Natsu chan

We had collies(rough) when we were kids and they are and always will be my favourite breed. Then in the late 80's I saw this boy at the Royal : http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/profile.asp?dog=12385 he was a very beautiful dog and I desperately wanted a blue merle just like him from then on and seeing a daughter of his at the royal again several years later only served to reinforce that little obsession much to my parents dispair! I had to wait nearly two decades to get a blue merle of my own but I am so lucky to have Spud's great granddaughter sleeping on my foot at this very moment.

I received a letter back from my local MP about this, it was surprisingly positive. Not completely satisfactory but hopeful, so don't give up and do try.

Where do I find the email addresses for those people does anyone know? I've been on the Vic governments website but I couldn't find them. Probably they're some where obvious and I'm just blind but some help would be greatly appreciated.

The rules are here if you still need them. http://www.ankc.org.au/Rules.aspx

I agree with this too with regards to addresses. I've emailed a few of my local members with regards to this already as I can see the RSPCA forcing this through. I can think of a few breeders just off the top of my head who are elderly and live alone or as Steve says are women with young children who live alone. It isn't just about privacy but peoples safety too. There are a lot of nutters out there who will bash someone for $20 never mind what they might get for a litter of pups. Commercial kennels are often set up in large out bulidings, hobbists don't tend to do things that way and demanding someones private address be on line for all to see just because they breed a litter every few years is unreasonable. And what of people who maintain a prefix but don't actively breed anymore? I can think of a few people like that too. Desexing pups before sale bothers me too. Desexing giant breeds as tiny babies does not sit well and alot of dog sport people won't desex until 12 months either to give the dogs bodies the best chance they can to stand up to the strain that will be put on them.

Yep big issues with a lot of those things. The address on the internet, that's going to be a safety issue how many breeders are retires or live alone! The desexing and export issues.. no more putting dogs out on breeders terms which for some breeds and bloodlines is the only thing between them and a unsupportable small gene pool. There's other things too if that gets through I'd imagine another mass exodus from the Kennel Clubs, too expensive, too intrusive.

Cos, not doing surgery doesn't make you a bad owner. People often forget that the success of such things is not just in the hands of the vet but more importantly in the temperament of the patient and the quality of the after care. Some animals just can not mentally cope with the recovery period. It's got nothing to do with activity levels either. You know your dog better than anyone else only you can decide if he will cope mentally or not. I do agree with nekhbet though, bowen is great but I have found to that it works far far better and faster when done in conjunction with something else, in our case that's chiro. Which does mean, chiro one day bowen the next but the massive leap of improvement has made it worth the extra effort. If you aren't sure you can at least try that while you decide what to do. It's a hard one, and heart breaking. Just think about it, you'll work out what to do.

I think Noah hurt himself? Poor Noah! I'm glad you got it sorted though, poor dear boy he really doesn't have much luck does he? Is he feeling any better now?

We use one of those rubber ones in the bath too, the trick is too heat up the bit that goes on the tap in hot water first then it's easy. You can also use one of those hose clamps to clap them in place too.

Dear Jed, I don't know what to say. I don't know you except through your posts here but your voice of reason and compassion and commonsense is desperately missed. I am so sorry for all you've lost but I can only tip my lid at your courage. Know that you are not alone and that there are more people than you can imagine pulling for you in every way. Fight hard Jed and leave the rest to everyone else. For the rest of you who have done and continue to do so much do take care and thank you. You all help restore my faith in the good will of humanity .

Why couldn't they just specify that dogs contained in front yards need fences of certain dimensions and that letter boxes must be able to be safely accessed from the street? With all the subdivision going on in Melbourne of late I'd imagine a lot of people don't have a backyard anymore.

I can't see how it could be a problem? I know many people now insist that cooked food has the goodness cooked out of it but we fed warm home cooked food to our lot for 20 years with no problems at all. They all got raw meaty bones as well and yogurt among other things but the warm dinners never caused any problems that I could see. Cold straight out the fridge bones though, the oldies especially would often hide in their bedding and lie on them. I often wondered if the cold bones bothered their teeth as they got older.

Too right Tassie, course I have a really old one floating around here in a lovely shade of pink. The blue was a marked improvement I think!

You can print a copy for yourself. You just can't print copies with the intention of selling them. To be honest the not printing them any more thing is driving me round the bend. That little blue book fits in my back pocket so training down at the park I can take it with me, a wad of A4 sheets is nothing like as practical!

Fantastic work everyone looks like we'll have strings of titles to celebrate this year. RS that's just wonderful! You have worked so hard and Ruby is going beautifully, you should be very pleased and very proud. Not so long ago you were worrying about CCD now your girl is working so well that open will just come. We know you've had help but mostly it's down to hard work and perseverance. Well done you! And that SFE was just lovely.

