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alpha bet

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Everything posted by alpha bet

  1. Personally I believe that the Limited Register has for many breeders become a way to try to control the breed. they like the idea of passing judgement of who they think is 'worthy' of having the potential to breed pedigree dogs in the future. If we aren't careful we may find that we miss out on people coming into the breeding of pure bred in future generations. Even now when I have gone to see the shows there is possibly a third the number of dogs/people being shown than there was in the 70/80's. The limited register was meant to be a tool for breeders to have an alternative registration for dogs they felt might not make to standard or have severe faults. Instead it is being used as a tool to restrict new enthusiasts. I hate that breeders use the excuse that they are trying to keep the dogs out of the hands of BYB or puppy farmers. In reality it is not - if the dog is sold with Limited Registration and not yet desexed then it will still be available to the BYB and Farmers. I want to see the breeds open up to new people - let them purchase a quality puppy with full papers - perhaps they will decide to show/compete or become involved in other programs and then in future we wont loose some of these beautiful dogs/pets to the gene pool.
  2. Firstly Jane..... To be a breeder you don't necessarily have to show. Perhaps you initially bought a purebred bitch as a pet - you research the breed and discover that your girl might be a pretty good specimen and then go thru and find out what health problems might need to be considered (i.e. HD Scheme etc). You might have taken your bitch to a club and found that she has a great outgoing temperament and is fun to work with - she is probably a good candidate for a litter. You learn/read as much as you can about the breeding and whelping of dogs - go round and visit some of the stud dogs of the breed, check that they also have a great temperament and all the health benefits. Perhaps you even consider which dog might compliment your bitches conformation - Once you have registered with your state body and have your prefix you organise the health checks and have the bitch mated. wait 58-63 days and then pups are on the ground..... You are now a registered breeder As far as becoming a respected breeder - that may come in time. However for who's respect you seek that will be your own decision. Just be true to yourself it would be impossible to expect more. Just go to any show and listen to the way breeders talk about each others stock....
  3. Mumof3 - I can see how you can find the confusion with the use of food in training. And it is common to see some of the training techniques that can become sooooo reliant on the food. I can only give my perspective to add to your thoughts - albiet only a brief idea i suppose. I use food/clickers/toys or whatever depending on the dog - Also, as I work mainly with families wanting to develop pets with good manners I have to adapt to suit the dog and the person. Some people find clickers confusing and toys complicated to work whilst handling the lead as well, however generally we find that most people can work out how to use the food with some success. The major thing that I work on is to seperate the working sessions into two main areas. BLOCKING As far as general manners and compliance of the dog to the human interaction we show the families ways to BLOCK behaviours they do not want - we try to focus the handlers on the idea of making up their mind what is acceptable behaviour and to let that behaviour happen without interference - but the minute anything happens the family do not want then they should BLOCK. A block is achieved in a similar manner to what you said with regard to the training system you have used in the past. Important note : Although I never refer to a BLOCK as Punishment (dictionary meaning : severe handling or treatment) but instead as Discipline (dictionary meaning: the training according to the rules). this helps to clarify the idea of the Block for most handlers. TEACHING This is a totally different state of mind for both the dog and the handler - when we are Teaching we must provide whatever motivation works for the dog. Therefore I like to think of the food/clicker/play/toys as TEACHING AIDES. If you are teaching you must assume they do not know what is expected and therefore you avoid any form of Block and just try to reward what you seek. Even if it only an attempt - once the dog and handler have mild success then it will generally encourage the team to work towards bigger achievements. The biggest mistakes I see with handlers is that they don't seperate - they will try to use food to distract dogs from bad behaviours. Whereas I prefer to block the behaviour and show the dog this is not acceptable - then wait for him to withdraw the behaviour. This is a more honest way to deal with issues that a dog may have. Some dogs may never withdraw bad behaviour - this is now a management problem and falls into a different type of work than the above. Hope I have made my points in a way that you can understand. Generally I would spend nearly an hour discussing this with a client - not just place in a few paragraphs. Good luck and keep assessing....
