Diva

Looks like a bit of housekeeping to let people know the ANKC process for acceptance are concluded. At least some of those breeds have been here a while, I last showed 2019 and the y. laikas were at the ground but I think not shown. I am tempted by the Cirneco (but don’t need another breed!).

I believe they can learn substrate preferences very early, they think that is the ‘right’ texture to go on because that’s similar to where they went when they first learnt. Not sure anyone else thinks that or even that it is what is going on with your girl, but I have seen it in my own litters. I would go back to basics on housetraining, as much as possible reduce access to mattresses as she relearns, and reward heavily for going on the surfaces you want her to.

Sometimes those extra restrictions are to make codes of practice consistent with state law when state law imposes extra requirements. So you’ll get the ANKC rule plus what ever the state government has legislated. From memory this is the case for the 2 litters in 2 years rule in NSW, it is a state government rule that Dogs NSW adopted for consistency.

Re price, I think the high price of ‘designer’ breeds, backyard crosses and unpapered purebreeds has kind of dragged the registered breeders of popular breeds up in price. People were getting tired of doing all the testing etc and then seeing much higher prices from those who didn’t do all that. I have heard a number of accounts of dogs being ‘flipped’ too, bought at a lower price from a registered breeder and on-sold for much more. I think a number of breeders decided no virtue in being an easy target.

coincidentally this just came up in my fb feed. I haven’t had time to watch it yet so don’t know how useful or not, use your own judgement. I looks like it might be more about walking an aggressive dog but some techniques may transfer.

Twice my dogs have been saved by strangers stopping their cars and getting out to help get the attacking dog off. I no longer walk down the power line easement that was my common route as when two dogs running loose attacked us there no one was around. Instead I stick to busier urban roads where passing traffic can be relied on. I carry treats to toss in front of a charging dog, but when I have tried that it has made not a single bit of difference. But I try anyway so I can say I tried everything. And I carry an umbrella with a strong metal point on it. My dogs are large but not fighters. I am torn between walking two together so they have the best chance of defending themselves or just one so I have the best chance of controlling the situation and making a fast exit. Mostly I just drive out to our farm to exercise there.

I have gone through osteosarcoma a couple of times, giant breeds are more prone to it. In my experience it is extremely painful for the dog, so no pain is hopefully a positive sign. I suspect this is the Jamie being referred to: https://www.primalpaws.com/new-page-4

Could be pain, whether from the hot spot or something else. One of mine shows pain by rapid lip licking while gazing at the ceiling. Hopefully it will resolve with the hotspot but if not I’d get a thorough physical

Yes use treats. Wear shoes you can move in. Some women wear skirt suits that look like a cross between mother of the bride and a cocktail party. But trousers and a nice jacket are pretty common too and my outfit is usually black pants, blouse, nice jacket. Just make sure you can bend and run in whatever you wear. if you are on Facebook look for group ‘Australian dog show newbies’. If you post it is your first show and you need a bit of help someone will usually offer a hand.

If they have invited you to their place, haven’t asked for a deposit, are asking a reasonable price and are happy you pick up the pup in person they sound likely to be legit to me - not every breeder has or wants some big online presence. Especially if they don’t breed often. I don’t know what health tests are recommended for Westies but I would ask about that for the parents, and confirm what registry they are with, and then use your own judgement when you visit. If you are after a pet you should be able to assess the parents’ nature (or often just Mum as the sire may not live there) and how the breeders operate for yourself. No-one else can give you a 100% guarantee. If mum and siblings aren’t there when you visit I would be concerned they might be brokers selling for a farm, but otherwise it sounds ok.

Where do you live? Can your breeder help? Under normal conditions I’d say take a few show training classes but it will depend where you are as to whether they are running again. If they are taking even a couple is enough to give you the idea. For showing you need a confident, happy pup that will move with you on a loose lead, stand still with you in front or beside him, and let a stranger examine his body. I like this approach: https://shoppuppyculture.com/pages/show-stack If there are shows running in your state enter him as soon as you can - no one cares if a baby puppy mucks up and as long as you stay relaxed and the pup has a nice time it’s great experience. I am sure others will chip in with training resources, I can only think of ‘puppy culture‘. You can try YouTube - Eric Salas etc. Just use your judgement as to what you take on board. You can still teach him to sit, just have stand on cue too. The show ring is full of contextual clues for the dog so even if he sits a couple of times he will soon work out it’s not the place. And seriously, mucking up as a pup is no big deal.

I am very sorry for your loss. I haven’t heard of any recent problems with road transport, I am assuming it was by road. Deaths on airplanes occur sometimes but usually in summer.

Did you get a receipt when you paid for the dog? Or have any of the purchase and history in emails from the previous owner? If you do I expect that the breeder wouldn’t have much chance of claiming ownership unless they are going to claim the person who sold the dog to you stole it in the first place. Lay it all out for the microchip registry and see what they say, they might need a stat dec from you.

Depends how long the prefix is as that plus spaces is included in the allowable 30. Could use will in the name and willow as call name - Will o the wisp? Time will tell? Will she won’t she? Or just go for pretty - summer willow, sweet willow, willow song etc

In a more detailed report I saw having a yard or garden to run around in for that length of time a day was an acceptable alternative to walking.

