dancinbcs

Some dogs get sick if they are put in a car harness but never in a crate or loose in the back of a station wagon. Also if she is used to being in a crate it is like removing her security blanket to put her in a car without it. She may have been used to being able to see out the windows, depending on where her crate normally travelled, so being stuck down on the seat could also cause car sickness. Finally if her owners had an auto car and yours is manual that can make a difference. As a human that has always suffered car sickness, I know that the position in the vehicle and the auto/manual thing is a real problem. I generally drive everywhere because I am not affected as the driver but if I have to be a passenger it must be in the front seat and never in a manual vehicle.

I love my Oldfield but wouldn't say it was quiet. They are very powerful, robust and reliable and I use them on Border Collie puppies from 8-10 weeks (approx 5-7kgs) with no problems but have no idea how they would be with a small breed. To reduce the noise near the dogs I replaced the hose with a longer piece of pool hose, so that I can place the dryer further away.

I have seen this happen several times over the years. It is usually just a lapse in concentration by the judge who thinks they are judging the challenge not a class. All you need to do is politely point out that it is a breed class and that the dogs have not been examined. Just say it loud enough for the judge and steward to hear but not loud enough to embarass the judge. If it is a large show the judge has a lot of classes to judge and occasionally they slip up. They are after all, only human. Most will just laugh, apologise and judge the class correctly. The result may be the same but there is a chance it may not. Remember dog judges are people not gods. You can talk to them and most won't bite your head off. Don't be afraid to speak up but do it in a polite manner.

All excellent suggestions above. I had a dog with arthritis that started in her feet at two and slowly moved up her legs until she had it virtually all over. She was a pretty tough dog but I found that after the initial inflammation in each joint the pain would subside a bit as the arthritis progressed. We used Green lipped mussel capsules, cartrophen injections, acupuncture and in her last couple of years anti-inflammatories. She also has a high uric acid level so lived on fish for a year to avoid feeding her purines and making it worse. We also swam her a lot in summer. In winter if it was really cold I used tennis sweat bands on her legs as leg warmers to keep the joints warm. At night in winter she had a trampoline bed with a heating panel under one side so that she could lie on the cooler side and drape he legs over the heating panel to keep them from going stiff. I was warned that she probably would not make 10 due to the arthritis but she made it to 15 before her heart and kidneys packed up and she was pts.

To me 26 small breed puppies at one time = puppy farmer, unless by some freak of nature this was only from 3 litters.(Possible but unlikely in Pugs) You cannot determine numbers in a litter and many breeders breed 2 or three litters together to get all the breeding for the year done in one hit. Pugs are a high care breed for whelping and puppy rearing so need lots of time and attention from the breeder. Whelping more than three at a time would not allow time for this specail care. Also with that many puppies how could anyone spend individual one on one time with them. I have all my puppies started on basic obedience, lead traing, crate training, car travel, household noises, grooming and toilet training before they leave. Most of the problems raised on the puppy forum here would never occur if other breeders did what I and many of my friends do. This is what being a good breeder should entail. It all takes considerable time and cannot be done with large numbers. I don't believe any one kennel should need to breed any more than 3 to 6 litters per year at the absolute most and less for large/giant breeds. The reason for breeding purebreds should be to improve the breed not to supply the pet market for profit. There are thousands of dogs that are put down each year because there are no homes for them. Flooding the market with large numbers of pet puppies does not help the situation. The other problem with large numbers is that they tend to get sold to anyone who comes up with the cash because they can't afford to pick and choose buyers if they have a lot of puppies to sell. I will agree to disagree with many of the comments on here.

