Jed

None of mine fetch. If fetching is really important, try a terrier, or a cocker spaniel. Very different dogs, just depends on how important the fetching is. It may be possible to teach a Cavalier to fetch .... but maybe not.

Lovely pup, Cheys. Don't worry about the other ones --- most of them do fall on their feet, and imho, if you cannot do anything, don't worry. I do wish people would be more caring when they breed, but I can't fix that either, all I can do is do the best with what I have. VislaMomma, what is a "Chessie" please?

Foxes also have it. I think the article was referring to "pets" only, but unvaccinated country dogs sometimes catch it from the fox population. Initial symptoms can simply be those of a cold .... and the brain problems develop later. Nasty disease

Good that she has somewhere to go. She doesn't look very pregnant, perhaps she could be speyed now, with respect to her general condition, age, and the mixed breeding of the pups? Would certainly be worth asking the vet about speying.

Great photo. Staffyluv, I think they are perhaps swearing at each other, and squabbling rather than really fighting - I can see the black one saying "f&^*king b^%$ch, you got in my way there, I'll bite your f$^*ing head off in a minute" and the other one is giving a bit of cheek back. Just how it looks to me. :)

...or maybe someone will take it for dogfighting.

What a filthy disgusting grub. He should go to jail. Forever. I think the poor gf was absolutely horrified about it all, judging by her comments. That's understandable. The mind boggles. Poor dog.

Pet rabbits sometimes need care too. I think that is fair. What's the difference between a dog or a cat in need and a rabbit? Or a guinea pig? The suffering is the same for all. I am more irate that the LDH got anything at all. What a crock!!

Cheys, it is surprising how many people come for a registered puppy, having had a health disaster with a non-registered one. Renal failure, dropped dead, skin conditions and so on and so forth. If no one supported these people, they would soon give up, and fewer pups with those conditions would be born. Sad, but true. Good luck with your baby. almost time now.

I tried to get his name, and he wouldn't oblige, I didn't have phone or camera, I have reported the incident. They often wont give a name. Good on you for reporting him though!!

I don't understand why, if people must go to off lead parks, they don't take a stout stick - ie, a walking stick with a heavy knob on the end - or fly repellent or pepper. So they can protect their dogs from the attacks of other untrained dogs. There is nothing like loudly walloping an attacking dog, whilst screaming "get off" to attract even the slackest owner. And why do you not immediately obtain the name and address of the owner, or at least a photo, so you can report to the council? I am sorry for attacked dogs, but think we all need to be more proactive about preventing and reporting attacks. I let my pups interact - on lead - with other leashed dogs - at dog shows.

Yep, if someone genuinely wants to show and breed, welcome to the pick of the litter. Last time I sold one to breed and show, it cleaned up. Others in the breed thought I was a bit simple to sell it, or I didn't realise it was any good. Not true. Why should others not do well with my stock? Let them do the work and bear the expense, I will take the kudos, thanks. And then there was the woman wanting a bitch on main --- so she could breed one litter so she could keep a pet and give one to her sick sil. She already had a bitch, alas, not registered, and she wouldn't breed with that. there was only 1 pup remaining, not breeding quality. I finally gave in, sold it to her on MR, and then learned she did have 1 bitch, and another 20 odd. Now she is a big time CCCQ accredited breeder, churning out 3 - 6 litters a month. How does that widen the gene pool? Luckily, she sold the one she got from me to a real pet home. There are less than few enquiries from genuine people wanting to show and breed. You can use as much imp semen from magnificent dogs o/s and not get one call from a new person wanting to enter dogs, and not one from any existing breeders either, they want to continue with their own lines. CCCQ has missed the boat.

Perhaps it varies by breed, but I think this is a gross exaggeration. When I lived in WA I registered around 100 pups. I was entirely consistent. If people wanted main register, I agreed to switch after the dog or bitch was evaluated at 1 year. If hips and elbows were above breed average and eye tests ok, and the dog didn't look awful, I would grant main register. Only TWO of the pups I sold, one bitch and one dog, were switched to Main, and the dog was only used at stud twice. The bitch went on to establish a line that some would call BYB pups -- no showing, but not bad looking dogs and decent healthy pets -- I have no problem with that. When I bred my first litter, in 2005, pedigree Labrador pups were going for $600 in the Perth metro area. Now they are going for $1800. This would not be happening if a large number of people were trying to recoup the purchase price. If there's a choice between retaining genetic diversity, by breeding from stock who are not the type-of-the-year or whose owners are not interested in showing, or restricting breeding to the creme de la creme, I know where I'm going to cast my vote. p.s. I had more problems in the opposite direction. There were a few dogs I would have loved to see the owners keep entire so they might have been used at stud. But no, most puppy buyers want to desex. Of course it was an exaggeration!! However, if you breed a breed beloved of puppy farmerS, many of the enquiries are not from people wanting pets, they are from people wanting to breed, but they don't want to tell you that, nor do they want you to mentor them; they want to continue their dodgy ways, with the pup you sold them and they wanted the papers because they can get more for the pups if they are registered. There was a lovely lady with a little boy going around looking for a pet for him. She bought 7 altogether. What a lucky little boy he is. Are you sure none of your Labradors are not in dodgy breeding establishments, Sandgrubber? How do you know? I haven't got a problem with genuine people buying my pups and breeding them. Sadly, there are very few genuine people out there wanting to breed to improve the breed. I received 86 emails for the last litter I advertised, all seeking pets (or so they said). When I said the pups were not for breeding, the interest reduced drastically. I don't think selling a pup to a 200 dog puppy farm does anything to widen the gene pool.

