alpha bet

Don't worry, it is common for dogs to cut the pad - Often find dogs with various problems with the pads - sometimes just a slice or even a big chunk it just takes time to heal on its own - can happen from the wire on the pens or even a stick in the paddock. Don't bandage his foot and it doesnt really need to be kept clean - after all he just walks in dirt again. Usually takes between 10 days or for bad ones about 3 weeks before everything back to normal.

One thing to consider is that perhaps the breeder was not keen selling a pup to someone who is renting. This might seem harsh but the reality is that renting with dogs is very difficult. I recently had an 18 month old dog dog I bred who came back to me as the owners have spent the last six months trying to find someone to rent them a house with the dog, even prepared to pay a higher bond. In the end they had no choice but to bring the dog back to me for rehousing. In future I will be even more cautious about selling to someone who has a dog because of the difficulty. These were lovely people who have raised the dog beautifully and they are heartbroken. I have had two houses that I rent out for quite a few years and have always been relaxed about people who have dogs - I have a no dog inside policy - but I don't really police it but if I felt the tennants were not keeping the property neat and tidy then I feel I have the right to complain. Renting should be of benefit to both the Landlord and the Tennent. Respect should be given both ways. My advise is to consider delaying getting a pet until you have your own home, thus you can make your own rules or until either this landlord or another is more flexible.

Im afraid I do have somewhat different attitude - with over 15 years experience of working in this specific area - that being - dogs fitting in with family life. Of course I agree that the dog needs to be supervised around the kids, however it is possible and necessary to teach your dog that he is not to use any pressure towards any human. He just needs to understand that he is a four leg and the humans are two leg (even if that human is crawling). It is nigh impossible to assure you don't have any food lying around before letting the dog in the house. You have a few kids and there is always the chance of a biscuit that has rolled under the couch or they have some food in their pocket (for example). There is also the danger the dog may decide he wants to guard a toy or a part of the garden where he might have a bone buried or even his bed. Instead of separating I would aim to modify the dogs behaviour and attitude to food and toys etc. etc. with the kids around and incorporated into the sessions. The objective should be to foolproof your dog (as much as possible) to family life not create separation. It is near impossible to explain how to achieve this online so you do need to talk to some trainers/behaviourist - Unless you have someone you know well who might recommend someone, then I suggest you talk to a few and see who seems to make the most sense before committing to anyone.

Would never recommend a GSD to a first time dog owner. Energy is just too high and it takes a lot of work for a newbie to get things going well. Much better to start with a smaller breed. I started out in GSD's during the late 70's and bred and trained thru the 80's via the shep club and survey scheme - stopped breeding litters due to the fact it seemed difficult to find the right sort of homes for puppies. Nowdays I have Aussies and have found these are a breed that are so easy to work with and they fit in with so many different homes. Full of enthusiasm but with an off switch and both males and females are equally easy to train - they don't have the dominance issue some of the GSD's have and Aussies are a dog who seem to get on brilliant with kids and other dogs.

Dont know what your problem is.... victoria is a great place to live..... even with dogs.

Alpha bet - Australian Shepherds - 21st

Sometimes things happen beyond people control - There are often retirement homes that allow people to buy in with an existing dog but when the dog passes is not allowed to be replaced. This may be why they were confused. The vet costs were at their own discrection so doesnt really need to be taken into account. The inconvenience to you for readvertising etc is offset by the fact at least the pup (who is still a very marketable age) now has second vaccination. It is irksome that puppy buyers aren't always thorough about organising themselves - and I personally believe that if they stuff the breeders around I think it is better that they suffer some loss of financial for the inconvenience. After all, you have probably put off another buyer on their behalf and perhaps they will think twice before repeating the process. If we look at it from a business point of view you would pay a 10% deposit to hold an item - if you decided to pull out of the sale for your own reasons the business is within their rights to keep the deposit - If the business decides to pull out of the sale or the item is 'not to agreed standard' they must refund the deposit. With the sale of puppies often pure bred breeders are almost too lenient with the buyers. Some breeders here talk about taking a dog back (at any stage of their life) and refunding the purchase price. Re-homing older dogs can sometimes be a complicated and expensive process if we tried to enforce this system onto breeders then we could never really aim to even try to cover the litter costs. Also many breeders are not in the position to offer this. I am happy to take a dog I bred back at any age (just recently done with an 18month old boy) however I have kennel facilities so it is not going to cause problems in my own pack or family. However with an older dog I would not give a refund as I will be up for costs of looking after the dog and perhaps some medical - also this gives me the option of being able to place the older dog in a new home of my choosing where I retain 'ownership' (just in case something happens I get the dog back again). Therefore there is no resale value as I am aiming to find lifetime home so the dog doesnt have to risk ending up at a rescue centre.

