casowner

Thanks Raz I have changed the purebreed/cross breed to the actual breed of dog as suggested earlier as when I thought about it it made sense and then that eliminates the need for toy/med etc. It will also help with products as then I can evaluate them better as I said with braccy breeds etc. I will give them all a free bag of treats for filling it out anyway but simplifying the questions is a great idea. Health products wise we already stock things like sashas blend, pernease powder, rescue remedies and other types of things so I would be interested to look for treats etc that can be used on dogs with specific health issues. Some dogs on restricted diets can not have many treats but there are some on the market that are considered ok. It would help with signage in the shop etc and I could make a designated treat area for those conditions but if it isn't worth the expense I won't bother. I am going to do a bit right done the bottom with a dotted line that says OPTIONAL QUESTION and mention (and I haven't worded it as yet) asking about where they purchased their pet and my reasons for asking. This information will also help me with my promotions as next year I am going to look at holding different events/educational evenings for members. If there is a high percentage of shelter dogs then I can base them around that, as I mentioned I want to continue with the breed ambassadors. If there is a lot of pet shops then I can look at starting up Puppy Parlour Pre School which is similiar to Puppy Pre School but more targeting to handling/grooming techniques of long coated dogs which is predominantly what pet shop puppies are. There is the BIS Shrapnel report that has some statistics regarding pet shops etc but I want to aim my business changes towards what suits my customers. We will be selling the shop in a couple of years and last time nearly everyone that wanted it had the intention of selling puppies which I didn't want so this time I am trying to set the business up in a way that it would be detrimental to the new owner to do that. As I said there is no shop that sells pups near us and we are in a high income area so it would be very desirable to some people to put them in.

The business is a pet shop where over 40% of products sold is Super Premium pet food. There are no stores that sell puppies any where near us (including us) so I am personally interested in where they go - for example if it is a pet shop then they would have travelled quite a distance to get it. We recommend registered breeders as a primary source of information and have had an Open Day recently where we had breed ambassadors for Advance in both days, hopefully we can make that a semi regular thing. The breed question is relevant to products, for example there may be a high percentage of small long coated or braccy breeds that we may not cater for, seniors and puppies have different needs also. We may keep a range of 300 different dog toys but if the majority is aimed at medium to large sized breeds and a high percentage of customers have small dogs then I need to decrease the current range and increase more suitable lines. We have close to 10,000 members and on the application form people tick what species of pets they have already but as dog products are the major component of the business I am trying to refocus and restructure. I am also considering starting an online store and as product lines will be restricted I want to put in the most suitable for my clients. One of the questions will be asking if the customers would like us to have an online shopping/delivery service. As I explained 40% of the business is food related and due to weight restrictions that will not be a main feature of the online store if I go ahead. No one has to answer questions if they do not wish too and it is interesting to me that people question where people source their dogs but if someone is proactive about doing a survey then that is an invasion of privacy . I will be more than forthcoming about my motives so I am not trying to deceive anyone, breed surveys have been done on many forums before and as with them people do not have to be involved if they do not wish to. I am more than happy to add a side comment about the source as if people find that too personal then they don't have to answer it. My customers are the one I am primarily trying to help as if the store is full of products that aren't aimed at the right people they are not getting the full experience and I am not maximising my business opportunities

We stock over 7500 product lines so I believe the survey will help be to streamline or improve on lines depending on the data I get back. This will help me stock more suited products for my customers and will help me delete or introduce lines. I am interested in the source of where they were purchased from on a personal level, I do not believe that it is an intrusive question especially as the rest of the survey will benefit my clientele. Thank you for your suggestions, please keep them coming. I want it to be a quick survey to get the maximum benefit on a business level. I will be giving each of our customers a sample bag of treats for completing it and don't believe that many will have an issue with it

Yes You ask those self-interested, dog neglecting creeps for their prefix and then explain that you don't cross-breed.You then advocate and promote pure bred dogs. If they want to listen explain the merits of a pedigree dog. But, it is not easy to persuade those people who have elevated themselves above our dogs, about how dogs cannot always speak for themselves. Sometimes people with pure bred dogs won't stick to the Code, or listen to wiser heads, either.Px How did you then end up with abitch at your home for a pre mating assessment without checking the situation out -"No, Lilly was here for assessment; 'pre-mating.' But, she was bred by steve which is why we initially considered her for mating." "I acted in good faith, and with that in mind and heart, and for that I thank the Lord that I was not knit together in this inaugural litter which I have no doubt was to become the seed for the establishment of BYB." The owner didn't have a prefix and you nearly helped create a litter of BYB puppies except she escaped and was recaptured and this was a couple of weeks ago. Edited to add what I was refering to If we have standards and ethics then we should abide by them all of the time and not just quote them

I have decided that between Jan - March I am going to run a survey for our customers for a couple of business and personal reasons These are some of the questions that I have written down to date, as this will be a quick counter survey and I will be emailing it to our nearly 10,000 members I want it to be quick simple and to get the most info as possible OK Where did you get your dog - registered breeder, pet shop, shelter/rescue, print/internet advertising Is your dog a pure breed or cross breed Size toy - small - medium - large - giant (and I will put in size references) Coat - smooth - wire coated - long coated Age - Health issues - Would you purchase your dog from the same type of place as you have done previously Is your dog desexed - if not why So these are just basic examples of the questions they will be written better when I come to draw up the survey but is there anything else that I should add

If people want to tell me where I can or can't get my next dog from they can bite me, guilt only works on me when it is either of my children with their puppy dog eyes

Espinay they didn't resemble any time of cords, those links looked much better they literally were just adhoc chunks Can I also say I love your dogs, I was very interested in a PMD but my OH is set on CAO's for life

The thing with these komondors was not only the smell but the fact they had mat chunks rather than cords. Seeing the breed for the first time presented the way they were was, to me, not a great impression on the breed especially when you had beautifully corded pulis in the day before

Tralee does the liver pigmented nose in that photo affect working dogs in the sun?

