MalteseLuna

Here is one of my black and whites that I quite like - I also like the Bokeh in it

I will share a few of mine with my new 50mm f1.8 - I'm still getting the hang of it. I think I need to use a higher aperture i.e. f2.8+ as quite a few her eyes are in focus but her nose isn't... there were a few where the focus was deliberately soft ;)

Luna and the long 'brick' road...

Camo styling in her bed

In the back yard

Sleeping in the sun on her pillow

And then something random...

All these were taken with a Nikon D7000

My dog has a similar 'issue' - her's is behavioral. I call it her "special" temperament... she is actually very good now if being walked by me but if walked by other people she does stop alot (i.e. drops to the ground, refuses to go near objects i.e. drains and potholes). She acts kind of like she has OCD sometimes i.e. wants to walk a certain path around something or walk on one side of the street/path. I notice that when she is going outside for her "potty" she likes to take a certain path around the garden before walking on the grass and she likes to walk near walls - she is just a little special ;) I also notice that she gets used to a certain route to the park and then gets used to objects and paths along the way, and stops behaving silly when she knows a route.

I do tend to giver her a very gentle tug on the lead i.e. not dragging her so much as encouraging her to follow me and she resists initially but then walks normally again. I also try not to gush over her as I feel this is giving her attention for the wrong reason. This works for us... but she is 3 kgs so getting her moving physically is much easier than I can imagine a GR would be!

To me it sounds like your dog is just having too much fun at the park :D perhaps taking a different route to and from the park or on the walk would help as he wouldn't "know" when he was close to home and thus turning back. Also perhaps walk past the house on the route to the park (double back) so that he stops associating "going home" with the end of his fun/walk.

I think that may airlines in the USA allow travelers to take small dogs in the cabin (in a suitable soft crate/bag). I have frequently heard of Maltese owners flying to pick up a new puppy and then flying back with the puppy in the cabin.

Kinda sad we can't do that here imo.

I posted a topic about it before, first pic of new dog. Taken with my Nikon D700, Sigma 50mm f1.4. No idea what settings, as it was still whatever I set it all to last night at a shoot.

awwwww! Nice pic!

Gapvic - those photos were awesome!

Is she willing to do all the health tests that go with it? Not 100% sure what labs require, but in goldens they require hip/elbow scores, as well as regular Heart & Eye checks.... I expect it will be something similar in labs. There is also a lot of heartbreak, even if you breed two dogs with perfect scores, shit happens and she may well breed a dog with hip &/or elbow problems that has come down from a dog further back in the lines. How will she cope with something like that? Is she willing to remove from the gene pool a dog that she may have bought to breed but comes back with crap health results? I think there would need to be a huge committment to show the dog before anyone would consider selling them a main registered dog.... if she is willing to start with a male she may have more luck....

That would be something she could discuss with the breeder/mentor. She has already bred 2 generations (several litters) so she knows the heartbreak. She would be encouraged to health test by me and I assume by the mentor/breeder.

I was looking for places to point her in the right direction ... not a "would she do this and that and xyz"... I can't answer that.

Dont know any breeders who will sell a dog on the main register to someone they dont know - sorry

How exactly is new blood supposed to get into the hobby then? I must say as someone who eventually wants to join the hobby (myself) I am stunned that so many people are unwilling to give newbies a break. I get that sometimes you get burned but if more people don't get involved in the hobby it will get less and less popular. I frankly would be very sad to see that happen.

I will hop into the lab thread

I would have gotten her to post but she is fairly computer illiterate.

My Auntie is looking for a Labrador puppy, she prefers the working line or "UK" look with smaller dogs.

In the past she has been involved in breeding black/golden labradors - she started off fostering Guide Dog puppies and when the arm of Guide Dogs NSW that she was fostering for shut down she was told "to breed her as she is a great dog and carries good lines". So she did for 2 generations. I don't agree with her methods of choosing a stud dog nor her reasons for breeding in the past but she seems to have been swayed by my and my grandmothers discussions with her about responsible breeding, being a registered breeder and doing health testing. After loosing the original dog and her daughter she has de-sexed the grand-daughter. She is now starting to look for a suitable puppy.

The truth is that she will find a puppy whether I help her or not but I would like to point her to a few breeders who might be willing to mentor her and help "lead" her down the right path. She does seem to want to do the right thing and she loves the breed. She would be willing to take advice concerning the stud dogs certainly and might be willing to "try" showing or trialling.

Can anyone point me towards some breeders that have the "older style" of Labrador and might be willing to mentor someone (and sell her a main registered dog).

