Steve

You just need to remember that when you add the alcohol and let the herb sit in it and age that what you are left with - a tincture is much much stronger than it is when its used in other ways.

Calendula is astringent and it is water soluble There has been loads of research on components of Calendula - you're talking about using it as a tincture.

Calendula is an astringent in its own right. This preparation has its uses but calendula tea is a better approach for skin issues in my opinion.

Nominated for Best Boarding Kennel of the Year this year in our MDBA Dog Owners Choice Awards - Winners announced in about 2 weeks but even if they dont win their nominations are great and from clients who are raving over them. They are just in the process of becoming MDBA Professional members as well which enables third party accountability. So I cant see any reason why they wont be a great place to leave your dogs

No problems here - Maremma and Beagles - easy.

Well Ive had Maremma for around 23 years and Ive bred a lot of puppies over that period of time and I would not be able to visit someone's house and select a pup unless I stayed there and watched it for days. You may be able to pick the prettiest, the biggest, the smallest, the cutest etc but I give about a 1% chance of anyone picking the best pup for their purposes by visiting when they are babies here. Personally Id rather look at the parents and trust the breeder.

agree

It may be a breed thing too to some degree - I think it would take a very experienced person in Maremma pups to be able to determine which one is more suited to one thing or another at a few weeks of age.

If your looking for behaviour then I dont believe its possible for anyone on a visit to be able to judge Every puppy will present itself differently every day of the week to someone visiting. Its so affected by how long ago it ate, how long ago it slept ,how tired it is etc the puppy that seems eager to smother you with love and licks tomorrow may be the one thats full as a goog and cant be bothered to run and play because its just done that before you got there tomorrow The breeder is observing them all the time - watching them and taking all of that into account as a puppy buyer you dont stand a chance of being able to see which one is best suited to you over any other - let the breeder choose.

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They have won Best Dog Related Tourist Destination a couple of years in the MDBA Dog Owners Choice Awards and Nominated again this year - that's where Id go.

Best Friend

Depends if you are testing for how well they kill or how well they repel. And a spot of undiluted essential oil wont give you the same results as a drop on a collar or diluted oils either. Studies are in with great results for brown ticks and people who use it here say it works well with our ticks - if you are trying for a more natural alternative in my opinion its worth a try but no matter what you use you still need to check your animals every day if you live in tick country.

I wont be rude to someone who asks but personally I think its pretty poor form for a business to expect an employee to ask. Im good with a donation box but actually asking me to donate - not a chance and Id avoid the place in future.

there are studies which prove that Rose geranium oil is a tick repellent but its only been done on one type of tick . The concept that anyone uses any type of tick prevention or kill product chemical or otherwise and doesnt check for ticks every day any way is way out of my comfort zone.

Purebred dogs have been actively selected for certain behavioural traits - on the whole humans haven't been. Dogs also dont have the same cognitive thought abilities that humans have. I dont believe that you can consider temperament which is in my opinion 100% nature to behaviour which you can alter. AS a purebred dog breeder Ive put a lot of effort into being able to produce a litter of puppies which will be uniform in how they react naturally to certain conditions. In my breeding program with my Maremma my main criteria for selection has been on certain temperament characteristics which make them more suitable for how they will go at working. The impact of how I manage them up until they are 8 weeks old is minuscule in comparison to what they are born with. My litters have less deviation between puppies than a breeder who has had a higher priority on different traits and characteristics. People will often ask me to select the pup in the litter which is most inquisitive, softer in nature etc and hopefully if Im successful at what Im doing that will be very difficult to do. Up until 6 weeks all puppies in a litter are treated the same and handled the same but at 6 weeks some are placed with the species of animal they will be living with when they go to their new homes. By 8 weeks the ones I have had with the sheep when let out away from the sheep will actively seek out the sheep. So I see a litter of 10 pups at 6 weeks hard to tell them apart in any way with their behaviour - they all react the same way when I approach them - all line up like lions and bark in unison when a stranger or something - sight or sound they are not familiar with approaches. they are all eager to supervise me as I put the washing on the line and take turns at sitting on my feet and approaching for cuddles. At 8 weeks under the same circumstances only the ones who have been living with humans help supervise the washing procedure the others may come have a bit of a look but dont stay with me. When I walk around the property the ones who have been with humans are eager to walk with me the others cant be bothered and might come a bit of the way but dont come too far away from the animals they have been living with. After a couple of hours of freedom and playing the ones which have been with people are still near the house but the ones who have been with the sheep will go back to the sheep pen to sleep or lay if they cant get back in until I open the gate and they go in. The ones which have been with the chickens do the same with the chook pen. None have ever been rewarded for this - their apparent desire to stay with the species they are familiar with is nature, their desire to bark first rather than bite is nature, their desire to protect their family they are living with and react without direction is nature. Put them in a family home in suburbia and train them all you want but when the stimulus is activated and the dog is working on what it is born with no amount of training works very well. The ease in which a dog can be trained is born in them. The family has to adapt to the breed characteristics just as the sheep do or everyone is miserable and the risk that the dog will be moved out is high. This is the inherent difference between a breeder and someone who just breeds dogs - the ability to produce an animal which can be predictable in its base instincts, characteristics and management - generation after generation.The ability to be able to place puppies in homes which consistently suit a family's needs and lifestyle.