When they are looked after they are stunning and hilarious

Showdog is that the year one was refused even though it was the only one in its class?

They were for baths only apparently it took 3-5 days for them to dry because of the coat, it took well over an hour each to bath them and we used a big bottle of Morning Fresh each plus huge amounts of shampoo to try and strip the dirt/grease and they were still not white. Handling wise I don't remember them being difficult just very aloof, they never made an impression on me at all to be honest. I was a very young junior groomer and I just remember the water colour and smell, I also remember catching 2 buses and a train home and having people smell me all the way - wet dog smell isn't pleasnat at the best of times. I really liked the pulis but always had a negative feeling about the komondors

We groomed some for the Adelaide Royal quite a few years ago and they were the stinkiest dogs I have ever seen, their coats weren't corded they were just mat chunks. We also did show pulis and there was no comparison in the way the coats were corded or cared for. These komondors were show dogs but they way they looked they must have been used for their natural purposes primarily

We have rescue kittens in each weekend but they are not sold by the shop all adoptions are done through the rescue group. We donate goods to their auctions and all cats/kittens adopted through the store or by referrals from us are given a $20 store voucher to help the owners buy accessories/food etc

I know the store and the owner that you are referring too - it will not make a difference mentioning it. I suggest looking at this document and if they are in breach report it you will have to click on the link that says South Australian Code of practice for the care and management of animals in the pet trade (381kb pdf) SA Pet Trade Code

I can not start a topic in the BC area and as I am very interested in this topic I thought I would put it here. A DOLer placed a lost/found advert for a bitch that went missing whilst under his care and that has raised some questions for me, the DOLer in question suggested I start a topic so I am not having a go at them as I said I am genuinely curious. As the owner of a stud dog that accepts the responsibilty of taking in an outside unknown bitch what steps do you ensure the safety of that bitch? In the mentioned case a bitch in heat was loose for 3 days, as the stud owner would you be responsible for any vet fees or associated costs if the bitch got pregnant by another dog whilst missing? I am not meaning this topic to be aimed at the other thread as there are obviously other factors involved but as someone who is interested in potentially getting a mains registered bitch in the future this situation scared the living bejeebus out of me. So my questions are basically what do you do to ensure the safety of outside bitches, do you have contracts in place BEFORE the bitch arrives, do you check the owner and dogs credentials before they come onto your property? I know these are loaded questions and I apologise but as I said these are important questions for any new breeder or person wishing to outsource a stud dog to know. Thank you

I agree about the OP's dog and as a pet owner she did a decent job herself, I am generalising to speaking about the OP. I can not see in the pics where the head was trimmed, cut like a ball, but I do think she has done a good job herself

This ^ After 20 years I could handle being bitten, being shat on, trying my best to give each and every dog a positive experience it was the owners that finally did me in. Seeing the same dogs come in with the same eye/ear infections, the same matted coats, the same flea infestations etc etc and then listen to them say how much they love them and that they sleep inside when I was trying my best not to throw up becuase of that familiar smell of skin and ear infections not to mention the odour of wetting down dogs with massive flea infestations - that tainted blood smell. If they only shared half of the expectations on themselves as they do the groomer there wouldn't be half the problems - oops now I am generalising on dog owners. Unfortunately when you are a groomer when you have continuous bad owner experiences it damages the feel of the many many positive ones and I do miss the owners and dogs of the many brilliant customers that I shared over the years My priority was and will always be the comfort and the experience for the dog as they are the ones on the table getting clippers, scissors and strange hands holding them

Regardless of the body that top knot looks like it hasn't even been scissored

Also I not think that the word balls has been discussed so much on a dog forum when they weren't meant to be thrown. Plus I just realised that my 5000 post milestone was used talking about male apendages - something that is very very rare for me

Completely OT but this thread has reminded me of the movie There's something about Mary - Frank and beans, frank and beans - yet another good reason why dogs shouldn't wear clothes Sorry resume topic back on track

Nope not saying that at all, but I am sure we have all met a male that didn't want to castrate his male dog because he wanted him to keep his balls and this to me is what the commercial was poking fun at. I'm certainly not saying men identify themselves through their balls but I have never met a woman that hasn't wanted to desex their dog because it would affect his "manhood" but maybe I don't get out enough. Balls on, balls off it was a funny skit to me

I knew I was a coffee girl for a reason Raz

I have never gotten the whole men like their dogs to have their mansticles still on, you don't see women breeding their female dogs constantly just so that they have big boobies.

As Jake grew older he would not accept any new people on the property, I liken it to him growing into his CAOdom. As a youngster he was wary but would accept "certain" people but after 3 years of age his acceptance of new people was almost non existant. He also started the staring rather than barking when protecting, to me when he was quiet around people was when we were much more vigilent.