  4. There is a show called "dogs with jobs" - on paye tv but you should be able to find it. They have dogs who have amazing work - one can sniff out dead bodies in lakes - this saves the divers from getting caught up in lakes and rivers because the dog identifies the location for the diver. Another who can find bones of people buried going back as far as the American slave traders. used to identify where slaves were buried outside of the cemetaries because back then they didnt believe slaves were people!!!! My favorite was a women with epilepsy had a dog who would push her when she was about to fit and the woman could sit down safely and dog would wait and even lay on her to prevent her rolling into danger...... I have always been fascinated by assistance dogs and have now been presented with an opportunity (alas tho because of misfortune)- a friend has a cousin who has just had a severe accident, the young girl saw a pup from my litter and now wants a pup from the next litter and we will work on training the dog as an assistant dog. Currently we are working with a few of the dogs to teach them to open doors and retrieve objects. That way we can develop some techniques to start her pup off early and help her and her mum train her own dog. Otherwise it could be up to 5 years to wait for a trained service dog - whereas she now has a new pup to look forward too when she gets out of the rehab centre.
  5. you might find it best to stick to a social working group for a time - any other form of dog activity might be a problem as far as insurance or getting some council park to operate from. One of the biggest problems is how do you exclude people who's dogs dont have good social manners. The best way would be to ask the current club to consider offering just a social group where they might offer some games for the general public. That way you come under their banner and the advantage they have is that they increase their membership and perhaps some might become interested in obedience or showing. I run social classes - where we teach people and dogs to develop good social manners and we incorporate lots of fun games. People need to be involved in the social play not just letting dogs off to run and play while owners stand around and chat to each other or get on their mobile phones. Some suggestions Low sets of jumps and witches hats to create little obstacle courses help dogs build focus with their handlers during the games. We like to run little relay races to build the teamwork between the dog and handler. Trick Training - get each person to show a trick that they have - note a trick could be just to drop or perhaps they lift a paw - it doesnt matter how simple - then everyone else can try the same thing. Then the next person does their trick. You will find people will then work at home to try and develop something to show and tell in the next class. This can develop into quite a complicated game and then add a trick challenge which is everyone stands in a line. One person then calls out a trick - everyone has a go and those that can complete the trick to their own level then step forward about one metre. The idea to see how far they can travel with perhaps a dozen tricks. Make sure that you start with basic tricks and then get more complicated as the game goes but also throw in some easier things thru the game so people have some success. For example : SIT DROP CRAWL BOW SPIN CLOCKWISE SHAKE HANDS STAND SPIN ANTI CLOCKWISE DEAD DOG - LIE ON YOUR SIDE SIT STAY SPEAK FOOD REFUSAL GOOD LUCK
  6. Dogs can easily learn to wait for for their food until you give a command. However it is unlikely that the dog would not wait if there is no one around - nor would you want this with a family pet. Otherwise how could you go away and leave the dog at a kennel or with friends. Teach him to wait is great and good manners for your dog - dont expect any further unless your prepared for the consequences of having a dog who is reliant on you 100% of the time.
  7. One really good thing to do with little dudes like this - especially if they seem very unsettled. Pick them up one at a time and hold them against your skin at the base of your neck and remain very calm and just talk to the pup. Usually after a few minutes you will find the pup starts to settle and relax into your neck. The warmth of your skin will comfort the pup and the vibration of your talking will feel reassuring to the pup. We do this will all the pups from the time they are born. Usually they snuggle in and fall into a deep sleep. It bonds them to the human smell and the older they get the more people orientated they are.
  8. In Victoria you are not meant to mate a bitch until 18 months old. And I thought that mating for a stud dog was over 12 months. Especially with breeds that have to go thru hip/elbow xray....
