dotdashdot

I use the Interceptor chewables. I don't like the idea of the injection, my dogs are only vaccinated every 3 years as it is (after the initial 12 month booster) We do have Heartworm in this area so it's not something I really want to risk.

hahaha thank you Dogs Are Forever for saying what I was thinking....lol. Just my 2c on dallies, DAF raises some good points, the hearing testing is called BAER testing (in case you looked at listings and didn't know what that was) and I would never, ever buy a dally without that testing. No other method is good enough for testing hearing. On the urate stones/crystals, this is a super common. Especially in males and I was lucky enough to have a female get them! Even with being careful with her diet (intake of purines) she still got them. Now there are Low Uric Acid (LUA) dalmatians being bred in Australia - first litters were born this April/May. These dogs won't get URATE crystals as they don't have the double of the defective gene like all other dallies do. You can google the LUA project for more info, it is controversial with some people but my stance is this: why would you oppose something that is trying to HELP the health of a breed overall. Other than that - they fit your size requirements. My girls are 20kg, boys can be around 30kg. They're athletic as heck, they would run 20kms and want more. They were bred to have stamina, that's not to say that they don't "switch off" though. I find my friends' Aussie Shepherds harder to satisfy as they just want to keep going where my girls will settle down and have a snooze. They have a reputation for being "hyper" but I don't buy it, my dogs are like many other breeds, they have a zoomie sesh in the afternoon and that's it. My girls don't get walked every day, but then I have a decent yard for them to run in. If I didn't, daily walking would be essential. Cleo is good, but Nala digs and destroys stuff when she's full of beans. They are intelligent, some more than others :laugh: but not a "dumb" breed by any means. They can be quite protective of their area, they aren't a guardian breed in terms of rotties or dobermanns, but they were bred to run alongside a coach and protect it. Some dallies (mine) will bark when someone comes to the gate or comes to the door. They don't want to hurt anyone though. Shedding - they shed twice a year. 6 months at a time you don't get a dally unless you want to wear little white hairs on all your black clothing. A great breed, definitely NOT for anyone. You sound like a very committed owner who could handle a dally though.

My job involved a lot of weekend work, pet retail. I just worked as many weekends as I could, so that when I asked for a few off (at most, it was one weekend a month for 3 months) it was ok. For me, 1 weekend of work = 1 weekend of shows literally! The $$ add up for showing, especially once you add a second dog..... :laugh:

Koa has improved in the last week. Turns out it was happening in the same spot quite a bit, but she seems to have fixed herself up. I mentioned the possibility of anxiety and said that a crate or small pen might be a solution if it continued. Koa's mum did say that she does pop her outside if she gets the chance before she goes upstairs, but obviously in some cases this is hard. Haha Tassie, I was a bit chuffed :D I obviously didn't need to teach that particular activity! Meant to start slowly just getting them to take a treat from the edge of the crate, then get their body inside, etc....haha When I've taken my eldest dally to work once, I was rearranging the wire crate display and she tried to get into the much too small medium size....so keen for her crate!

She's still fairly young yes? I would expect a bit of wriggling, and that's normal in the baby puppy line up. With my breeders being in Tasmania, my mentor in Tamworth and myself on the mid northern coast of NSW, all my learning came via Youtube, and critiques of photos and video (no show training here). It's harder when you've only just started, but judges will have patience, especially if you explain that you're both just new to this - i've had some fantastic ones who've taken time to give me a couple of pointers even. In the meantime, keep practicing and one day, it will just 'click'. Don't expect to be as good as your breeder, I feel like I still can't stack right half the time and we have many challenge certificates under our belts :laugh:

I will bring this up to Koa's mum :) thank you.

That's what I was thinking, except there is no other signs of distress. I'm assuming she goes outside when they leave, but I could be wrong. I don't think she's left alone for hours and hours, and I would say no to being allowed upstairs. I think it's the not going upstairs that is the problem, but I can't figure out why. Obviously the family sleep up there, and maybe letting her up there would be a possible solution but i'm not sure if it's feasible for their situation (e.g., maybe they are renting and dog is only allowed downstairs, or other personal reasons, which I can understand) Last week at training, I talked about crate training. After already introducing a self settling mat that Koa has taken to brilliantly, I popped a crate down to talk about and she took herself in there and had a sleep! For a pup that hasn't even seen a crate since she came home at 11 weeks, I was surprised. Wondering if this could be a solution? Confine her to a small area (maybe near bottom of stairs for ease of access?) where she feels comfortable and won't be likely to toilet.

A question to ask, I don't have that information. But I will store that in my mind, so if it is, I can suggest that.

This is not for my own dogs, but for a customer of mine. She has a 5 month old amstaff x pup, Koa (rescue pup, desexed, came home at 11 weeks old) Koa is pretty well toilet trained, her family is pretty consistent with training (mum, dad, boy about 8 and boy about 2) but they have a slight problem. When say, mum has to go upstairs to get the younger son out of his cot after a nap (weekdays), or they are having a shower upstairs in the morning (weekends), Koa will go to the toilet inside. Never at any other time does she have an accident, it is only in these sorts of circumstances. My first thought was - take her out first, before they go upstairs. Slight problem, this is sometimes impossible - younger son fell out of his cot and broke his collarbone last week - poor mite. Sometimes there is literally no time to take pup outside (she heard a thump and ran upstairs). And it seems to me, that even if they did do this, and take her out and let her back in, this would still happen. It doesn't seem to be an issue with her holding on, as she happily makes it through the night. It's only in these circumstances. Can the wise DOLers suggest anything to me that I can pass on? Does it sound like nervousness? To me, she doesn't seem at all like a nervous pup. She is confident, well socialised and happy every time I see her.

