food for your pup as the breed are prone to skin irritations.

As for the eating of random things. Don't know about lungworm but I do know that my dog ate random things ALL the time until she was about 2 and a half years old. Staffies chew almost as bad as Labradors when they're puppies!! My dog still explores things with her mouth - biting, chewing, gnawing, tasting etc but hardly ever swallowing any more thank goodness. Get your pup lots of STRONG chew toys (Kongs are really good if you stuff them. And freeze them stuffed in this weather) and she might not want to pick up random things as much. Staffs have super strong jaws which need to "work" when they are little, hence the fixation with eating things! Also, if yours is anything like mine, she'll be a walking recycling plant - eating anything vaguely edible off the floor like a hoover!

Enjoy her. They are one of the best breeds of dog in the world IMO. So loyal and loving. And hyper (that's normal too, not necessarily the feed). And naughty. And wonderful :D
 
PICTURES? Did you not know it is a forum rule that you cannot post a thread with "pup" in the title and not include pics? :)

Get said pup OFF bakers and maybe consider raw. Fair few Staff's have skin issues, and of all the ones I have know(LOTS through rescue) all these have been eliminated through simply switching to raw diet. Although there are plently of decent kibbles out there- look for one with no grain in it if she has skin issues- P@H do a fish and potato one.
 
no one has mentioned the fact that you should change on to a new food over the course of a week by introducing it slowly, you create more problems than you solve by changing over suddenly especially if you pup is sensitive to things
 
twiggy2 said:
no one has mentioned the fact that you should change on to a new food over the course of a week by introducing it slowly, you create more problems than you solve by changing over suddenly especially if you pup is sensitive to things
Click to expand...

I agree with this....but...

My mum and dads collie is affected really badly if for any reason they have to give her a different meal for any reason. This can even be having to put her on rice or pasta as advised by vets following surgery.

All of my four have been exposed to lots of different types of food. We always have a variety of boxes and cans in the utility and will from time to time mix a bit in with their normal food.

My reason being, there are times where things don't go to plan and they end up needing to be fed something different. I have four dogs that can eat absolutely anything, no need to phase it in and be absolutely fine. This means that when the need arises, we don't have to make our dogs suffer.

Recently we have been having to rely on family to look after our dogs on weekends as we have to travel up north to be with SIL. We have had a couple of weekends where we have had to stay longer than planned. On those occasions, we have left plenty of food, but at least we know that if we hadn't...our family could nip out and get a box of whatever or cans of whatever and our dogs would be none the worse for it.

I think managing diet and not changing foods instantly is very important, especially with young and old dogs...but I also think ensuring that they can cope with minor changes will do them the world of good when the times comes that they just can't have what they normally do.
 
If it's Bakers I would just live with the cold turkey.

As above I change brands frequently with no ill effects. When I am coming to the end of the old bag, I open the new one and chuck the old stuff in and mix it around.
 
I used to feed my rescue staff x James Wellbeloved, she had skin issues and would nibble her paws raw. I now feed Pets at home Fishmongers Finest, some tinned sardines and a splash of Yumega oil. She looks cracking, her coat gleams and absolutely no skin problems.
 
CaveCanem said:
If it's Bakers I would just live with the cold turkey.

As above I change brands frequently with no ill effects. When I am coming to the end of the old bag, I open the new one and chuck the old stuff in and mix it around.
Click to expand...


This- I wouldn't be waiting to finish off the bakers, i'd be binning it right now. Pup has sensitive skin- does not mean it has a sensitive digestive system, especially going from Bakers to a higher quality food, should not be too much of an issue.
 
Off with the bakers pronto. Would also suggest you specifically look at the hypoallengic food offerings from the brands suggested....staffies do have very sensitive tummies and both my girls have to have this or get skin rashes. Lungworm is NOT a fake rumour sent to improve bayers profits, very very sadly, we lost my sisters beautiful Stafford boy to lungworm some 3 years ago. He was on a normal worming programme but that was not enough,. All mine now get advocat every month and drontal as well every 3rd month, on vets instructions. Please post pictures... Staffies are lovely puppies!
 
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Hollie
I have changed her food to wainwrights puppy :)
 
Bakers is like Maccy Ds for dogs! :eek:

I'm a RAW feeder now, but previously fed Wainwrights (and had no problems with it!) Wibble has always had itchy skin, and would scratch his armpits till they bled :( since Wibble came off Kibble (can't help but chuckle) he has hardly been scratching, just the normal neck or ear scratch. I think he had some sort of wheat/equivalent allergy personally.

When I got Wibble, he was being fed Bakers puppy food and Webbox *cringes* and was a complete head case! Absolute loon! Moved onto Wainwrights and got a huge improvement in behaviour etc...
 
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