  9. Puppies can start to learn from humans when their eyes and ears are open..... That is why it is so important that the breeders should have the puppies close and make sure they spend the time with them individually to have them prepared to go to their new homes at 8 weeks. The nature of puppy farms means that they will never have the time to do this early training. Unfortunately many breeders are also limited - either thru space, time or experience. If we do wish to "Breed Better Dogs" for the future we need to develop.
  10. mmmmmmm getting a little fanatic here.... me thinks Tarope does protest too much..... I always remember the saying "scratch a fanatic you find a wound" perhaps Tarope has had a bad experience that has created these responses.....
  11. This is an interesting question and has been discussed in various forms thru various threads. Here is some thoughts to add. Availability Pet shops and Internet Puppy Farms have it easy - Perhaps we can push to stop the pet shops but the internet is a runaway freight train. For most of the public the availability of pups from a registered breeder is difficult - many breeders restrict sale of pups and especially of breeding stock thus making it difficult for the world of show dogs to open up to new people. Breeders here have hammered my comments on this in previous threads as they vow never to allow their breed to be tarnished by the pet market. But how do they know that will happen? Public Education But is supplying quality dogs to new people who may wish to breed really a problem. Surely this could help to open up the education of the public. Each potential pet owner is out there in the public more than the average showing enthusiast. They take their one or two dogs to the parks, visit friends, sit in cafes. This allows the public access to see their dogs in an environment that shows the potential of our breeds as great family dogs. If all the public see on a day to day basis are the cross bred then how do they ever learn the difference. As breeders we should be educating our pet owners to promote our breeds - and if the pet owner wishes to take the next step and breed then we should be there with advice and assistance not with contracts that give breeders the controls over the dog. Breed Good Stock Many breeders do a good job but, lets be honest, there are also many registered breeders who don't. Many breeders say they are raising dogs in a family environment - where in truth the dogs may be raised in a whelping room and have limited experience. If a breeder has even 3-4 litters a year it can be very difficult to raise them in the home - you would be spending all year stepping over babies and picking up poop. If the breeder has employment and perhaps spends many weekends at dog shows - then how much time do they really get to spend raising the pups. Bring in new people who might run one or two bitches. These can still be quality dogs and contribute to the gene pool perhaps they will only have a few litters in their life but they will have all the advantages of a family pet and can promote the great temperament to many more people. Changes in the Breeds Speaking on the GSD this was a breed that was originally breed to herd sheep - but the original breeders recognised the possible decline of the pastoral life so allowed the breed to adapt to suit the future. Hence the guarding was developed. In the 80's we had many breeders of GSD who trained at the club and perhaps only had a few dogs who often lived most of the time with the family. These dogs were shown and breed and we could see how well they adapted to life - nowdays it is common to have the breeders operating out of kennel environments - Often these breeders dont really see how the pups with such high work drive are living in the homes they go to. Heaven forbid! perhaps we do need to consider a change of direction for some. Some Breeds are not for Family If a breed does not have the right size, health or temperament for familys then they should not be promoted as such. Perhaps your breed is very subject to bloat - or has a shorter life span - or might require specialist care for high risk of eye problems - perhaps they are not robust enough for active family and subject to ligament damage. These can all make life in a family home a problem. If they are a dog who suits family life then breeders should accept the responsibility to breed with the dog who has the type and has the right temperament to produce pups to be proud of. If you breed for one purpose the breed will lose out. It is easy to be blinded to the love of our individual breeds - but be honest to. The public need to get access to our dogs but for the right reason.
  12. I had a GSD who had telescope bowel as a pup and from then on was a dog who I had to take care with his diet. I know it sounds harsh but we couldnt give him bones - his system could not cope and if he did get hold of a bone he would chew away but usually the next day i would see he was starting to have trouble pooing. I used to feed him vegetable stews as this was full of fibre and would process easily, Also good for him to have hard dog bikkies (usually Farrells 4x2) as this would help his teeth. Other things to try is - teaspoon of olive oil - good for boosting his immune system - pysllium husks sprinkled on his food a few times a week - good for normallising his bowel - grated fresh ginger helps settle stomach and reduce vomiting.
