Salukifan

To encourage shedding or deter it?

All Natural Vet Care

I would think very carefully before defending this person. Well known to many.

One word explains why this won't get off the ground. Bunnings Any council or business will be litigation averse sadly.

The whole Frenchy/Pug?Bracchy Breed debate has produced an interesting reaction from the wider public. Nothing. No reaction. The dogs are appearing as regularly as ever in advertising. I think it's an interesting perspective for us all to keep in mind. There may be a storm in our teacup but the wider population seem unconcerned. Takes a bit of the urgency out of getting health issues sorted but we must still push on.

What breed is the dog?

I breed miniature horses. I can breed my registered horses with any horse I choose. So how are all those health issues emerging in Miniature Horses going? Should we ban them too? Or insist on outcrossing for size?

The whole point of breed registries is the keeping of a stud book and issuing pedigrees. If someone can find a breed registry in ANY domestic animal that permits breeding outside it, please provide an example. I honestly am beginning to wonder what people want from pedigree breeders, beyond not breeding pedigree dogs. No Australian breeder is a member of the ANKC. Breeders are members of state bodies which in turn are members of the ANKC.

This is a somewhat cynical view but I am intrigued by the notion that the "fix" to the issues of pedigree dogs (bearing in mind that most pedigree breeds don't require a fix) bred to a standard is to use dogs not bred to a standard at all. Without a shadow of a doubt, the worst examples of any breeds I've seen are not pedigreed. Double that for temperament. There may be some great examples too but there are those with pedigrees. Again, if you don't know the ancestry of a dog you will have no idea what you are introducing to a bloodline. Genotype is just as, if not more important. than phenotype. Where there is no health testing for a condition (eg. epilepsy) ancestry is all you have to use to avoid it.

Agree with crate in bedroom

Ignore puppy chewing lead. Keep walking. Most pups start to focus on what's in front of them very quickly.

I know some of the most valued breeding dogs around are ordinary show dogs. Most breeders I know value dogs by what they produce in the whelping box. There are also the instinct dog sports. Do you show Moosmum? Do you hang out with breeders? I get this sense from some folk that they think that pedigree dog folk don't think and worry about these issues and are blind to the extremes of breeding. Maybe you need to search out some different forums. They DO talk about it, they do worry about GSD hind ends and other extremes and they sure as hell DO criticise. I won't deny there's a 'circle the wagons' mentality that tends to see breed folk defend their own. But introspection and reflection aren't absent. I'm not going to blame BYBs for this but it IS a fact that most of the dogs that suffer these issues have at one time or another suffered the curse of popularity. I think what that can mean even within the ANKC is people attracted by profit and lacking in knowledge.

Answer to 1: Because it is ONLY purebred dogs in which health issues have been tracked. That will explain why some breeds cost more to insure than others.

Chopped roast chicken or fried blade steak. Easy to handle, easy to freeze in baggies and the fact that it is cooked stops it making a mess of bait bags. A little cooked meat won't kill your dog.

Guaranteed ancestry. What a dog looks like may not be what a dog is. A pedigree is not just a piece of paper. Family trees matter.

Australia IS onboard. This is the AVA protocol It is based on the WSAVA one.

If your vet is still recommending annual vaccinations, then that isn't in accordance with the AVA protocol. Always pays to check that the articles you are reading are up to date. The AVA protocol changed in 2013 to three yearly vaccinations. This isnt' fresh news. The simple solution if your vet isn't vaccinating in accordance with that protocol is to change vets. I'm tired of vets being demonised as money hungry over servicers by dog owners who think, because they've read a few articles on the internet, that they know more about vaccination or veterinary medicine than the experts. Homeopathic nosodes? No vaccination after puppy ones? Unless you're titering regularly, you are simply gambling with your dog's health and you are relying on the herd immunity of dogs that are vaccinated to keep yours safe. My vets vaccinate in accordance with the AVA protocol. So do a lot of others.

