Tapua

Hi Big D - I appreciate what you are saying and I do think some breeders are their own worst enemy. I have also found some to be dissmissive and arrogant at times. I dont know what the answer is. There are people who see themselves as show people who like to handle a quality dog in the ring, they enjoy showing and that is their hobby and in some cases their passion. They are not necessarily breeders or even want to be breeders. There are those who like breeding and appreciate a well bred dog and might show and handle themselves or use a handler. I have long listened to the rants of people claimimg we are 'puppy farmers' 'doing it for money' 'neglecting the health ' or whatever they comeup with. Many breeders are on a backfoot to breed in th first place, defensive and not wanting to be seen to be making money or being a puppy farmer in someones eyes. Councils in some states restrict the numbers of dog a person can own to breed, WA is one of them and then there is the issue of expense regading the property and laws about housing and keeping of dogs. Pure-breed dog breeding has been put under the microscope over the last few years reagarding health, housing, council registration and licencing. I have no particualr opinion on weather it should or shouldnt be happening - its just a fact that it is. We bought 1/2 acre 6 years ago, just a house and an old set of kennels, no garage, poor fencing. So partly for us, partly for the dogs we bought the block next door, built good kennels a double garage with an annex tree's up everywhere. Everything conforms to council requirements. We breed primarily service dogs, I show mine but I dont sell to others for breeding or showing as yet, only as companion dogs atm. I like good dogs and mine are competative, placing and winning and National, Royal, Speciality and local shows. I run the dogs as a business and yes the demand is high but $90,000 in investment of infrastructure later - do you thik I will make that money back in a hurry. Hmmm doubt it. Dog breeding is an expensive business with slow return. One of the reasons Pure bred dogs are on the decline and the un-regulated pet breeders are thriving.

Yes it is distressing for us to watch Loca run but apparently the type of Ataxia Loca has is niether painful nor lifethreatening. She seems to live a full, playful and engaged life. I think the ditty is very clever. As it says in the article Loca is being tested - which means her affected DNA is highly valueable for isolating the specific allelle that is affected on the relevant chronosome. I would think without the pubicity Loca has recieved research would never have been offered. Loca is obviously much loved, accepted and adored by her family. I think the family should be applauded for bringing Ataxia (which occures in a number of breeds) to peoples attention with humour and love. Rather than alot of breders do who have the NIMBY syndrome - Not In My Back Yard - and pretend its not happening at all.

I have a 4 large berth with wardrobe Cruising Canines - tows well, well insulated, all wiring tucked up underneath so dogs cant chew it. Interior is fully sealed and there is a 500mm solid base wall below the mesh so dogs cant pull through bedding. I travel around the western NSW with my dogs for work and cant fault the the trailer - the dogs do many many KM and are rested and settled when I get them out. Each bay has a plug hole for easy cleaning. Doesnt leak, great storage, tack box in front, wardrobe behind it. HIGHLY recommend them. They are made to order and with loads of standard features. Just love my trailer :)

Hi Oneteaspoon I agree with Mudlark - if you get an 8 week old baby and you are working you might want to consider a puppy minding day-centre (crazy as that sounds) otherwise go for an older pup or young adult - there are often older dogs offered on the Labrador Breed section check it out.

Trainers or people who call themselves trainers (and I am one of them) need to be open to the new, open to the difference. Different is just different its not necessarily wrong. I agree with Blackdog there seems to be a attitude of criticism and negativity between trainers and backstabbing is a easy option to fall for. I have had success - by my definition with my dogs using some methods but it was completely wrong and innefctual for someoneelses dog - even if that dog was the same breed. I applaud the attitude of find what works for your dog. In my experience I learn more and grow in confidence in my ability to adapt to my clients and their owners needs. Helping dogs to live with humans is a pleasure - helping humans to enjoy their dogs is a delight.

I love this book! It makes so much sense to me. I have always seen dogs as highly evolved companion animals who 'read us' much much better than we read them. I have a cooperative family of 7 dogs, 3 are completely unrelated and the other 4 are either a neice or daughters of one of my 3 which I bred. They all can come inside they all will happily sleep in the kennel, they all will happily sleep on our bed when I let them - usually when the OH & I are in our bedroom changing or talking to each other and the kids have to lay on the bed and watch out discussions. They will all happily have their own space but of course prefer to be with us. There is no anxiety when we leave, no dramas when we are inside and they are out. They are content. I practice NILF as a matter of routine. When I am formally training for a trail or work or whatever they clamber to get their heads in the collar to work with me. Trial training is a pleasure for them - trial traiing is only 5 minute long. I strongly believe that leadership is what dogs recognises and cooperate with and I definately let them know - without resentment on my part if they are doing the wrong thing. They stop immediately and we begin again or just move on from the moment. People and their control issues create the dramas with their dogs IMO. Its rarely the dogs problem.

