dancinbcs

It is usual for them to cover all costs and to offer you a puppy or the price of a puppy unless they strike bad luck and end up with one or two by caesar. If they get an average size litter for your breed, you should be entitled to the price of a puppy.

I have raised numerous puppies with the pen system you have set up with no problem at all. Make sure she is cool enough at this time of year. Covering the pen may be making her hot and that could be complaining about that. Two things are vital and that is not to give in at the start and to make sure her last meal of an evening is one hour before bed, no earlier. It takes about 9 hours for food to pass through a puppy so feed last thing at night and give her a chance to toilet and play for an hour. Then she should settle for approx 8 hours. If you are feeding too early she will need to poop in the early hours and may not want to use the pee pad for that and she will be hungry. Remember Labs are always hungry. If you get up to toilet her put her back in the pen and leave her there until you are ready to interact with her. If you give in and let her out she has trained you to do that. If you cannot sleep, get up and do other stuff in the house but ignore her. No games and no food until you want her to have it. A serious growl at her for making noise should work if you then make sure you wait for her to be quiet for a few minutes before letting her out. She should catch on that the only way to be let out is to be quiet. I would also still be putting her in the pen for intervals throughout the day so she learns to be quiet in there, whenever she is put in there. The pen is for quiet time and no matter when, you decide when to let her out and it only ever happens when she is quiet.

If all else fails can you put her in a confined area with the adult dog at night? That may settle her down. I have also done that with puppies and they seem happy to be with another dog.

Just a note that the original post was not deceiving anyone (like in the current conversation).

They stated their dogs NSW number, both parents were pedigree registered but they told everyone that the litter was not a registered litter.

They didn't try to deceive anyone.

But they are still in clear violation of the rules and should be reported. Dogs NSW takes these breaches of the rules very seriously. The only way to weed out the bad breeders is if they are reported. Please send a copy of the ad to Dogs NSW and they will follow it up.

I think the term "bred to death" applies to puppy farm bitches who are bred from the first season, which in smaller breeds can be from 6 months, then every season until their health breaks down or they are no longer profitable. Then they are shot or if they are lucky they get a green dream.

Breeding well cared for bitches from about 18 months, an average of once a year, is a very different proposition. Wild canines, only cycle once a year so while a couple of back to back litters do no harm if the bitch is fit, nature really only means for dogs to have one litter a year. The age they can start breeding and be bred up to vary considerably for different breeds so there can be no generalisation. I have a breed that is often not bred until 3-5 years and can easily still be bred at 9 and even 10 years but for a large/giant breed that would be out of the question. Small breeds can be bred from about 12 months but again the giant breeds are far too immature and still growing at that age. How much having a litter drags a bitch down depends on how easily she whelps and how many puppies she raises. Raising a litter of 14 is going to have a much greater effect on a bitch than just raising 2-3 puppies. A small/medium bitch may have 20 puppies in total from 5 litters whereas a large bitch might have that many in just two litters.

The number of litters a bitch has is also about why you need to breed many litters from her. Most breeders breed to get a puppy to continue the next generation. If you know what you are doing and have a little bit of luck, you can manage to do that by only breeding one litter from each bitch. If you always breed in order to keep a puppy, what are you going to do with one from each of 6 litters from each bitch you own. A bitch that has less litters has more time to enjoy being part of the family, going to shows, trials or whatever you do with your dogs rather than being stuck at home raising babies.

All good suggestions. Try a thundershirt as well. They are for all scary situations, not just thunder and fireworks.

I make my own Kefir. Works a treat. The dog and humans all of whom have had various gut problems, have it every day. I am yet to convince the fussy dog to drink it but his digestion is fine anyway.

You only need to buy a teaspoon full to get started making it. I can't find the people I bought it from on ebay but there are plenty of others on there.

Milk Kefir

That makes sense DeltaCharlie, thank you very much. I wonder if we should be striving to achieve that ideal world - getting the Australian shows to accept the different coat types and also breeding our working line border collies to try to ensure they still look like a border collie? Could we not breed a dog focusing on both aspects without having to choose one or is that difficult genetic-wise? As for people having access to a more laid-back border collie from show lines I can't help but think, if someone doesn't want the work ethic of a border collie, perhaps they shouldn't get a border collie..... but working dogs should also come with an off switch so they are not hyper bouncing off the walls all the time? I don't know what the middle ground is. I completely agree with you that temperament should be priority. However I think form is also important as without good structure a working dog would not be able to work all day anyway and that's where the show ring assessment could help.

