armahani

A dog can't be any more than 3 weeks pregnant on arrival into Australia. So sounds like your timing would be pushing it at very best.

Yeah, apparently that is the only official term that the Kennel Club (UK) recognises for domino. They also couldn't get dilutes (blue/lilac) listed as a colour term. I guess that may change if they ever get any there.

Yes, the AKC standard is different, and in some cases goes into a bit more detail, just because AKC won't "adopt" standards from elsewhere - they have to be their own format and level of detail etc. So adopting the FCI standard as it was wasn't an option over there. That being said, the FLCA (Finnish Lapphund Club of America) got their draft AKC standard "approved" by the Lapphund Club of Finland before submitting it, to make sure there was a general level of comfort from the country of origin and they weren't changing the breed. You can see the AKC standard here - http://www.akc.org/breeds/finnish_lapphund/

Bindii, I think of the showing of submission toward humans, which you will see most Lappies clearly do, and timidness as two COMPLETELY different things. I think the word submission has somehow gained some connotation over time which implies something fear based, when the reality is it is nothing to do with fear. While I suspect the word shy has become a little confused in the translation, and shouldn't be confused with timid either. More a combination of submission and trying to describe the tendency of girls in particular to be sometimes a little less "up" - perhaps "soft" would have been a better word. Again, I don't equate "soft" with timid. So yes, I would see timid as not being a desirable temperament in a Lappie. But being submissive and soft toward humans as completely correct. A Lappie will regularly show submissiveness without remotely looking wary!!! So no, I wouldn't be happy with a Lappie being wary and ducking away from people!!! But I would still expect a Lappie to show submissive (goofy, happy look) body language toward people. I see a big difference between fearful body language and submissive body language! Words to describe a breed (whether they should be words on temperament or structure) should never be looked at in isolation. In this case the words "calm, friendly, submissive" go together. You can't seperate them out. A "calm, friendly, submissive" dog is a very different proposition to a "nervous, timid, submissive" dog I remember quite the debate a number of the American Lappie people had a few years ago now about this very description of "submissive toward humans" when they were putting the finishing touches on the AKC standard and there was some concern about the confusion of this term with being fearful or timid. I'll paste below a few paras which were littered amongst a whole lot more that I wrote during that debate - significantly edited - which does make reference to their standard a bit ..... I don't equate submission with a lack of confidence. I don't equate it with being shy, withdrawn or fearful. And I personally thought when I first read your draft standard that balance was made quite clear. When you describe a temperament, surely the words don't exist in isolation, but summarise a bunch of characteristics that work together to result in a unique character. For eg, a dog I describe as "withdrawn, very submissive, uncertain with strangers" is very different from one I describe as "friendly, calm and very submissive" (obviously the second, which is close to the words in your draft standard, I find very appropriate in its description of a FL, but not the first). So please take everything I say as my interpretation of one characteristic that combines with the other characteristics to make our breed what it is. Most FLs I meet are submissive. A few are unconfident and fearful (which I think is incorrect). Most are confident and secure in themselves (which I think is correct). But almost all I would still call submissive. And to be frank it is one of the things I ADORE about the breed. It is also one of the reasons they are so excellent with children and such good family dogs. I personally think it is something we should definitely be promoting in the breed, and without a doubt protecting in the future of the breed. Watch your FL. Think about your confident, secure FL. What is their body language when you talk to them and pat them? What is their body language when another person approaches them? What is their body language when another person talks to them and cuddles them? Their shoulder carriage relaxes, their tail and bum wiggles in a happy manner, they put on what I often call their "goofy face" (sort of that dopey looking grin they get), their ears go back ( not fearful back, just relaxed back), they kind of "sidle" and "snuggle" up to the person, their head lowers a little. In canine body language it is very very clear - you are looking at submission (generally mixed with friendliness and calmness). And almost every confident and secure FL I know acts precisely like that with the humans around him or her. When a FL comes into the ring, the judge should not be expecting a dog that is up on its toes, looking around like it can take on the world (although I will most certainly get my FL to be standing on its toes looking desperately at the piece of food in my hand because let's be frank, that is my way of training out a submissive looking behaviour - again, not training out the temperament). The judge should be expecting a softer body language. When they approach the dog to examine it, they should expect that they will get soft eyes, the ears back a little, the tail may wag, the dog may lower its body slightly. Most judges will instantly recognise this (as long as it is not accompanied by fear like behaviour) as submission. So if they know to expect that they will judge that dog accordingly as correct in temperament.

