dancinbcs

I am limited in how far I can drive due to a chronic neck injury and need to stay away from heavy traffic and areas I don't know as having to turn my head a lot gives me dizzy spells. So I stick to the outer areas without multi lane traffic whenever possible.

Thanks. Have sent you a PM.

Sorry - I'm not much help on prices down your way, but will just comment that it is important you know and are comfortable with how the tests are done. I have one vet who uses an in house kit test which returns a 5 point scale type result. Cost is about $70 (or it was last time we used that vet.) The vet we use now sends the bloods off to a full lab and the results are more comprehensive. Cost - significantly more. (I tend to close my eyes and not think about it.) I know that there have been variations between the two methods for some people. Just worth asking the question so you know what you are getting. Thanks for the info but I would probably be happy with an in house result as this is for a 10 year old who was vaccinated every year for his first 7 years. He is very unlikely to need re-vaccinating at this point but I just want to be sure with the parvo. My vet doesn't do them in house, hence the cost to send it to the lab, I think in Perth. With younger dogs who have only had the one year booster after the puppy shots, more detailed results would probably be wiser.

I am looking for the best price for titre testing, mainly for parvo, in western Sydney. My vets don't do much of it and quoted somewhere around $250. I know it will be a lot more expensive than just giving a $28 C3 but I have a dog I would rather not vaccinate again so would prefer to titre test if I can find somewhere to do it at a more reasonable price.

Oops, wrong forum. Have moved this to health.

There really isn't any suitable accommodation with dogs anywhere near the showgrounds as the hotels are all high rise. A lot of the dog people stay at Nepean Shores at Penrith and drive in from there. Nepean Shores Camping, including booking a caravan to be brought in, is also available at Dogs NSW grounds at Orchard Hills.

I know what Amax is saying, and I think the wires got a bit crossed. To a dog it's about weighing up a fight. Yes, it is a 'fight' and don't take that as in a pure physical altercation. If the dog learns that there is nothing to 'stop' it it will pick, start and even finish the argument. If the dog knows there is another in the household that will metaphorically (or in some required cases physically) kick their butt if they start BS they will not do it - and be that human or canine because some groups can manage themselves. Fear, fortunately or unfortunately, is a powerful motivator. Again I think it's slightly the wrong word in the situation which is why everyone is flapping about it. Let's take a scenario ... years ago I got a GSD. I knew she was NQR and trained so I was careful. So I thought she was fine, we played a little with a rag one day at home when she went off. She got too comfortable. She tried to attack my brother and my fiance, I sent them down to the house to get the rifle and then the dog turned on me. I was wearing boots and I used them, it was that or hospital. Did the dog fear me from that day on? Nope, she never shied, cowered etc. But if I said no, stop it etc, she did because there was now a memorable consequence to her dangerous actions. AGain, an extreme example but do you see where we're both trying to go with this :laugh: it's a bit hard to explain over the net. I get what you are talking about and I think respect is a better word than fear. I know the idea of an alpha dog or owner is out of fashion in dog training but when you do have a very confident owner or a clear alpha dog that keeps all the dogs in line, in a household, fights usually don't happen. In the case of an alpha dog, when it dies there are often serious fights between other dogs left in the household as the one they respected and relied upon, is gone. With owners, you need to be a certain type of person to gain the full respect of your dogs and most pet owners are just not like that. I and many of my friends have had dogs that didn't get on very well but we could run them together under direct supervision. Watching body language allowed us to reprimand any bad manners before a fight started as the dogs respected us and would obey even if in the mood to start trouble. Leaving those same dogs together unsupervised would result in fights. So the presence of the owner means the dogs simply follow the rules expected of them. I have also seen very aggressive dogs become meek and mild in the presence of some dog trainers, before they even do anything. Their total confidence, bearing and voice makes the dog secure enough to not even try any sort of misbehaviour. It makes it very hard for these trainers to observe the problem behaviour when the dog is so much in awe of them but it very interesting to watch.

