Pets Australia — October-November 2017

ANXIOUS DOGS

Q:

Dear PETS, I have a six-month-old

Staffi e, Chux, who so far seems quite

relaxed. However, I’ve heard that anxiety,

particularly in Staffi es, is a very common

problem. Are there signs I should look out

for to make sure Chux is okay?

Lachie, via email

A:

Hi Lachie, if you are lucky enough to have

a happy, healthy Staffi e then please enjoy

it! Unfortunately this breed does have a few

issues, and yes, their anxiety and co-dependence

is probably one of the worst. Staffi es often like

to think of themselves as people

rather than dogs, so when

acquired as a pup, if they are not

trained and are always treated

like one of the human family, they

can grow up to expect this. What

this means in the long run is a

dog that doesn’t like to be apart from you. It will

try to rip up things outside to get inside, pull off

screen doors to get inside, howl the house down

to get attention, hurt other dogs that get in their

road (or get shown more attention than them)

etc, with some Staffi es worse than others. But if

you train your dog and teach it how to be a dog,

not a human, this can go a long way to reducing

the issues. Training is always a good idea, not just

for tricks, but general obedience, and for keeping

your dog occupied and allowing you to spend

quality time together. Fingers crossed you are

already doing the right things and Chux stays a

good dog.

Staffi es can be prone to anxiety.

For more information

visit localvet.com.

au/FurKids or visit

Dr Jo’s clinic at Shop

11/2 Sheppards Drive,

Greenbank Qld.

70

PETS | Health and Wellbeing

Photos: kramar89/BigStock.com, alenkasm/BigStock.com, Kaz Dalton

http://www.petsmagazine.com.au

With

Fur Kids’

Dr Jo

Beckett

F

YOUR

d Wellbeing

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