Miranda

I'd never heard of it so Googled the product. The ingredients look pretty good. I don't think you can get it in Australia.

For my itchy dog (and he gets dandruff to go with it) I actually use head and shoulders. It's more expensive than the dog shampoo's but it seems to work!

Depends on what you call "expensive". I pay waaaay more for my dog's shampoo than for my own!

Me too, I've just paid over $100.00 for some shampoo, conditioner and a grooming spray

There are no tried and true methods, the ability to pick puppies is something that comes with experience. I would recommend that you ask all the experienced breeders you know to look at your litter, you will find that although their opinions may differ, all their comments will be useful. Watch all the puppies running around, preferably in a large area where you can see movement, see which puppies stand out from the others. Stack each puppy on the table and go over it, look at all the dogs and then all the bitches (or vice versa), take notes if you think it will help. Also note which puppies are easy to stack and which puppies wag their tails and seem happy and confident on the table, temperament and attitude are very important in the show ring. If there are any obvious pets they can be removed from the evaluation process at this stage. Remain objective, you may be very fond of the bitch with the cute, loving personality, but if she has faults don't even consider keeping her. Generally you will all agree on two or three pups and these puppies should be run on until a decision can be made. Running on puppies is a vital part of choosing a show/breeding prospect. It's also a good idea to look at as many litters of your breed as possible, every puppy you see will add to your experience and will also give you knowledge of different lines.

Can anyone tell me the name and contact details of the Scottish guy who was selling vet bed/dry bed (or similar) at the Whippet Champ Show at KCC Park in March?. I think he owns whippets.

John McLeod.. Peperone Pet Supplies. They have a banner here on DOL.

Edited to add Linky

Can anyone tell me the name and contact details of the Scottish guy who was selling vet bed/dry bed (or similar) at the Whippet Champ Show at KCC Park in March?. I think he owns whippets.

Is anyone using Isle Of Dogs No. 62 conditioning mist? If you are what do you think of it?

This topic makes me so angry that I can barely type nice words...

I couldn't agree more RSG!

I attended a seminar in the U.S. a few years ago and the main speaker was the president of OFFA. Her recommendation was to wait until the dog was at least 18 months, preferably two years. Apparently a dog that scores excellent or good at 12 months will usually score the same at two years, but a dog that scores fair or worse will almost always show further signs of deterioration when x-rayed a year later. So if you want an accurate evaluation of your dog's hips it's better to wait until they're older.

It doesn't bother me, either way is fine.

Nup, not unless your prepared to seperate and possibly deal with world war three, when they mature. Most litter mates of most breeds will get along fine as youngsters but as adults they can be deadly

I agree with this, I kept two males from my last litter (gundogs) and it certainly hasn't been easy.

I have a separate top loader for the dog stuff, when I used the same washing machine our own clothes came out with dog hair on them.

While ther may be some judges out there who go with the 'safe' options, from my own point of view I have found it more productive to subscribe to the way of thinking espoused by Mary Roslin Williams in her book "Reaching for the Stars" when it comes to 'frequent winners'. To quote her on the issue, she talks about 'the second big millstone around the middle-breeder's neck, and that is the ringside, in other words, his fellow middle range competitors'. She goes on to say..

'This is a very big millstone, because the novice listens to others instead of looking to see why the winner went up. the middle-ranger is all too glad to find an excuse for his own lack of top wins, so instead of looking at his dog and also looking at the top dogs, he joins in with the novices and comes in time to subscribe to the idea that 'names' win because they are 'names'. Once he really comes to beleive this he will be a middle-ranger forever, because he will never discover why the good breeders' dogs win.

For many years I have seen promising novices come up into the middle-ranges and have felt hopeful that they would eventually become good breeders and my heart sunk because they have come up and said that very thing, that 'Mrs Blank can win with anything'. As soon as they start thinking that, I have no further hope for them. they have mentally evaded the issue that it takes a better dog to win.'

While I may not always agree with a judges choices, they generally have their reasons for putting up one dog over another - and that reason may not be obvious to those outside the ring who are looking at the dog from a different angle and dont have their hands on them. I am not going to dismiss a judges choice as arbitrary though just because a dog or dogs from a certain kennel wins a lot. There is usually a reason why a person has become a 'face' and even if their dogs would not be my choice, I would rather look and learn from that than dismiss it out of hand as being somehow corrupt or dodgy.

In the end how far you go and what you achieve really is about attitude.