I have travelled quite a bit with my dogs and have stayed in a variety of dog friendly places. Here is my wish list. Dogs allowed inside with suitable washable floor coverings. I stayed in one with my dogs that had all white carpet. ;) Covers for furniture so there is not a panic if the dogs do occasionally jump on the furniture. A small secure fenced grass yard accessable from the door of the unit for quick toilet breaks. All dogs on lead in common areas. Dog washing and drying facilities. Poo bins. Use of kitchen facilities/fridge to prepare meals for dogs. I don't use commercial food. Not essential but would be nice to have an off lead fenced running area and kennel facilities where dogs could be minded for a few hours. Other than that I am happy to take all my own dog stuff, bedding, bowls, food, toys, poo bags, etc. I prefer no kids as well as I don't have any and prefer a quieter holiday away from other peoples kids. Best of luck with your B&B. We need more dog friendly ones.

Theft of any of the fighting breeds and crosses is always a big possibility. If you are going to own SBTs, Amstaffs. Bull Terriers, Pit Bulls or crosses of them you need very tight security. They go missing from all over Aust, stolen to be used as bait to train fighting dogs. Entire males are most at risk but sometimes they just grab whatever they can. The dog fighting rings like to get hold of dogs they know will fight if attacked, but be beaten by their dogs. No idea how you would find a fighting ring and the chances of the stolen dog being there would be slim. Most would never get near a real fight but would have been killed in a training fight. In this case with a female puppy, the most likely scenario is that she has been stolen for breeding, not fighting. Hope she was already desexed. The fact that several dogs of that type have all disappeared makes me think they were definitely stolen. If the police are not interested the RSPCA may be. Contact them with the exact facts of which dogs are missing and the dates. Unfortunately, dog fighting rings are very good at keeping their existance secret and that is why they still exist.

Sorry to hear that Chloe ill again. In my experience vets rarely know the right time to let them go. They always want to try one more thing and it is up to the owner to make the decision. You know your dog better than even the best vet and when you think she has had enough it has to be your decision. Hopefully you will not need to make that decision yet, but only you can decide if the good times outweight the bad times for her. If she has a chance of returning to a normal happy life that is great but if not it may be time to let her go.

Looks like a Pomeranian or cross of one. Hard to tell with it just sitting down and not groomed like a show Pom.

I once found a dozen balls under one of the dog beds.

In order of priority 1. Experienced, knowledgable, dedicated vets that know what they are doing and care about the animals. (If this isn't met, nothing else matters) 2. Available 24/7. 3. Reasonable fees. 4. Good nurses that care about the animals and keep everything clean. 5. Necessary equipment eg, X-ray, ultrasound, etc. 6. Allow owners in with the animals for procedures or surgery if requested. 7. Listen to owners who know what they are talking about. 8. Prepared to try new treatments when they have nothing else concrete to offer. 9. Parking at the door. 10. Scales in the waiting room. The look of the surgery or waiting room is of absolutely no interest to me. The fancier it is the higher the fees are to pay for it. I would much rather just receive quality vet care with no fancy extras.

In my 27 years with the breed I have personally only heard of 4 cases of epilespy in Australia, so it is really rare here. Overseas is a different story and a some breeders elsewhere have told me that they import Aust lines to get away from the problem. I do however, know of two old dogs down from two different lines I have used, that have sadly had seizures in their last months or weeks of old age. So hard when there is so little that you can do except wait and hope that it is not her time yet.

Thankfully. I have never had to remove a dead one but from friends that have the best approach seems to be to leave it with the bitch for an hour or so, then let her see you take it away. If you take it straight away or sneak it out, she will never stop looking for it. My bitches get so stressed if they are separated from their babies that I have to put the scales right next to the box to weigh the puppies where the bitch can still reach them and when they go to the vet for their after whelping check I put the puppies with the bitch in a crate in the car, not in a separate carrier. I always have a couple of oxytocin shots on hand to use, after checking with the vet by phone. My previous vet didn't insist on the phone check in, but this one prefers it that way. If things are going too slow I now check with the vet before using it and always give a shot of it when I think they are finished to make sure all puppies and afterbirths have been expelled. See if your vet will trust you to have the oxytocin on hand, explain where to give the injection and be happy for you to check in before using it. It must be kept chilled so needs to be collected in an esky bag with a cold brick and then kept in the fridge. If you do use it you must be absolutely certain that there is not a puppy stuck. If there is, the oxytocin can cause the uterus to rupture. My rule is to only use it when there have been no more contractions since the last delivery. If there are contractions but no puppy produced, and I cannot feel a stuck one, that I can dislodge, then I head for the vet.

