dancinbcs

Puppy temperaments are definitely set and obvious by 5-6 weeks and this is why one puppy is not equal to any other. Each one needs to be carefully placed in the right home based on temperament, not colours or markings or whether the puppy was the first to run to a buyer just because it was the first to wake up from a nap. I detest the practice of allocating puppies before 6 weeks as they often end up in the wrong homes. I have knocked back many people on my waiting list if I didn't have the right puppy for them. I have also observed a litter of accidental crossbred puppies that were all so aggressive by 4-5 weeks that even their beautiful natured mother didn't want to go anywhere near them any more. They couldn't be handled and just fought among themselves constantly. The whole litter was pts at 5 weeks. Behaviour is altered by environment but temperament is set at birth.

I prefer males to be left entire until at least 18 months to allow for them to reach full height. Full maturity overall is often not reached in Borders until about 4 years but the important thing is the bone growth and that is finished by 18 months.

I would suspect liver shunt with those symptoms.

This is the one I and all my breeder friends have been using for years. Breedmate This program was also used by the geneticist who developed the DNA tests for CL and TNS in Border Collies.

Exposure to modern chemicals and weather are big determining factors. Dogs use to live a lot longer on "lesser quality" diets before the invention of dog food and before our environment and food chain became affected by chemicals. Dogs in cold climates also seem to outlive those of the same breed here. Our hot summers really knock the oldies around and shorten their lives by a couple of years.

I am not surprised at all that you are having second thoughts. After planning what your next dog would be for several years you have done a complete turnaround. Time will tell if this was really meant to be or not and don't feel guilty either way. You have saved a dog who is meant to be with you for now at least. Things happen for a reason. If he turns out to be your forever dog that is great but if not you can always train him up some more and find him a real forever home while he is still young. As for the ears it sounds like he has ear mites. Get his ears vet checked and treated asap.

So often the dog in these cases belongs to the uncle and is being minded by the grandparents. It is a recipe for disaster for the uncle to own a tough sort of dog that is not raised with kids, get the grandparents to mind the dog who is probably fine with them but they don't think about the fact that they haven't raised the dog and do not really know what it is like with children. The end result is a child scarred physically and mentally for life, a dead dog and severely traumatised family all round. When I was working as a Pet Educator I was careful to point out to kids that the "angry dog" they encounter may not be one on the street but one belonging to neighbour or a relative such as a grandparent or uncle.

If you had ever seen 5 week old puppies that were just downright nasty you would believe that dogs can be born like that. The dog's basic nature and temperament is set at birth, just as it is with humans. Human psychopaths are born that way too and usually have a long history through childhood of acts of cruelty, despite how good or bad their parents are. How dogs behave in given circumstances is up to the owner, environment and training. If the owner knows they have a dog that is dangerous it is up to them to manage the dog or have it pts. The statement that no dogs are bad is just downright stupid.

I am very happy with my 30" Bengo crate from OzGrooming World. I like that it is light but well made and perfect for my JS. Not sure that I would trust something like a SBT in one but they can break out of pretty much any crate if they want to.

This thread follows the decline of a TNS affected Border Collie puppy. It is a very painful condition so less likely to be what the greyhound is suffering from. Sick Border Collie puppy Edited to add that similar conditions occur in many species so it is highly likely that other dogs breeds would also be affected with it.

8 is quite common in my breed for a last litter, with 9 not uncommon and even a few 10 year olds known to have whelped with no problems. All of these bitches would have already had at least one litter easily before. I know of several who have not had their first litter until 6 years but most prefer to breed the first litter between 2 and 5 years. Back when I started in dogs, breeding 12-18 month old bitches was common for a first litter and males were usually used for the first time between 8-10 months. Fertility problems were rare back then. Our breed clubs imposed a recommended age of 2 years for breeding either sex to try to eliminate breeding from dogs affected with the fatal hereditary condition CL, that doesn't show up until 16 -20 months. We now have a DNA test to avoid the condition but somehow the mindset of never breeding under 2 years has endured. We have a club COE that requires hip and elbow scoring so no matings until that is done after 12 months with bitches recommended to be 18 months for maturity. The proposed ages in Vic are ridiculous. Who the hell came up with 6 years for a male and why? In a breed that doesn't often mature before 4-6 years and therefore get looked at seriously as a stud prospect it makes no sense at all. I know of many 12 year old males who have been used successfully and even a few 14 year olds.

