Sandra777

Agree with Nekhbet - if this pup was with mum or other adult dogs, if he persisted in biting or other unacceptable behaviour at this age he'd get snapped at and possibly nipped - time for the softly softly is over, he needs to know what he is doing is not acceptable behaviour. Never had much luck with the yipping - with mine it just ignites the evil gene, they get a gleam in their eye and go - right, that hurt, lets do it again :laugh: :laugh:

There is no right time, but always go for a day too early rather than a day too late. When their enjoyment of life is gone then it's time for me, and that is a very personal decision and varies a lot from dog to dog.

The dog's future would come before the monetary considerations for me, but that's a personal decision. I wouldn't feel comfortable using a dog I had got to know and like to teach the previous owner's a lesson, but that's also a personal decision.

We send different food and vitamins etc all the time. This is not an issue as far as I am concerned. Easier to deal with than Aussie then LOL

Will Russian customs/quarantine let these things through would be the first thing I would think of...

Personally I would not be sending this dog back. Obviously the people who sold him to you don't care that he is stressed and unhappy so they will pass him on again to someone else (no doubt saying it's all your fault when he reacts exactly the same way again) and this will only make everything worse FOR HIM. So sorry you have to deal with this and you can only do what you are comfortable with but if he was mine he would get his wings.

Green indicates an infection of some sort. Could be major, could be minor. Anything to do with airways and eyes I get to the vet ASAP (it's not an emergency-in-the-middle-of-the-night situation though :))

Sorry there were no real answers I would agree 100% with Sheena about breeding from a bitch who can't carry pups to term but if they choose to mate this bitch again perhaps they need to prog test at the time of mating so they know absolutely when she ovulates so can calculate the true due date, then perhaps prog test during the pregnancy as advised by their vet (specialist job this one IMO). IF it turns out she actually has a problem then they can deal with it, get live pups and then (what I would do, their choice though) discontinue the line. If she has no issues they can move forward knowing that it wasn't something like hormone levels that caused it but "something else" and perhaps they will never know what it was, but that's one of the bad parts of breeding. Sometimes there are no answers, mother nature can be a right bitch some days.

At 13 weeks they certainly won't be fully house trained, but it sounds like you're nearly there which is great :) To increase their range I would be letting them on to the carpeted area only when I knew they had peed (ie actually witnessed them doing it) - and for 10-15 minutes to start with and only under supervision. The problem is likely because the carpet feels much more like grass than tiles so they are a bit confused, but of course it could also be because this is a "new" place and they are overexcited. If this is the case then the best bet would be to allow them in the new area for only a few minutes, then take them outside, praise if they pee and work like this for a while - this will help to reinforce that carpet isn't grass and help them get used to a "new" place without making lots of mistakes, which only reinforces that it's OK to pee on carpet.

Honestly? No. Months "late" is fine with an adult. And if the breeder choses to be utterly pedantic about annual vaccinations (which is something no longer supported by the science) than this needs to be taken care of before the bitch is mated. Chances are the vaccination had nothing to do with what happened, reactions and problems are pretty rare but always better safe than sorry with a pregnant bitch. Hope the autopsy gives some clear answers so they can move forward.

Wouldn't blame the vaccination, but wow, who would take that risk? Never EVER vaccinate a pregnant bitch was the advice I was given by a specialist vet many years ago and nothing I have seen or heard since has suggested otherwise. Canine Herpes seems pretty likely to me - or early separation of the placentas due to hormone drop or some sort of stress (doesn't have to be anything the owner would consider "stress", dogs can be very weird some times) Heartbreaking for all, are they considering getting the bitch some foster pups?

Anyone who would even think of flicking their pups off at 4 weeks of age can really not have the best interests of the pups at heart. "Ignorant" "ill-informed" or just "panicing" - are not excuses. Any quick google search will show you how important those weeks with the litter mates are so there really is no excuse for not knowing - preferably before the litter arrives. What health tests have the parents had - this would be my number 1 concern, because if they care so little about the future of the pups it doesn't really suggest to me that they would care much about the basics. If they are unregistered breeders of an ANKC recognised breed then run away, very very quickly. I can only think of a few breeds where the price of a pup from a registered ethical breeder is so much more than $900 that buying one unregistered would seem like a good deal - and all of the breeds I can think of come with a higher price tag because of the extensive health testing required to breed them. If the pup is a cross bred then run away even faster, that is a rediculous sum for a cross bred dog (yes I know you pay more than this for mutts in pet shops, that doesn't make it any less rediculous) If the pup is from a breed in development (thinking Australian Bulldog for one) then the same advice as an ANKC breed applies - my understanding is that any genuine breeder of a breed-in-development has to comply with some very strict rules to get their dogs in the club's register/studbook.

Unless you actually waxed the dog the short shaved hair would still moult surely!

Nope - harder than concrete. Had one run full speed head first in to a 30,000 litre concrete water tank. I swear she never even noticed.

Good luck when the AR nutters finally get around to brachy breeds. Suggest you have a look at some the proposals which have already been put forward in Europe.

:cheer: :cheer: Fantastic news.

Impossible because there simply aren't any? In this case I agree with you. Impossible because people won't let new people have them? Then my original comment stands.

11 week old pup being rushed at by two yappers (no matter their age or size) - I would have picked the pup up and stamped and shouted at the rushing dogs - and if they seemed small and inoffensive enough I probably would advance on them and chase them, usually freaks out most dogs. Note I said small and inoffensive! An off-leash dog park is no place for an 11 week old pup of ANY breed. Every single encounter a pup of this age has must be controlled and in a perfect world, would be positive - try puppy pre-school, obedience club or friends with suitable dogs.

Agree with Shelby... We have 3 generations here now, and had 5 generations prior to the oldest one over the years. The oldest one often gets called the name of her Grannie who died at 16 more than 5 years ago. Doesn't 'hurt' it's lovely. Not sure it would be the same if we ever got a dog that reminded us of one we had lost young or tragically - we lost Dallas last year when he wasn't quite 3 and had his son here recently. They are so similar in so many ways it was a bit difficult but his pups are due soon so I guess we'll have to get used to it :-)

Nothing unusual at all :-) Only problem would be if they were fat but that's just commonsense!

can I ask what sort if reaction you get from sales reps? Can't say I've paid much attention to their opinion :-). Always very careful of course!

Our dog crates always come car shopping :-)

Really don't know how this is HELPING a newbie. Surely it would be more use for these fantastic breeders to help the newbie get a better quality bitch so they don't have the very very long climb up from the bottom. Breeding up from "completely below standard" bitches is in itself extremely disheartening and such a slow process that it would definitely put off most newbies.

Wow, bit slow in here :) Litter of Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Penny is due around the 16th of February.

Report what exactly - to Joe Public it would have been your dogs who were "bad" as they were "being aggressive" (growling).