mr.mister

Welcome Ellen!

Try not to be too disheartened. We here on DOL are very passionate about dogs (obviously) and thus are out for the blood of those who breed irresponsibly.

The fact is that a good reputable breeder will not be breeding for things not within the standard - regardless of anyone's opinion on the look of liver nosed BBs, that's just the way it is. What I'm trying to say is, I would be incredibly wary of any breeder you may come across that sells liver nosed BBs. A BB bred by a less than reputable breeder can be a ticking time bomb down the track and not something you want to chance.

Do a bit of research (I believe there is a BB thread in the breed sub forums?) and find a good, reputable breeder that breeds from healthy, happy, health tested stock. That way, regardless of colour your carefully selected BB will give you years of love.

The vet clinic I've started using up here won't de-sex before 6 months of age. I rang to book in our male kitten and he was about 4 months old at the time and they asked that I wait till at least 6 months. I was fine with that and waited (he was done yesterday at 6 months). She did ask if he was spraying or any other problem behaviours but when I said he wasn't she explained that it is their policy to leave them until at least 6 months unless there were good reasons to do it sooner.

I didn't know early desexing was such an issue with young cats? Many breeders desex their kittens before they leave for their new homes. It sounds like a nice idea to leave them until older, but some Queens come on call as early as 4 months.

If the dog is only going to be a pet and not a performance dog then i would be encouraging the general public to get it done sooner rather than later. Gives them less chance to think about breeding their mongral oodles/ little fluffies etc.

+1

In that case, go to a show and meet some other amstaff breeders and exhibitors. Develop some relationships with them and perhaps ask them to evaluate your bitch - if the breeders of your girl did as you said and broke the rules, then they also may not have necessarily produced quality pups - your girl looks lovely, but you need to make sure she adheres to the standard and is a good example of her breed before you breed her.

Some bitches can have silent seasons where there are no apparent signs. Breeding is a difficult, complicated, expensive and often heart-breaking experience and there are plenty of things that can go wrong - don't take it on lightly.

I would be finding yourself a mentor in your breed (perhaps talk to your breeder) and learning as much as you possibly can about your breed and the tribulations of breeding, before getting said buns in oven.

Cairn terrier?

http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breeders/cairn-terrier.asp

Oh, the smell one has reminded me of what I was told about a greyhound once. When you have your period they smell the blood and could try to have sex with you.

:eek:

That feeding a dog raw meat or bones will give it a taste for blood and it will attack children. I heard this only weeks ago from an adult. Scary what goes on in some peoples heads.

This! I hear this all the time. Inclusive of this is if they happen to kill a bird/rat/etc. they get a taste for blood and will become a maniacal, rabid man-eating hellhound. :rolleyes:

Hmmnmn the real bad news is that bookdepository has been bought by Amazon so I suspect the fabulous service and super pricing will son be a thingy of the past I have bought a few things from fishpond this year and they have been fine

Mea

nooooo my favourite book store!

Or you could try The Book Depository. They have free postage and are pretty cheap. I have always gotten my orders within the 2 weeks. They have many dog books as well as other books.

I can recommend these guys too. I've bought about 8 or so books off them and they all arrived within 2 weeks - infact most arrived within the 1 week mark

As well as what others have mentioned, I do believe that undescended testes are known to have a chance of being hereditary (correct me if I'm wrong), so if his testicles don't descend by 12 months then I would think twice about breeding him.

In my opinion, any pet shop that sells live animals doesn't sit right. I never grace them with my business.

Breeds I definitely want to own at some point in my life:

Border Collie

Borzoi

Greyhound

Boston Terrier

Other breeds I am interested in:

Coolie

Kelpie

Pharaoh Hound

Italian Greyhound

Stafford

Japanese Spitz

No you're not weird.

Vets gave never discouraged backyard breeding and they have no reason to. They are medical practicioners, not the breeding police.

And no medical practitioner in their right mind should encourage something that eventuates in likely genetic health issues for the offspring, not to mention health risks posed to the whelping bitch.. particularly if owned by someone that doesn't have a clue.

A girl I know who is doing Vet Nursing at Uni is convinced that registered breeders are evil and that purebreds are riddled with problems. She also believes the crossbred hybrid theory.

Just sounds like a website template to me.

Breeding healthy dogs for pet homes is of value isn't it?? I don't think everything should hang on the show ring...

Of course. What I meant in my comment is that I wouldn't personally breed for the sole purpose of producing puppies for the pet market. I would breed for myself, and what I couldn't keep would end up in loving pet homes. The whole point of the show ring is to strive for breed betterment - that certainly isn't a bad thing.

Well, whether or not to breed is completely up to you. For me, whether I wanted to breed a bitch again or not would depend on how the bitch-stud pairing worked last time, how well health wise, conformation wise and temperament wise the puppies turned out, how nice the bitch is in regards to health, conformation and temp, and what I had in mind to go on with in my lines.

I, personally, would breed only to keep something for myself to go on with, rather than specifically supply just for the pet market.

Keeshonden are beautiful.

A friend had one called Gorgeous. I wonder why?

Ask yourself these questions:

Is he health tested for PRA, hip and elbow scored, and tested for any other inheritable disease known to be found in poodles? (this doesn't mean a basic health check at the vet's)

Is he pedigreed and main registered with your state's canine control body?

These are not tests routinely carried out on Toy Poodles.

Ah ok.

Ask yourself these questions:

Is he health tested for PRA, hip and elbow scored, and tested for any other inheritable disease known to be found in poodles? (this doesn't mean a basic health check at the vet's)

Is he pedigreed and main registered with your state's canine control body?

If the answer is no to the above questions, then no, do not breed your boy.

What is the reason to breed? Is it just because he's not desexed? Is it to make cute puppies? If the answer is yes, again, no. Do not breed your boy.

Poodles are a very popular breed and one that has been cashed in on to produce 'designer dogs' like Poodle/Labrador crosses. There is a lot more to breeding than meets the eye, and a dog has to be able to bring something to the breed for people to want to have their bitches serviced by him. This means adhering to the Toy Poodle breed standard, for one. Adding to overwhelming supply of puppies on the market without taking into consideration things like betterment of the breed and the breed standard, then it won't do any favours for the Toy Poodle as a breed.

Desex your boy and enjoy him as a pet.

Another no here!

Tell her to sit on it for a few years and do a shite load of research. These kind of impulse buys always end in tears. And when the time finally comes when she's done all her research and knows what she's doing, get her to go to either a reputable registered breeder or a good rescue that screens their dogs and potential owners.

I too am curious about this 80% pure cocoa ice cream! You'll have all of DOL flocking to your shop soon.

In that case then perhaps a Cavalier as others have mentioned.

How about a Staffordshire Bull Terrier? Fantastic family pets. Purchased from a reputable breeder of course.

I agree with this

And they've apparently earned the title 'Nanny Dog'.

You'd have to be pretty diligant with socialisation though, particularly with other dogs.