I have raised a few super destructive chewers and have worked out a method that works very well. First confine the dog if you cannot watch it with a puppy pen with stuff to chew in it. When they have supervised access to the rest of the house, have a toy basket full of interesting toys of all different textures from hard chews like nylabones or antlers to soft toys to cardboard boxes. Encourage the puppy to take stuff from the toy basket and always praise when they do. This lets them know that this is their "stuff" and they can do whatever they want with it. They can make as much mess as they want so long as they don't touch anything else. Everything else is your stuff and they are not allowed to chew it. A harsh arrrgghhhh sound or a serious sounding growl works much better than the word no, if they chew something they shouldn't. Dogs have no idea what no means but a growl is universal dog language. If they are obsessed with door frames or wooden furniture, using something like Vicks Vapourub or a bitter spray will deter most. For any tendency to chew dangerous stuff like electrical cords, sound aversion can work well. Bang some saucepan lids together or throw a short length of chain near enough to them to startle them. Praise immediately they leave whatever it is alone. Consistency is the key with praise when they are chewing their own stuff and a reprimand if they touch anything else. Finally if they destroy your stuff when you are not watching them, take a rolled up newspaper and whack yourself around the head for allowing the puppy to make a mistake that will set them back in their training.

I only pay about $20 for two tablets at my local Petbarn but have seen it online as low as about $16 plus postage. If I had more dogs I would be buying the 50 pack online as you can get the price down to about $7 a dose that way. Both Ivermection and Milbemycin oxime are listed in the drugs to be careful of for MDR1 dogs. The difference is Ivermection is high risk and Milbemycin oxime is only moderate risk. Both are considered safe at the correct dose but dangerous if overdosed. As they are the only two options for monthly heartworm it is a matter of choose one or go back to daily dimmitrol tablets. I have written to Novartis to confirm that Milbemax and Interceptor are exactly the same drug. For me the Interceptor in a six pack works out slightly cheaper than buying 2 Milbemax at a time but it isn't worth the hassle to try to get the chews into the dogs.

Milbemax does not have ivermectin in it. Milbemax (tablets) and Interceptor (chews) are exactly the same drug made by the same company. With large numbers of dogs the 50 pack works out a lot cheaper in the long run as well if you buy it online for a good price. I have used Inteceptor for about 20 years and recently changed to Milbemax because it is easier to get into the dogs, who hate the chews. Also vets in the ACT area are recommending Milbemax to deal with the whipworm outbreak in the area that has become resistant to Drontal. Most Borders are still dosed with Heartguard and so far no Border Collie in Aust has tested as even carrying the MDR1 gene so it is highly unlikely that Borders in this country will have the problem. If you want to make sure you can simply do the DNA test for the MDR1 gene because dogs affected have to avoid a whole long list of drugs, not just ivermectin. Edited to add that all the puppy worming suspensions are basically useless. I have used tablets for puppies from 10 days for 25 years. The tablets are easier to dose with and more effective.

Having owned a Lab I would never have a dog with a short double coat again, especially an oily coat. Hair everywhere 365 days a year, grease marks on the walls and that doggy odour. I love my long coated BCs and JS that shed twice a year in clumps, have no doggy smell and can be groomed in 15-20 min. I do love Poodles and nearly bought one before getting my first BC but I decided to show and was not prepared to put in that much time grooming such a high maintenance dog. A non shedding breed is too much grooming commitment for me and I have no idea why so many people want them as pets.