  13. As others have already said - pysllium is fantastic - getting natural husks from the heath store/department etc is the best way to get. It acts as a bowel normaliser - helps to prevent the runs and blockages. Works by improving the natural gut action. Another thing to give when any animal is having lots of drugs - is a teaspoon of pure oil per day - usually something like olive oil - sunflower oil. Not one that just says vegitable oil as this tends to be made from leftovers. Oils will help to boost your dogs immune system which is degraded from the use of the drugs. To help settle her stomach you can add some finely grated fresh ginger into her food...... Best wishes.
  14. You said you have tried to socialise your dog - with no success. The fact that a little dog who you met by chance was able to make friends should give you hope that perhaps you could find a solution to your dog aggressive dog. Many dog aggressive dogs (especially little dogs) are actually lacking self confidence. Good steady dogs help to build the confidence of the nervous dog. Perhaps you could try again - see if you could find a professional who might specialize in developing good social skills in dogs. Might really be great fun for you and your dog if you could go out and mix with others. Best of luck.
  15. Wow ! working such long hours - how do you find time to look after four dogs - let alone find time to spend on working with a 5 month old dane.
  16. It isnt too early to put your name down with your Breeders of Choice. It is the chance to keep in touch with them and keep an eye on their pups. Just make sure you let them know how you are placed anytime they have a litter due.
  17. Spoke with a couple of friends (who have kids with autism) once I got back from the conference and mentioned about Temple. Both were going out to read some of her books perhaps to get an insight into the minds of their own kids. What surprised me was how both of them had taken their kids to various doctors when they were young and eventually sent to 'specialists' who then diagnosed autism - asburgers?. Once they were diagnosed that was basically the end of any medical interest, apart from being referred to a paediatrician regarding their physical development. Both sets of parents were left to sort things out for themselves - no support groups - no special schooling advice or anything. Both these sets of parents (are unknown to each other) and yet they both seem to have been to their own devises. One has a child who is about 11 and she has been warned that as her boy hits pubity watch out. The other child again a boy about 15 is driving his parents to their wits end. The boy is getting violent and the parents are getting scared. I guess I was of the 'ignorant' understanding that once a condition was diagnosed then some support was on offer and special schooling might be offered. But these autistic kids end up in classes usually without teacher aids or without teachers getting any special training. Pretty scary thought to think there are plenty of kids like this out there without any support or understanding - how are they going to be when they grow up. I met some families in Texas that had sold up and moved to have their kids near the program that Temple helps to oversee - They treated Temple as almost a form of religion and some of the kids just sat transfixed by her. Have to say I found her facinating to listen to and a very unusual women to meet - she was able to recognise my accent and placed me as from Melbourne - pretty good party trick aye....
  18. Good point Erny - If we are not careful we could find ourselves banned from using anything other than our thoughts....... I went to a conference overseas last month and spoke with people who have been forced out of associations because they advised someone to use a check collar..... Pretty scary thought... Personally I was always concered about the use of electronic collar - however I watched a display on the use of the e-collar and found it very different to previous displays I have seen in australia. For a start the collar had a setting from 1 to 128 - he worked the dog on a setting of 6 - i tried the collar on and couldn't even feel it till a slight vibration about setting 21. Not sure that I would actually use an e-collar but I could see the benefit. Perhaps we are too rash to ban it just because we have some idiots. Guess its a matter of being prepared to stop and look and always being able to review.
  19. Bonnie, how would I do that..... I guess Im being lazy just going to new posts - after all it does show all the stuff that has been on since my list visit - if I could block the off topic that would help. Oh and thanks for all the other 'comments'
  20. You havent mentioned wether she is still pooing and weeing...... Also do you notice if she is drinking more, less or same amount of water. I have had a young dog who at times would go off his food and then i would notice he was having trouble pooing.... yet whenever I got up to go out he would jump out and run along with me. Turned out he was prone to have bowel blockage. After that i tried to keep him away from bones, dead birds, mice etc. The poo is always a big first indicator to the health of your dog. Perhaps even a sample to the vet might help them diagnose. You know the old saying..... if you don't shit you die...... best of luck to your girl.