Katdogs - Nothing touches a lonely heart more than a loving puppy. God bless you and Sam for giving love and comfort to a old gentleman. It was a true gift you gave that man. I hope fate will bring you together again. :)

I get that other cultures are scared of dogs for what ever cultural or re-life horror experience they have had. I get that kids inherit their parents attiudes to pets be that dogs, cats or horses. I get that parents dont know what to teach their kids about dogs - regardless of culture. I went to a work conference a couple of weeks ago where it was explained that the Sudanese community are terrified of dogs because in the Sadan rabies infected dogs were used by the miliary to attack and terrorise the community. In the Muslim community thier culture required the person to wash their hands & clothes 7 time after contact with canine saliva. While Islam is not my culture I can appreciate it would suck if I was a Muslim mum with a few kids and had to wash myself and the kids clothes 7 times because a dog licked me & my kids. Would I tolerate a kid kicking, yelling at or showing aggression to my dog - of course not. Most of us have reasonable skill at quickly responding to our dogs behaviour. I see no reason not to respopnd as quickly with a child. I would pull my dog behind me and sternly say pointing at the approaching child STOP - NO!. As soon as the kid stopped I would drop my attiude and be friendly. I did have a child about 5 rush at me and my dog and I used this technique. The child stopped immediately it was very effective. The parent came racing up to grab the child who had got away from her when she wasnt looking. I smiled at mum and said I was preventing an incident with your child and my dog. She was fine about it. The child was a bit overwhelmed. I explained to mum that rushing up to a person with a dog without asking the owners permission and giving the owner and the dog time to get ajusted to her presence is an unsafe way to approach a dog. The mother agreed and apologised, she had never considered that. Mum told her kid to never approach a dog without asking permission and never to run. The kid didnt want to pat my dog then which was fine with me but I think the opportunity to educate was better than ranting at the kid or parent. Did I feel like I could rant .... yep. I could have chocked the little shyte But I have a live and let live approach - everyone doesnt 'have to love my dogs' but they can treat them with respect - I dont 'have to love their kids' but I can treat then with respect too. The 'Point ... say No Stop!' method worked for me. It might for others who are walking their dogs in the communtiy.

At home to maintain weight my guys get 1/3 in the morning and 2/3 at night about 6pm. They dont get a feed on the morning of a show or if I am trialing - so they are keener to please. However I find the mornign feed helps to settle my dogs. They each get about 5 -10 mib training in the morning then breaky and then they tend to sleep most of the day. I find they are very settled at might with a meal. I wet my dogs meals with water and in winter they get warm water so it is a warm feed. They coat, weight and general fitness is good on this routine.

Wow you had such a good time together and obviously all the dogs had such fun lovely to see. BTW Sammy's sister Kura has picked up another Baby in Group - second show out. I had our first traiing in the park today very successful. I had a lady turn up with a pulling, yelling, screaming Lab. By the end of the hour which involved alot of settling exercises he was settled, laying down and ignoring the other dogs. ( thank dog - or else I would look like a totally crap trainer) So I have a baby Lab, baby Cavalier - who is amazingly smart, a starey eyed Border Collie, a Staffy, 1 Kelpie and two Dalmations. They are a fun group they will al be learning the NILF program. It should be fun.

So how is it going guys? I hope you are having a great day :)

The park is called the Bill Robinson Park - it was a great morning.

This beautiful shaded off leash park is located across te road from McDonalds in Cowra under the overpass bridge. It has water, seating and beautiful trees shading on a 1 acre enclosure. You can walk you dog along the river back, take him for a swim and enjoy the off leash park with its low impact interactive agility equipement made form recycled plastic. The Cowra Kennel Club manned the free BBQ supplied by Cowra Council for the public and a number of members attended with their dogs for visitors to meet and talk about dogs. I presented a safety talk for the group suitable for the children and did a basic obedience demonstration with my dogs. Its a beautiful set up and I recommend anyone passing thru Coarw with a dog in their car or RV stop nad enjoy.