Sorry I don't know much about the whole thing, I don't show neither do I work stock so I am perhaps being too naive. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, it's all very interesting!

When I started with show Borders in the early 80s it was very common for show and working dogs to come from the same litter. My first bitch came from a rural kennel that were 2nd generation showing dogs and poultry so they showed their dogs and sold the rest of the litters to local farmer to work. Pet Borders were pretty uncommon and most not used for work or show were obedience dogs. Long before the ANKC started registering Borders there were working registries for working sheepdogs and this is where the foundation stock of the ANKC dogs come from so they are the same lines. Over the years the working owners opted to only register with one of several working registries or not register at all and many of the early registered dogs have a lot of unknown dogs behind them which may have been any sort of working sheepdog. Early in the 20th century BC and Kelpies were crossed here to get the best working dogs and the progeny registered as whichever breed they most resembled. In the US it is more common to find a mix of Border and Beardie if you go back to the same era and probably a lot of the unregistered ones behind the US working dogs were early Aussie types too. You can find Kelpies behind pretty much every ANKC Border and most of the working lines too if they are from lines going back that far in Aust. The working dogs split into general farm dogs and three sheep trialling dogs and the two are very different with the trial dogs being much stronger eyed with a very particular style of working. The same happens in working Kelpies. The serious triallers imported dogs with this particular skill to breed on from as there is little practice for this type of dog on a typical Aust farm that differs so much from the British Highlands the dogs originated from or the NZ high runs where the breed is also used. There has been much transmigration over the years to and from NZ as well. If you breed only for working ability, breed type is easily lost but most working them don't care as all they want is for the dogs to work. Similarly if you breed for breed type first with a closed registry which the ANKC dogs became, you will get a very set type but working ability will lessen in some lines as some dogs without working ability will be bred and perpetuate the problem. All borders should show work instinct and most still do even if they lack the style of a 3 sheep trial dog. Working or show bred, you still get the odd lazy dog that really isn't interested in running around much but in the working lines, those dogs do not get bred from and in fact many are shot. Borders should never be bred as pets even though many are pets. It is their unique nature that should appeal to any owner. The long coats are a hindrance with grass seeds in particular so working long coats tend to get a rough haircut but the coat never grows thick when a dog really works so coat density isn't an issue. In the UK many of the working trial dogs could still step into any show ring as a lot of the farmers there treasure the look of the breed as well but here the attitude seems to be that they cannot work if they are also beautiful which is just crazy. There are now quite a few recent imported dual registered ISDS/ANKC dogs and their progeny working here that will hopefully be bred into the show lines. Now there are also specialised agility lines bred for jumping ability which is not required in either a show dog or a working sheep dog.

They are a very versatile breed that can be adapted to many uses and specialised breeding enhances these abilities. If you wanted to you could breed for them to retrieve or lure course as well as some dogs will do these things. Above all they should all look like one breed in basic structure and the best of all registries do share the same basic sound structure. They should be moderate in size, and bone and have the ability to move with stealth and that requires a lot of balanced angulation at both ends. They should be sound coming and going and all move with their head down at a trot. A very distinctive breed feature. They all require a fairly wide skull for brain room, eyes with good forward and peripheral vision and ears with some lift to be able to hear well. Where each type differs is in leg to height ratio and how much body they have with the agility dogs being longest in leg and lightest in body. They all need to be longer than tall and the structure above the elbow should be common to all with a long ribcage to allow for plenty of heart and lung room. Apart from our ANKC breed standard that has missed out on many of the colours (which we are trying to fix), colour and markings don't matter in any pursuit. There are no prescribed markings for a Border even for the showring but the Irish spotting pattern does breed fairly true most of the time. As all the original ANKC registered dogs were rough/long coats and they cannot carry smooth coat, smooth was never included in the ANKC breed standard. There is currently some push from the sheep triallers to have it added in now to allow for smooth coated imports and that may go to a vote in the future.

