Sandra777

Before there was the Grand Ch title people used to make the same complaints about continuing to show Champions. No doubt if the Supreme Champion thing comes in people will complain about continuing to show a Supreme Champion. Dogs shows are a competition. If you can't beat the "best" then it's not a competition at all. If the "best" are retired as soon as they reach some arbitary point (be it Ch, Gr Ch, Supreme Ch) then it becomes an assembly line, you merely have to wait for the good dog to get off (be retired) then your dog gets to play.

Yes but agree it's probably too small for a dog that size. If the dog has never had raw bones before then it's an OK place to start, but IMO move on to bigger things once it has adjusted to the new digestion requirements

Excellant News!

Sllebasi - no one in this discussion has (AFAIK ) suggested no vaccinations at all, just stated their opinions about repeatedly vaccinating adult dogs. Children are vaccinated, this vaccination isn't repeated every year throughout life - the immune systems of people and dogs works pretty much the same way

Yes, the points are for the best dog and the best bitch out of the whole breed, not just each age group After that it's best overall (like best of breed, best of group, best in show) but if you don't win best dog or best bitch of the whole breed then there's no points.

Points are only awarded at championship shows - so if you enter the open show the same day you don't get points for winning that, a common mistake that leads to disappointment

Absolutely - but not all the judges who are engaged to judge specialist shows are actually very experienced breeders or exhibitors or judges Yes sometimes as you said they look only for their "type" - but the GOOD ones get quite different results, so IMO it's not inevitable that only one type goes up

Wouldn't say invariably myself. The ones who know a breed inside out and have done a genuine apprenticeship almost always acknowledge the virtues of the various types within a breed. I agree that if they find an outstanding one of the type they prefer that one will go up - which I guess is only to be expected, if you prefer a certain thing and find an outstanding example of that then you're bound to favour it

That probably depends on the strength and numbers show at speciality shows. We regularly get 200+ at specialities, making the cut in the class is more of an achievement than some group wins I've seen

Breed specialist JUDGES. Doesn't matter to me if it's an all breeds show, group show or breed show if the judge is an acknowledged expert in the breed. Many breed club shows are judged by NON specialist/all breed judges

I will assume you're talking about a Staffordshire BulL Terrier and not an American Staffordshire Terrier Staffords tend to be full height between 7 and 12 months of age but this can vary depending on their family. I had a bitch who grew another 1/2 inch between 18 and 24 months but this is a bit unusual! As for bodying up - this is VERY dependent on their family, some aren't at their best until they are 3 or 4 years old, others are pretty much finished at a year old. Best person to give you a more precise answer would be the breeder who (I hope!) knows about the history of his family.

Thank you, and I was to know this how? Many many people have had their dogs titre tested, the results have come back inconclusive and they have been told (and believe) their dogs have low immunity when there really is no way of knowing this from the titre test. Unless we keep them in glass boxes they're going to be "exposed". I didn't do any judging so sorry you jumped to that conclusion, but I would be incredibly reluctant to continue to vaccinate a dog who's immune system is already seriously compromised. That's MY belief.

I think Becks means they have to have had a vaccination within the previous 12 months. Standard for kennels.

Two things here - low immunity judging by what? Titre testing only shows up the antibodies actually in the blood stream at the time. If the dog hasn't been exposed to the virus "recently" then the antibodies won't be wandering around the bloodstream, that's not how the immune system works. The dog could then test as having low immunity when it could be that if the dog encounters the virus it's immune system will actually do what it's meant to do and produce the right antibodies. The cost of vaccinating vs the cost of titre testing may be the reason why some people chose to vaccinate and that's their choice. The cost TO THE DOG is the reason I choose not to vaccinate annually. I ask a simple question - when were you last titre tested or vaccinated for polio?

Around 14 or 15 months.

well, the other night it was from about midnight till 3am. lol if it was only a couple of minutes i'm sure my neighbours wouldn't have an issue they're very reasonable people. What is she barking at? If she's barking at wildlife even a bark collar is unlikely to help. If she's barking for that long just because she wants to come inside I think you have way more issues to deal with than just barking. Crating her (inside or out) or at least confining her before using a bark collar would be the order of things IMO.

How long does she bark for? If it's only a couple of minutes then she settles down and sleeps (or is quiet anyway ) through the night, then it's a totally different situation to her barking non-stop all night.

As for the length of the leash - honestly I doubt this guy would have a clue about the legal length allowed (since he doesn't seem to own one ) so I wouldn't get too worried about that, Roscoe was on a leash, if the actual length of it wasn't quite right then that's a different story.

Sorry about your bad news, you must be disappointed. There seems to be no rhymn or reason behind why some affixes are approved and others aren't and how close is too close to another affix.

This. The guy said he would report the GSD as biting his son and the GSD would be shot - he didn't say he would do the shooting.

My dogs are perfectly capable of performing their original function - which has fortunately been ILLEGAL for more than 175 years. Do you actually know what you are talking about or just looking for a bite?

I have never had a traditionally docked breed (well except for the mandatory child hood Cocker Spaniel ) but I totally support the right of breeders to dock or have the pups docked by a vet if that is their choice to do so. I would also totally support any breeder who chose not to dock - your puppies your choice. Personally I dislike the look of Rottweilers and Dobermans with tails and the terrier ring is an odd looking place these days

That looks like classic demodex to me. If you think he can handle it I'd use the advocate and see if it retards the spread and if so maybe a second skin scraping in a week or so?

Unfortunately this has been proven to be wrong in many breeds over the years. Sadly there's so many idiots out there who are only interested in the latest craze, don't provide a good home for the dog, and toss it out when the new fashion comes along. This is one of the reasons why puppy farmers flourish - they cater to a market and change breeds as soon as the market changes.

Where in Queensland are you sandra.? The colour of a lot of species of snake is so variable that I.D is real hard without a pic Could be a tigersnake.. As far as the dog runs go, i cant stress how important it is to give the snake no where to hide and no reason to visit.Employ some poultry to work as early warning systems and snake deterents.' Today i was called to this tigersnake in Mt Eliza and i managed to get footage of the capture and release. We're just west of Ipswich so it could have been any sort of stranger washed here by the floods. I saw it while I was walking the dogs, not too close to home - we've had our share this year :-(