Salukifan

I have to say, the best antidote I know for people who are concerned about your dog is to demonstrate it is under effective control. I'm not frightened of dogs (well, not often) and I'll take a course to avoid if one approaches pulling madly on its lead with the owner powerless to stop it. Nothing about such situations gives me confidence. Give that dog a "heel" command and have its focus on you as you come up and I'm far more relaxed. Ditto for pulling off the path and having the dog hold a sit. I always move off the path for pedestrians and cyclists.

Some folk seem to think a vet's reception area is a playgroup /petting zoo. They let their dogs (and sometimes kids) approach everyone and everything. Doesn't seem to cross their mind that your dog might be frail, in pain or just unwell or stressed, not to mention DA. I don't let my dogs go up to the rabbit or cat boxes and I can't believe people let that happen. Mind you, last time I was at the vet, the next "client" over was a snake in a bag. Not a very happy snake either I don't think.

I let my dog/s sit on my lap, not the chairs. I've seen the hygiene state of some dogs brought to the vet. I'd rather not sit where such dogs have been. Kirty: The LAST thing I want to see at a vet is the unrestrained, unsupervised clinic dog or cat wandering aroud reception. Just want you DO NOT need if you have a DA dog or a high prey drive one. It's bad enough when clients aren't forced to have dogs on a leash or cats in a box!! Took my DA poodle up to Sydney for a consult on spinal issues. Unrestrained Mini Schnauzer in reception so I head for a quiet spot. ""Can you weigh your dog please" says the vet nurse. "Please keep your dog away from mine" I say to client with mini S. "my dog is not dog friendly'. I head for the scales and before I know it the Mini S is in Darcy's face and he reacts. Vet nurse rushes out with a lead for the Mini S. Too bloody late then! :

Resentment won't change anything. Perhaps a bit more understanding that people can be genuinely frightened of your dog and a cheerful "good morning" or similar are best. You can't change people's fear in a quick meeting.

Moving on, I really don't like your idea of bringing in a bitch that's already had 3-4 litters and breeding her on. I'd bring in a younger bitch - or two.

You have an golden opportunity here to educate a great many about working cockers. I suggest you grab it. Would it kill you to come down off that high horse and tell people a bit about working cockers in this country? The cure for ignorance is education, not insults.

Have you ever been to a rough shoot in the UK? I've seen spanners of all types cover terrain that i wouldn't want to cover on foot, let alone running with a pheasant that is several times bigger than my head, in my mouth. :) Cockers were viewed in a similar way in the UK up until recently when people have realised that the dogs physical size is far outweighed by its work ethic. I know people that use them for waterfowling, not talking ducks, i'm talking Geese, and they still work on. You are correct in regard to springers, and I am in touch with several working line breeders over here for springers haven't discounted them by any means, but I would still want to get my hands on a working Cocker as well. :) I suppose as well that I am not someone that tends to take the easy route (some might say stubborn :laugh: ) but the way I look at it is that any of the magnificent dogs that are in Australia were at some point in the same position as the working cocker. There are a very limited number of people here that have them and maybe by getting some, I might be able to help in that establishment? Everything starts from something small. In regard to weims, the only working ones I have seen were HPR or peg dogs much the same as a GSP, What trait is it that you feel would be so uniquely negative about a working line weim, compared to say a working line GSP? I hear what you are saying about ability in pups from a FTCH mating, and of course you would expect all of the pups to have working ability and drive, but I would also expect that some would stand out and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Obviously with such small litter sizes and the fact that, people interested in them would probably have at least a passing interest in trial-ling, shooting or at least gundogs, I would expect that anyone that WANTED a working line cocker would have at least a vague idea of what they are getting in to. :) I just wonder how a Cocker is going to handle the kind of water retrieving trial dogs get here - most are far larger than the Cocker. How can you handle a dog that can't see you above the height of the grass? I just can't see them as being competitive in a sport dominated by Labradors and the occasional GSP. I don't recall saying anything about working Weims at all, negative or otherwisel. Good luck with expecting people to know what they are getting into. Reality has a bad habit of rearing its head and what people perceive they can handle may not be reality.