It doesn't matter what breed, when you breed for any purpose some traits, not required for that purpose will diminish. So if you breed for work, type will suffer in some dogs, if you breed for type working ability in some dogs will suffer. If you breed for colour and markings, everything that matters will suffer. Even if you try to breed out a health problem everything else will suffer.

I'm pretty sure in Poodles the colour is termed cafe au lait. They end up dilute brown but still with a brown nose as opposed to a dog born dilute brown that has a dilute nose as well.

Ahhh ok that may be it. I use just one of those regular slicker brushes from a pet store because it gets all of the dead hair out.

Most dogs hate slicker brushes because they pull the hair. I always use a Mason Pearson Bristle/Nylon brush and all of my dogs have loved being brushed with it. Cheap brushes can bevery uncomfortable for the dog. A good brush is well worth the money and should outlast several dogs, cut grooming time down and keep the dog happy.

I think it's mainly because people who want a pet dog are embarrassed by male dog's erection. They don't want to see a penis on view as will often happen at inopportune times with male dogs.

Huh. I have owned 7 entire male dogs (4 different breeds) and have never seen this happen unless they had a bitch to mate. When does it happen otherwise? I have also never had a make that humped anything other than a bitch.

As for being unclean, I find males faster and easier to housetrain and the girls have always marked outside just as much as the boys.

Some people have some really weird ideas. I find that puppy buyers tend to have heard that girls make the best pets but once the temperaments are explained they come round and are happy to take a boy as there are always way more boys available for sale than girls.

Personally I'd much prefer a male dog as a pet. Overall I find them cleaner, more easy going and outgoing, not as stress or anxious, just more in tune with themselves and a little less needy.... But then I prefer a dog with a mind of it's own and a somewhat independant personality over a squishy wishy washy sweety lovey all over you kind of personality.

Maybe it's a breed thing but in the several breeds I have had I have always preferred boys the exact opposite reasons. I love my clingy, devoted, cuddly boys who are all mine. The girls have always been much more independent and like to share themselves around. Independence is vital in females who will breed and have to be happy to stay with their babies and look after them and I have found in most breeds this tends to happen. Love my boys but when selling puppies to young families, I preferred them to have girls so that the puppy would share itself around rather than be a one person dog. In the last breed I have owned the boys are way more affectionate and the girls can be quite feisty so I chose a boy again so now have two entire males and no girls for the first time in a long time. I loved my girls but would always choose a boy out of the two for a companion dog.

tip to keep coat out of dremel is to get a piece of stocking and pull it over the foot so the nail poke through and everything else is under the stocking.

I tried the stocking some time ago but on such tiny feet I managed to get the stocking stuck in the dremel. The baby stretch suit worked a treat. I just unpicked the toes, so he had it on backwards with just his feet and tail out. It kept all the fluff out of the way and we were done in no time.

All of mine, who have generally been very good or at least tolerate it when younger, have flipped out over nails at about 9 or 10 years old. I assume they probably develop arthritis in the feet and find having their foot held tight enough to clip nails, hurts a lot. My usually totally calm 11 year old has been a nightmare for the last couple of years. He was so impossible as a baby that I did sedate him once and after that he was fine so long as I did him on the floor and only held the toe I was working on. Eventually I managed to let me do his nails on the grooming table. Now he is still ok to have the hair on his feet trimmed but hyperventilated if I try to do nails. I used to use a dremel, then switched back to the human type nail clippers and a file but he decided to be terrified of everything. So I invested in a small cordless Dremel Stylus and eventually managed to work on him if I did it on the lounge. Due to a back injury the floor is no longer an option for me so I put a large towel over the lounge, put him on a lead so he couldn't leave, let him lie on the lounge and I sat on a chair to reach him and do a little at a time on each nail. He also got treats every time he let me do a nail. He was much less stressed and I hope to eventually get him onto the grooming table but if we don't get there we don't. My little dog prefers not to lie down on the grooming table but is happy for me to do feet and nails if he stands and I lift his legs like you would with a horse. I can use nail clippers or the dremel on him and have just bought a baby grow suit and cut the toes out so I can put that on him at nail trimming time to keep all his fluffy coat out of the dremel. We haven't tried it yet so wish me luck. :D

I would never get a short haired breed even with the threat of ticks, don't like the look or feel of them. as long as you run your hands through the coat and check regularly you should be fine.

