Miranda

Isn't this fun, I love these sorts of discussion I know what you mean Sandra, but a reverse scissor bite is a serious fault, it's not just a tooth fault it's a fault with the jaw. One or two teeth slightly out of alignment in an otherwise fabulous dog is forgiveable, but an undershot jaw is a different thing altogether.

Yes exactly, the dog goes into the ring, you stack it, the judge comes up and wham just about the first thing he sees after eye colour is an incorrect bite. It's a glaringly obvious fault. I've shown dogs with faults too, let's face it all dogs have them, but some faults are a lot worse than others. Personally I wouldn't show a dog with a bad mouth and I wouldn't breed from one either.

Me too! Ditto!

I benefitted from the experience of having a complete stranger come over and tell me that my dog wasn't show quality and pointing out his faults. However this wouldn't be acceptable these days, anyone who did that would be classed as a 'nasty dog show person'. What I'm saying is that it's sometimes better to tell things like they are instead of tippy toeing around issues and sugar coating everything. A dog with a bad mouth shouldn't be taken into the show ring, end of story.

If people want to breed to produce pets that's up to them, but I can't see the point of breeding a litter just to produce the very best pets I can. Having a litter is very stressful, a huge amount of work, expense and worry goes into it and that's not something I'd be prepared to do without a reason. For some people receiving photos and thanks from happy puppy buyers may be enough but that doesn't work for me, I breed because I hope to produce that 'special' dog that I can show and go on to breed. I do produce pets, everyone who breeds produces pets, in fact you're lucky to have one or two puppies in a litter that are true show and breeding quality. However pets are a dead end, sure you get money for them but to me that's irrelevant, it's the excitement of breeding that 'once in a lifetime' dog that keeps me going.

New exhibitors have it easy these days, when I started showing I had no help at all, there was no internet, no show training classes, no Dogzonline, I just bought a dog and took it into the ring. My first dog was very average and that's putting it mildly, he was refused challenges and once a class win. In the end someone took me aside and explained that the dog wasn't show quality and that he was never going to win anything and I'm glad they did even though I was very upset about it at the time. It didn't put me off showing however, I actually benefitted from the experience, found myself a better dog and kept going. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

I agree with this 100%. I cannot see the point of breeding litters just to sell the puppies as pets, I have to have a purpose, something to strive for, otherwise the incentive to breed just isn't there.

I agree with this. Also if your daughter happens to have the only dog of its breed on the day she will almost certainly be refused the challenge and this will be embarrassing and upsetting for all concerned. An undershot jaw is a glaring fault and very few, if any judges will put up a dog with a bad mouth.

I've had a litter of 12 and did not supplement, milk works on the principle of supply and demand, the more milk is required, the more milk is produced. As long as the bitch is well and coping and is fed plenty of nourishing food, supplementation shouldn't be necessary, although there are exceptions. ETA I have a large breed.

Congratulations FHRP What a wonderful achievement!

I ordered mine last Thursday and it arrived today. Great value for the price and larger than I expected.

Whatever you decide buy the products online, far cheaper than vets or pet shops.

Yes they can and it often becomes a chronic condition. I've had a couple of dogs undergo a tonsillectomy and the improvement in their health following surgery was amazing.

If people want a dog to sleep on their bed that's their choice. Personally I'd be happier selling a puppy to someone who wanted it to sleep on their bed than to someone who wanted the dog to sleep outside.

As a general rule my puppies sleep through the night from around 12 weeks of age.

I agree with PF, I wouldn't leave my dogs anywhere that wasn't fenced. I'm sure that your MIL is very responsible and will do her best to look after the dogs but you can't expect her to watch them every minute of the day and it only takes a few seconds for a dog to run off and disappear.

Joint Guard is tasteless and odourless, some dogs won't touch Sashas Blend because of its smell (unless they've changed it). Personally I prefer Joint Guard. As Tiggy says, whatever you decide buy it online, it's far cheaper.

:D :p

I couldn't agree more huski. I would never, ever, under any circumstances sell my puppies to a pet shop, as far as I'm concerned any breeder who doesn't have the "time or inclination" to deal with the general public shouldn't be breeding at all. The thought of handing over a litter of puppies that I've put my heart and soul into planning and raising to a pet shop makes me feel ill. I won't even enter a pet shop that sells live animals, as far as I'm concerned pet shops should sell pet supplies and that's all. And you are correct Goofy, after reading every one of your posts, nothing you have said has changed my opinion one iota.

I wouldn't leave a 5 month old puppy loose in the house, they're still babies at that age and babies make mistakes especially when there's no one there to supervise.

For hip x-rays you need to take the dog to a vet who specialises in hip dysplasia and is experienced in positioning the dog. The radiographs should then be sent off to a specialist to be scored, the majority are sent to Dr. Wyburn in W.A. I can get my dogs x-rayed by an experienced vet and then scored by Dr Wyburn for much less than $480.00. That report is essentially useless in my opinion.

Laser Lites.

Perhaps she should approach the breeder and have them assess the dog prior to venturing into the show ring? There is little point in preparing and training the dog if he's not show quality. If you don't get any replies from newfie people contact showdog, she is a brilliant groomer and very knowledgeable about the preparation required for most breeds.

I don't own Newfoundlands, but I used to help a friend groom her dog for shows many years ago. The dog has to bathed and thoroughly blow dried, then you comb out the entire coat. The coat then needs to shaped with thinning scissors and any wispy bits removed and the feet are trimmed underneath and between the toes, however even though the dog is trimmed it's still required to look 'natural'. They may look like a dog that's simply bathed and dried and then taken into the ring, but they're not, there's a fair amount of work and skill required to prepare them and they're a very large dog so it takes a a fair amount of time. It is very hard to keep a dog in show condition when it's in a pet home and they don't maintain the coat between shows. They must be kept free of matts and that means that the coat requires constant attention. I also wouldn't leave bathing and grooming to a commercial groomer, most of them don't have individual breed knowledge and have a 'one size fits all' approach. The dog must be completely free of matts prior to bathing because afterwards the matts will be twice as hard to remove and you'll lose a lot of coat getting them out. Really if you're going to show a dog you need to learn how to prepare it yourself. Just another thought, is the dog show quality?

They're not far from Ashley Reid Show Training