Tapua

I think it feels right when it feels right - I cant bare not having a dog around so I would get another pup pretty quickly but if I have other house dogs then it depends on their temperaments how old they are and of course am I ready. I don't think any dog replaces another they are all individual so go with your heart. I am sure he right dog will cross your path just for you.

For all of those people who say my mum/sister/aunt/friend/whoever will look after my dog:

1. Never assume

2. Make sure you have discussed it with them

3. Put it in your will

4. Ensure funds are bequeathed to the people who are going to look after your animals.

Here here - we will re-write our will soon since we don't have kids we have very specific details about what to do about the dogs. Of course we aren't planning to die anytime soon but accidents happen and god forbid that it does we want to know the dogs are safe and in the right hands. All signed all legal all funds allocated.

Showing Labs on the 11th - I love it but its such a long day and I tend to go nuts I have 4 entered so it will be a 3 ringed circus to get there and get home - see you there Katdogs

There's a bed here if you need it - what's FOUR more Labs!

Thanks for the offer Katdoga but I am sorted for this year but I think my four and your 3 would be way way to much there was enough furniture surfing last time we turned up :)

Showing Labs on the 11th - I love it but its such a long day and I tend to go nuts I have 4 entered so it will be a 3 ringed circus to get there and get home - see you there Katdogs

Hi Eddie I think you sound a reasonable guy, you sound like the normal average pet owner, the dogs are outside during the day or when at work and generally with you when at home. Nothing unusual in my books. There are pros & con on Puppy as in 8 week old vs young dog 6-12 months Vs Adult > 2 years. One of the advantages of DOL is there are mature dogs for sale that need to be re-homed for many reasons they will have been handled, shown and generally all the boxes are ticked for the health, many will be used to being outside for periods of time. I have 8 Labs - they are rotated through the house and each gets to spend time inside - but they all cope with being in the kennels and they all are obedient and co-operative dogs. Its all in how you manage their needs. Contrary to popular opinion I find older dogs adjust well , to change of owner and home life, unless they are by nature neurotic or poorly socialised. As much as I adore baby dogs they have the concentration of a gnat and it requires a lot of constancy, patience and skill to create an obedience and reliable adult. If you are looking at intelligent dogs have a look at the Gundog Group & the Working Dog group. I am biased towards the wash and wear breeds because I am too lazy to groom a lot. Before you buy any dog visit the breeders and their kennels and spend some time just sitting with their dogs and getting a feel for the breed. Consider 2 dogs together rather than 1 because dogs are social critters and pine to some degree when left alone. GSD's malt 24/7 though if you get a GSD look for a short coated GSD rather than a medium or long coat - if hair loss is an issue. They all malt a lot though. Good luck with your hunt for the right dog for your family :)

Its a funny thing about human nature its sometime hard to like a dog when you don't like its owner. But you need to make a distinction between your friendship and buying a dog. I would make very clear to your friend that you value the friendship over a dog however personal preference is for a differnt style. If your friend cannot respect your decission so be it,that would be your friends problem. I would only buy a dog from a breeder with a dog who's type I like regardless of friendship.

Let the Lab on the bed for a cuddle she positioned herself upside down and looking lovingly into my eyes proceeded to stretch and roll off the side of the bed with a resounding thud.! I laugh of course and she proceeded to do the same 3 times.... and people wonder why we call her Daffy Dog!

That's so good - mine would have it off and eaten in a second lol

I did see a woman the other day with an "emotional support" dog, I wonder what kind of assistance these dogs provide? Or is it more of a comfort thing? Not being sarcastic, I'm genuinely interested.

I breed Labs and have specifically targeted the service dog needs in my breeding programme. I supply primarily organisations which provide dogs for people with various disabilities, blind, epilepsy, diabetes, autism, learning problems etc. I personally consider all dogs provide 'emotional support'

This is a dog lovers website, seriously can any of us imagine our lives without a dog? Hopefully people mature their attachment to their dogs and progress from 'the dog is here to meet my needs first' to " I'm here to meet the dog's need - then I find my needs are met' But that takes time.

As a breeder and trainer I so know the need for mentally stable puppies so it can be moulded and trained into a successful service dog. Hence we have a very involved in puppy raising programme starting with ENS and sound desensitisation and enriched environment, I am very proud of our dogs. But I find that increasingly people in the general public are legitimately looking for a dog to fulfil an emotional need. Probably a reflection of our disconnected society. I see nothing wrong with it as long as they don't try and manipulate community opinion - there will always be people who will manipulate the rules sadly. I find it totally disgusting to solicit money for themselves using their dog as a ploy - that's pure fraud.