Perhaps because the breed standard is very vague ... and some could argue, even silent ... on the issue

Given you live in Victoria, might be a good idea to keep in mind the law is a little bit more strict than in other places in using those kinds of collars . Info here: http://www.land.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfa.nsf/...20anti-bark.pdf

Same here, why isn't Victoria offering any Neuter classes? So far NT, NSW, ACT and SA clubs all have scheduled Neuter classes at some of their shows. Perhaps a question to pose on the new Dogs Victoria Facebook page

I have been watching this thread with interest, then spotted the below post on OzShow today. I thought you would all be very interested, so I emailed Tom and he gave me permission to cross post his message here (given he's not on DOL). He feels this will need a lot of support to have any hope of going through ......... Friends, especially fans of the Neuter Champion Title. I was finally successful with a Motion to the Dogs NSW Board of Directors to have a Motion put to the ANKC Conference in October asking that Neuter Classes 18 and 18A be made compulsory at all Championship Shows held from 1 April 2011. The number of submissions I have received from exhibitors or potential exhibitors wanting more Neuter Classes has been amazing. In ordinary conformation, Class 11 (Open) is compulsory at all Championship Shows so that there is at least one class available where exhibitors can have Championship points available to their breed (unless CC's are not to be awarded for some reason - eg National Show within 1000kms). Similarly with the introduction of the Neuter Champion title it appears logical to me that exhibitors of Neuters must be afforded the same compulsory opportunity to secure the necessary points to achieve their dog's neuter title. Judging by the opposition I originally received to the concept by the NSW Board, I am not expecting the Motion to receive an easy passage when presented to the ANKC. Therefore enthusiasts for the exhibition of Neuter dogs are strongly encouraged to lobby their Member Body leading up to the last Meeting of its Board or Council (by whatever name known) prior to the 14/15/16 October ANKC Conference. I suggest you try doubly hard if you live in Queensland!! I am confident we will be ok in NSW given that we almost always vote in favour of our own Motions!!!(LOL). So that's 2 Votes for the Motion and we are up and running. Tom

Have fun there! Unfortunately we won't be there. It's the weekend before we arrive. Bummer, Kyla's mum thought you might be there Helen, Schatje will most likely be at the next Lappie picnic if you want a Keeshond model. He's more than happy to pose for the camera for as long as you can possibly want and in as many possible body positions as you want too :D :D

Was that the Sibermoon puppies? Would have loved to see them.

:D Can't say you weren't warned . Glad you had a nice time and got to see some though.

They were, but that was some time ago. And yes, over the last week or so they have closed them down. I haven't seen any updates on websites, but have been dealing with the fall out all week It depends on what you are looking for in terms of a "similar" service. Do you mean transport, storage or collection? Most of the main repro vets in Vic do collection and storage. I'd recommend Cryogenes in Vic for transport. But if you are looking for someone else who will do the whole "collecting at a show" thing - I'm afraid I don't know of any other company who does that.

Never annoyed! I love talking Lappies Feel free to "annoy" me anytime I hope you have fun seeing them and get lots of cuddles. Not a great way to talk yourself out of them though

Entries are very small at the Ekka for the Lappies this year, sorry . But you should at least see a few there. When they are on in the ring honestly depends on how many entries there are for the breeds before them. But you can see them anytime during the day. They'll be benched in the dog paviliion and that is a good time to find them, have a chat to their owners and a cuddle if you are lucky

Hi Lobostar - there are a couple of WA breeders listed on DOL - check here - http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breede...sh-lapphund.asp Mirawee is on this forum, so you could always send her a PM and possibly arrange to meet some Lappies some time. I think the chances of there being any more pups actually born in WA for quite some time is fairly slim though. But most people over there who have a Lappie have got them from breeders in the Eastern States and I don't know of any breeder who isn't prepared to transport (not that there isn't one - just that I haven't heard of any )