I work with many supposed DA dogs - located in north of melbourne - feel free to contact me via my website if you wish : alfoxton.com.au

I have been running a survey for the last 6 months for my own use - surveying families about how they live with their dogs and what they want/need etc..... I have stood at some supermarkets and just stopped people randomly in the street and also been getting people from dog training classes to take surveys to work so that they are surveying general people rather than people already involved in the dog world. Currently have nearly 200 back and hoping to get 3 to 400 before I start to compile the info. I had been to see quite a few of the reseach results thru the DPI and spoken with some of the students conducting the surveys and was disappointed at the limited numbers. One of the studies was for 16 dogs another about 10 dogs and another is about to conduct a study using one dog. It made me feel that I cant take any of the results seriously.

I've been running training/social classes since 1995 - there were no other dog training facilities in the area nor did vets run any pup classes. Started out from a background of dog obedience and began with that but pretty soon realised that this wasn't going to work with the general dog owners. Like others here have mentioned, people didnt want to march round and round nor did they really put in the homework. It became easy for them to become disheatened and feel they couldnt cope. I had to learn - had to adapt and find better way to help and encourage. Today our Foundation classes are based on play skills, both on and off lead. The handlers and dogs are shown how to make friends and have fun as well as working on excercises such as basic obedience, agility games, trick training (again all on and off lead). Once the life foundation skills are built then we those who wish can develop more potential training. And yes we are still adapting and changing to meet needs of the individuals. The public first point of call for help with pups is via the vets. Now I know I am going to cop flack from DOL's here but remember you dont go to a GP for guidance with your childrens behaviour you seek out a specialist. Vets of course sell places in their puppy schools - not a bad marketing excercise for the clinics - Many of these are run by vets or vet nurses and unfortunately not always a huge amount of experience in combined( training dogs and teaching people) - Vet schools teach very few long term skills - many of these are also relatively expensive (often $100 for five weeks or so and classes of 8-10 often being held in a vet waiting room) and there is no follow on when the dog really starts to develop more problems. To continue with an obedience club might involve another $60-100 for membership as well as a weekly fee. The public can easily feel that they are just forking out more and more money for no real benefit. Recently I have been going out to watch instructors in clubs just to see what else is out there - often horrified at what I see - I know the instructors might mean well but they have often forgotton who they are dealing with. The people that are hardest to work with are the people who need the help most - but they don't need to learn obedience they need to learn how to handle their dog in different situations - on and off lead. I shall give some quotes of comments that instructors have said to some of the class attendees I have watched: "Don't waste my time - Ive got better things to do than be here with people who don't try" "Get that dog out of here!" "That (breed) are always a problem to train" "Careful with your dog - move to the end and stay away from the others" Clubs/Trainers have to start building and adapting their teaching skills. Not just in obedience but in what really is 'dog aggression' and what is really just 'social conflict'. Then learn how to deal with it and learn how to teach others about it. Most instructors want to run a mile as soon as a dog growls at another and if they do try to help, often just add fuel to the fire by adding more tension with tight leads. We should also be showing people how to work their dogs in tight situations to prevent aggressive responses in the first place. There are many people who will never try to improve their dogs, but, when someone does take the trouble of going to a club/trainer then they should be able to get the help they need. If they have a positive experience they will tell others and this will encourage more people seek out help.

Perhaps its time for Vic Dog to revamp their forms.... give us enough space to add the details properly.......

So the 'hypothetical' was not exactly hypothetical - does it seem that there are often people coming onto Dogzonline and asking these hypothetical questions - and often they seem to be members who have only joined recently.... mmmmmm perhaps I just have a suspicious mind but I really do think if there are people out there who have genuine questions or are after information for studies or whatever then perhaps it would be besty for all concerned to just say so.