I wonder when the veterinary clinics will be regulated - both in price fixing and service quality. I don't trust the newbies vets purely because they get too ambitions and look for treatments that aren't there also they have difficulty accepting my experience and insight into my dog. I have been with he same vet 15 years - I would be mortified if they sold to a franchise

Try the Kuranda Bed it offer spinal support and has a fleecey cover for softness.

http://www.kennelsolutions.com.au/kuranda_dog_beds.html

Thanks Guys I appreciate all your advice - it gives me insight into the conditioning needed for a good gun-dog. I guess I need to put my hand up and say ball work is essential in what I do, I breed and condition Labs for the ADF and a strong and frenetic retrieve is highly desirable. I think I will mould the boy towards obedience - he has a hard mouth now and I think I have buggered him for anything beyond novice RATG though I might have a go. He is steady on a stay as long as I don't have anything in my hand :). Always good to check what is the best direction to take. Since the boy is staying for stud purposes I need to re-direct his drive, I know what I am doing with conventional obedience where as I am not experienced with Retrieval. He is a fun dog to work :) Thanks again.

I am going to have to work out what how to use a video thingy to show you what I am about to rabbit on about. But this is the story. I have a 6 month old black Lab called Kupa - he is staying - he will be the furture stud for our kennel so I am putting in time getting him used to a bit of this and a bit of that. There are no problems as such I need however to work out a game plan for training and my priorities.

So I showed him in 6 shows as a baby puppy with an attutude on my part of lets just use this as socialising, so he went well and won 5 baby in groups and 1 baby in show - so goodo he is not an ugly dog so I will enter Sydney Royal among other shows and get his title next year ... eventually. So I tick the pretty dog box with him.

Then concurrently he has been trained to retrieve a ball and to retrieve under gunfire / starter pistol he is keen entusiastic and very fast and very reliable : tick that box - and I am just a bit excited.

Then on Tuesday this week I try to mold the retrieval so he only retrieves to the front in the sit position. So he learnt to hold and return with the item in his gob waiting for me to take it. Tick that box.

Now this is my issue - I think I have a really talented dog .... Not Me the dog is talented and I dont want to stuff it up so where to from here. Do I focus on obedience - which I am experience in and go through the CCD/CD/CDX etc process or focus on RATG - which I know didly about. I think I have pleanty of time to do both but given he is a baby what things do I need to cement young to tranfer to RATG and onward. At this point in time if I offered him a dead bird he would unhesitatingly eat it - so Im not goiing there. Its very exciting having a talented dog - or I think he is anyway. What would you guys do in my poition. I also have 2 - 4 month old bitches that are potentially just as good!!!

I have seen more pups display a cluster of anxiety or avoidance behaviours due to environmental circumstances rather than being neurologically hard wired this way. If I suspect a pup is hard wired to behave in away that will compromise the dog's quality of life I will defintely cull them.

However selecting certain desirable behaviours is as deliberate as selecting for conformation. However I still think many breeders do not have the skill to recognise appropriate an desiable behavioural traits and will not cull or remove from their beeding progam the ones that are poorest. I actively prioritise retrieval ability in my breeding program and it have taken 6 years before I found and bought a stud puppy I consider is conformationlly suitable and displays the retrieval skills I maintain in my bitches.

This is Kupa - 10 weeks old doing a full retrieval under gunfire.

Here's another one I just saw today - thought this was a good addition to the concept of 'supervising' .

Why supervising doesn't always work

The Delta DogSafe program which operates in schools in some states, spends quite a bit of time on trying to alert children to how dogs might be feeling, and what they should do - as far as you can in 45 minutes.

So does the NSW Govt School Pet Education Program Tassie, however they take live dogs ( fully temperament assessed) into the classroom, the children get to practice the safe way to meet and greet with a live dog at the end of the persentation. In Victoria they have been teaching in Pre-Schools for a number of years and that is where they can access the parents. The presentation teachs the children to recognise the different enotions that dogs have in an age appropriate way. What to do if an angry dog approaches and how to recognise an angry, happy and scared dog. It gives the kids a toolbox of skills to recognise and respond safely to a dogs behaviour. The presentation is presented on a smart board or a flip chart if one isnt working and is presented in a way appropriate to the childrens ages from Kinder to Year 2 in NSW & SA and up to Year 6 in Victoria where it was devloped some 10 years ago.

