Sandra777

Depends where and when it was stored and what paperwork was done at the time.

Could well depend a lot on the breed? An 11 year old Toy Poodle is probably a better overall candidate than an 11 year old Irish Wolfhound :D There isn't any chance of getting semen that has already been stored? Live mating success vs frozen semen success really doesn't mean a lot AFAIK. Some dog's semen simply doesn't freeze well.

I have used a 7 month old dog, 8 pups. I know of a 6.5 month old dog who sired a litter. These were both Staffords. Small breeds would be more likely to be fertile earlier than bigger ones obviously.

Saliva? What DNA tests are done on a dog's saliva?

Never found the high pitched squeal works with high-drive puppies - they seem to go - woo hoo!!!!!!! it squeaked, KILL!!! Sibes tend to be quite high prey drive, not saying for a second that this specific puppy is of course

Full access to the entire farm..... sounds like a recipe for lots of dead livestock, dead wildlife and snake-bitten dogs to me. How wonderful that all your dogs in the past, present and future will get on with each other, not even think of harrassing other animals and not wander on to the road and cause a fatal accident - unless you are saying your entire farm is bordered by dog-proof fencing?

I have always found 6 weeks is better for Staffords espinay but it's a constant assessment process anyway :) They are 7 weeks today and we're planning on taking some photos tomorrow anyway (never seem to have time on "the birthday day") so will post them and see what people think. We have always found it useful to photograph them then look at the photos - probably the same theory as a mirror but allows for more measuring and comparing - got to get the photos right of course.....

Firstly, this is normal, he hasn't gone crazy :laugh: He's feeling more settled, he's comfortable so he's playing and happy. He is probably biting females more than males because they make a much better squeaky noise than males. Don't bother sending him outside as punishment - if you want to use 'time out' (which I'm no big fan of anyway) you need to put him somewhere boring and unrewarding - the bathroom or laundry for example - not somewhere there's things to see and something to do. When he bites the person he is biting needs to react in exactly the same way you react otherwise he's going to learn he can nibble on guests but not on you. Best thing IMO is a sharp GRR, firmly but kindly grab his muzzle and gently and calmly hold his mouth closed so he can't physically bite, then when he calms down slightly (you can see their body language change), release a little of the pressure and if he moves his mouth away, praise and reward (treat, toy, pat). If he goes for another nibble, repeat just slightly more firmly. There is no need to yell, smack, shake or cause any pain at all but if he doesn't respond to the calmest and most gentle correction you do have to be a touch firmer - just like his mother would have been. Definitely use his toys as a distraction, but toys that do nothing are never going to be as exciting as people who react. Also, I suppose everyone is coming to see the new puppy? It wouldn't be a bad idea to separate him from the visitors when they first arrive. Let them come in, sit down, get over the 'excitement' of the arrival - then let the pup out. Excitement is contagious especially with dogs.

Thanks everyone who expressed an opinion, it was very interesting and helpful to get another point of view. The photos were taken the morning after the pups were 6 weeks old. Both pups are bitches incidentally... From the moment they were born the white pup has been our pick (no, not because of her colour - we are actually a bit disappointed she is white), but when we took these pictures the brindle one just leapt out at us. The thing we wanted in a pup from this mating was a level topline. We have no concerns about subtleties of the breed, they're both very good in the main points of type etc. My concern with the brindle one is that her topline appears flat but weak - to me her wither is at a greater angle to her topline (back) than the white one - with the thought that this could lead to a dip behind the wither when she's an adult. IRL the white one has never seemed to have that slight banana-back look she has in this photo, but the photo shows it's there which is good enough for me. Interestingly even now, if you hold these pups verticle allowing their bodies and hind-legs to dangle, the brindle one's topline curves, while the white one hangs straight from wither to tail set-on, when they were younger the curve in the brindle one was much more noticeable. Other thoughts anyone??

No, it isn't. Some breeders won't be interested in investing their time if they have no litters on the horizons, others will be happy to chat and will be able to tell you a lot of useful information about the breed you are looking at. Unfortunately some will only want to tell you who not to buy from, sometimes with reason sometimes not and honestly it is hard to tell the difference sometimes. Generally I would suggest you find a couple of breeders you like the sound of, phone them up regardless if they are advertising puppies or not. Say you are interested in a male/female PET puppy and if a conversation ensues, whether or not pups are available, you can follow your gut instinct on them. Someone who is happy to have a chat & will tell you the good and bad of the breed - health, behavioural tendencies, temperament etc - even if they don't have pups to sell you are probably going to be good to deal with. If all they can do is bad-mouth other breeders and tell you horror stories about dogs that don't live in their yard, gently put the phone down and RUN away. Upshot is if you find a couple of people you can talk to about the breed, they will almost certainly be able to direct you to litters bred by like-minded people who will be breeding dogs because they love the breed, not to make money or just to win in the showring but because they respect the breed's heritage and cherish it's future. Don't be over-awed by a "super show dog breeder" - show ring success isn't the be-all and end-all (says me who has been showing dogs for more than 30 years). Most breeders I hang around with are just happy to breed healthy typical-looking pups, keep what they hope is the best (we're usually wrong :laugh: ) and sell the rest to people who will give them a great home for life - people like you.