Excellent post espinay2, I agree with everything you say, especially your last sentence

I had a bitch develop open pyometra in 2006. From memory the surgery cost close to $900.

I've tried most of them and Nutro and Black Hawk get my vote.

Please don't use Barkbusters, the chances of getting someone who has the knowledge and experience to deal with your problems are minimal. Personally I wouldn't use anyone from a franchise.

I hate using cortisone, but in this case I would be putting the pap on a short course to break the itch cycle. You must

treat all your dogs (and cats too if you have them) for fleas otherwise you won't eradicate the problem and the next time the pap gets a bite it will all start again.

He's a DOG. They were prey.

Smack your partner for considering punishing a dog long after the deed was done. Its utterly pointless.

Either dont get any more guinea pigs or get them the equivalent of a Fort Knox hutch and put a fence between him and them.

Personally I'd be going for the first option. Dogs and small mammals are an accident waiting to happen.

Thank you PF.

I am fed up with people putting unrealistic expectations on dogs.

They are DOGS! Dogs are ANIMALS! They are not stuffed toys that do not react to instinct.

And they WILL KILL small animals. if the opportunity presents.

PF & Souff

Yes I completely agree. I own Gordon Setters, not terriers, but I can assure you that any one of them would kill a guinea pig if they got hold of it and I can tell you exactly how they would do it because I've seen them kill other small animals such as rabbits and possums and once (RIP), my kitten. They grab the animal on the back of the neck and close their jaws and the animal is killed instantly, other than a bit of slobber the animal appears completely unmarked. It is very quick, I've seen one of my bitches grab a possum and kill it in less than five seconds. Once the animal is dead they'll guard it for a while and then lose interest unless it's a rabbit in which case they'll eat it.

If you're going to keep small prey animals as pets don't use chicken wire, because a dog can break it easily, use heavy duty wire and place the hutch or enclosure out of the dog's reach if possible. It's unfortunate that your pets were killed, but the dog was only obeying its instincts.

i agree with MEH and PF, small mammals such as guinea pigs and rabbits are a dog's natural prey. To be perfectly honest it's your partner's fault for not making sure that the hutch was secure, so take him over to the hutch, give him a smack and make him sleep outside tonight because smacking your dog after the event and then leaving him out tonight is utterly pointless and grossly unfair to the dog.

Maybe get 1 boy now, then later on get a girl lab they will be great company for each other down the track.

Yes that would be my suggestion too.

I usually keep a dog and a bitch from each litter which is a lot of work, but manageable, however I kept two brothers from the last litter and it was much harder. Whereas a brother and sister generally get along well there was a lot of sibling rivalry between the two brothers and they had quite a few scraps.

I would be taking your two puppies straight home, as another poster said they are not fully vaccinated and you certainly don't want to expose them to parvo. As you are probably going to be travelling through remote areas where there may be quite a few unvaccinated dogs the risk of them coming into contact with the virus is probably reasonably high.

Regarding desexing, I wouldn't recommend desexing a large breed until at least one year of age, I know that some people have them done earlier, but I would be waiting until at least 9/10 months at the earliest. Peeing everywhere is a training problem, I have entire males here and none of them pee inside the house, sure they mark on walks, but they never, ever mark inside the house. I would recommend that you purchase two crates to help with toilet training and you can also use them to feed your puppies. It is much easier to feed dogs separately in my experience, then you know who eats how much and there won't be any altercations over food.

Having two puppies of the same age is a lot of work, make sure that each puppy has some one on one time with you and train each puppy separately. If you leave the two puppies together all the time they may tend to bond to each other too strongly and you may have problems if a situation arises where they have to be separated. Also be aware that you have two puppies of the same sex and age and that sibling rivalry may become a problem when they get older, they'll probably be ok but do keep an eye on their body language. It is quite possible that one pup will become 'the boss' and sometimes this means that the other puppy may be constantly bullied by the other, there is also a risk of fights. Personally I would never sell two littermates of the same sex to one household, but that's just me.

Anyway enjoy your puppies, they'll certainly keep you on your toes!

Not a nice thing to have to suggest but I would be asking for a punch biopsy to check for cutaneous lymphoma.

(lovely to meet you and thanks for the chat )

Ditto

Go Zinger :hug: Huge congratulations Michelle

I used an electric fence when I lived on acreage and it worked well. Just a comment about the wire you're using, chicken wire is not really suitable for containing dogs, it will eventually give way if a dog continually jumps up or puts pressure on it.