Both of my JS have excellent recall, It depends on the training you do. They also rather stick close to me than go galavanting off. Also depends on tje temperament, my female is super easy to train, male is harder but just wants to please. They definitely adore their chosen 'human', but I dont find them nervous or skittish around strangers, just indifferent and approach them in their own time.

They are all so different. My JS is very hyperactive, not the slightest bit nervous, loves everyone and loves to run as far and fast as he can. His recall is pretty good now a 3 years old but hopeless with the distraction of any person or dog as he always wants to rush up to say hello. Far too friendly for his own safety. He is much harder to train than most as he isn't a foodie and treats cannot compete with his excitement of being out and about. It took me until he was 8 months to get any sense out of him on a lead. My Border Collies on the other hand were all perfectly lead trained and totally focused on training and pleasing me, in any environment by 10-12 weeks. I love my JS and he provides endless entertainment with his antics but he is so different to a BC that they are like a different species.

If you want easy to train, go with the Sheltie that has the typical will to please of working dogs. If you have a sense of humour, want a challenge and plenty of entertainment get a Jap Spitz. The JS are very easy to house train as they are very clean but they are not an easy breed to train otherwise as they are very independent and like to do what they want to do, more like a cat. They are in fact very cat like in nature. They learn anything that benefits them, very quickly and are pedantic about routines which you can use to advantage. On the up side, their coat sheds dirt so they rarely look dirty whereas a Sheltie will stay dirty until washed. Both breeds are similar size and weight and have similar grooming requirements but are very different in nature.

IMO, the majority of folks use parks as a place for R&R ..and for their dogs to "play with others" .

Someone expecting to work seriously and undisturbed ? A rare happening!

I suggest buying/using one of these - how are folks/and their dogs to know to give you a wide berth otherwise?

Well off lead area or not it is an offense to let your dog charge up to any dog or person uninvited. Honestly the world if full of morons if people need a dog that is clearly being trained to wear a harness to say that but sadly that seems to be the case. Off lead dog parks are the worst thing to ever happen to dogs.

Stressmagnet you are doing a great job and there is no need to be polite to those who clearly have no manners and have no idea how to train a dog. Personally I carry a short stockwhip and crack that at any approaching dog. Most stop at the noise but if they don't they get a decent whack with it. The idiot owners tend to get the message too when they find their dog heading for a stockwhip. A shame really as it is the owners that need the whack with the whip.

First we had to wait for DNA results. Then some of the puppies had to be retested before they could be registered. Then the papers 'were posted a few weeks ago' and they would look into it (I never heard back). Now they are not responding to emails at all.

Dogs NSW breeders must supply papers when they sell a puppy. If your puppy is from NSW, contact Dogs NSW with the details and and copies of emails, etc and get them to follow it up.

I recently splurged and bought the Dremel Stylus cordless one and it is great. The only thing I can get near the nails on my older dog with and much easier on my hands and shoulders than the old generic multi tool I had.

A Collie Rough would be a perfect dog for your situation. Why do you think they are too big? A medium/large breed puppy is more resilient with kids and less fragile than the small breeds. This is one of the reasons that Golden Retrievers make good family pets too. Collies are wonderful family dogs, often overlooked these days. Easy going, easy to train and gentle with kids but always up for a romp with the family.Their coats are easy to groom with a decent brushing of 30 min once a week, a bath every 4-8 weeks and they shed a lot less than those breeds with dense short coats. The long coat comes out in easy to pick up clumps rather than one short hair at a time that work their way into every surface and are impossible to remove. I have owned a Labrador and they are wonderful dogs but the shedding drove me nuts compared to the long haired breeds I have had for the last 30 years. A Corgi could also be be a good match but they are a very high shedding breed. A Cardigan Corgi is actually a medium size breed on short legs. The Pembrokes are smaller. A Cocker Spaniel might also be a good match and they are fairly easy to groom as pets. A Whippet would also fit the criteria. With kids those ages I wouldn't go anything smaller than the breeds mentioned here.

If you had more dog experience I would suggest a Border Collie but you would need to be very dedicated to training and prepared to be closely mentored by the breeder for quite a long time or the dog would end up training you. They are a lot more work to keep entertained than a Collie Rough is.