I think helping her find a healthy dog with a good mentor is the best option!

Please PM me if you want to help or suggest some breeders/mentors and I will pass them on.

I do think that Canis lupus arabs or Canis lupus pallipes are subspecies of the grey wolf but I don't think that the paper was suggesting that dogs evolved from them - I sometimes wish that the papers would use the scientific names of the species/subspecies etc to make it clearer.

WOW the times is really reporting on old news - that journal article was published in 2010 (mid year I think).

;)

I have the same camera - it is very powerful and I'm loving it! I'm hoping to do some courses soon to increase my skill level!

That paper has been out since 2010 (Vonholdt et al 2010 from Nature) - I'm actually not sure that the wolf subspecies listed in this post (Canis lupus arabs etc) are the correct subspecies. Just because the article (the scientific one) says middle eastern wolves does not mean that it's the specialized middle eastern wolves subspecies rather than Canis lupus lupus that was further spread across the landscape. I will have to check the paper again (which I can't do from home atm)...

Dingoes are among the oldest dog breeds and there is strong evidence that some ancient Asian breeds are derived from Asian wolves not middle eastern wolves.

There is a new paper which just came out but its more about wolves and less about dogs.

you are correct there.

I would bath it but this dog doesn't like to be bathed and she will snap at you if you do something she doesn't like. This is the main reason why my auntie won't tell the dog no etc, Cause if she does the dog turns growls and snaps at her. I do pick up after my dogs each and everyday. Can't be with them 24/7 following them with the pooper scooper. I can't Train this dog myself as she won't listen to me. I know the dog could be real great with the right owner, My auntie isn't the right owner for this dog. Actually she shouldn't own a dog. You should see what Lady does to my auntie when she wants to be feed and my auntie doesn't feed her right then and there, She grabs my auntie by the arm gently,paws at her leaving scratch marks on her skin,growls and then jumps on her. I know this isn't the dogs fault its my aunties. I do have a question tho why is it up to me to take on this dog eg train it,bath it etc? specially since its not my dog and non of us wanted it here. Yes I love dogs and do not like seeing them treated this way, But the way I see it if I take the responabilty for it it will just teach my auntie to pam it off to someone else.The way I see it if you want the animal you take responabilty for it, If you can't do that then you shouldn't own one.

Short coated dogs are very easy to bath and groom. Yes as a dog lover it is your responsibility to care for the dog if the owner (who is a family member or housemate) is neglecting it. My parents have an older Maltese cross that they got when I was younger (it was mainly my dog when I lived at home) however when I moved out they refused to let me take her. My siblings don't really like her - she has bad flea allergies and tends to bite her back till it is raw (ewww). However she is a lovely dog. I used to nag my parents to get her groomed as they didn't and she was dirty/matted etc. I ended up organizing for my dog to get groomed and would book my parents dog in as well. When I moved further away (i.e. wasn't close enough to take the dog to the groomer myself) I noticed that they weren't taking her to get groomed again, I also started grooming my dog myself with clippers I bought. So I have offered to my parents that all they need to do is bring the dog over and I will bathe and groom her myself. This seems to work well for us now - my parents are happy, the dog is clean and happy and I am happy as I don't have to nag as much. I've also made them put the dogs on diets, feed supplements take them to the vet etc. They aren't "bad" owners all the time but they do drop the ball with grooming.

Certainly she isn't my dog but as a dog associated with my family it is my responsibility to ensure she is looked after if my parents/relations aren't doing so properly and I don't even live with my parents.

Sometimes as adults we have to take more responsibility than is "fair" so that innocents aren't hurt. I'm only 24 by the way.

I really think this needs to be done as well - as a concerted effort across all purebred dog owners, breeders, organizations etc. Get vets onside, get scientists onside, get media personalities onside.

If people see more scientists, vets and "famous" people on the "purebred" side or proud of their purebred dogs the tides may start to turn.

Of course one of the major issues is that people simply don't understand about inbreeding or breeding dogs or genetics so if someone they "trust" tells them "all purebreds are inbred etc" they will believe it.

In reality purebred dogs aren't all that inbred in comparison to many endangered species, humans (particularly royal families) etc. Inbreeding isn't a problem unless there are lots of "bad" mutations/genes - then your doubling up on bad mutations, but then this doubling up can occur if you outbreed as well... just depends on the gene pool.

There are lots of domesticated animals - sheep, cattle, horses, chickens etc that are inbred with no/few issues.