If you are squeamish, don't read on. Walrus How did it feel? Loose and floppy? Nothing like swimmers - they look a bit flat, and in my experience (which is not vast) the rib cage is flat on the bottom.

Frightful. Poor little girl, poor family, I do hope she survives. But I do wish the "authorities" would try to ascertain the cause of attacks, and would make information on how to prevent attacks available to everyone.

Congratulations Cheys. Excellent choice. EVery happiness and success with her :)

Well done Minigirl -- once they begin on solids, it all seems more hopeful. Hope you have success. Thanks for that info Wunda. :) dancingbcs, I have had a couple of pups which died, and after death it was possible to open the mouth enough to see the cleft which had not been visible in life ... couldn' t open the mouth enough

DQ seems to have forgotten that if the pup develops into show quality and the owner wants to show the breeder can transfer from limited to main register. People will either desex prior to sale, register only what they are keeping (against the rules) or cease breeding. Things are not as they were 15 - 20 years ago!! Not at all There is little genuine interest from new people in breeding and showing. Look around the showring. How many new people are there? Very very few. And none of them had problems getting a dog to show and breed with. Because they are genuine. Taking LR away will not suddenly increase exhibitor numbers. Hope everyone in Q will attend the workshop near them and have their say.

I hope Q members who are concerned about this will attend one of the meetings in various areas in March and make their feelings known. Please do. I also think this will lead to more members doing neonatal desexing. My vet will happily sign forms to say the pup is not the quality for breeding / showing - but that should no be necessary. The breeder should be able to make that determination. I rather fear that DQ is in favour of puppy farms and lots of lovely lolly flowing in from all those pups being bred in cages down in the shed.

If he has no palate problem, perhaps he is simply drinking the milk too fast. I have had them do that with the bottle, when there has been nothing wrong with them. I have had a few over the years which had problems, but no palate problems could be seen when they were first born - as the puppy grew - and with a torch - it was possible to see a hairline fault at the rear of the palate. On the question of keeping them alive. The outcome is never known when you begin with a puppy with a problem - particulary when you don't know what the problem is. With a hare lip,deviated septum, or palate problem I would probably send them over the bridge. However my experience with "difficult" pups - such as this one - is that I have a good success rate in raising them, albeit with a few more wrinkles and grey hairs. This pup sounds to me as if he is a bit overexcited, and there is no point in a vet saying "he has a palate problem" without being able to point out where the problem is - or what it is. It's easy enough to chuck them on the scrap heap, when with a bit of extra care, they would be have been ok. In the absence of a crystal ball to tell me which is which, I shall continue to give special attention to the difficult ones - where I cannot see any reason for the problem.I think sometimes there is lack of development in some area of the brain, or a minor brain injury which repairs as the pup grows. Perhaps a repro and neo nate specialist would be able to give you better advice. It is so difficult without seeing the pup.

Espinay, you did need to register all here. Every living pup had to be registered However, in those days, every fourth person who wanted a pup didn't want to make lots of bucks studding their second rate dog, or breeding 10 litters out of their bitch to recoup the purchase price. I have decided if this rule is brought in, I shall only register the pups I am keeping, rather than have the others go on MR, and I am not the only one. If it goes against the coe, sad, it wasn't the coe I originally signed, and I would not do anything which was not for the welfare of the dogs. WE have enough problems now without anti-member rules too. DQ has demonstrated they are only interested in $$, not the welfare of the dogs. Wonder who thought this one up? There are regional meetings soon, and I think there will be quite a bit said about this.

I think you need a definitive diagnosis before making any decision. It can be extremely difficult to see a tiny split at the rear of the soft palate in a baby pup, particularly in small breeds. If this is the problem I was told $3000 to a specialist to operate, and because of the soft tissue the stitches could pull out. Try to get a vet to give you an accurate diagnosis. So many things to go wrong!! Breeding is not for the faint hearted! Good luck.

Poor chap. I will put him on my facebook. Not a good area for an impaired dog. Hope someone finds him soon. Will you let us know please?

Thanks, Simply Grand!! I too agree about comforting distressed dogs. A lot of behavioural/training issues seem to be very faddish, and change as the years pass, then return to the original.

Mine wont drink if there is ACV in the water. I put it on the food and mix it in. Gets a slightly better reception.