Gayle.

Depends on who it's from, what it's about, whether it was asked for and how it was delivered. Getting feedback from an obedience instructor that the (flat, soft neoprene) collar I was using was completely wrong for obedience and he expected me to present my 5 month old puppy at the next class with a correction chain on was feedback that was definitely taken on board. I simply didn't take the puppy to that class again, trained him at home til he was good enough to gain a pass to the next level. Where he wears his flat collar without comment from the instructor. Being told by a friend that I need to use a longer stride when gaiting my dog, to show his movement off to it's best advantage was feedback taken on board with appreciation. She saw something I couldn't possibly have seen and took the time to let me know.

I had my Australian Shepherd boy desexed at 4 months of age. He is now almost 4 years old. He is tall, but he is within the breed height. He does not have finer bone, in fact he has excellent bone and he's a lovely solid boy. His legs are not longer than they should be for his size....he is beautifully proportioned. He has a masculine head, a broad chest and shoulders like a male of his breed should have, and a substantial ruff. He is the same funny, happy, friendly boy he was before the surgery. He started lifting his leg at age 10 months. He has a thick coat, but then so did his dad. The difference is.....he can't sire puppies and he doesn't have a twice yearly seasonal coat drop.

Dogs aren't people.

In another thread a while back, where I introduced my purebred Australian Shepherd puppy to the DOL community, I compared a well-bred pedigree dog as art to a crossbred mutt as scribble. And I stand by that. My dogs were bred with much research, thought, time and effort going into their mating, after both parents were screened to be clear of hereditary diseases. The matings were planned to bring out the best in the breed.....to improve upon their parents, to bring a better puppy into the world. Sometimes the "better" might just be a slightly squarer muzzle, or a slightly higher ear set, or maybe a shade darker eye colour. Probably invisible to the undiscerning eye. I know what my puppy is going to grow up to look like, he's going to be gorgeous. He's not going to have any hereditary eye diseases, he's unlikely to have joint problems and he's destined for a long, healthy life because he had the best and most thoughtful start possible. He's a work of animal-husbandry "art". Compare that to a backyard breeder or a puppy farmer who indiscriminately whacks to dogs together in a tie, give the resulting progeny a ridiculous name and advertises them in the local newspaper and charges a hideous amount for what amounts to nothing more than a mongrel. Dogs that used to be given away free to a good home as they were considered worthless.....third rate. No thought, no planning, no health screening, no eye to the future. Are my dogs better than mongrels? Yep, they sure are and I am very proud that they're better than a crossbred dogs, and I will shout it from the rooftops. Abnd I will not have it that the amount of time and effort put into the matings by the breeders I bought my dogs from is LESS valuable than the lack of effort made by a puppy farmer.

I used to read the James Herriot books when I was a teenager, and he had a Border Terrier. That's where I first heard of them. He always described them as fantastic little dogs.

I love it when people know what breed my dogs are, although that doesn't happen very often. So I assume other owners of purebred dogs are stoked when people know what theirs are, specially the less common breeds.

We were at an ATM very early one morning on our way to school/work and a car pulled up next to us with a Japanese Spitz in the back seat. My daughter jumped out of our car to have a closer look and the owner rolled the window down so she could pat him, He was totally gorgeous and I asked her if she knew what breed it was. She said no, maybe a little Samoyed and I told her nope, he's a Japanese Spitz. The owner went "Wow, you're the first person who's ever known what he is, how did you know?" I told him I show one of my dogs and I sometimes saw the JS's at dog shows and I thought they were gorgeous. He was really impressed that I knew what his boy was. And it was so lovely to see such a gorgeous dog out and about, with such a proud dad.

They weren't more robust. The robuest ones made it to old age, the less healthy ones didn't make it past puppyhood. These days we have such good vet care that less healthy dogs are kept alive longer, albeit needing fairly regular vet care. Robust dogs today will probably survive just as well on cheap dog food and table scraps.

I used to walk my dogs alongside the Princes Highway, when we lived in town cos that was our street. Often, I'd get told.....oh, so and so saw you walking your dogs when they were driving by, they wanted to know what breed they are, they said they're beautiful........ So yes, people DO notice, they DO admire the dogs and they are curious about them. Last weekend, I was at our local cricket ground as my son was playing there, it's just a tiny, tiny village and lo and behold, there was a guy there with a purebred Neopolitan Mastiff. Amazing looking dog, he looked like something out of a fantasy novel! I didn't approach him, as I had Isaak with me and he got a bit vocal and I didn't want him to frighten the Neo by leaping on him to get him to play, but I would have loved to ask about the dog. Hopefully they are local and I'll run into them again. It's kind of a shame that purebred dogs are a novelty these days.......they used to be commonplace, it was just a matter of which breed people owned. I think a Neo would always be a novelty though. Sure is a head turner!