  21. Would you really want to put an 11yo dog thru a serious operation..... if she seems happy enough and the vet doesnt seem over concerned then perhaps it is best left alone. If you really are concerned go to a different vet and get a second opinion.
  22. Am I completely alone in thinking that there is too much off topic junk coming on here. Isn't this meant to be a dog discussion forum - not about problem teenage kids, or what colour I should paint the friggin bathroom and sorry but i dont want to hear about your engagement or pending two legged birth, nor the fact that your car is written off. People can't seriously think they are going to get good advise on a personal relationship that might or might not be going sour. Everytime I come on to see whats new I have to wade thru all this personal stuff....... Talk to your real friends -face to face - about these things and in the words of Paul Hogan, you can go to a shrink if you dont have any mates. A dog forum should be about dogs. Can't we make this site more constructive to allow exchange of ideas that might help for the future of breeding and showing...... I know Im going to cop a lot of negative responses putting this up, but could the genuine dog enthusiast please support me here.....!!!!!!! p.s. please note I have added this to a General Dog Discussion not an Off Topic Discussion because I really want to talk about dogs........
  23. Just got back from my first USA trip - attended a Dog Training Conference..... some great stuff.... One of the best speakers was this amazing woman called Temple Grandin.... She is actually an autistic woman who has achieved remarkable things - works with animals as well as helping kids in autistic programs. She has an incredible scientific knowledge from many fields and explained that she doesnt work on giving her opinions but when she is presented with a problem (either about animals, children or engineering) she mentally is able to gather information from different studies and then draw conclusions. She drew very thought provoking conclusions about how humans are being more and more detached from animals and nature in general - hence a danger in future is that our future legislators who have no understanding of animals are the ones who will be making the decisions about rules and regulations regarding dogs / dairy / piggeries etc........ Now isnt that a scary thought....? She completely inspired me to get off my backside and try to get more young adults and kids involved with training and understanding dogs. She also related training of dogs to a very similar fashion to how many autistic kids learn..... As I said an amazing woman - and her autism actually allows her to operate without any hidden agenda. She says exactly what she thinks and doesnt care if you like or agree with her - she is there purely to share knowledge. If you every have the chance to attend a talk from her - then sell your soul for a ticket... We need more like her out there who can speak for us who dont have the ability.... Perhaps others out in DOL know of other people who have some amazing talent like this.... in which case share your experience with others.
  24. Many clubs can set a standard that their instructors have to work to. Perhaps the instructor you observed was not very experienced and was making mistakes (such as rewarding incorrect recalls). I have watched classes where the criteria is Positive Reinforcement ONLY and at times it can appear to be out of control, but this can happen in the 'obedience regimented class' as well. Sometimes the concept of Positive Reinforcement Only is managed incorrectly - the APDT in America has actually issued a warning to their members they are not to use check chains. Perhaps this is a case of being taken to the extreme. Personally I try to teach my families that when they are trying to manage their dogs behaviour on a day to day basis there are techniques they can use that will BLOCK behaviour they do not want - yes this will involve some form of negative response - enough to block the behaviour and then back to neutral. However when they are TEACHING their dog a new excercise they should avoid any negatives but instead to try and watch and wait for the response they aim for and then reward thst behaviour. After all as Trainers we are there to TEACH the handlers. It is important to give families tools to cover as many real life situations as possible.