Some dogs need much more stimulation than even a dedicated owner can give them. We see it occasionally in Border Collies where a very hyper puppy wants to be on the move all day, running circles or a fence line and despite intense obedience and show training, that they do well at, they just have no connection with the owner. Some friends of mine got one like this as their second BC after their kids had grown up and moved out. They spent a whole year working with a well known and respected trainer and at the end of that year, had a very obedient dog that still was not the slightest bit interested in them if they were not actually training. As soon as he was released he would run endless circles. After asking around we found a few others who had similar experiences so they decided to take their advice on board and offer the dog to the Dept of Corrective Services as a drug detection dog. One of their handlers came out and worked the dog for a couple of hours, rolled around on the ground with him, played vigorous tug games, spinning the dog off his feet and was very physical hands on with him. The dog loved it, responded and was totally focused on this handler. He was exactly what they look for in a detection dog and he went off with the handler without a backwards glance. His owners had just not been in a position to work him all day and that was the only thing that he wanted to do. He had a wonderful working life where he got to work all day every day and eventually retired with his handler's family. His former owners went on to successfully own, train and show 3 more Border Collies with no issues whatsoever. He was just the wrong dog for them but like a few others we know of before him, he was a perfect working detection dog. These types of dogs don't turn up very often but when they do they are not really suited to a normal home as a pet or with a breeder. They have to work to be happy.

How long it takes to heal depends on how deep the wound is. The pigment will return but it can take 6 months or more and in the mean time the dog must be kept out of the sun.

The regulations apply to the entire state so Wagga would be the same. Lots of vets can do it but only with a council order and to get that you have to have neighbours keep diaries, etc.

Feeding coconut oil or just dessicated coconut works well as does increasing eggs and fish in the diet. When not showing, bath the dog and use a teaspoon of coconut oil dissolved in 2 litres of warm water as a final rinse or try Plush Puppy Seabreeze oil. Keeping the coat hydrated is important from the outside. What you feed will affect the new growing coat but it won't do much for the coat that is already there. I wouldn't touch a show coat with a Mars Coat King except to get a bad tangle out. Tearing out the undercoat that is still attached is painful for the dog and won't do anything to help the dead topcoat. Some dogs just don't drop coat much and there isn't much you can do about it except hope that the next bout of hot weather causes them to drop the coat. Keep brushing regularly with a bristle/nylon brush (preferably a Mason Pearson) to work through the coat, remove any loose undercoat and distribute the natural coat oils. Also try leave on conditioner, any coat product with mink oil or an oil treatment for human hair. It is a matter or trial and error as some things suit one dog and others suit another dog, even within the same breed. Be careful that the shampoo you are using isn't too harsh for the coat. Some can be very drying. My favourite for most double coats is PP Body Building with wheatgerm but one with something like Evening Primrose oil might suit as well. The Pangenics range or shampoo and conditioners is also supposed to be very good on dry coats.

Off lead park or not, dogs must be under effective control and that means being able to make sure they do not bother or approach any other dog or person who has not given their permission for your dog to approach. If your dog cannot be properly controlled, use the park when it is empty and ask anyone else who wants to use it to wait a few minutes so your boy can have a run, then be put back on lead. Take turns to use the fenced area. Most people do not want strange dogs interacting with theirs and they have the same right to walk their dog in a public park as anyone else. Believe it or not, many dogs have absolutely no desire to approached by any dog outside their pack. How would it be at an obedience or agility trial if all the dogs bolted off to play with other dogs as soon as their leads are removed. Of course they don't. You can have dozens of dogs off lead at obedience/agility trials and training and they all stay near their owners and ignore the other dogs. I would love to be able to take my dogs to a fenced dog park for a run and training sessions but I will never trust any dog I do not know to interact with them and so many people seem to think that if it is off lead then it is a free for all and they don't need to train their dogs. I would love the parks to have decent fences with gates that can be locked from the inside to stop anyone else entering while my dogs have a run, perhaps with a timer that unlocks the gates after a set time so no one can hog the park for too long.

I like them spaced about 3 years apart so you do eventually end up with 4 but for me in a suburban yard, 5 BCs was one too many. 2, 3 or 4 all work for me. In some respects 2 are easier to take everywhere with you but once you get to 3, you can take them out one at a time and those left at home always have company.