I'm simply sharing current ongoing backcross projects as I figured people might be interested in knowing about them so they can also follow and see what results may happen as they happen. How on earth did someone conclude a Sighthound and a Mollosser were "compatible in structure". The mind boggles

They are not trying to improve the health and soundness of greyhounds, they are only trying to improve the health and soundness of a breed of mastiff and chose the greyhound to cross them with. There were other breeds of mastiff's they could have used. Breeding 80 plus kilo dogs to 30 -35 kilos dogs is not what I call sound practice. Pedigree breeders specialize in breeding "pure" or closed lines. Their own rules against cross breeding mean they are likely pretty ignorant as to what IS sound practice in cross breeding. But I generalize again. Personaly, If it were my breed I think I might be flattered the predictability of that breed was deemed to have values worth contributing to improvement of another. The people doing these kind of crosses are not generally "pedigree breeders". I've seen quite a few claims of "improving breeds" made for new "breeds". From what i've heard the much hyped Australian Bulldog has succeeded in raising levels of dog aggression above what you'd find in BBs. Is that an improvement? You don't just get the 'good' genes from the breeds you use. You get the lot. There have certainly been authorised outcrosses over the years. Use of Golden Retrievers to solve the problem of a minute gene pool in Flatcoats is one example. English and Gordon Setter crosses were authorised in Scandanavia some years back again due to lack of numbers. In sighthounds, the only "new" breed in recent years has health issues completely unknown in other sighthound breeds. Reason? The use of Shetland Sheepdogs to put coat on the Silken Windhound. If you can't test for conditions (as you couldn't for MDR1 at the time) outcrossing doesn't always improve anything.

Despite my views, neither would I. Whistle blower legislation would apply in any event. BUT When there are issues there are channels to raise them. You don't go running to the press every time something goes wrong and expect management to smile about it. You also have to remember that you are not management. And no, I do NOT defend animal cruelty. If that's proven then heads should roll. But gee, people have been known to guild their stories for the right effect. See it all the time.

Well, gee, Willem. You totally nailed it, there, and really burned me in the process. Excuse me while I rethink everything I thought I knew about dog training. I'll be in my ivory tower playing checkers with pigeons. Thanks guys for so beautifully illustrating the point i made earlier about peeing contests. What matters is that the client who cannot walk their dog because it pulls like a train gets practical help. I'm sure they don't give a damn how or what you label that help - what matters is that they get it in language that THEY (not fellow trainers) understand and in steps that they can implement. Its not about you as trainers. Its about clients and dogs. If you are getting the results that clients are paying for, then who cares about the rest of it really? Be judged by your results. They speak for themselves.

Who are the "people like that"? Possibly a pretty low paid council worker driven to distraction by volunteers who think they have all the answers and who rush to FB and the press when their words of wisdom aren't acted upon or policies they disagree with are practiced. Pound workers also get to deal with really difficult pet owners and they never have enough resources to do everything that should and could be done for the animals. It happens. Sometimes those volunteers who are supposedly all for the animals are in reality all for attention seeking, self aggrandising behaviour. And when their trouble making and failure to be able deal with the practical aspects of too many animals to save and to work with the pound staff sees them booted, they seek martyrdom. And its the animals who pay. It pays to remember that there are ALWAYS two sides of a story and that those supposedly championing animals often have their own agendas. Of course government workers are gagged and they cannot speak to the press. Whoever said the road to hell was paved with good intentions must have had experience with animal welfare.

You want a vet who knows their way around big breed puppies and bloat. The actual breed familiarity I'd be less fussed about.

Honestly how to stop it? Stop greeting the dog. Seriously. Do NOT acknowledge the dog when it rushes to grovel and pee. Ignore the dog until it is calm.

I honestly don't give a toss about how trainers label themselves or how they train these days. Just get out there and help people get results with their dogs. Provided the methods aren't abusive, I don't care what they are called. Too much focus for me on those in the profession (I use that term loosely because I dont' think it qualifies) seeing who can pee higher and worrying who is training "right". What's needed is more focus on what matters - well behaved dogs and happy clients. How about less competition and more sharing.