Gayle.

You should show him now that we know you can. The staffy class is aways huge so if he doesn't win, he'll have about 15 others right there alongside him that didn't win either. And you could come with me......I could ditch hub for the day and we can have a ladies day out with the dogs.

I'm sure that RSG doesn't need me to defend them but earlier in the thread they commented that the DOL members much loved pet was very cute. The comment made about not getting a start was in relation to showing and potentially breeding - nothing to do with what kind of pet the dog is. They certainly didn't degrade the dog - just said that they wouldn't show or breed - didn't get into specifics. It's a personal opinion which everyone is entitled to. I think he looks just lovely but that has nothing to do with show or breeding quality. I don't know about you but I'd much rather get the honest feedback on here than get it very publicly in the show ring from a judge. People who show and breed seriously need to be critical and you'll find that they are just as scathing with their own stuff when they have to make the call. It's also the people who tell owners that their pet is so cute and lovely that encourage them to breed which introduces poorer specimens of the breed into the pool. and the op specifically said in the first post that she had no intention of showing him, and did not at any time ask for an assessment of the dog.

The puppy is 6 months old, the photo is not a very good one taken from a bad angle with goodness only knows what lens at who knows what focal length, I would not have recognized the pup from that photo, so all you Staffy experts must have some kind of divining powers to be able to make your assessment from a photo.

My dogs are both well behaved.......to a point.........and trained. Benson hascway too many brains for his own good though, and while he's not naughty, he's constantly thinking and working things out. This can make for an interesting companion. I gave up doing formal obedience with him because he's too much of an independant thinker. He's very nicely behaved though. Dusty doesn't have half the brains Benson has, so she is better at obedience. I can see her trying to work out what I want and I can often see the penny drop when she gets it. She would rather die than get in trouble so she's extremely well behaved. Isaak is just a big cute puppy who lives to please. Sometimes he's naughty but that's cis he's a baby and doesn't know any different. As he gets older and his training starts to kick in, I expect he'll be as well behaved as the others. I believe part of the reason for their good behaviour is that they are included in our day to day lives. If we only played with them once a week and they lived outside, I doubt they'd be anywhere near as good as they are.

There are plenty of "second rate" dogs being shown if you listen to the ringside comments from onlookers. Not exclusive to staffies though. So being "second rate" in someones opinion shouldn't preclude a dog from the show ring.

He's not a showdog though, and Dee_al said in her first post that she has no intention of showing him. So as a pet he's the best ever....cute as a button. I have an Aussie Shepherd girl I show, she has a lovely pedigree, she's nicely put together, moves beautifully.......and never wins a cracker. Big deal, not everyone does it for the glory, some do it for the fun day out with our dogs.

He is really cute though......really cute. And this is coming from a dedicated non-staffy person. Love my working dogs, but I could steal his little dude and bring him home easily enough. Just gotta wait til Dee_al turns her back and he's mine.

My understanding is that blue is a dilute of black, and as a dilute can have associated health issues, especially skin problems.

He has a dark slate nose. it's not black. But he is the cutest staffy I have ever seen and I can understand why people want blue.

Yep however, even if we tell them otherwise there are not enough breeders or dogs to fill the demand. but that wasn't the question you asked. A shortfall in available puppies might very well be the outcome of shutting down all puppyfarms, but that's a whole other subject. Go slower - what do you mean? Ok, I'll try and explain what I mean but a disclaimer first....no matter how it comes across, just keep in mind 'm not being argumentive and I agree with you completely. Puppy farms and their associated outlets, pet shops......do fill a market need. Not all pups who come from there end up in pounds, some of them...a lot of them....end up in loving homes with families who love their dogs just as much as you and I love ours. Not all of them are impulse buys, a lot of them are planned for, saved for....and the reason people buy them there is because they don't know where else to buy them....or the pet shops are selling the type of pet the public wants....small, cute, fluffy. And along with that come media claims of robustness, hybrid vigour etc. No matter what we think or know, it's already out there. I don't know the figures but I'd hazard a guess that the puppies bought from pet shops, puppy farms and commercial-type backyard breeders FAR outweigh the puppies bought from ANKC breeders. Take away those outlets, and it doesn't mean people stop buying puppies....it just means they now have nowhere to buy them from and someone, somewhere, has to fill the gap because there WILL be a gap in the market eventually. And there is the whole other subject. Is it possible to look to other countries...European countries in particular, where dog ownership is vastly different to here, and see how they manage their pet puppy markets?

Yep however, even if we tell them otherwise there are not enough breeders or dogs to fill the demand. but that wasn't the question you asked. A shortfall in available puppies might very well be the outcome of shutting down all puppyfarms, but that's a whole other subject.