OT I know. I don't like the insinuation that cockers are not very intelligent dogs, I've heard it a lot but from my experience this is not the case. Cockers are also found in the same group as Weimaraners and Collies in the list of dog breed intelligence being excellent working dogs. Yes, they take a long time to mature Yes, they can be very excitable which makes it hard for them to concentrate and yes they often require an intensive to work but they are far from dumb Generally "sharpness" in reference to a working gundog refers to how hard it's nature is (and potentially to levels of aggression) not how smart it is. A sharp dog is more volatile, but not necessarily brighter.

A dog as small as a working Cocker might find some Australian trialing terrain hard going. Outside of Retrieving Trials, how many opportunities are there to trial a Cocker here?? Any reason why a working Springer won't suit? They are already established here. If working Cockers haven't found a footing here, you have to ask yourself why.

I predict this study will get a good workout from the SWF haters in the months to come/ Seems to me that if smaller dogs get away with more, that's an OWNER issue. They are focusing on the wrong end of the lead again.

I think the ideal for a Whippet is limited access inside via a dog door. They do not deal well with extremes of temperature. What toys does he have? Alone time needs to have activities that he can enjoy. Feeding outside, a few cardboard boxes and fluffy toys to destroy play with can all help to teach him to amuse himself.

The only restriction you need to put on a pup being outside alone is that the yard is safe. You can even section off a bit of the yard if necessary. I start my pups using the dog door as soon as they get home and my rule is that the pup never pees or poos in the house. Very difficult for a pup to undersand that its OK to do that sometimes but not at other times. If you want reliable toilet training, I'd be encouraging the pup to toilet outside from the get go. He is old enough to use a dog door now. Allowing him to come and go will make less of a deal about you leaving. If the only time the pup is placed in the laundry is to be separated from you, that would build anxiety. Have you considered using a crate in the living room? Some pups eat poo. One of my Whippet pups did this and the only way to deter it was to remove it as fast as possible. He grew out of it. Your vet will probably try to sell you product. What is the puppy school's qualifications in nutrition? Feed what you want to feed, it won't affect the pup wanting to eat poo IMO.

Is there any reason the pup cant' be given access outside to toilet or when you aren't there? The laundry is not a good long term option for confining him. I suggest you set him up in the space you intend that he spend his time when you go back to work. If you don't want him walking in his own poo (not pleasant for him either by the way) then he needs more space to be in when confined. How much do you know about a proper balanced raw diet for a pup? if the answer is "not much" now is not the time to be changing his diet.

Swimming?

You might want to look to New Zealand first. I hear that there are working lines there.

What colour is her skin? I'd not be clipping a dog with pink skin. I'd think the coat out with a coat king or similar.

I would not be stinting on the quality of food I fed a giant breed pup. EVERYTHING will cost more with such a dog - all part of ownership of a breed of this size. I'd talk to your breeder about other foods he/she might recommend but theres no way I'd be feeding the really cheap brands. They are full of cereal which is simply going to end up in your back yard. Any 20kg bag of food that costs $30 is going to be crap IMO.

Beautiful! :)

Do the right thing by the dog you bred and take it back. No way would my conscience allow me to leave a dog there, knowing what you do now.

You need a zero in the second voting part. I have six dogs and none are scared of storms.

RC do not import their Kidney diet dry into this country. I got that from RC direct. The trick that works for me is to put a SMALL amount of either warm mince (and the juice) or tuna and oil into the K/D. Not ideal but at least Herbie will eat it and his kidney condition hasn't worsened while I've done that. Or you can try a bit of the K/D canned - it is more palatable.

I have the chamois and I LIKE the fact that they don't get as cold as the ones with the crystals in them. You want your dog cool, not chilled - disastrous for kidneys for a start. I don't think you should put them on a dog and leave them unsupervised and you shouldn't put one on immediately after exercise - it cools muscle too quickly.

Sounds like a traumatic patella luxation to me. A low grade patella issue might go relatively unnoticed and then it fully pops out of the groove and won't go back in. Hope he has a quiet night before you can get to the vet.

But Cairns are just the coloured version!!!

If she doesn't care about coat colour, she could look at Cairn Terriers. Basically the same dogs without the popularity or the price tags.