My staffie is very small for his age, he's tall and gangley but skinny. My freind who has a staff nearly 10 months younger than mine that is twice the size. Are there any special foods or supplements I should be giving him to help develop his muscles. He was the runt of the litter and has a lovely personailty although he is a litlle timid. Any suggestion?

Your dog is going through the teenage stage.He will probably fill out with time .He doesn't need any extra suppliments etc...just proper feeding.The worse thing you can do is to rush things....hes just a baby.
Your friends dog is just maturing at a faster rate...it doesn't mean he will end up bigger.
Enjoy your baby ....they aren't pups for long.
Please don't go trying to 'feed him up'...it will do more harm than good
Archer

I have done exactly what my vet has said and he gets one meal a day a mixture of dry and tinned, and occasionally chicken and rice or mince. He has 20mins exercise a day and getthe occasional treat. What age do they stop growing? Lots of people say to me he looks small well, slim he's quite tall. Also he has a little problem where he wets himself a little if anyone new comes in the house and strokes him, is this just over exctement because he's normally so good?

The wetting is over excitement.He is still young and doesn't have 100% bladder control yet.Just ignore it and it should improve.
You could increase his exercise at his age.Rule of thumb is 5 mins for every month of life as a pup...so at 10 months he can have 50 mins exercise.
If he is thin then try feeding him 2 times a day and increasing his feed A LITTTLE.Over feeding will not make him fill out...it will just make him fat.
All dogs stop growing at different ages...but he will still have some left to do at 10 months.They usually go through a stage where they use their energy to grow upwards(leggy stage like yours) then they fill out.
Archer

I think you must of miss read my original post Monkey is 20 months old!

The vet said we should only be feeding him once a day, as he was leaving his food in the morning. He also told us we should feed him tinned food as his coat was dry, I'm not entirley happy with this,although his coat has improved.

Whats best to feed them, there's so much to choose from and I guess different things suit different dogs?

I will up his exerise to two 20 min walks a day.

I would be careful with what you feed him, not only will he get fat, but they have very sensitive stomachs and you will definately smell the outcome.
We give ours bakers complete light as my partners staff is 26kilo - he is obese..... and now he can hardly walk. I give him some nature diet food which is better than the tins.
This has also preved to be the best for his flatulence...

dont give him tinned if you can help it , most of that food is full of water. Dont get me wrong I'm not a mad food expert but I have tried to learn from this forum and feed accordingly. There are lots of posts about the food you can give Staffs but we give our 12 month old Staff Skinners Muesli mix because her breeder has always used it for her dogs and it has limited additives etc and is not tested on dogs.
She also has eggs in the morning this is because she still likes them from when she was a puppy and we give her mince, chicken and fish as  a treat. Most days she has two walks when she is off the lead most of the time totalling about 1 hr .

thaks for your help, some many people tell you many different things, I was surprised when the vet said to feed him tinned food, as I thought this was bad for his teeth. Although he does have a dry mix with it, but his breath smells worse.

I'd like to try and get him on a dry food, but don't fancy forking out loads of money for him to not eat it! ha ha He's a fussy little thing

Sorry I mis read your post.In that case you could definately increase his exercise.20 mins a day is not really enough.
As for food....most people don't like tinned...your paying for 80% water!! I found my staff did very well on Autarky.You can buy small bags from Tescos and its a goos quality food with no additives and good incredients.
Archer

Thanks for your help I'll try that

I have Staffs and can vouch for autarky being a good dried food, as far as his physique goes you might find that he is just tall and thin, your friends staff is probably from different lines, although they can carrying on growing slightly until around 2 i think you will find he will probably end up very similar to the way he looks now .
Sarah
x

i totally agree with archer that 20 mins exercise is not enough.  the best way to build bulk and muscle definintion on a staff (or any dog) is the same as with humans - exercise!  If you feed more they will get bigger but like humans they will get fat and thats not the type of bulk and body thats healthy for a dog.  I feed burns dry food and have a stunning lean muscular well defined staff.