The other issue is that the public thinks that they should be guaranteed to have a healthy dog, unfortunately sometimes this isn't possible no matter how much health testing you do things crop up, but as people see dogs as a "product" they are buying they want a guarantee. Bit odd as we don't ridicule the parents of sick children and stop them from breeding again etc (perhaps we ask them to do some genetic testing) but everyone knows that there is no guarantee when humans have a child and that not every child will be sick (unless its a really rare and nasty condition)...apparently when dogs breed there is a magical guarantee that comes into effect

All animals are inbred anyway - remember Adam and Eve and Noah's arc? ... okay joking... more realistically the finding that all humans can be traced back to the descendants of one woman (or maternal family) ... at least this is what I remember reading.

He really doesn't inspire much confidence does he... but it is all staged/acted and his producers control what gets on the show etc.

I am a client of the "real" vets from Bondi Junction Vet Hospital - I would far prefer to see them on the show as they are all very knowledgeable and fantastic.

I think that some breeds and dogs have different ways of communicating or playing and sometimes dogs of other breeds don't appreciate/understand the different "languages".

Often dogs which haven't been socialized properly are very poor at communicating as well.

Thanks everyone. The conditions weren't good yesterday but I am tempted to go back on a brighter day in the hope of getting clearer shots. I wonder if they always howl in the morning.

How did you avoid getting the fences in the shots - at the sanctuary I go to I find it very difficult to avoid as the dingoes tend to run up to the front of the fence (i.e. where I am standing) and it's not possible to get right up close to the fence (double fences).

I've found the dingoes at the sanctuary I go to howl if they hear someone they know coming or going (or someone else is howling). I went with my supervisors family a few months ago and got the kids to howl and the dingoes howled back I was trying to record them howling.

Here is one of my ones...

and this guys stare was very intent...

Thank you for sharing your photos - they are so lovely!

Beagles? Huskies? CKCS, Cocker Spaniel, GSP, Viszla, sheltie, Whippet, Boxer? I probably should have said many common breeds have rated barely a mention. GRs, BCs, Kelpies, large poodle crosses (???). Mostly this thread has ended up being about staffy types, SWFs small white fluffy crossbreeds, and GSDs and to a lesser extent labs, dobes, rotties... I don't think poor ownership alone can account for them being singled out over and over again.

SWF isn't a breed... unless you want to over generalize all big non fluffy breeds into BNF ;)

SWF is a description of MANY breeds and crosses (well mainly crosses now is what you see on the street).

You do realise this whole thread is about broad generalisations? Just making sure...

I have met a lot of nice little fluffy dogs. Most came straight from the pound and who knows what breeds they are. I don't care. I am impressed by a little dog that will play with my lapphund just as happily and confidently as with my little vallhund.

Okay fair point - although I still think that swf is a much larger generalization than saying "I have issues with breed X, Y and Z".

I have to say I wouldn't feel comfortable with my little dog playing with any dog significantly bigger than her - no matter how well meaning the bigger dog is... one mis-step and there goes my dog (or at the very least a very $$$ trip to the vet). I do let her play with dogs that are still 2-3 times her size (small but not toy) but large dogs similar becuse it's an accident waiting to happen.

Again I feel alot of small dog mis-behaviour is due to the owners... who treat toy/small dogs like babies and don't train them or give them boundaries.

Beagles? Huskies? CKCS, Cocker Spaniel, GSP, Viszla, sheltie, Whippet, Boxer? I probably should have said many common breeds have rated barely a mention. GRs, BCs, Kelpies, large poodle crosses (???). Mostly this thread has ended up being about staffy types, SWFs and GSDs and to a lesser extent labs, dobes, rotties... I don't think poor ownership alone can account for them being singled out over and over again.

SWF isn't a breed... unless you want to over generalize all big non fluffy breeds into BNF ;)

SWF is a description of MANY breeds and crosses (well mainly crosses now is what you see on the street).

This is why alot of small fluffy breeds have a bad reputation - over breeding by puppy farms with no selection on temperament... and the fact that they look 'similar'.

Alot of small/toy dog owners do not train their dogs or even socialise them properly.

I can count the number of times I have seen a purebred Poodle, Maltese, Shih tzu etc on one hand. Most dogs that I see are doodles, oodles, whatever cross is the newest.

It's like the RSPCA saying they have a high percentage of Maltese in their kennels when really they have a high percentage of small fluffy crosses (some that look to have very little if any Maltese)... if it is small and fluffy it must be a Maltese right...