Pup has been checked but I'd be double checking, particularly at the back of the mouth where a CP might be missed. Yes, clefts in the soft palate ore usually missed unless your vet is very experienced with newborns. Sometimes they cannot be seen at all in a live puppy, depending on where they are located. It isn't unusual though to have a puppy that takes a few days to work out how to suckle. Just keep topping them up with a tube, sponge or bottle and keep trying them on the teat when hungry by holding the shoulders so the nose rests on a teat that has already been started. Opening their mouth and attaching them usually results in them spitting it out so I just try to help but not force them. It can get really frustrating. Once attached they may need to be held up while they feed if they are weak. Sometimes these are puppies that end up with bad bites, but not always.

I know of one bitch who was successfully treated and went on to have a litter but most need to spayed. Conservative treatment is worth a try so long as she stays well in herself but be aware that they can crash suddenly and need emergency surgery.

If you are travelling the Hume Hwy you won't encounter any tick risk until the Southern Highlands, then there is a break until you get further in than the outer south west. The Southern Highlands have only had ticks for a few years and before that the whole journey was tick free. In Sydney metro, south of the M4 and west of the Cumberland Hwy is tick free until you get to the Nepean River. So make a stop at the Goulburn or the Marulan roadhouses and then not until you get past Pheasants Nest, heading into Sydney. I have never picked up fleas, travelling that route with dogs but do watch carefully for snakes anywhere you stop. I usually stop at a roadside stop somewhere around Benalla/Wangaratta, then at the Dog on the Tuckerbox the northside of Goulburn and finally at Maccas on the south side of Goulburn, when travelling that route with dogs. If your dogs don't normally get carsick it won't be any different to any other car ride and it is a smooth fairly straight road so not likely to make them sick. The coast road is high risk for ticks anywhere east of Wilsons Promontory and the road a lot longer and winding at times. Advantix is the best for fleas and ticks up here at the moment but it works better from the second dose. I use Frontline if just visiting a tick area for the day but if I was going to live there I would start the dogs on Advantix a bit more than 2 weeks before departure then dose again after two weeks so their second dose is just before the trip. Then they will need to done every two weeks all year round unless you live in the south west and don't take them out of that area. I wouldn't worry about flies with long haired dogs that live mostly indoors. Flies love short haired dogs. For heartworm and other worms I use Interceptor or Milbemax monthly. Heartguard is also fine monthly. I don't like Sentinel as it doses for more than I need to do. I prefer to stick to minimum chemicals and am thankful to not need tick prevention unless travelling out of my area. Registration can be done at any council or pound and is lifetime, not annual but you will need an address to register them to. Vets will depend on where you end up settling.

I think you have done the right thing completely giving Rusty to someone you trust, who has experience with the breed. The RSPCA would probably have pts for aggression issues. Just because two dogs fight, does not mean the will not be fine with other dogs, it can just be a personality clash. BCs often get blamed for starting fights when in fact the other dog has started the conflict, stared them down and no one noticed. I have seen it happen at shows. To a BC staring is an outright challenge or threat from the other dog and their solution is to bite the offender, just as they do with sheep who stand up to them. Mine have all hated most terriers for this reason. They play well with other BCs who know that it is not acceptable to stare at another dog.

flame suit on but there was only one that appealed to me, a couple that left me cold, and the rest meh. I'm sure they are the right dogs for their owners but they are not right for me. So what I got out of that is, if I couldn't get the breed I want I wouldn't get a dog. Which surprised me a bit after owning them for over 30 years. Same here, there is only one, maybe two of those dogs that hold any appeal at all for me. They are the two that look purebred and I happen to like working dogs but the average pet owner is not after a working bred dog. They want a small, easy to manage, pretty, fluffy dog in many cases and these are the only ones that are always very easy to rehome and therefore tend not to be dumped in the first place. Most Sydney and many country pounds have at least 80% bull breeds and I would never buy one of those, even if it meant I could not have a dog. The Sydney pounds have very few working bred dogs, unlike the rural ones and I find it shameful that so many working dogs end up in shelters these days. The farmers should take responsibility for any puppies born on their properties, not dump them in the pound. They used to shoot unwanted dogs, not leave them in a pound for them to put down instead. Either way the dogs end up dead.