I'm with Tess, at least go to a show and have a look at some smooth collies. My first dog that was all mine was a collie rough I was 7, a more patient tolerant lady never breathed. She passed away in 2000 a grand old lady who taught me so much and was very well loved, she even had her own very loyal "fan club". My second was another rough at 13. I took both these dogs to obedience and looked after them completely unassisted (not counting financially of course!). They were easy, they were kind and tolerant and gentle. Though the old lady use to get a twinkle in her eye and shimmy into a sit instead of doing those wonderful sharp, straight sits I longed for, and she barked and sang and smirked much to the uninitiated horror. I still have a collie and the love affair continues unabated! Having a dog as a child can be a wonderful, life long gift or a mistake. Take your time and look around. Get the right dog and instill responsibility in your daughters mind. I looked after my dogs myself their whole lives, I walked them, feed them, groomed them, trained them, me and only me, right through my teens. Teenagers can and will step up to the plate if they have to, it all depends on how easy it is not to and how much they want to. Good luck!

I'm interested too Lilli when you get five mintues. Good to see some response in the right direction though!

Rottperth, I feel so awful for you. You have had such a bad experience with the dog world that your attitude doesn't surprise me. The reality is though that no other organisation in this country would legally be allowed to publicly state comments that border on slander so why should the RSPCA? The majority of breeders do try very hard to do the right thing but until the government makes an exemption for the ANKC and the CCs under the free trade laws legally the CCs can not do a great deal about people who put their head in the sand and go ahead and do what they want anyway. Encouraging people who want a puppy to look for one from health tested parents is one thing but to denigrate and publicly shame anyone with a pedigreed dog based on what has proven to be either an exaggeration, manipulation of the truth or in at least one case pure nonsense is really just not acceptable. I wish so much I could do something positive for you and the horrid situation in which you find yourself. But your experience doesn't make us all evil which is what the RSPCA wants everyone to think. Some breeders will not admit fault because they are afraid to, they may feel if they do they will be sued and loose everything or that by admitting that something went wrong due to lack of forethought or just one of those things that will some how make them bad people. This is true of people in every facet of life, and it is everywhere. The breeders I know would not even dream of repeating the breeding that gave your girl her health problems unless it was for a scientific study. Why should they who try so hard be made to look so bad? And why should they hang their heads in shame and shuffle off to a dark corner in silence while 1000s of dogs are bred in puppy farms with never a single health test in sight.....never mind a vet check half the time! The dog world isn't saying we are perfect, we are not. Nor might I add is any other part of society but most of us for the most part (and that is what counts!) do our very best and continually try to learn more so that our best becomes better.

I emailed the CC president here in Vic but I don't think I really got my point across. He did reply and I know they are trying but I think the real issue is that actions speak louder than words. The RSPCA is telling our state bodies that they aren't trying to dispose of them but then they put things like this up. The RSPCA is well aware that the general public takes everything they say as gospel and they know that there is really no way the CC can dispute what they are saying as there is little to no evidence to the contrary and that they (the RSPCA) have far more clout than the CCs. I've sat down and thought about it but short of a major media campaign which the CCs can't afford I really don't see what we can do. Jed had a good idea about someone doing some filming for short little segments for tv but I can't even begin to imagine how we'd go about doing that. I did make some suggestions of my own to our president with regards to advertising and promotion on a smaller more affordable level but It will be interesting to see what the MDBA's survey throws up.

Hi Alison, the important thing is to want to fix it but at the moment it's the blind leading the blind. Judging by what you've said above Lola doesn't understand that a check means don't pull. She thinks the check means sit, so she sits then you walk off and she pulls again, you check and she sits and so on. She thinks she's doing what you want her to do. I've been training dogs since I was a child and it is something you have to learn, it's not difficult but it's one of those things where you need someone to show you not just how but when. A trainer or and obedience club will help you. Don't be embarrassed we all have to learn, no one is born knowing these things. Good luck!

The Pal format doesn't matter any more but DVD have regions. There's a way to unlock your player so it will play all regions. There's a website that explains the process for each brand and model. I can't think what it is off the top of my head. It's not hard though. I don't know if that makes any sense at all but I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I can find the website for unlocking the regions on DVD players for you. Here we go: http://www.dvdexploder.com/

That's great! I'm so glad you and your gorgeous girl had a good time.

LOL No worries Dyzney. Just have a great time and come back and tell us how it went. There's a selection of herding DVDs and Videos at the Dogs Vic Library too that might interest you as well.

Was it all the same material, with no chain? They make show leads like that So you'd just need a show supplies store to get another one. There's some like that on this page: http://www.petnetwork.com.au/cgi-bin/shopp...;cart_id=763305

Hope it goes well Dyzney and if you see any collies give 'em a pat for me. The collies at Tallara are all related to my girl, I hope you have a fantastic time.