The Labs are on March 22nd I have Daffy Dog & Pania Puppy entered.

Pania is a big girl now :) she hits the ring in March

I think the idea of the yellow ribbons intrinsically good. I live in a quiet village where I might have 4 cars pass the block on any given day. So to help pups cope with the big wide world I take my dogs especially my pups in town (1 or 2 at a time) and I sit with the dog by the post office at the corner of the traffic lights. There are only 2 sets of traffic lights in Cowra. People go in and out doors open a close, traffic stops & starts & truck make a racket with their brakes. We just sit and I let the pup observe the world. I let him or her settle and hopefully relax and lied down. Once they settled then I am happy for people to approach. I think I will start using the ribbons I think the yellow ribbons could be a usefull tool. :)

As the puppy cuddler says 'round is a shape - so Kura is in shape '

So best of luck with the weather and I hope you all have a great day on the 16th. Hugs for the big boy Sam. His sister and Aunty Tua & Uncle Croftie will be doing this on the weekend. The Labs in the photo are from left to right are 11 month old Pania, 2 year old Heeni te Anna and Sammy's sister Kura http://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/1298540/dogs-to-be-unleashed/?cs=593

I vaccuum generally every second day, I wipe down the window sills occassionally with eucalyptis disinfectant, bedding gets washed in eucalytas disinfectant and when I remember spray the carpets with a diluted version before vaccuming. That kills the smelly bacteria well and freshens the house. I dont think my house particulalry smell but I definately notice the difference if I go to a friends house that doesnt have pets inside. mainly the lack of dog hair!!!

Pers, I think you and I are on the same wave length...that's what I thought too! :laugh: Yep definately time to get the coffee machine thingo cranked up As for dog spit on windows - typically inside my cars back windows - backing powder and warm water. Slightly abbrassive, gets the muck off, wipe on gently with damp cloth. clean off with a dry cloth. wax-on .... wax-off :)

Hmmm IMO dats a piggin dog folks - probably a hound x ACD x something else leggy and blue. Good luck getting a home it will probably be a lovely house mutt if some raises it properly. Where was is found/surrendered?

I love dogs - I always have since a kid. I have had a prefix since 1991 I have been a member of Dogs NSw since 1987... I think. I chose a Bench Kelpie as a companion/obedience dog after my son died in '90. No 'ifs' nor 'buts' Biddy was purely to fill a whole in my heart. She was a great dog who was competant in obedience and a tad better than that in he ring. So I bred her. At the time I had undergraduate training in human health and genetics and felt I had an understanding of sorts for the care and welfare of my dog. I bred a few litters, they awere moderately successful in the ring. I became a threat to other showies who were small minded about newbies. I eventually gave up on the breed because of petty, manipulative and down right abusive people who refused to acknowledge that there were serious health issure developing in the breed due to bad breeding practices IMO. Plus my ego got in the way - I thought I should have been listened to. I was wrong. After a break from breeding, a run with cancer and a new husband who is very supportive I closed my previous prefix and took up my current one with my husband and began the breeding of Labradors. My aim is to breed Labs for a purpose, - assitance dogs, guide dogs, sniffer/detection dogs and to that end I have a number of dogs currently in service. I learnt from my previous breeding experience to priorities health issues and because I personally like good looking dogs yes I select for looks as well - I like good looking dogs - I dont see why thay cant be smart and good looking. My breeding program is based on breeding sound brood bitches with temperament, health, type and brains in place. I am satisfied that my dogs are competative with numerous classes in Show and Group a RUBIG and placing at the 2 Nationals, and the last year the State Lab Show and Sydney Royal. I am very proud of the Labs I have bred over the last 5 years and the various dogs I have bred or trained in the past who are successfull service dogs for the intellectually disabled, Police, the blind and the wheelcahir bound. All are well heathly and live a purposeful life. Some peopel have also bought dogs for the purpose of obedience, Rally O or as much loved family dogs. They deserve healthy dogs too.

Ah we breed them here with extra titanium in their skull Katdogs you can buy the diet suppliment on Ebay they dont feel a thing. I hope your bruise gets better soon she says trying to be sincere ... after she stops laughing

Aw the baby :)

I am sure his majesty will be fine as long as there is food in it lol :)