No doubt about it - Nature has it.

They wont ever be able to progress as long as they keep the name. Too many people get confused about the first cross and the movement toward breed development.

The Bullarab is one. :) The spoodle or cockapoo (worse name ever) is in development in the US Are they? Do you have any links for that ? No third party registry in the world will accept an application from them for breed recognition or application to any foundation registry with that name. http://www.dogbreedp...ds/cockapoo.php Thanks - looks like thats where they are moving alright.

There is a major difference between people wanting or breeding a cross breed and working toward developing a new breed.

The Australian Cobberdog do not have their own registry - Their stud records are kept by the MDBA. and they have to be MDBA members and comply with codes and rules etc to register their dogs. Currently they test for 27 different genetic diseases - none of which have shown up in years. These people started 20 odd generations ago with dogs of several different breeds and actively selected for a specific temperament and coat type.In the early days when they saw an incidence of ear problems due to the shape and size of the ear they infused another breed and selected for a different ear type which no longer gets ear problems. These dogs are a far far cry from just taking two breeds and magically coming up with a quieter breed - there was nothing magical about it.

The Bullarab is one. :) The spoodle or cockapoo (worse name ever) is in development in the US Are they? Do you have any links for that ? No third party registry in the world will accept an application from them for breed recognition or application to any foundation registry with that name.

Well I dont think you will ever stop the bad guys and the great thing about any registry is that they are voluntary - some will join and follow the criteria and some will continue to breed cross bred or purebred dogs without belonging to any governing group. Lots of breeders will continue to breed non papered puppies and sell them where ever they want.

I really don't know what the MDBA is or does, but it isn't enough. Really? What would you have them do which would be enough. So far the breeders agree to a very hard code of conduct, have to pass a pretty hard entry criteria, they are monitored and policed - their dogs have much harder mandatory requirements on them to be able to be registered and included in the stud book and be able to be used for breeding the health, work and temperament issues for each dog is kept on all of their pedigrees.They have criteria and health restrictions on where they need to get to be able to call their breed a purebred. The MDBA acts as a resource and third party stud registry so that they are immune to breed politics and only what is best for the breed is a priority. Im more than happy to listen to any input you have where we may be able to do more. The ANKC are not against new breed development and have in place a very comprehensive program of how it all has to progress. The difference is that they are never involved until such time as the breed has reached the level it needs to be at according to their criteria to apply for purebred recognition. Most times the breed that is being developed has their own club and they keep their records and pedigrees - this carries a much higher risk of failure and few get through the years and politics to actually be able to get to a point where they qualify to be able to apply for ANKC breed recognition. The breeds which are using the MDBA as their foundation registry will be able to more easily apply for ANKC breed recognition when they reach that point if that's the way they choose to go. If you have any suggestions as to any thing else we can do or improve this please Im sincerely asking for your suggestions.

So is this because they sell live animals as well as do the rescue thing or is it really about the concept of rescues being homed this way?