Miranda

X 2 x 3

What a ridiculous suggestion.

I don't get this bit? The AKC invites the 5 top ranked dogs. 2 blue merle dogs happened to be in the top 5 - this is because show judges gave them wins, not because the AKC chooses the top 5 dogs based on colour or the like.... You are exactly right RallyValley, but sandgrubber doesn't show her dogs so perhaps she didn't know, I'm sure she wouldn't use this little smear campaign as an excuse to deliberately denigrate the AKC ;)

Me too showdog, love the videos too

One of my bitches had a lump between her toes, I thought it was a grass seed, but it didn't go down and nothing came out so I took her to the vet and they charged me $450 to put her under, cut it open and clean it out, but they couldn't find a reason for the lump. Six months later it came up again and I decided to treat it myself instead of forking out another $450 so I waited until it came right up into a big red lump then I popped it and squeezed it and out came a heap of ingrown hairs. I washed it out with warm salt water twice a day and put Betadine on it and it's never come up again.

I never did anything special with my singleton pup and he grew up just fine, but I did have a number of dogs at that time so he didn't grow up just knowing his dam.

How would we know what wolves do and don't suffer from? Nature eliminates the unhealthy or the weak. Wild wolves live for 6-8 years on average. Wolves don't come in anywhere near the array of sizes and shapes dogs do. Some of those sizes and shapes can lead to the issues the quoted statement alleges can be prevented by a 'natural raw diet'. Sorry, but it sadly isn't that simple. I expect Dr Syme knows and acknowledges it isn't that simple. Feeding VAN, a raw diet (or any other diet for that matter) will not guarantee you a dog free of any of the conditions listed. No diet is a magic bullet that cures all ills. Lets all acknowledge that as we strive to do the best for our dogs that we can. I've heard BARFers suggest that a 'natural diet' prevents PRA and HD and they've found out the hard way that it won't. I'm all for folk being passionate about what they feed being the best for their dogs. But lets be realistic about it. No need for zealotry in any of the food camps. Very good post Telida Whippets

Oops sorry I missed this. I would recommend Cryogenes

Rob Zammit in Vineyard is held in high regard and a lot of breeders in Sydney use him.

Well it's nice to see that Steve, Alyosha and Sky Soaring Magpie, all of whom are listed as 'Friends' on Dog Geeks profile page have finally come to Dog Geek's aid and commented in this thread. Sky Soaring Magpie I liked your post, very sensible and very fair. Dog Geek bred a bitch who by her own description has short upper arms and straight shoulders and is a bit elbows-out; and her hips are possibly not good given she has patellas that are around 3/3 and is too straight in the stifle. Short upper arms, straight shoulders, being out at elbow and having straight stifles are all MAJOR conformation faults, this bitch doesn't have just one major fault, she has four. In addition to the conformation faults the bitch has a grade 3 patella in each rear leg and it is strongly recommended that dogs with this grade NOT be bred from. It is also POSSIBLE that the bitch's hips aren't good, 'possible' means that Dog Geek hasn't had the hips x-rayed which means that in addition to the patella problem she may also have abnormal hips, both these conditions can lead to very painful degenerative joint disease in later life. Breeding such a poor quality bitch with major health problems does NOT qualify as a test mating in such a numerically strong breed as the Pomeranian and contrary to Dog Geek's gross generalisation there are some excellent poms out there. She did NOT have to breed this bitch at this particular time, she could easily have waited until she had a good quality, sound bitch, she bred the bitch because she was in season and she liked the colour. However when I said that it wasn't a good idea to breed an unsound animal and pointed out the potential risks to the unborn puppies Dog Geek couldn't have cared less, she then proceeded to defend the indefensible in a flippant, joking manner and made it perfectly clear that she would do what exactly what she wanted and was happy to pass aspersions on all other Pomeranian breeders in the process. Steve - No one who has been involved with any comments in this thread knows as much about your breed as you do and whilst its good to take on opinions and listen to experience and advice dont let wombats who think its appropriate to behave like school yard bullies and break the rules of the forum by personally attacking you influence what you do next with your bitch or your pups. I do not agree that the comment 'no one who has been involved with any comments in this thread knows as much as your breed as you do' is correct, I have read all Dog Geeks posts and have looked at her dogs and I may be incorrect in this (and I'm sure that you'll be happy to shoot this 'wombat' down in flames if I'm wrong), but I would hazard a guess that Dog Geek hasn't been involved in her breed very long at all, to me she comes across as a very confident newbie who thinks she knows all there is to know about breeding Pomeranians, who has read about the health problems in the breed and has then concluded for some reason known only to herself that breeding from an obviously unsound bitch is the best way to start improving the breed. I won't bother mentioning that in pure breed dogs type should go hand in hand with soundness because it is perfectly obvious from Dog Geek's posts that type isn't a priority in her breeding program as she puts all her emphasis on colour. I don't know what will happen to this post, it may be deleted or I may be warned or banned, but I will always stick up for what I believe and I truly and honestly believe that breeding from a bitch with major conformation faults who also has one, or possibly two major health problems all of which may be passed on to her puppies and to future generations is responsible ethical breeding and personally I'm surprised that you Steve, as owner and one of the directors of the MDBA don't feel the same way. I am also surprised that you've resorted to breaking the rules of the forum by calling me and a number of other posters in this thread 'wombats' and 'schoolyard bullies', but obviously you feel very strongly about defending this person. Anyway enough if enough and I think I've made my feelings clear, I will not be posting again in this thread. Thank you for reading.

