Sayly

Wrinkle your brow and raise your eyeborows, both of them if you must, but it happened.

And I think you are the one with your head in the sand saying "no no no no no" denying there is amything wrong. Instead of blindly defendng what is a dying activity, how about admitting there are some parts that could bear changing and an image that's in desperate need of a polish and a positive spin?

For what it's worth, I spent many years involved in junior sport, firstly with a husband who was a junior football and cricket coach, then with my own four children playing and competing in football, cricket, indoor cricket, basketball and gymnastics. And never did I see or hear the nasty and childish behaviour I see and hear at dog shows. And not by the juniorr contingent either.

I played numerous sports with no issue, but the higher and more competitive it got, the bitchier it got. When I was competing with someone else for a place in a team, especially a state or Australian one, it wasn't much different to a dog show. But perhaps I was unlucky.

ETA: My brother played soccer for a local club as a junoir and the crap that went on there between parents was worse than anything I've seen at a show.

Just thinking, are entries dropping at similar rates all around Aust? Or are some states better than others? I haven't had nearly as many bad experiences as Gayle has, but I show the same breed. Does state have anything to do with it?

NSW

had her only a month ago and last year, wish they would be more original.

Sounds like 'they' were probably short on time & options to find a replacement

Thanks for letting us know Lyndsay

been on dogs sa web site for a while, had plenty of time.

The date on DogsSA isn't accurate.

We thank Mrs S Gartner for stepping up at such late notice.

I worked in boarding kennels, and german shepherds were amongst the worst shedders. If you don't like hair, I can't think of much worse than a GSD.

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

What have people found effective for coated breeds?

I love the chamois ones - light weight but stay cooler longer than the silver eagle ones I've found.

I can lend you my spare one if you want to try it

Thank you! :D

Springy - thank you! Those tips are fantastic.

Nevafollo - They look/sound great. I'll let Silvawilow try them and let her report on them.

We flew Ruby (Irish Terrier so probably similar in weight to a Whippet but we sent her in an Aussie Shepherd sized crate) for a few hundred from Perth to Adelaide on her own. I can't remember exactly how much but $850 is at least $550 more than we paid!

I don't have to worry about tails with the Aussies :p but with the Irish I hold the tail on the stack, its up on the move but standing in a line up for ages while the judge does their thing makes her drop her tail, giving a completely different look and she loses the alert, on her toes 'terrier' look. She's a pretty mellow girl, her brother will have his up 99% of the time on the stack and so his isn't touched. Depends on the dog and what's going on.

Ahem, don't forget the ears!

'All I see are flat ears!'

Until the girls caught sight of each other!

"What are with your ears?" Inset flapping hands near head. I loved that judge, best one ever!

What have people found effective for coated breeds?

Gracie needs all of hers done and she's terrible to try and do.

Ruby occasionally needs hers done, more to give her feet a tidier look for the show ring. Same with Holly's. Her's stay relatively short and if I wasn't showing her I probably wouldn't bother, but short nails gives her feet a nicer, cleaner look and so hers are done regularly. She's fine with it being done - she used to me grooming her feet/legs so it's just a part of that. She doesn't have dew claws.

Poppy only needs her dew claws done and she's easy as. Maizie, our blue Aussie, never seems to need her dew claws done, but she uses hers all the time, Poppy doesn't. Poppy's are poorly attatched and stick out more, they are pretty useless compared to Maizie's. I do Maizie's other nails for the same reason I do Holly's.

My dogs all run on the same type of surfaces and are roughly the same in exercise levels. I think its a combination of surfaces they run on and the individual dog, perhaps foot conformation or how fast the nails grow as to how often they need to be done.

I wouldn't pay anyone to do them, it's part of their regular grooming by us. They are all easy enough to do except Gracie.

NSW

I insisted on her receiving the anti-venine - before the sign of symptoms. They begrudgingly did so,

I'm not surprised it was done begrudgingly. The antivenin alone can make a dog very sick and give them long lasting side effects. I would not ever opt to do that unless it was a last resort. "Just in case" doesn't warrant what the antivenin can do to your pets system.

You seem very bitter about veterinarians.

I agree.

Junior Kennel Club Championship Shows 12th & 13th November 2011

Change of Judge:

Mrs S Gartner will replace Mr J Palmer for Group 7 Saturday 12th and Group 3 Sunday 13th

Mr M Derbyshire will replace Mr J Palmer for General Specials Saturday 12th

We haven't gone away in ages, but when we did (and only had 2 dogs) they went to a lovely boarding kennel. Now if we were to go away we would board them with one of our dog's breeders, who is also a friend. We know they understand our dogs and our breeds and what they need.

I don't have to worry about tails with the Aussies :p but with the Irish I hold the tail on the stack, its up on the move but standing in a line up for ages while the judge does their thing makes her drop her tail, giving a completely different look and she loses the alert, on her toes 'terrier' look. She's a pretty mellow girl, her brother will have his up 99% of the time on the stack and so his isn't touched. Depends on the dog and what's going on.

Congratulations Belljari! Hope the nipples come good soon.

As far as shedding with Aussies, it depends on the dog. I have one, Ripley, who is followed by a snow storm wherever he goes. We've only had him since August so I can't tell whether it's seasonal or he's just like this all the time, but honestly. I've never seen an Aussie shed so much hair as he does.