Yes, me too. As long as you put the training in, you'll almost certainly title the dog on the day. And it's a sensational day out. I was a bit disappointed when I went to club training a week or so later and told my instructor we'd done the ET. He said "ET? That's not a title! Anyone can get an ET!" I looked at around at everyone else there and said "So why were there only 19 dogs in the trial?" And I've since spoken to heaps of people who won't even attempt it ebcause they think they wouldn't be able to do it.

In the fridge.

We're about to get our second delivery of 40 kgs of Black Hawk, and the dogs absolutely love it. So much that I use it as training treats too. I am so happy I've found such a top quality food at such a reasonable price.

I am biking Dusty next year, then Isaak will be old enough the year after. I absolutely LOVED doing the ET with Benson, it was such a buzz to complete it after months of training, and get that title. Hopefully I will have all 3 dogs ET titles in a couple of years. When we did Bensons, there were two Border Terriers in the line up. They handled it with ease, they are great little dogs for endurance.

I love riding my bike with a dog on a leash. We often do the rail trails around here, and now we've moved out of town we have some lovely bike and walking tracks to explore.....and all flat! I ride with the leash in my left hand as that's how I had to train for an endurance test with Benson. Tethering the dog would be way too dangerous, even a small dog can topple a bike over easily. We started out on a school oval, just practising to get the dogs to run beside the bikes. I have a few commands I use......slow down, stop and uh uh....that's used for taking their attention away from other dogs, trees to pee on etc. They learned pretty quick what to do and how close they can run. If the dog insists on pulling ahead, try riding slowly or walking the bike along the fenceline with the dog between the fence and the bike......use the heel command and if the dog surges ahead, turn the front wheel of the bike to the fence so the dog can't get in front. He'll quickly learn to stay by the bike, especially if the correct position is rewarded.

Don't underestimate what you might find at an obedience trial either. A few weeks ago, I was competing at the Morwell trial with my girl, the obedience rings were set up on the Vintage Car Club grounds, next to the obedience club grounds (the agility was there). And shortly after the morning trial began, what should wander out from behind the car club rooms, but a chook. I kid you not. It spent most of the morning pecking along the driveway beside the rings and fortunately, no dog made a run for it.....but I suspect it would have taken just one, and about 20 others would have been happy to follow and the chooks life would have been considerably shortened.

Aldi's? Supermarkets will sell you cartons of cans, you just need to ask.

Aawwww, Isaak washes himself in the fishpond then wears it all through the house! He would completely disagree with ya!

What about a pointer (English)? They are so friendly, smoochy and pretty much match your description. And they are so pretty!

What if you already feed a top quality puppy kibble though? Ruby is almost 7 months old and I currently feed her RC Labrador Junior. I've just opened a 3kg bag, so I guess based on what's been posted so far, I should change to adult food when it's finished??? Just do what suits your dog, not what everyone else does. if the dog looks good, maintains a good weight and is healthy, then keep doing what you're doing.

I switched my latest puppy over to adult at around 6 months of age, purely because I switched to a better quality kibble and it's more convenient for me to have all the dogs on the same stuff. "Puppy" food is a relatively recent marketing tool, breeders and dog owners used to raise puppies on food that wasn't specifically made for puppies and most of them grew regardless. My puppy simply gets more food than the adult dogs. And I believe a top quality adult food is a much better diet than a cheap puppy kibble.

If and when there's a push to promote purebred dogs as being good pets, I think there are some breeders who will seriously need to lift their game re public relations if the whole thing is to be a success. No point promoting pedigree dogs if the people who are breeding and selling them are rude, arrogant and difficult to communicate with. And while I realise that not all breeder are like that, a few are, and ALL breeders need to understand they are the public face of the pedigree dog world and it only takes one bad experience for it to taint a lot of people. And that goes for internet forums too. Breeders might be the only ones who can reply to posts in the breederts forum, but some forget, we can all read them.

Is it possible she eats her own or other dogs poo? My sons English Setter did, and he had the worst breath I've ever been knocked over by. And by co-incidence.....or maybe not.....the kibble he was fed was Euk Sensitive.

None of my dogs have ever been a problem in the car.....as soon as the car starts to move they lay down and go to sleep. It's not learned behaviour, because they've done it since they were babies, even from their very first car ride with me. Tethered, crated, on seat, on floor, in back of wagon, no difference. I think it's just the individual dog. A previous dog of mine was a shaking whining mess in the car, she hated it.

Did you just pay one application fee, or did you have to pay with each lot of prefixes? I only chose ones I liked so hopefully I'll get one, cos I can'tthink of any more.

Lots of people have a prefix and don't breed. I have no plans to breed but I now have an entire bitch and a male puppy who will remain entire also, and I believe even the best laid plans of keeping dogs apart can come unstuck. I just want to be able to register the pups if THAT happens.