Sorry, OT - but there was a radio quiz on yesterday at work and one of the questions was 'what is the puppy of a poodle and a labrador called' - I failed to resist yelling out "A MUTT". All the women in the office fell over themselves laughing :D

"Funny" how all the old-time breeders said breed them on their second and third heats, miss a heat then breed them back to back again. For toy breeds I believe it wasn't at all uncommon for a bitch to have a litter on her first heat. I certainly used to breed 2nd & 3rd heat then miss one and would breed again if the 1st 2 litters looked good, and had a lot less problems than many seem to have now. Stopped doing this for a few years, now have started breeding them younger again (3rd heat now generally because of the ANKC). Nope, I wouldn't breed a bitch every heat unless she only cycled every 9-12 months, but have certainly done 4 litters in the first 6 seasons, and bred a 3-month-cylce bitch back-to-back once too.... not something I would do every day of the week admittedly.

Ignoring the head and everything else such as colour, size, bone, type and 'I know nothing about the breed' .. :laugh: . could I have people's opinions on which of these two puppies complies better with the breed standard which requires: Neck: Muscular, rather short, clean in outline gradually widening towards the shoulders. Forequarters Legs straight and well boned, set rather wide apart, showing no weakness at the pasterns, from which point the feet turn out a little. Shoulders well laid back with no looseness at the elbows. (note... puppies' pasterns don't turn out at this age, it comes later :) ) Body Closely coupled, with level topline, wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs, muscular and well defined. Hindquarters Well muscled, hocks well let down with stifles well bent. Legs parallel when viewed from behind. I will be very interested in people's opinions and perhaps the reasoning? ETA: Yes I know the date is wrong

Permoxin for ticks Whatever is cheapest in bulk from petnvet for heartworm (always same active chemical)

Greencross at Mudgeeraba were excellant - avoid Greencross at Palm Beach if you fancy having your puppy well and healthy but perhaps the vets there have changed in the last 3 years... The vets at Ormeau always get a good rap here - Rowan is it? Sorry, don't recall the name of the practice... so check if you're interested in going that far north?

Ellz stated the specialist was happy to pass the dog on the extra misplaced eyelashes - to me this means the certificate would not mention the problem meaning the dog would be recorded as unaffected by the problem. If the specialist was going to note the problem that's one thing, but passing it means something completely different in my book - if this is technically not so then my apologies.

I would wean the 4 week olds and leave her with the 2 week olds too. Is she still cleaning up after her own pup? If not - it could be that her instinct to do so has 'turned off' so to speak as her own pups are older. If she is, it could just be a matter of time, the new pups don't completely smell "hers" so she may start doing so in 12-24 hours.

Depends upon the breed, the type of hair and where they are located. There are far worse problems than tiny microscopic eyelashes in some breeds believe me. And editing to add....did you realise that you had just contradicted yourself?? If by "contradicted" you mean I said they don't usually do any harm and then was appalled that a specialist would issue a CLEAR eye certificate to a dog with this problem - then yes, I did say both things. Just because something doesn't do any harm doesn't mean it should be certified as not being present at all. Dogs with fine non-harmful lashes can produce pups with coarse very damaging lashes so IMO it is appalling that a specialist is prepared to certify that the dog is CLEAR of the clinical signs of a group of genes when it patently isn't.

Just wanted to mention that this may be the case with some eyelashes in some breeds but it isn't the case in all breeds. I have just had a dog eye tested clear by an opthalmologist. He has a few very small, very fine lashes which the specialist was happy to pass. BUT, the same dog's eyelashes were NOT picked up by a generally practising vet under examination conditions. So it really can depend. Skully, I'd seriously consider an opthalmologist visit for specialist help. You don't mess with eyes, things can go too badly too quickly. The fine hairs are not unknown in Staffords, however they will rarely cause an issue (not saying they should be there, just saying they'll rarely cause an actual problem). Bit shocked a specialist is willing to pass a dog with ANY extra eyelashes - this is appalling IMO.

Hi Skully - any vet ought to be able to see the extra eyelashes in a normal examination. If your girl is having trouble with her eyes you'd have to assume the vet has looked for this?

Agree with minimax - pups needs lots of different toys. Mine pay absolutely no attention to kongs and other stuffed things, they're boring and uninteresting as far as my pups have always been concerned! Depends on the size of the puppy but for a small breed pup cheap soft toys are as good as anything else - for a bull breed pup something a bit more robust would be required :laugh: If you have the pup crated in your room you will probably hear it when it wakes up, if you are an exceptionally deep sleeper then judge for yourself. Personally I don't wake them up to go outside every couple of hours, if they wake me up they get to go out. If the crate is the right size and the pup has been raised well (ie been raised in an environment where it can move away from it's bed to pee) then it will almost certainly make a noise to go out - but a very small pup in a large crate probably won't.

Yes it can be tested for however 2 clinically unaffected dogs can produce clinically affected pups. There is no DNA test. Sorry to hear about your girl.

I'd be happy if the local council provided nothing and charged nothing. I don't want extra services because that's just an excuse to up the rego prices (I realise NSW is different to Qld)

Definitely get a second or even third opinion - from the dog's breeder, from another good breeder, from a vet recommended by these breeders. IMO a giant breed fo dog should definitely not be neutered so young. Even if he does have a retained testicle it's not going to become a major issue until he is much older, so don't be paniced by stories of cancer and the like, this takes years to develop (if it's going to) not a month or two. The only real issue would be that to neuter a dog with a retained testicle is a much more involved operation than a simple castration which means anasthetic and fluids etc for longer so the bigger the dog the bigger the bill, and obviously a GD puppy is smaller than a GD adult, but honestly $100-$200 versus what is best for your dog in the long run - don't even concern yourself with that!

Dogs aren't stupid - she won't have forgotten - there is something else going on here which probably has more to do with her not wanting to be bothered by him. She could be territorial over the crate whether she's been crated before or not, this really isn't relevant IMO