Something to think about. Shelters, pounds and rescue provide a convenient place for irresponsibly bred puppies to be dumped. If the people producing these had nowhere to dump them, they might think again before letting another litter be born. No puppies in shelters and rescue have come from responsible breeders so buying them is no different to buying a puppy from a pet shop. It just provides incentive and space for more to be produced. Adults from shelters, pounds and rescue are a different story. Some are genuine surrenders from people who can no longer keep them due to tragic family circumstances but they are usually not originally from reputable breeders as if they were they could have returned the dog to the breeder for rehoming. They are also usually not cute, attractive dogs either as they could usually be rehomed easily by the owner. These surrenders are often very well trained and looked after, they just aren't pretty. Surrender is the last resort for dogs that only their owner could love. The majority though of dogs in pounds, shelters and rescue are dogs who have not been raised right and trained and are therefore not desirable to the average person looking for a pet. Easily acquired from any source that doesn't ask a lot of questions, so irresponsibly bred in the first place, the owners who dump or surrender them usually do it over and over again. Screw up a puppy so that it is a nuisance, then dump it so they can go and get a "better" puppy to replace it, over and over again. These are the people who are responsible for the high euthanasia rate. Why should people who want a pet, have to take on and try to fix a problem created by someone else? When I worked taking in surrenders I really wondered if we where just making it easier for these people to treat dogs as disposable. If all dogs came from responsible, ethical, registered breeders, there would be no need for shelters or rescue as any dog that needed rehoming could be returned to the breeder. Every breeder I know personally has this requirement in their puppy sales details or contract. Pounds would then purely be to reunite dogs who have escaped with their owners. So I would be highly unlikely to ever take on a rescue of any sort from any source but might take on a dog that needed to be rehomed direct from the owner or breeder it had been returned to. I would want to know the dog's history if I couldn't raise it myself.

You need to flea bomb the house as well to get rid of the fleas from the environment. If you have sandy soil or long grass, the yard may need to be sprayed too. You can use Advantage after a bath but it works best as a long term treatment so it works better the longer you use it.

The cattle dog would have to already be desexed as he came from the RSPCA. I suggested he be rehomed as it is unusual for desexed dogs to fight and the OP already suggested rehoming him. He is the last added to the family and they raised the BC from a puppy so should be more attached to him. They have only had the ACD for a couple of months and even if he isn't the aggressor he will always come off best in a fight due to his jaw and body strength. Unfortunately the BC will probably need a lot of work now to not react to other dogs. They are a breed not prone to fighting but if they are forced into a situation where they to learn to fight they tend to always be wary of other dogs. BCs have memories like elephants and this one will probably hate all ACDs for the rest of it's life but not necessarily other breeds.

It is not at all unusual to have a male ACD that cannot be run with other males. Usually two desexed dogs will get along but not always. The BC may fight back but they when they fight it is usually all spit and noise and he will always come off second best to the stronger ACD. Unless you are prepared to completely separate them for the rest of their lives, I would rehome the ACD.

If she has any plastic bowls, get rid of them. The stuff they coat the moulds with to release the set plastic, can do this to a dogs nose. Always use stainless steel or ceramic bowls for dogs.

8 months is too young to be jogging with you. 12 months minimum for jogging with any dog and then preferably on grass, not hard surfaces. Steady, fast jogging is quite an unnatural thing for a dog to do as they normally change pace and direction a lot when free running. Training them to trot faster takes time and patience but they will only be able to do it if they are very well constructed. If your puppy has any sort of structural fault it may never be able to trot as fast as you would like it to and galloping is something dogs only do in short bursts. For long distance they need to be able to trot and to move faster they need a long stride.