The dog wasn’t advertised. Aja advertised for a dog.

I will have a go, although my breed is different in not having brown/liver and her liver results are interesting. As I read it she can produce both liver and black. No pups will be black and tan or liver and tan. The loci of most interest in ESS seem to be B/b to determine if they are black or liver and K/ky as to whether they can show tan markings, but ky seems unusual. EE means she has no copies of recessive yellow e. ee is what makes yellow labs yellow as it prevents the expression of eumelanin but it looks like ESS don’t generally have e. With EE the B, K and A loci determine how she looks (plus the genes controlling white). KK means she is dominant black. That means she can’t express her black and tan ( atat ) as K prevents expression of the agouti gene pair. ESS might be fixed for atat, but they can only show it if they are kyky. She carries liver/brown, which turns black to liver. Actually she carries one copy of two different mutations for liver, bc and bd, so I wouldn’t have been surprised if she were liver as bcbd should be. But from what I have read bc and bd can be inherited together and have come from one parent and B from the other due to the nature of the mutations so you can actually be B/bcbd. ( I don’t know much about how bc & bd interact as my breed is all BB so I haven’t paid that much attention. The discovery that there is more than one mutation causing liver is reasonably recent) So bred to a liver (KK or Kky bb) or a black carrying liver (KK or Kky Bb) you’d statistically expect some puppies to be liver and some black. I don’t think it matters whether the b is bc or bd. Bred to a Black and Tan (kyky atat BB or Bb) or a liver and tan (kyky atat bb) the pups wouldn’t show the tan pattern (as they would all be Kky) but those pups would be able to produce it depending on their mate. Edited to add: this isn’t breed specific but it is a great site for colour genetics http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/

You have good advice above, you really need a trainer and a breed club should provide some experienced advice. All I wanted to add was consider teaching your dog to wear a muzzle and use it if you have to be out with her on leash. If she bites a stranger the consequences could be dire for her and you have a responsibility to do all you can not to cause someone harm. A muzzle would prevent a serious bite and the look of it is likely to make people stay further away, which is probably what she is trying to achieve with the lunging.

Usually people sort out before the mating what the arrangement is and are clear about what is charged in the event no pups result, what if there is only one pup etc. There is no standard rule, but if the girl stays over there might be a service fee or a boarding charge that applies regardless of success.

Yes you can get crates that big but they can be heavy and cumbersome. You might want to consider a folding pen as a substitute. They don’t have a built in floor so it depends if you need one. C Crates do great ‘secura pens’ but they might be a bit pricey, you will find other versions on line.

oh I didn’t mean ignore him now. That example was a comment on the importance of the timing and placement of reinforcement, and human attention as a reinforcer. I’ll delete it all.

Never mind

Cryogenes or Sires on Ice

Depends very much on their age. Before about three weeks I would use a puppy milk replacer, like Wambaroo, or the Leerburg formula, you can find Leerburg recipes online. But if old enough I mix really finely smooshed up beef mince with goats milk, and also use the Royal Canin puppy mousse, they both usually go down a treat.

I know lots of ANKC, AKC, UK KC and SKK breeders and not a single one think of themselves as ‘elite’. They would laugh hysterically at the term for the most part. I think that is just a lazy term used to denigrate purebred breeders. People get aggrieved by something and go after the whole cohort. You find those folk in every hobby. Generally breeders mirror the population, no more snobby than anyone else. But often they worry very much about how the pups they produce are looked after in their new homes. Once bitten and all that, and many have been bitten. And it is a hobby, they will do it at the scale they find most enjoyable and least stressful. When I was growing up, most dogs were mixed breeds, really mixed . Hardly a pure bred to be seen. I don’t think that pure breeds once dominated and ‘lost’ that position somehow. They had a bit of a surge for a while, but mixed breeds have always been the majority where I have lived. I see far more pure breeds around here though now than I ever did growing up. Showing was more popular for a while but social, economic and demographic conditions no longer favour it as a hobby. More can be done to build it, but Australia will never again have the big backyards and stay at home parents they used to. We are an urban society, despite our rural mythology, and getting more intensively so. It is sad for those who long for the good old days but it needs to find a new sustainable normal. I think the loss of small scale pure breeders is largely due to those structual changes in society and the regulatory changes which follow. It is true that mixed breeds are no longer the same type, with the rise of commercial scale cross breeding like doodles. And people generally are more more ignorant about animals of all types, less connected to the realities of animal husbandry (funny old term, lol), less interested in expert opinion, more happy to fall for marketing and celebrity endorsement and quite desperate to prove they are virtuous. Not just in dogs, it is society wide. i think the most dangerous dogma is that all dog breeding is bad. I don’t know what you do with people who don’t understand that we co-evolved, dogs and us. And then the pervasive idea that all purebreeds are inherently unhealthy and closed stud books always lead to disaster. The research coming out of UC Davis shows that just isn’t true. You don’t know for any given breed until you actually study their genetic diversity, how well that diversity is distributed and how well breeders are using it. Mine is quite healthy actually, not just in real life but genetically at population scale. No need to cross breed them, no sky falling in, just safeguard the quality our predecessors created and be willing to use the emerging tools to do so.