Puppy farms are first and foremost a business enterprise, and the way to stop them is to stop them producing puppies. And how to do that? Stop people from buying them. As soon as there is no demand for the product, they will stop producing it. And how to stop people buying puppy farm puppies? Start letting them know where to buy better puppies. People go to pet stores because they are convenient, friendly, accessible and because they've been told that crossbreds are better/healthier than purebreds. And no one is telling them otherwise.

I am currently doing the open book exam for a breeders prefix...it's not easy, but I am learning heaps by reading the reference material. I have also bought a book "Born to Win, Breed to Succeed", which seems to go into quite a bit of detail about how to choose the right sire for your bitch etc. I haven't had a real good read of it yet though. I've also bought a couple of books specific to my breed so I can learn the history, the development and the standard and why the standard is written the way it is. I would suggest befriending someone in the breed and talk, talk, talk to them about your dogs, other dogs, dogs you admire, and ask loads of questions, then listen and apply the answers to your own situation.

My Aussie girl isn't high energy, she's happiest when she's with me no matter what I'm doing.

Maybe start encouraging those who have the power, to utilise the current legislation and start applying it correctly. For example, local councils. Commercial breeding establishments need to register with the council, therefore the councils should be concerning themselves with making sure they are up to a quality standard, then utilise the RSPCA as a watchdog to oversee them. Registered, ethical, pedigree dog breeders breeding less will have very little or no impact on the numbers of unwanted dogs. Most of the purebred dogs in rescue don't come from ethical breeders, they come from puppy farms and backyard breeders.

Yes, two of my dogs are entire including my lovely girl.

We've had a number of Kong frisbees, they've been really good, but they split around the edges and the last one I bought only lasted about a month as the dogs tugged it and ripped the entire edge off. I have hardcore frisbee dogs though, and they insist on bringing them back to me together.....two mouths on the one frisbee which makes for a fair bit of wear and tear. I have just ordered two from agilityclick.com. Good proice, hopefully they'll last a while.

Why can't a decent dog food be sourced from Australia....all those food miles make me shiver. It can. This is Australian made, its what I've switched my dogs to recently and it's fabulous. Also very reasonably priced being a local product. http://www.kylainknls.com/food.htm

Bwaaaahhhhhaaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaa!!! ;) ;) :D Such a way with words.

I adore my boys but my heart lies with a gorgeous black tri girl who is the centre of my world.

But do they want to ask questions of that nature? And do they want to do the research to ensure they understand the answers? Some will, but I expect they are the ones that would ask those questions anyway, without any prompting.......others will prefer to rely on what they see and what they're told. Isn't that why registered breeders are supposed to adhere to a code of ethics?

Because she doesn't show her dogs. She's really lovely, very knowledgeable about the breed and dogs in general, imported one of her stud dogs to diversify the gene pool she was using....he is Benson's dad.....but her agenda isn't that of the show world. However, a bitch from one of the early litters she bred took out RBCC at the age of 10 in last Saturdays Aussie speciality champ show, and that is no mean feat for any breeder. So although she doesn't show, her dogs are definitely not unrepresented in the ring, and many of them do brilliantly and have multiple titles in other arenas such as agility, obedience and herding.

The thing is, what one person deems to be a good breeder might be totally different to the next persons expectations. In 2007 I bought my first Aussie from a lovely breeder, I told her what I was after, she recommended a boy she had. I asked about hereditary diseases in the breed, she presented hip/elbow scores for both parents, current eye certs, eye tests for the pup, hearing test for the pup. She also gave me a comprehensive booklet on the care of the breed and spents hours chatting about her experinces since she'd been in the breed. She never badmouthed anyone and was very enthusiastic about how the breed was developing here. A few weeks later she looked after my boy when we went away for a weekend and offered to have him back any time I needed to go away again. He is to go back to her, no questions asked, if ever I can't keep him. And in fact in the past few years she has had two dogs of her breeding returned and she rehomed them both successfully. To me, this is an excellent breeder. And yet to some on DOL, she's considered something else.

If you're expecting the general public to be asking those questions of breeders, you'll be waiting a very long time. They are questions breeders should be asking themselves.

I have visions of your cat and the Aussies running amuck in your house while you are away! Party anyone?!! Bensons favourite pastime is creative thinking. 8 hours unsupervised inside lends itself to more creativity than I'd like to imagine. Combine that with the naughtiest cat ever born and a 7 month old giant Australian Shepherd puppy with paws the size of plates and I reckon my home wouldn't be standing for long.