Dogs of any breed can have temperament issues - alot of my "prejudice" with dogs at the park or around isn't because I don't like the breed or think they will attack my dog (or me) but rather their style of play or interaction is too heavy or full-on for a 2.5 kg dog OR the breed has high prey drive which is silly to risk with a toy breed.

I just had to say... I'm a member of PETA if...PETA = People for Eating Tasty Animals My dad has a shirt with that on it - should have seen the glares from the healthfood staff when he walked in one day forgetting what he was wearing!

On topic - the first PDE was lacking in any scientific validity. The "experts" were rubbish and not CANINE geneticists (as far as I can remember).

There was also an obvious bias and editing was heavily used.

I cringe to think of the backlash - especially when petshops and DD breeders are getting "smarter" i.e. all the signs in pet shops now which read "Our puppies don't come from puppy mills/farms"... It fools most people. But anyone who thinks about it logically realises that pet shops MUST deal with large volume breeders (puppy farms) in order to have litters ready and in the window when they "need them".

Stonewalling won't help but then neither will being involved in the shooting and then having JH edit the footage to show exactly what she wants - damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Hi everyone - I managed to get Luna to the park last week despite the horrible weather we are having (it's winter over here)... enjoy!

Then we rushed home before the rain...

Thanks for all the nice comments :D

Prejudice and wariness are two different things but often mis interpreted and the same thing. I am wary of breeds in an off leash roaming situation that can be predisposed with fighting drive coupled with nerve weakness, GSD's, Bull breeds, Rottweilers, Akitas, Dobermann, Cattle dogs to name a few, but I am not breed prejudice or dislike them, quite the opposite infact. It's breeds that can stand up to pressure if they are short on nerve and will fight instead of flight are the breeds I am most wary of in a stranger situation which I don't think wariness should be taken for prejudice, to me they are different meanings.

^ This

Same

Awesome photos - they really are beautiful animals!

I haven't really posted any photos of Luna so I thought I would share some of her with you ;)

I shot these with either my old Nikon D70 or my new Nikon D7000 (I love it).

I think I need to work on my composition - I've only just begun to be interested in photography and started to use my DSLR as more than a point and shoot.

Love this expression!

Sleeping in the sun on one of the few warm winter days we have had!

Posing

The kitty - whom Luna thinks is a superdog

Kirislin: Canon 7D, 50mm 1.4, 100mm 2.8 Macro, 70-200mm 2.8L IS

Bellatrix: Canon 5D Mark II, 50mm 1.4 (and the 1.8), 24-70mm 2.8L, 100mm 2.8 Macro, Speedlite 580EX II

JS: Canon 1000D, kit 18mm-55mm & 55mm-250mm, 50mm 1.8, Speedlite 580EX II

SchnuzaeryBoy: Nikon D80, Nikon D700, 50 1.8, 18-50 2.8, 28-80 3.5-4, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8, SB-400, SB-900, 1.4x TC, 2x TC

Becandcharch: Canon 40D, 50mm 1.4, Speedlite 580EX II and a kit lens I dont even know what it is as I never use it!

persephone :point&shootonly here Fuji finepixS8000sfd and a sony cybershot DSCN1

Ellz: P&S only here too: Olympus SP600UZ and Sony Cybershot DSC-S650

MavericksMission: Canon 450D, 18-55mm & 55-250mm

Evolving: Canon 500D, 50mm 1.8, 18-55mm & 55-250mm

Mish13 : Sony A700, 16-80 F3.5,90mm F2.8,11-18mm F4.5,18-250mm F3.5, 75-300mm F4.5, 50mm 1.8 (Bellatrix, you have my dream camera)

CrazyCresties: Lumix TZ65 and my Canon (which is still in storage for another month!) 350D 18-55mm kit lens, 70-300mm and 500mm Tamron mirror lens (about 20yrs old from my old Minolta but works with an adaptor!)

Belgian.blue: Canon 550D 18-55mm & 55-250mm .. very soon a 50mm 1.8 and a Sony Cybershot P&S eta: Just purchased a 50mm 1.8 and a Lowepro Versapack 200 AW biggrin.gif

Fattima: Nikon D90, kit 18-55mm & 55-200mm

Clover: Nikon D40x, kit 18 - 55mm, 55 - 200mm & nikkor 70 - 300mm.

MTD : Sony A350 , 55-200mm, 18mm-70mm , 50mm 1.8

SammieS: Canon 7D, 18-200mm but I think I also want a 50mm soon!

