Gayle.

Anyone who gets "bitter and twisted" over a dog show definitely needs a new hobby, and probably a new therapist. It is, after all, just a dog show. It's not like it's anything important. But by the same token anyone who can't display basic good manners should find something else to do with their time.......and that includes keeping their unsolicited opinions to themselves. Opinions about other peoples exhibits, the judges, the committee etc. Unless it's asked for, don't give it. Much safer that way.

No one is bitter or twisted, just an observation I am making about the hallmarks of a good exhibitor.

The ones who precede their conversations with "Would you like my opinion?" and "Can I offer you some advice?" and then manage to shut their gobs and keep their opinions and advice to themselves when the answer is "no, thanks".

My youngest dog went onto BH at about 8 months.......he is doing realy well on it, looks fabulous and is nice and lean. He's 14 months old now. I feed him twice as much as the adult dogs, he's much more active than they are.

Well, I'm still going to encourage you to join your state breed club if there is one. A good breed club isn't just about shows, it's about everything that particular breed can do. The Vic GR Club have field trials, obedience trials, tracking and retrieving trials, as well as open and champ shows. They also appear to have fun days too. The NSW GR Club seems to be similar in variety of events. The breed club I'm a member of hold agility, obedience and herding trials as well as shows, fun days and there's a comprehensive and interesting newsletter, a shop for breed and club merchandise and plenty of support for owners of the breed. If you never showed your dog, you'd still be able to build up a network of contacts, make friends within the breed and find some good support via a well-run and active club.

If you're not into showing, you're just not. It's not fun for everyone, plenty of people who own pedigree dogs find it downright boring. If it was fun for everyone, numbers wouldn't be in the rapid decline they are now. Are you a member of your state breed club? If not, getting involved there is a good way to get to know people in the breed.

I've got 4 of the same breed and while there are defiinite similarities, they are all unique individuals. I would like a different breed one day but it would likely be something similar to an Aussie.....maybe a collie rough. I seem to be drawn to the herding dog mindset and temperament.

Keep the hair trimmed short with thinning scissors. My lot all get this, but if I give them a "haircut" every month or so, it keeps the mats away.

My first bitch was sold to me on main register, no strings attached. I showed her for a while and had a bit of fun doing that, now she's retired from showing but I could breed her if I want to. But I don't want to, so she'll probably be desexed as dealing with seasons with an entire male in the pack is not something I'm keen to do for the rest of her life. My second dog is on breeders terms and he was given to me, not sold to me. He is from the same breeder as my bitch. He lives a fabulous life here, being treated like the little prince he believes himself to be, he is my beautiful, beautiful boy and when he's done his job for his breeder, he'll continue to live the good life with me. I would not pay for a dog on breeders terms, if the breeder wants the dog stashed in a home where it can live a nice life and be accessible to them for breeding, they shouldn't be selling it. On a side note, my rescue girl was desexed as a baby puppy, at about 8 weeks, I believe. When she first came to us, she was clipped right back so it was hard to tell what her coat would be like....whether the early desexing had affected it or not. It's grown now, and it's beautiful.......just how an Aussies coat should be. Her growth does not seem to have suffered in any way from early desexing....she is tiny (and apparently so was her mother), and has the most stunning head, a lovely gait and it altogether a very nice girl. Her major fault is a congenital eye problem...nothing whatsoever to do with being desexed. My first dog was desexed early as well, and his growth and development does not seem to have been affected. He's a lovely boy and draws plenty of admiring comments from those who know the breed, so I expect it's hard to tell that he's a neuter.

Oh my god, he is adorable! I met a full grown male Berner last weekend, he was the most delightful fellow, very big, very friendly. We were at a herding clinic and he was having a play with the sheep. I must say, a full grown male Berner is a LOT of dog, and the sheep did exactly what they were told! LOL!

Shelley shouldn't need more than about 1 1/4 cups a day at the very most, unless she's doing a huge amount of exercise.

Lots of people have beloved family pooches........non-pedigree mutts or whatever, who are clean, well groomed, vaccinated, flea-free and beautifully behaved. Some are even obedience trained to a high standard. Amazing, that. Who'd have thought that a dog without a pedigree could be such a thing?

I have a Laserlites tabletop dryer I bought second hand from a Havanese breeder. It's fantastic because it leaves both my hands free to brush the coat, plus it's very quiet and doesn't scare the dogs. It's very good quality, all metal casing, and I can have it going for hours without it overheating.

I have a 1/3 metric cup scoop and use that to gauge the amount each dog gets. Isaak gets 6 scoops and he's still bony, Dusty gets 2 and a bit scoops and she's very curvaceous.

Black Hawk works out for me at $3.75 per kg as compared to Eagle Pack which is $8.66 per kg. BH is easily as good of a quality as Eagle Pack, if not better as it's a lot fresher.

I give my three older dogs (aged 3,4 and 5) about 3/4 cup of BH each per day and my energiser bunny on speed, Isaak......on whom I can feel every rib in his body, gets about 2 large cups. Plus they all get a chicken drumstick for brekkie and on weekends they get extra bones.

I found what the OP is talking about.....the CF registered breeder. And it doesn't mean anything......it's a quote from the breeder: 'EVERY GIRL NEEDS A HANDSOME DARLING!' - CF Registered Breeder of Miniature (Smooth Haired) Dachshunds The CF is who the quote is attributed to, not a prefix for the "registered breeder".

It's a bit of a sad state of affairs when people involved in the dog world are discussing the exclusion of dogs from dog events. It's bad enough that dogs are excluded from many, many public places already.

Trish, email Sherel direct as she won't be back to this thread.

The rail trails are great for biking dogs. I generally start my Ausdies at around 8 months, short gentle runs building up to longer ones gradually by about 12-14 months. Aussies are bred to gait for lengthy periods and take to running beside a bike very well.

In Vic, pups sell for around $1000. Don't know about older dogs, the one that I got didn't cost me anything but she was a rescue and you'd probably pay something for a retired show dog or older pup that's been run on.

Black Hawk isn't a "cheaper grade of kibble", it is easily equivelant to the likes of Nutro, Eagle Pack etc. But it is locally made, plainly packaged and sold through distributors rather than retail outlets, which keeps the price way down to affordable.

Just because you can't see the Border Collie, doesn't mean it's not there. That's a common working breed cross, and many of them look like kelpies, many others look like BC's and many look like a definite cross. My Aussies all use their paws like hands....to hug, to open things, to hold things. Maybe it's a collie thing.

They aren't deceased and they aren't male. Eta: My interpretation of a "past champion" is a titled dog, living or dead, who contributed to the gene pool and their status is reflected in the pedigrees of later generations. Not a dog that was shown to a title then rehomed to a pet home, or titled recently and is waiting in the wings to be mated. But then my interpretation probably isn't everyones.