It's a good question, because there would probably be a lot of people curious about this, but in reality there can be any number of circumstances as to why a breeder does this. For eg - my last two litters were about 6 weeks apart. Before that I hadn't had a litter in 18-24 months. After that (this was Oct/Dec 2009) I won't be having another litter until early to mid 2011. So you could hardly say my breeding was huge in scale :D . My reasons would probably vary from anyone elses. But in my case, it had almost been 2 years since my import girl's first litter. She had been 2 1/2 when she had her first litter. I really wanted to ensure she was able to have three litters in her lifetime. So if I had left her second litter too much longer I was worried that I would limit my chances of enabling that before she got of any age where either I wasn't comfortable breeding her or her fertility would be reduced. So I decided to go ahead when I did. Only thing is, I had a younger girl ready for a litter too. She was a girl I had sold on breeders terms. Her owner's were very keen for her to have her litter so they could then desex her. I really didn't feel that it was fair to leave them hanging any longer (they were getting quite anxious about their baby girl being "violated" by some boy dog - which became a bit of a joke amongst us, and they were actually very relieved when she ended up having an AI ) That left me having two litters around about the same time. Believe me, it was completely exhausting, and I was quite happy to have my house back at the end of it all. But on the other hand it did make it much easier for juggling leave from work etc than if they had been 6 months apart. In hindsight it was probably easier all round for me and I would consider doing it again depending on the circumstances.

It would be good if you could get black spectacles on a cream dog. Now there's a photoshop challenge!

I guess cream might be a tricky colour to find eye spectacles on though

Oh yes, not disagreeing with you there. Spectacles are actually quite common in wolf-sables (both the "normal" and the brown kind)

Except that's a brown wolf-sable TN

Schatje came to me to teach me to laugh and to help me become obsessed with all things dog. Kulta came to me to teach me to be humble, that I wasn't nearly as good a dog-trainer as I thought I was , and to love and appreciate the specialness of each dog. Emmi came to me for complete adoration, and to learn what a "real woman" really is . And Louis came to me because everyone needs a lunatic in their lives! :nahnah:

Hi lana. Coat can be influenced by both genetics and environment. So, yes, you will definitely get some blood-lines that are more fuller coated than others. And some individuals with more coat than others even within those lines. But the weather conditions where they live will also play a part. My guys would have much bigger coats if they spent winter in Finland . Length of guard coat can also play a part. A longer guard coat can sometimes make the coat appear less "full" even though it might not be, just because the longer guard coat doesn't "stand out" as much. You need a super thick undercoat to get a longer guard coat really standing out. Different body types can also make a really big difference on the appearance of the dog - and how the coat looks. And then there is just the influence of the photo - which might be about when the photo was taken (the dog might have just blown and be out of coat), the age of the dog (most will get bigger and thicker coats the older they get), or just some other factor in how the photo was taken. Lots of variables .

Wow! Can't believe people are still finding this thread more than 6 months after the date . Thanks lana - they are two pretty special Lappies to me . Emmi (mum) is from Finland and is now 5 years old, Louis (dad) is from France (although raised in the USA) and is now 3. I love them both to complete and utter distraction!!! :D . They are both very very cuddly Lappies (not all are) and my relaxing evening on the couch in front of TV or a book usually involves them all snuggled together on top of me Think TN answered this one - yes, she's a cream Lappie - same as Snowflake (who ended up being named Kyla) in this litter. There are a variety of updated (or not quite so updated ) photos of them all on my website. For the ones I co-own you can find their photo albums on the photo page. For the others go to the Past Treasure page (under Puppies) and then there is a link to a page for each pup.

Don't know if it is related, but the RSPCA currently have a campaign running against puppy-mills - see this web site - http://www.closepuppyfactories.org/index.php I stumbled across it through a banner-ad on an on-line major newspaper that was titled something like "Puppy in the Window". If you want a real surprise - follow the link titled "Take Action" and then "Where to Purchase a Puppy". Yes, that's right, the RSPCA is currently actively promoting registered ANKC breeders! I almost died with shock! Happy shock that is . The first part of the text on that page is as follows: Purchase your next puppy without the fear of supporting puppy factories. Find a reputable breeder through your State's kennel association (i.e. Dogs Victoria). Generally, these breeders will ask questions about your circumstances and environment to ensure you are choosing the most suitable dog for your lifestyle. They provide very high standards of care for their animals and will happily let you meet the parents of your puppy also.

Oh my, a bloodhound! How adorable :-) You don't see many of them around. Who did you meet in Adelaide?