Im somewhat confused about the whole microchipping system. Was under the impression we had to have them microchipped before pups went so with a couple of litters I had pups microchipped at 6 weeks and then sent in papers to Dogs Vic with chip numbers on - I got the papers back with microchip numbers but not back in time to go with some of the pups. Repeated the same with my last litter however papers came back without chip numbers ? I didnt realise the rules had changed and they now required the chip number to be authorised or something? Couldn't see why I bothered waiting till pups microchipped...... So what exactly is the order we are expected to do with the registration now...... or at least with the "new system".

The main thing I personally consider is not to have too many animals and that way if one of them needs special feed or vet care then there is a bigger chance we can afford to pay. When you have multiple animals insurance is often to expensive to justify - which ones do you insure and what amount of cover do you get? Much too expensive and how often do vets ask "do you have insurance" - and your vet bill goes up. Personally I put the insurance money aside in a seperate account for emergencies. It does amaze me the number of people I know with limited income yet they might have 5 dogs, 2 cats and a couple of horses - Then when the shit hits the fan - they can't afford to feed the horses correctly, or have their feet looked after, or pay the vet bills. Therefore it is an individual thing - families have to consider - what percentage of their own income can they afford.

Its everything to do with hormones and growth. Cut off the hormones and you change the growth pattern of bones with life long results for the dog's conformation. When talking about a x-bred pup I don't think you really need to be concerned about the dog's confirmation. Many many pups (large and small) are desexed by 6 months of age and have no problem with their development. The vet can often feel if there is a testicle sitting there waiting to come down and even at 5-6 months they can desex and remove both.

You are probably being a little hard on the breeder. It is not particularly common and although it is possible to have the organism in the kennels it is usually not a problem for dogs who are healthy. It will generally affect animals that are down in condition. Many breeders would not have experienced it nor would they necessarily know about it - after all there are so many things happening in the dog world and unless your breeder is also a vet..... Puppies under about 6 months are more prone as they haven't yet built up natural immunities. Also it is more likely to affect pups when they are under stress such as rehoming. Especially after something as stressful as a flight from SA to QLD. It is diagnosed by vets by viewing a fecal sample under a microscope. Im sure your breeder was putting a healthy happy little pup on the plane - unaware that there was a bug in her tummy that would cause her trouble.

Know lots of locals up my way who have dogs of this type. My best guess : They look like typical pig hunting breeding - usually mastiff X Dane (sometimes they breed them back to boxers to get a more compact dog or even to deerhounds to get more speed if they hunt deer) - often referred to as a bull/arab..

Great article - perhaps does leave us with concerns for where things will go in the future. Back in the 70's and 80's I was more involved in the working dog ring, it was common to see judges allocating BOB's to the dog who stood out from the others. Especially taking their time with the judging of the males - after all these were the ones who could potential hold a great deal of influence over the breed future. There were also larger classes than seen today and from more kennel prefixes - perhaps this is one reason there may have been more variety of type? Is this good or not? Today showing seems to be a different world to what I remember - For just one example - Recently I went to the Royal to watch the Aussie Shepherds (all up only 36 entries of which quite a few were not presented - not really a huge representation). There were only about 5 animals in both sexes of solid colour - others were all merle, so of course it was merles who took out the honours. Talking with some of the exhibitors this is a common sight at most shows. This alone would seem to be an issue of concern. You cannot breed merle to merle - then the breeders should be campaigning their solid coloured dogs and bitches, as these have a more open breeding choice. Obviously the exhibitors feel that the merle is more favoured in the ring - therefore these are the colour being shown. So proof that the exhibitors are following a trend first - I'm not saying these dogs were not quality but choosing to show by colour is a real danger. How can judges really learn to comprehend the rull range if really they are only seeing mainly the blues. The danger down the line is that there will be limited number of solid colours available for breeding.

It is not completely uncommon for a puppy to have a low grade heart murmur at six weeks of age. Then it is usual for the pup to be checked again at 8-9 weeks to see whether it is still there or whether it has righted itself. If cleared at 8 weeks or so it should never be an issue with your dog. It is really just a slight delay in the maturity of the pup. If the murmur is still present then it may mean a shorter than normal lifespan. I have had many clients board dogs with me who have dogs with heart murmurs and generally it doesnt change their life at all. Hope pup clears and you have a great dog.