DMA: Olympus E-30, Olympus E-420, Zuiko: 14-42mm, 12-60mm SWD, 18-180mm, 70-300mm; Sigma: 24mm, 30mm, Olympus EX-25; Canon PowerShoot A590; Canon AE-1, 28-70mm, 85-200mm

Ripley: Canon 50D; Canon 30D, Canon 300mm f/4 L, Canon 1.4 teleconverter (don't need to use it though), Canon 50mm 1.8 (I hardly use this lens either), Sigma 17-70, Sigma 10-20, 2 ND grad filters, a newish Fuji pocket digital + underwater housing which I am going to sell soon and a Canon DSLR film camera that I probably won't use again.

Linda K - Canon 5dII, 24-70L, 85 1.8, 50 1.4, 135L, 16-35L & Nikon D700 50 1.4G

TerraNik: Canon 40D, 50mm 1.4, a couple of kit lenses that I rarely use, Speedlite 580EX II

Tlc: Nikon D80, 50mm 1.8, kit lense 18 - 135, speedlight. Panasonic fz50, nikon coolpix P&S

RottnBullies: Canon 40D, 50mm 1.8

ValleyCBR: Olympus e420, Zuiko: 14-42mm and Zuiko 40-150mm

LucyCharzie: Canon 1000D, 18-55mm, 50mm 1.8

Ravyk: Canon 550D, 50mm 1.4, 60mm 2.8 macro, 18-250mm, Panasonic Lumix FZ-28, Panasonic Lumix FT1 [waterproof]

Firestone: Canon 450D, (I love) and today I laybyed the Canon 50mm 1.4 can hardly wait

CareyJ: Canon 450D, 18-55mm, 55-250mm, Lowepro camera bag, Sony Cyber-Shot DSCTX p&s

Poocow - Canon 350D (need an upgrade!), kit lenses, 50mm 1.8, 70-200mm. Next purchase will be a Speedlite.

~*Shell*~ - Canon 5D Mark II, Battery Grip, 50mm 1.4, 50mm 1.8, 70-200mm 2.8L, 530EX II Speedlite, Canon IXUS80IS, Canon IXUS210IS

Tibbiemax - Canon 50D, 18 - 200mm, 50mm 1.4, need more stuff!!

MrRedDog -Canon Eos 7D, Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II, Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II LD, Tamron AF 28-300mm f3.5-6.3 XR Di VC LD Plus a few other bits and pieces: bag, filters and stuff (now it's play time)

DogSportObsessed: Canon 1000D, 18-55 mm, 75-300 mm (only just got it last week )

Smisch: Nikon D3000 18-55mm 55-200mm & limited use of a D50 (I seem to be the only one who actually likes the D3000 camera..)

Lic_82 - Sony A200, 50mm 1.8, 75 - 300mm, 18 - 70mm... Canon 40D, 55 - 250mm, 18-55mm ( i think lol I havent got it yet) plus hopefully will have a 50mm 1.8 for the 40D soon smile.gif

Misha&MIlo - Konica Minolta DYNAX 5D 18-70mm, 75-300mm with a few uv lenses.

Fuji finepix S2000 point and shoot

Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5 waterproof camera

tdierikx - Canon 450D, 18-55mm IS, 55-250mm IS - and backup is a Canon Powershot S5 P&S (12x zoom equivalent to around 400mm apparently)

kja - Canon 40D & 1DIII bodies w/ Canon 17-55 2.8 IS, Canon 50 1.4, Canon 85 1.8, Canon 70-200 2.8 IS, Canon 60 & 100 macros, Canon 135L 2.0, Canon 10-22, Canon 100-400L IS, Sigma 17-70, Tokina 11-16 2.8, Tokina 10-17... Underwater housing & ports & strobes for the Canon 40D. And my happy baby Canon SD1200 IS for go anywhere; except in the water which is my baby (crappy) Olympus 720SW

Complete list coz there's just so much freakin stuff LOL

wagsalot - Canon 350D, Canon 7D, Canon 50mm 1.8, Tamron 17-50 2.8 IF, Canon 70-300 4-5.6 IS

Cairo1: Canon 7D, 50mm 1.8, 18-105mmL, 70 - 200mmL, 10 - 22mm wide angle Sigma

ange - Canon 7D and 450D, 24-70 2.8, Sigma 35mm 1.4, Canon 50mm 1.5 & 1.8, Canon 85mm 1.8, Canon 430ex II, kenko tubes, kit lenses and a few other bits and pieces.

MalteseLuna - Nikon D7000, Sigma 18-200 F3.5-6.3, Nikon 50 mm f1.8 (should be arriving any day), Tamron 90 mm Macro (really it is my mom's) - next on my list is a tripod or a flash.