If that is the case, why are they not eligible to be registered even on the limit register? In all other breeds, unnacceptable colours can be limit registered but the rule for boxers is that white puppies are not eligible for any register. Seems a bit odd if the colour does not cause any health problems.

Epilepsy in Border Collies is pretty rare but if it does occur it tends to show up in young dogs (1-4yrs). Some overseas lines have a problem with seizures in puppies aged about 4-7 months, but we have never known of it to occur in BCs from Australia. The seizures in the really old dogs seem to be from some other age related cause.

If I lived in Vic I would go to Puppy Bars. They are the best ones I have ever seen.

I may be wrong here but I thought that responsible breeders euthansed white boxer puppies at birth because of their increased risk of developing cancers at a young age. I know they cannot be registered and was under the impression that it was not acceptable for them to be sold either. Are they offering to give you the puppy or are you expected to pay for it? If you are paying, what health guarantee are they providing? As to the age, unless the 5 month old has been extensively socialised I would not consider it.

She was a border collie - her first litter. My first too - so maybe I missed the signs that she wasnt finished, but she had been up had something to eat lay back down and had been asleep for an hour and a half before I went to bed. Must have just been having a big rest before the last 3! Thanks for all your replies - you have all convinced me to do it myself from the beginning. It is a different bitch this time and her first litter. My experience with Border Collies (about 15 litters delivered by me and dozens by friends) is that they usually manage quite well with no help at all. The only thing I do is break the sack over the nose on the odd occasion they don't do this within the first minute, and touch the puppy on the mouth to get it to take a breath. Once it is breathing I am happy to give the bitch 3-5 minutes to finish cleaning it and chewing the cord. They also tend to eat the aftebirth as it is expelled so stopping them doing that is not an option. I find the less you interfere the better mothers they are. Once you start interfering they tend to sit back and let their "staff" take over something they are perfectly capable of doing themselves. Some even refuse to have anything to do with the puppies if you interfere too much. My bitches have also never allowed me to move the already born puppies out of the box as each new one is born. They don't mind them being shifted to one side but forget about the one they are delivering if you try to move the others out of the box. The only time I have had to assist BCs is to pull three stuck puppies, administer oxytocin if they are too slow and if they leave the cords too long I snip them shorter. A hopelessly stuck puppy or inertia results in a caesar but other than those cases BCs generally only need you to sit and watch to make sure all is well. I always have thread and scissors on hand but have never had to tie off a cord yet and have never had any problems with the bitches doing it all themselves. I find Border Collies to be a very "natural" breed with most of the wild dog instincts needed to mate, whelp and mother, still very strong, so long as humans don't interfere and stress them out.

The only Borders I know of that have had had seizures in old age have had them in their last couple of months. Not sure of the exact diagnosis but just basically wearing out. At 13 I would just be keeping her comfortable for as long you can with medication. The average lifespan for the breed is about 14 but can vary from 12 to 16 depending on the lines, so at 13 she is an old lady and things will start to go wrong. IMO spending huge amounts of money with specialists is pointless if the dog is already nearing it's expected lifespan. As mentioned above it is purely an academic exercise and one that makes the vets rich. Once my Borders turn 13 my aim is to make whatever time they have left as comfotable as possible not to try to prolong the inevitable. I feel cheated if I lose them before that, but 13-15 is a good innings. Having an ill geriatric dog is emotionally very draining, so just try to remember all the good times you have had together and when the time comes give her wings.

