Hi all,
My little staffie Maisie is 7 months old and a delight! she is my shadow. Though I have never heard her bark she makes a noise that sounds like a Turkey!! I know it sounds funny, we laughed at first but its like shes trying to talk or something. And when I have to go to work or college. My husband says she howls for about 20 minutes then sulks near the door untill I get in. We are lucky that most of the time somebody is with her but if we do have to leave her for a long time ( 4 hours on a friday being the most) she doesnt make a mess chewing or anything so why is she acting so insecure when i leave? she does not do it with anyone else in the family, they say its because I baby her, well thats what a pets for isnt it?
Any advice appreciated
Jo

Yours is not the first staffie that sounds like a farmyard animal - lots do, and in my experience, they rarely bark.  One comes to our training class and sounds like a cross between a donkey and a goat!!  And yes, he does sound like he's trying to talk.

As for the getting upset when you leave, it will be very unpleasant for your dog if she gets so distressed when you leave so maybe it is a habit you should try to break.

You say she's not left for long periods of time but, when you are in with her, try to get her used to being without you by leaving her in another room, or behind a safety gate for short periods of time.  It is nice to have dogs as pets to 'baby' a bit but they are in fact dogs not babies and hard as it may sound, it isn't kind to have them so dependent on you that they can't function happily when you are not there.  It may mean that you have to ease off the cuddling just a little so that your dog can learn some independence.  She isn't being destructive now but she may be later if she doesn't learn some self-sufficiency skills while still young.

Best wishes

Does the turkey sound is like a low yelping, whining, groaning, moaning noise all combined! Our bitch does it when she is playing or excited and if we are getting ready to go out she sits by the door whining in a low pitch moan till we open the door and go out. She even makes a grainy barking noise when she is out on the high street and she wants people to stroke her. Even in the morning the noises she makes when she yawns make us crack up!

hi my 14 week old staffy bitch barks all the time, i think she's learnt it off the labs!!she also makes a noise that sounds like a cross between a coffee perculator and bathwater going down the plughole when she gets excited and they all have a pile on...they're soo sweet aren't they!!

Hiya, my male Staff is a year old next month (I do not know where the time has gone) but he also makes an array of strange warbling noises; my colleagues have nicknamed him gremlin becuse of the noises.  He does bark when he needs to go out for the toilet, but that is something we taught him to do.  He barks very rarely and it is normally when he has been startled from his deep sleep and then has a very suprised look on his face as if to say; where did that come from? 

I have been told and read that Staffs try to mimick noises especially from their owners and people they see constantly and I sware he has perfected Mum and OW.  as several times it has sounded like it and my colleagues have said the same.  He is adorable although sometimes a bit of a Kevin but I still love him dearly.

Staffs you've got to love them for their unique personality and traits ;-)

Oh and he has never (touch wood for the future) been destructive when left alone in the house. ;-)

My 6 week old bitch pup sounds like cat.  It is really funny listening to her.  She sits at my feet looking at me with her large soppy eyes and starts making these funny noises.  So far we have identifyed on that sounds like a cat, one like my kids calling for mum and one that sounds like water going down a plug hole.

We have a 12-15mth old staffi X who also appears to talk. He was a rescue dog and we thought at first he was warning us off, but after 10mths of owning him we have come to relise that his moans are not threatening at all and are purly him trying to talk to us. I would say that he acts more like a cat at times, in as much as when you stroke/fuss him he moans, almost like purring. He very rarely barks and thats just as well really, as it sounds quite pathetic when he trys. We have been informed by other staffie owners that this talking is very common. Common or not it makes us laugh so much at times, when your sure he is trying to hold a conversation with us. We also have a 3yr old gsd, boxer, lurcher X thing and he sounds like a whookie(chewbacker off of starwars). They sometimes have conversations with each other and that is side splittingly funny.

My 3 Staffs have an amazing vocabulary!  They don't often bark either but do grumble, moan, ruffle, waffle etc etc when having cuddles or when getting excited.  One of mine also makes a really odd hyaena (sp) type laugh when really excited, it's really eerie.

Aren't Staffs mad! :-)

But then, I also understand Dobes are very vocal?

my daughter has a staffie, sasha is 5 months old neally, i thought she was the only one that did the funny noises, she sounds like she is laughing when she gets excited, she is adorable.... one thing i would like to find out more is why do they say their skull cracks ??

The idea of the skull cracking is that when they are pups they have roundish shaped heads and the term cracking is when the line down the middle fo the head get more prominent as the head shape broadens. It's just like a growing teenager with growing pains but it doesn't appear to be painful but may make your staffie a bit more tired than usual.

thanks i understand now ...