The others are all fairly good....Shae doesn't appear to shed much at all, Isaak's comes out when I brush him and Dusty has two big coat drops a year when she's coming into season, where she sheds more coat than she ever owned. That lasts a couple of weeks, then she's back to hardly shedding much at all. We have the four inside of an evening, and sweep the living area (tiles) once or twice a day and that seems to keep it under control.

If you like Corgis, maybe check out Cardigan Corgis. They seem to have a sweet, tolerant nature that would be good with kids.

I agree 100% with what Gayle has said, shedding of Aussies really comes down to the dog's individual coat. I have one girl who drops bucketloads most of the year, and when she's due in season it's like a snowstorm inside. But the other, her half sister, has a very different texture and type of coat, and doesn't drop much at all.

Why throw the baby out with the bath water? In some breeds, breeding from only clears would drastically reduce the gene pool. Why reduce the quality of the breed, and risk other diseases which we can't yet test for, by breeding only from clears, when breeding from a carrier to a clear is never going to produce affected animals.

Well I had my Cavalier girl scanned last Friday and I was prety sure she was pregnant but wanted to confirm it before I listed here. She has had some nipple development so I was hopeful.

The scan shows one foetus!

Gosh I hope there is another hiding somewhere in there.

The senior Vet was away until this Wednesday so we are rechecking then.

Of course, I will have her x-rayed at 8 weeks (I hear you all say ) to confirm size and numbers since she will have to have a c-section anyway by the looks of things.

This is her first litter ,poor girl, I know I shouldn't beat myself up but I feel so guilty. putting her through this.

Oh. and she's due 30/11 - 1/12.

Fingers crossed that there's another bub hiding in there somewhere!

One of Maizie's little girls passed away this morning. RIP little baby.

I would if I had any! I didn't get to go home between work and going to the breeder's, so no camera and no puppy pics yet.

Worked out they are 8 weeks old on Christmas day.

Aussies

BOB: Gr Ch Comeby Sargon Ruler PT

RuBOB: Comeby No Mere Ranger

Maizie had her bubs last night, about 30mins between each! She had 7, 3 boys and 4 girls.

Some sad news last night!!

Last night we received a visit from the god Xoltl, he decided that the Xolo puppies were so perfect and so precious that he would take them back to Mictlan.

Taha Daha is well and recovering. Some things happen for a reason and obviously this was meant to be.

Next time we may be blessed, now comes the heartbreaking job of telling all those with their hearts set on a baby cuintle!

I'm so sorry Wazzat.

Jett had her ultrasound today and there was no evidence of puppies

So sorry.

I got told once that it's really rude to show up on the last day of a 3-show weekend. And yet I often only show on a Sunday because I have other things to do on Saturdays and I work on weekdays, so Sunday is generally my only free day to go to a show, and if it's the last day of a 3-show weekend, then so be it. It's not rude, it's just a time constraint.

I'd be ignoring that comment GayleK .... what a silly statement for someone to make ....

It's most defintely NOT rude.

Agree! especially as you have given them the benefit of your entry for one of the days - that's one more entry fee than they would have received!!

I agree! People have other commitments that have to come first. That's simply silly to be called rude for only showing on the last day.

In SA there are a couple of people that charge for handling in Group 6 and there are also lots of very capable, experienced handlers in Group 6 who do not.

I don't charge, never have. But I'm particular about what I handle and have handled for some lovely people with some lovely dogs, so that's enough for me. I have received some nice pressies as thank yous (new suits etc) but it's certainly not why I do it. I don't do grooming, taking on roadtrips etc, I just meet ringside for a show, but I have spent time training in my own time

I think that our show scene is a little better off for not having masses of pro handlers, it means it's not a rich person's sport (mostly) and also encourages people towards handling their own dogs which can be very personally satisfying..

Well said Rottshowgirl. You show some amazing dogs.

my husband feels that the judging and showing has lost its way as a breeder/exhibitor the reason why you breed and show are to improve the breed if possible, then you take what you have breed to a dog show to show what you have breed and to see how you stack up to others, and to the breed standard, and to socialize with other breeders to learn and develop more about the breed, as you never stop learning but when dogs win due to whose holding the lead or how the dog was handled, makes you think do i breed to what the judges want ,or do i stick to the breed standard ,thats where the judges need to really know there standard and judge fairly as if they are not careful people will ask them selves do i breed to the judges standard or do i stick to the actually breed standard as people do get kennel blind as then when you lose to a better dog (been judged fairly ) you can then look and learn to breed a better dog next time thats how you improve the breed thats why we enjoy the specialty shows as we get a critique on the dogs (feed back from the judge )and the feed back you get from others is very helpful as we are all interested in the same thing BREEDING BETTER DOGS let me ask you this as well for some breeds it is near impossible to win a best in show due to the breed of a dog which is sad for instance how often has a bull terrier won a best in show at a all breeds

We had a huge winning BT in WA that won many best in shows (20 according to his profile). He was well known around every group and everyone loved him. He stood out as one of those once in a lifetime dogs.

He was top dog in WA there for a while wasn't he? I wish I had gotten to see him in the ring!