The 'Pet Town' website in NSW is a small part of the support back-up for the teachers they have story book and music and a whole heap of other resourses so they can reinforce the messages throughout the year. Pet Town can be downloaded on the kids IPad thingys as an APP which is pretty cool. And of course available to their family to continue to reinforce the safety messages. The Pet Town Website with its interactive features allows the teachers and hopefully some parents to reinforce the safety behaviours.

But hey atleast something is going into the community as education and isnt that the most important thing :) It is great to have something positive and constructive in the community rather than the usual reactive 'kill the dog' 'blame the child or the parents' which is what the papers rabbit on about. I just wish the media would pick up that there is po-active eduction happening now and help to promote it more to te adults in the community so they can communicate the safety messages to they kids in the home and recognise the behaviours themselves.

Have a look at this program it has been in the NSW schools for over 2 years and well worth looking at it's filld with sensible ideas and great safety tips for kids around dogs.

http://www.pets.nsw.gov.au/

My Labs will play with any bedding so straw is the answer especially in winter. I have wheaten straw in thier plastic kennels which are within the big concrete kennels. Water buckets are outsie of the actual kennel which means the kennels dogs rarely emiminate in their pens either. I do not keep water in the house water is outsie that will allow the dogs to indicate they need to go outside but generally they go in and out he back door which is propped open (no snake problem here) Dogs do need access to water - so having it outside the house allows the dog to respond to his thirst and most often than not elliminate while outside. It makes house training very very easy.

I would develop a relationship with the breeder research your lines - dont be bluffed by the show ribbons they mean next to nothing compared withthe healthy issues - look at type, temperament and health issues. I bred bench Kelpies fom 1991 - 2007 dont underestimate the health issus behind the breed - dont be bluffed about the "Kelpies are healthy' crap - not true ask about hips/elbows, CA, Epilepsy and Temperament issues, if working ability is important to you select for that too - sight proof on ability and health tests if any dont take their word for it.

Check where the import is coming from - it will probably be NZ. Check the linesbehind the bitch you are getting for 7 generations you will find bench Kelpies are HIGHY line bred. An ethical breeder will hve nothing to hide - if you breed any animal regularly you will get abnormalities & death. That they occur is not an issue its what the breeder does or doesnt do in response to deaths, health issues or other abnormalities that matters. .

The Kelpie Show is on in September Father's day weekend. Find out where it is on and see a number of Kelpies in one place though te Sydney Easter Kelpie Show is bigger. If you like you breeders type ask youself why - compare in your mind the pros & cons. EVERY DOG HAS FAULTS the perfect dog does not exist. PM if you have any questions

Thanks fo the great promotin Alyson :) Happy to say we have found someone so problem solved :)

I would love to do it but timing is all wrong - the last week of August would have been perfect!

It is a work trip Katrina so I am stuck for the dates

Hi Everyone

I am looking for responsible dog savvy individual or a couple who could house sit from the 20-25 October. I and my husband have a work trip we have to take that week and our wonderful house minder Alyson isnt available. We will have 11 Labraors and some are in training for the ADF some are breeding dogs, one is a future stud ( he is all of 10 weeks now) and our ring - in Border Collie X Croftie who is adorable ... of course. We will provide all food and free accommodation and some money for the week. We live in a quiet little village near Cowra in the Central West of NSW. Please PM with references or recommendations ASAP.

Mad my Maori husband will go nuts over these :)

Used to think they were a good idea now I dont. If I like a pup I will keep it. Legally the 'contract' holds no weight over future decissions of the owner. Dogs owned in 'partnership' more often than not end in dramas and resentments and broken friendships. If I buy a pup then these should be NO STRINGS ATTACHED IMO, if I sell a pup then there are NO STRINGS ATTACHED This is just my opinion.... based on way too much experience.

Ah I didnt pick up about your mum's lung problens - the dander or undercoat of a Lab for some people can be very irritating for people with sensitive lungs - it takes a few days to develope the reaction so you might want to consider having mum alergy tested so you can find out what she is allergic/sensitive to this might influence you decission too. Just a thought.

Well Katrina you do realise the worlds greatest and most gifted were lefties, and it just proves he is not just an 'ordinary dog' lol See you in less that 3 weeks now :)