Did you raise this dog from a puppy? When I worked at a shelter we had an approx 5 month old Crossbred with some Newfie in him, brought in as a cruelty case. He was painfully thin and had been left chained up all the time with the collar growing into his neck. They removed the collar, healed the neck wound and got some condition on him before putting him up for adoption. The people who took him were wonderful but a couple of months later they rang to say the puppy could hardly walk. She brought him back for x-rays and assessment and was given the tragic news that his joints were all shot. She surrendered him back to the shelter and he was pts the same day. The 3 vets were so intrigued that they did an autopsy on the puppy. None of them had ever seen anything like it. None of his joints had formed properly - hips, elbows, shoulders, stifle joints were almost non-existent.

we tried some of them on and they do cover the base of the tail - most of them do anyways. they're not all going to be like that though (even though it is desired) as they're done by volunteers. the really tiny ones we figure can be used on pups, made from donated kids' trakkies. we tested our templates out and tried them on dogs before using those. I love that your post has rippled into this :) (btw, we are not claiming it as our own idea, if it is an original idea of yours and you want your name attached to it pls let me know!) It is an original idea of mine as I designed the first one with just a pair of scissors, some years ago, but I don't need any official credit. I am just delighted that my idea has snowballed and is helping rescue dogs to keep warm at no cost to anyone. You were the one who had the thought to do the trackie drive and organise a workshop so well done.

I usually allow my puppies to eat as much as they want to at each meal and take the food up as soon as they walk away from the plate. Of course it depends on the puppy as a few will eat until they throw up but most BCs just eat what they need. They are usually not a very food orientated breed so rarely overeat as puppies. They also eat different amounts on different days because they don't grow at a steady rate each day. On days when they are growing more they will be much hungrier than on days when their growth has slowed. I prefer them with a thin layer of fat over the ribs because they hit a growth spurt at about 16 weeks when they all go tall, lanky and skinny. If they are too lean before the growth spurt it can be impossible to keep any weight on them at all during that 4-8 month peak growing period. As I said in the other post, the weight they are born at determines how fast they grow. My last litter of just 3 whoppers born around 500gms, had doubled their weight to 1kg at one week and were already about 2.5kgs at 3 weeks before I even started to wean them. At 6 weeks they were 5-6kgs and by 8 weeks they were 7-8kgs. At 4 months, as per usual they where all legs and skinny just like my smaller ones had been. That litter gained about 100gms a day from the second week on but smaller, more usual size puppies will only gain about 50-70gms a day. My male was 17kgs before 6 months and matured at 23kgs. On the other hand I have bought in 2 puppies that only weighed 3kgs at 8 weeks. All grew to be normal size adults. One thing you can never predict in puppies is final size and substance. Some stop growing at 6 months, others grow to 18 months, regardless of the size they start at.

No, if you register a prefix in NSW and have bitches registered to you here, then put them all in dual names with say someone who lives in Vic, then they have to be a member of Dogs Vic as their home state and Dogs NSW as well. All puppies registered to the NSW prefix are then registered in NSW.

I would say the older brother more likely learnt that at school from the Pet Education Scheme.

Great to see that my original post last year has made such an impact. Can I ask though why the coats look so short in the back? I make them long enough to cover the rear to the base of the tail and even a little longer if possible.

Are you using any sort of spot on treatment on her that she could be reacting to?

With it being so localised to one very unusual spot, it sounds more like a bacterial infection than an allergy. I would get the vet to do a skin scraping.

Feed the last meal later, not earlier. It takes about 9 hours for the food to go from one end to the other in a puppy that age so if you feed at 7 pm they need to poop around 4am. I always give last meal one hour before bed.

But you can be a member of as many state CCs as you want to. I was a member of Vic for many years because I lived in Albury when I first started in purebred dogs and showed in both states so needed both journals. I was also still partners in a prefix with someone when they moved to the ACT. The prefix was still in NSW and registered to my address but the other partner lived in the ACT and retained her NSW membership as well. Most people who live in the ACT are also members in NSW.