Well, I would love to be spoiled for choice in selecting breeding bitches... but I am not. Firstly, I seem to be having a world of trouble finding any Pomeranian breeders who will sell me a bitch - can't imagine why. And then - yes, it seems such soundness is part of the genetic complement passed on by each parent, and that so far my sire seems to passing sound hips and knees on to his offspring... now that this litter qualifies as a "test mating" I have an even better opportunity of assessing the soundness of this hypothesis. Finally - I failed to remember to add to the previous posts that I am paying for xrays and screening of the four pups I have bred and homed so far. Three of them are pet homes; but they have still been screened by a specialist for eye health, and will be screened for hip/elbow ehalth at the appropriate age... ... still disgraceful?? Yes, still disgraceful IMO. You say that you explain possible health outcomes to your puppy buyers, but they still go ahead with the purchase.....sorry but I cannot believe this, who in their right mind would buy a puppy which is at risk of being affected by a painful and disabling disease when they could go elsewhere and buy a healthy puppy from sound parents, either they didn't understand what you were telling them or you glossed over the risks. What will happen if these puppies have patella or hip problems when you have them screened, if you don't have everything in writing there is nothing to stop the owners from seeking legal advice and taking you to court, it has happened before and will no doubt happen again as long as people like you continue to breed from unsound animals because they like their colour. Previously you said that this latest litter would be placed into pet homes but now you say that you'll be retaining the puppies and having any that fail health tests pts, all I can say is that they shouldn't have been bred in the first place. The thought of breeding a litter of puppies that have a good chance of carrying a heritable disease, keeping them until they're old enough to be tested and then killing them fills me with horror, obviously you are made of sterner stuff than I am, because doing that would break my heart. I have read all your posts and looked at all your dogs and personally I don't think you'd recognise type and soundness if it jumped out and bit you on the bum, you rave on about health testing (which you apparently don't always bother to do), but there is a lot more to breeding than that. The way you are going you will end up with a heap of fluffy dogs in pretty colours that look nothing at all like the breed they're supposed to represent that you will no doubt sell at vastly inflated prices because you'll describe them as rare. I'm not surprised that reputable breeders refuse to sell to you and I'm glad that you started this thread because it will make more people aware of your practices and the fact that you are breeding solely for colour without any thought or concern for the individual dogs involved and the fate of the breed as a whole. You are no better than the so called 'breeders' of blue staffords.

I cannot see any reason whatsoever to breed from a dog with grade 3 patellas and possibly unsound hips, these conditions can be extremely painful especially as the dog ages. I won't breed from any dog that has a painful heritable condition that can be passed on to its offspring regardless of how good the dog is in other respects, that isn't responsible breeding IMO.