Dalmatians are such great dogs :) I may be biased..... but could you resist this face? eta photo lol

I find this whole thing infuriating, for everyone who does the right thing, and pays all the large quarantines costs. Sure JD might not know the rules, but he has a team around him dedicated to his personal affairs no? Personal assistants who are paid to organise things like this?

I thought the drugs were tested for overdoses (I know two for example, that definitely are, and are safe - within reason i.e like you used it) but I would be calling the company anyway, even though she is a little bit under the weight. Just for them to note the reaction.

I heard about it first through FB, as I like my vet's page. I'm guessing they heard about it first as we have no rep for that company (whereas Merial (Frontline) we see every month) I'm on the fence. My brain is having trouble with the 3 months for fleas and 4 months for paralysis tick, when every other product bar Nexgard is the opposite (longer for fleas than p. ticks). And apparently it comes in single doses? (this is hearsay, I don't know for sure)....prices would be Bravecto $12 a month (3 months) going off Dona's price, Nexgard $17 a month (3 months) or $14.6 a month (6 months). [based on 2-4kg dogs, and prices of Nexgard at my work, no doubt it is found cheaper online!) so fairly similar (if you buy a 6 pack of Nexgard vs. a bravecto) Main difference will be for those who don't want to remember to dose once a month. I'm better at monthly myself....I can say "it's the start of a month! Dosing time!" I don't use Nexgard though because it's not tested in breeding animals (although I could use it on my spayed girl). And i'm iffy about Bravecto full stop....might be "safe" but the side effects on pregnant bitches (or rather, the unborn pups) put me off.

Secateurs! Also known as garden shears I suppose, the little hand held ones. Find they cut them up very easily.

I wish. I loved my NZ cruise back in 2008 and plan to go again. This would top it off! But alas I will have a 5 month old and no money for a holiday (we are planning on doing a PNG cruise next year but finances for that will be stretched) Maybe next time!

As far as I know, Frontline and Advantix are similar, in that in the states, you need to see a vet to get them. Could be wrong, but I remember reading that a couple of years ago and my mind boggling! Not good to hear about another reaction, I've only had one reported to me from a customer, it made their dog itchy within a day, and the only thing they could put it down to was the Nexgard. Still seems like fewer reactions than Advantix and Comfortis!

Wee bubba Nala and Cleo (slightly older, but still a young un) and just coz I found this while looking for puppy pics on Photobucket...forever puppy Coco

BH is still being made in Victoria & using 100% Australian produce. The business of whether or not you would still call it Australian Owned is a tricky one. It was sold to the Australian sister company of a New Zealand Company & is registered on the Australian Stock Exchange. The people making it & running the show are still the same as are the recipes. :) Production has moved to NSW now, according to our rep. She had no samples for us last time because their machine had been dismantled and moved to Smeaton Grange. I personally prefer BH to RC, sure there are even better options out there, but they are quickly becoming unaffordable (even at staff discounted rates!)

Revolution? It's Selamectin. Does the same as Advocate in that it's fleas, heart worm and intestinal worms excluding tapeworm.

I had my last pup in the crate the night she came home, but she was obviously used to it so I'm assuming crate training started at her breeder's place! 6 weeks would probably be about right, considering for an 8 week old pup to be so used to it by the time she came to me, surely she must have been seeing and possibly using a crate for at least a week! I did run a puppy pen off the crate though, so she wasn't entirely locked in but she didn't protest at all and always curled up on her little bed in the crate :)

What? Nooooo ahhh this news is interesting. One of our major suppliers at work has stopped supplying it (no information was given to us in the store!!) all of a sudden. Bugger. Got a few customers who prefer just giving that tablet for heart worm and not the other worms in one go.

This is true and good, succinct advice. Build relationships, show that you are in it for the long haul. A dog that can be shown and potentially bred is precious to a breeder, and they want to make sure it's going to a worthy home where it will not only be loved dearly but hopefully a home where it's potential can be shown. In my case, a really decent breed FB group helped me build those relationships - being in regional NSW there wasn't much chance of me meeting people from Tassie, or Brisbane or Perth at a local show :laugh: but I now have breeders that I know in all those places and more. I actually made contact with my younger girl's breeder through that group and she "knew" me and what sort of things I did with my dog through FB (over many months, obviously people can lie, but the things I was photographing couldn't be faked- i.e being at a dog show in the ring) Most of all, be patient. I waited over a year for my younger girl, which isn't that long compared to some people! But I got exactly what I wanted, and a breeder who is happy with my plans.

That's a very sad article. I'm four months pregnant, and I know that already I am not the person I was pre-pregnancy but I am and will continue to be 100% devoted to my dogs, that was the deal when I decided to get them. How could you ever resent or complain about that unconditional love? I'm glad that my family, and my husband's family are also huge dog lovers and we've been raised with dogs ourselves.

Most likely cheaper online Sheena, but if you desperately need some, my work sells 1kg and 3kg bags. Can't remember the price off the top of my head though.

Not sure if it helps, and I haven't used it yet but we have sold many units and are yet to have a negative report. I am sure they will come, but so far so good.