We have a few pairs of clippers and it is a pain having to send them away for servicing. Just wondering if anyone knows where we can get instructions on how to service. Can't be that difficult just about the best way to oil etc. Perhaps there is a website someone can direct me to.

I think that might have been one of the kennels I visited when I was in Texas this year - They had the computor cam on and dogs in their rooms - no free access to outdoors but where taken out into a little grassed area a few times a day. The room itself had all the fluffy pillows, tv and pictures on the walls but immediately outside each individual pen was just a normal kennel environment. We were there on three seperate days and not once when i passed the bigger kennels did I see any of the dogs in the outside play areas even tho the weather was fine. Also the number of play areas didnt match for the number of dogs. They had five buildings each with 40 individual pens but only 5 tiny play area about the size of a big loungeroom and then two small paddocks about quarter acre each. Each paddock had a big sandpit and one paddock had a pool. We were told that they didnt put dogs out with other dogs. So I couldnt understand how 200 dogs could be given playtimes each day with only 7 allocated areas.

This is an interesting topic and something that has been mentioned to me from time to time. We have even considered allocating one of the kennel blocks as a retirement home for dogs in this type of position - younger dogs could perhaps be rehomed but those veterans might be a different story, however this poses a seperate lot of issues altogether. I've had two different training/boarding regulars who have approached me on different occassions about leaving their dogs for me to be guardian of. These are single people in their early 40's and have been realistic that it would not be suitable for their parents to be hassled with looking after or rehoming also they have busy work lives and dont have friends who might be interested in taking on some dogs. I suppose because their dogs have been either training or boarding with me over the years they trust me to be able to make decisions on the dog's best interest. So they have put me down as 'legal' guardians of their individual dogs. They have also allocated some money in their will to allow for immediate and future care and medical as well as having written letters that are kept with the solicitors to give me some guidance. I suppose this is quite a good idea especially for those without families who can step up - at least then everyone concerned knows what the person really wanted. Perhaps we have a solicitor on dogzonline who might be able to put a legal twist to this.

Don't know where in Melb you are situated however I have my own Training and Boarding Kennels just north of melbourne - near the Hume Highway. We are only a small kennel so we can offer a more personal service. Check out my website and if this looks suitable just ring. It is always difficult to rely on house sitters - often I have dogs coming in at the lat minute due to clients being let down by friends or neighbours because circumstances change. Best of luck www.alfoxton.com.au

We also run classes north of your area - particularly developing good social skills for families and their pets. Check my website if you wish.

It may take time for many of the boarding kennels to catch up with the new system. However if you check around many of the smaller kennels will be more sympathetic and understanding. If the AVA and the State Kennel Associations says the 3 year system is acceptable then boarding kennels should follow suit. However if you don't ask they will never alter their policies. Boarding kennels are probably the best choice when you go away unless you have a reliable friend (who knows your dog) and can stay at your home. If you trust your Kennel then you trust they will monitor your dog properly. Most petsitting services or friendly neighbour will visit once a day and feed your dog and check the water. However this does not allow for the many things that can happen for the rest of the day: Let me give some examples of things that have happened in real life to some of the clients I have. 1. thunderstorm frightens the dog and/or dog runs away. 2. dog bitten by a snake 3. tree falls on fence dog gets out 4. house broken into and dog hit by burglers Some things that have occurred in my kennel that I have had to deal with (note: all of these would have happened if the dog had stayed at home but perhaps not noticed in time to help) 1. dog came to kennel, still eating but wasn't pooing - we kept an eye on her and after a couple of days we took to the vet and she ended up on a drip and given treatment to dislodge a blockage in the bowel. 2. bitch staying with me for 4 weeks turned out to be pregnant (unknown to owners) and gave birth to 3 pups before the parents came home from holidays - Bitch needed assistance and first pup very large was delivered with my help but stillborn. 3. older dog appeared a bit sleepy, ended up she had had a stroke, so was moved into our home until she was stable. 4. diabetic dog needing daily injections owner had to go away and needed someone reliable. Developing a good relationship with your kennel is as important as having a good relationship with your vet.