  25. Obviously a very emotive issue here - One I feel that requires us all to stop and consider what can really be achieved. For what its worth I would like to offer some food for thought. 1. People will always be looking for puppies - the question is how do we influence them as to where to go to find one? a) If (and its a big IF) we could stop pet shops then we start to stop the impulse or sympathy purchase we also restrict a retail outlet for the BYB and puppy farms. b) If we can influence government to implement a ruling that dogs are not to be classed as livestock for the purpose of breeding, then we can hamper the commercial puppy mill because they dont meet the companion needs. c) Also if the government was able to be made to recognise dog breeding under perhaps something like "Companion Animal Act" then conditions etc could be required. Perhaps if more than one unsterilised bitch in a residence requires you to have a permit with council as a 'Breeder" (even if you dont have a litter). This would restrict our BYB to perhaps one litter a year whereas members of the Breed Associations who have a breed prefix have already met the criteria for a Council Breeder Certificate. 2. How Do We Meet The Need of Families for Puppies - If we wish to remove the need for puppy farms we need to increase the access to the public. a) If Breeders keep restricting the availability of breeding stock i.e. selling Limited Register Pups to anyone they don't know means that we are restricting potential new people into the showing and breeding for the future. We have all started out somewhere by getting a purebred dog and then exploring different fields of the Dog World. b) Limited Register was initially brought out to provide breeders the opportunity to sell pups they felt were not to standard as pets but if pups were of quality then they have the Main Register - nowdays many breeders seem to sell Limited to most people regardless of what the quality of the pup. This is restricting bloodlines - breeders may run on their own stock to breed with but seem afraid that others might 'ruin their breed' - instead they are keeping the breeding stock within their own 'little circle'. c) The Seminar at Monash that Steve mentioned - Restricting our breeding stock was a major point brought forward by the research. After my trip last month to a Conference in the USA this was again a point that was brought up very strongly. 3. The Future for Breeders - how do we as the current breeders work to ensure the future of our individual breeds? a) When I was a 19 yo I purchased my first pure bred dog - older members of the club spent time with me to nurture my love of the dogs and encourage and educate me. My first breeding bitch was given to me on Breeders terms (breeder got one litter only) one of these Mentors had me involved through the whole process. Different people in the breed gave me easy access to their kennels and paperwork so that I could see the surveys of different stock that their stud dogs had produced. We also had stud dogs easily available to view not just their showing but their working ability and their everyday behaviour. Who is honestly mentoring new people these days? b) You have to be prepared to take a risk and sell on pups with Main Register - nurture the people to consider showing or some of the dog sports - perhaps it will be them or perhaps it will be their children who become the future of dogs. c) Some breeders are offering breeding stock to people however adding ridiculous conditions - e.g. pay $1000 to $1500 for the dog but breeder retains the bitch in their name and has control over who you breed to etc. mind you the pet owner is responsible for all the cost of keeping the dog and has to get the breeders permission for any changes. How many potential future show/breed people would be put off by this form of Contract? d) Again another thing that came out of the Monash Seminar - the temperament of the parents is important. Be honest about your bitches - are they good enough in temperament to breed ( I dont give a flying fig if they are the best in show if the temperament is dicey ). If your bitch has a good temperament then do her the justice of finding the dog with an equally good temperament. Who of you genuinely spends any time to see what the temperament of the dog is. Dont take the word of the owner - view him yourself - how do we know what the Imported Sperm is from a dog who is good enough. There are plenty of people bringing good dogs here from OS - support these breeders and view those dogs and local bred first before opting for imported sperm. 4. Perhaps we need a Code of Practice for raising puppies even for members of Breed Association. Look up some of the pure dog breeders and they might have 2, 3 or even 4 litters over a couple of months. In all honesty how can breeders really say they are meeting the social needs of this many pups as well as their adult dogs. They might have 20 pups in some months - after feeding and cleaning not just the pups but the dozen or so adult dogs they are running at home - how much time do they really have to spend on these pups or on finding the right homes for them - Let alone the fact that many are working full time jobs and often away showing on weekends. Are these breeders any better than the puppy farmers or the BYB....? I could go on and on - these are just a few thought - but you probably wouldnt be bothered reading....... Just remember the FUTURE OF BREEDING is what we need to consider. Not our own egos.
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