If the bitch has a caesar I would take the puppy straight to the other litter, even if you have to milk out the colostrum to give to the puppy. She will not miss what she never sees and won't even know she ever had a baby. If she whelps normally, wait and see what sort of mum she is and if she has any milk. If she is an attentive mum and can feed the puppy, then let her keep it but take it over to socialise with the other litter from about 4 weeks.

The only part of Sydney that is safe from paralysis ticks is the south west. West of a line roughly from Campbelltown to Parramatta and south of the Great Western Highway is tick free but everywhere else requires year round tick protection. Even the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands have become tick areas in the past few years. Anywhere within 10kms of the coast is very high risk but other areas with rainforest type growth and bandicoots in residence are also risky.

There is no genetic test for seal because they haven't worked out exactly what it is yet. Current theory is that it is an incomplete dominant KB gene that allows the A allele to show through, so seal appears if the dog is also sable ayat, ayay, away, awaw or awat. Ghost tan point occurs the same way if the dog is atat. Most seal Border Collies test as KBky but they can also be KBKB. No one knows if the KB gene is faulty in seals or if a modifyer affects the KB gene but either way a dog that should be black, isn't quite.

The worming suspensions are useless and can also be easily inhaled causing pneumonia. They are really only meant for for the first one or two wormings of newborns but they don't work anyway. Stick to tablets and a 5kgs does is fine for 3.5kg puppy.

A bit further south but still in western Sydney. Camarna Kenneks at Austral have the best puppy preschool I know of anywhere.

It all sounds perfectly legit to me. Breeders often ask for males to be left entire as insurance for the breeding lines. Sometimes they take semen to freeze once the dog is mature but if the owner is happy with the dog entire they just use them for natural matings. Often stud fees are not asked for when there is only two puppies from a caesar in a breed that normally has larger litters. I would never have taken a stud fee for an outcome like that and I find it quite common for others in my breed to wave the stud fee for just one or two puppies. In fact I only know one breeder who insists that 1 puppy is classed as a litter and the stud fee is payable. This is a good friend of mine but we have agreed to disagree on this point. I wouldn't expect to be paid a stud fee for the breeder of my dog to use him unless it was for lots of litters. If used by others then a stud fee should be paid. I currently have a male who was a gift from the breeder. He is available for her or one of her breeder friends to use at no fee as they share stud dogs and puppies with no money changing hands. We have no written agreement, he is entirely in my name and we never really discussed the details of the arrangement but we trust each other completely. If anyone else wants to use my dog, they would have to get the agreement of his breeder and then I would expect a stud fee.

It all comes down the dog's personalities but a male puppy should be fine if you intend to desex him at some point. I find entire males will often tolerate male puppies well, up until they are 2-3 years old before there is an issue, provided the puppy is not of a fighting nature. For that reason, a terrier except for a Border Terrier would not be my choice of a dog to add to the household. Most terriers can be feisty with the same sex. Lots of other breeds are fine with males run together. I currently have two entire males. A BC who is nearly 10, who has no understanding of aggression at all. He loves everyone and all dogs of both sexes and I could probably run any male with him. I have had other BCs though where the males have had to be separated when not under direct supervision. BC bitches generally are fine to run in groups except where two take a dislike to one another. My other current dog is a JS who is 2. He is both submissive (licks round the BC's mouth like a puppy) to the BC, yet can be a real pain and annoy him and will snap occasionally over food, etc. The BC just ignores him. JS are a breed where the males don't fight and can usually be run together. There can be lots of posturing and the odd growl or snap but it never seems to escalate to a fight. I have no doubt that I could add another entire male of either breed to my household with no problems with the two current dogs as neither have any male to male aggression. So it is more about the breed and individual dogs than the sex when picking a new puppy to join the family. Also consider letting your dog decide if he likes the new puppy before committing to it. My BC picked a male puppy out of a friends litter a couple of years ago. He had little interest in the female puppies and wouldn't even look at the other male puppy in the litter but was besotted with one particular male. Unfortunately I didn't want another male BC at the time.