Certainly I will explain. The bitch is unsound, she should have been desexed because she clearly isn't of breeding quality. Have you ever heard of breeding to improve the breed, do you honestly think that breeding a bitch with grade 3 patellas, hips that 'are possibly not good', and a number of other major conformation faults is going to benefit the breed in any way whatsoever? I notice that you say the pups will 'pet homed' so you are quite prepared to sell puppies from an obviously unsound bitch to unsuspecting members of the public.........oh but I forgot, they'll all be pretty colours and that was why you bred her wasn't it? It is people like you who give responsible, ethical breeders a bad name, disgraceful behaviour IMO. Grade III — Patella remains luxated most of the time but can be manually reduced (placed back into position). Flexion and extension of the knee joint reluxates the patella. Patient transfers most of the body weight to the front legs, bunny hops or carries the affected legs, and appears bowlegged or knock-kneed. Keep in mind that patellar luxation is a heritable disease and we do not recommend breeding affected dogs. It is also very common for the disease to affect both legs. Treatment is based upon severity of signs and your pet’s age, breed and weight. Conservative therapy is often chosen in the early stages of the condition. However, if the patellar luxation is a grade III, your pet has persistant lameness, or other knee injuries occur secondary to the luxation, then surgery is the best option for your pet. Even with conservative medical therapy, your pet is at increased risk for torn ligaments in the knee and the condition can worsen over time, leading to degenerative joint disease which is a permanent and painful condition.

And you actually bred this bitch..................unbelievable.

I agree, there is no need to do AI's unless you are unable to get a natural mating for some reason or you only manage to get a slip. BTW it is very easy to do your own AI's, I think there's a site on the net that gives instructions or you could find an experienced breeder who could show you how to do it.

All my dogs dig and eat dirt from time to time and I know other breeders whose dogs do the same, IMO it's normal behaviour just like eating grass and my dogs certainly aren't lacking anything in their diet. I definitely wouldn't be giving extra calcium to a bitch in whelp, however I would vary the type of bones she gets, try to include some beef brisket and lamb flaps in addition to the poultry bones.

Please don't think about a Border Terrier unless you have really good small dog escape-proof fencing all around your 5 acres - it's simply not an option. You could say the same about any breed, I wouldn't trust any dog to run 5 acres unsupervised, in addition to the risk of snakebite there's a very good chance that the dog will be shot if it escapes and gets in with stock. IMO having a dog/dogs on acreage is much easier if you have a securely fenced house yard, say 1/2 or 1/4 acre depending on how much fencing you're prepared to do, then the dog can be safely confined to the house yard when you're not there to supervise and only access the rest of the property when you open the gate.

I got an Oztrail Deluxe Compact from BCF about this time last year, I paid $179. The standard compacts are cheaper but much flimsier, IMO the deluxe model is well worth the bit extra.

Not including my own breed. Irish Setter English Setter American Cocker Spaniel (parti-colour) Afghan Hound Maltese

Perhaps you should contact the Bureau of Meteorology and let them know, obviously you are far better informed than they are.

Oh that's no problem, I keep the ordinary pups in the old run nearest the house so they're the ones the buyers see as soon as they enter the back gate and the show/breeding pups are in my new puppy complex hidden away at the end of the yard. If they happen to notice the pups I'm running on I just tell them that they're the best ones and aren't for sale and that all the pet quality pups are up near the house. Works well for me Now I am imagining puppies with the letter P clippered onto their forehead like A's were on adulters Just having a bit of a stir

Oh that's no problem, I keep the ordinary pups in the old run nearest the house so they're the ones the buyers see as soon as they enter the back gate and the show/breeding pups are in my new puppy complex hidden away at the end of the yard. If they happen to notice the pups I'm running on I just tell them that they're the best ones and aren't for sale and that all the pet quality pups are up near the house. Works well for me

I agree Crisovar, personally I find the term 'furbaby' far more offensive than 'pet quality'. personally i find it hilarious. set a litter loose. let the family who "nly want a pet" take their pick, so who do they unerringly point too? your favourite in the entire litter.....every single time. I don't allow buyers to select their own puppy, I always decide which puppy is the most suitable for each family and anyone who comments on my 'furbabies' earns my instant disapproval

I agree Crisovar, personally I find the term 'furbaby' far more offensive than 'pet quality'.

I just went to the site and all the shows are listed in the community area, everything appears to be normal.