I have successfully bred several bitches that stayed with their owners. They owned the bitch but she was leased back to me on paper. They outlayed all expenses and kept all money from the sale of the puppies. I organised the mating, was there for the whelping, ran back and forth guiding them through the process, organised buyers and puppy notes and assessed the puppies. What did I get out of the arrangement? The continuation of my line carrying my prefix and an option to buy my pick puppy if I wanted to, for what it actually cost them to raise it. All done without having to physically raise the puppies at my home. Only once have I actually taken a puppy from the litter, but some other litters have resulted in dogs carrying my prefix ending up as successful show dogs and sires. What did the owners get out of the arrangement. The experience and joy of breeding a litter with full support. Some then opted to desex their girls and others have gone on to become breeders and exhibitors with their own prefixes. In some cases I have actually put my prefix in dual names to breed the litter so that their name will always be listed as co-breeder of that litter. These situations can and do work wonderfully if everone approaches them for the right reason and not to try to make a profit at the expense of someone else.

I used to do this (the hose) with the high school students that sat on the front doorstep of a house we lived in a few years ago. Just because my doorstep is not far from the footpath and across from your school does not mean you can sit there talking trash, eating and leaving wrappers and cans etc you little germs, *ssssprrrrayyyyy*! Was amazing. Surely would also work for cats? Yep our neighbours let us know if Atlas puts a toe out of line but their cat actually enters our house sometimes, not just the yard, OH said to them "if Atlas one day manages to catch it when it is teasing him like it does every day, don't blame us if he kills it" they just laughed. I'm not a huge fan of cats but no problem at all with them being inside, lying in sunny patches on windowsills like they're meant to do While I agree that in the modern world cats need to be confined for their own safety, nature never intended them to be lying on sunny windowsills. Cats are nocturnal hunters and if they are to be of any use in rodent control they need to be outdoors at night. They are very territorial and many never leave their own yard. What I object to is entire cats roaming and fighting at night. If they were all desexed they would be a lot quieter and the dogs take little notice. They do however react to a cat fight. In this case I think talk to the neighbour and try the hose/ water pistol first before resorting to traps.

You would need to know the breeder personally for quite a while before entering into a breeders contract. I know many people this has worked for but the best arrangement is when you pay for the bitch and have the purchase price returned when she has the litter. Two litters is one too many in my opinion for this type of arrangement and most breeders I know who do this successfully only ever ask for one. Sometimes the owner then decides they would like their girl to have another litter and a new contract is negotiated but most just get them desexed after one litter. Some breeders are very generous and easy to deal with, others the exact opposite so you really need to know who you are dealing with. There are so many things that can and do go wrong so if you have any doubts at all, look for another puppy.

A hose turned on full blast usually does the trick as well. Many years ago when we used to have cats that were mostly outdoors there was a tom from down the street somewhere that used to come and terrorise all the desexed cats belonging to us and our neighbours. We caught him coming up the street one day, blasted him with the hose and never saw him again.

If you are anywhere near the SW of Sydney I can highly reccomend the puppy pre-school at Camarna Kennels in Austral to teach you how to deal with this puppy behaviour. In the mean time, get back to the breeder and buy lots of toys to substitute for your hands when puppy wants to bite.

Physically they can mate from about six months (4 months for Belgians) for dogs and from the first season 6-18 months for bitches but registered breeders are bound by a code of ethics with specified ages for certain breeds. This is the section of the code of ethics for NSW. 4. A bitch shall not be bred from unless it is in good health and has reached adequate maturity (no matings before 9 months for Toys and Brachycephalic Breeds, 12 months for others except Giant Breeds where a minimum of 18 months is to apply for matings). Any litter resulting from the mating of a bitch under the minimum specified age at the time of mating is eligible to be registered on the Limited Register only and flagged “not to be upgraded to the Main Register”. 11/08 Some breeds require hip scoring before breeding and that cannot be done until 12 months. Apart from that it is pretty common for males to be used from about 10-12months and bitches to be bred between 18 months and three years for a first litter. The bitches are most fertile between 1 and 3 years so leaving a first litter later than this can lead to fertility problems. Some bitches have a first litter successfully as late as 5 but the repro vets do not recommend waiting this long. 7-10 is about the maximum age for a bitch to whelp a last litter, depending on the breed. Dogs are most fertile before 5 years and some can become sterile by 7 with others still able to sire litters at 14.