shellbyville

Wuppywoman, I know how you must be feeling. In the very first litter I bred, the owners came & picked up their puppy. He was healthy and happy. They lived a good days drive away. Rang to say they had arrived and all was well. Then just over 2 days later they rang to say the little guy had died from a tick. I was devastated! The new owners were very good about it, but did say their vet said it most likely picked the tick up from my place. Who knows, that could have been the case, or it could have picked up the tick along the way on toilet stops. I felt I had to replace the puppy of course, it was just fortunate that I had kept a few to run on from that litter, so sent them a puppy, a different colour to the original but they didn't mind. They were very pleased and even got another pup from me a few years later as a mate to the first. We kept a good relationship which I think was very important. I do feel for you though, as we put in so much effort, time & love into the litter and it is devastating when something happens to one of our babies.

I have just changed from Bonnie to Uncle Albers (with my adult labs), I still have a 4month old pup on Bonnie puppy! My bag says 24% protein, and there is nothing inside that says to the contrary. I am in the process of changing a 10 mth old lab from puppy to adult so wouldn't want the protein content to be any higher! (I couldn't find any sticker inside the pack saying what yours did - the Ark). My labs love the Uncle Albers, although they love any kibble, I think I could feed them the cheapest variety and they would scoff it down, however I am after something that they do well on, that isn't too hard on the wallet, and that doesn't leave huge mounds of poo all over my yard! So far so good with Uncle Albers!!! I pay $35 for a 22kg bag which I think is pretty good!

My thoughts as well, if he is entire, he may be able to smell a bitch in season! I have a boy who is just over 2 and when I have bitches in season he goes off his food and barks! Where at other times he never barks!

I have had a difficult time finding a good vet to do the Xrays for hip/elbow scoring (I live in a small country town). So have tried 3 different vets until I found one I was happy with for Xrays for this purpose and each of them gave GA's. The last one is very experienced in xraying for scoring and they also recommend GA to get the dog in the correct position. Just my experience!

I have found that some people tend not to pick up after their dogs at shows where they stay overnight. I have come across many people who walk their dogs before bed etc and have seen them not pick up. I often offer them a bag if they are walking away, which then makes them stop & have to pick up!! I find that most people will pick up after their dogs at the ringside where everyone can see, but don't in places away from the ring where they can get away with it! Maybe having bins & pooper scoopers placed further away in walking areas would help, but I think some people are not going to do it no matter what, unless they are guilted into it by others who spot them. It is awful especially when you are using a sporting ground!

I am interested to try Uncle Albers, but would also like to know what the 'output matter' is like. I have been feeding Bonnie to all my labs and find they do well on it, but their poos (output) is not very pleasant, often quite loose & smelly and a fair bit of it!!! Has anyone found with Uncle Albers it is firmer & less of it! Just to add, my dogs get a combination of dry & raw!

Definitely an expensive & unnecessary mistake for the owner to make, and I would have thought a vet would know. Now the dog has to undertake another GA. I also agree with Blacklabrador that elbows are definitely proving to be more of a problem in labs from my experience as well!

My next dog will be coming from a Registered breeder, who is listed on DOL, although I didn't know it until I had already contacted her. I have found most of my information regarding breeders has been around the show ring circle and since I want a show potential pup, I guess that is the best place for me to access information regarding breeders. DOL however has been invaluable in learning more about the breed and meeting other people with the same breed. It would also be fantastic for someone wanting to get a dog that doesn't go to shows etc. I wish I had known about DOL when I bought my very first labrador about 11years ago for showing. It would have saved me so much trouble and a bit of heartache as well! I think DOL is a fantastic site and recommend it to lots of people as well as my puppy buyers.

I have one girl who was not a good mum the first time around. She is an easy whelper, with no complications, and she had heaps of milk, but was cranky with her babies for the first week or so, I supervised all feeds 24/7 until the pups were over 2 weeks old. She came on heat quickly after her first litter, pups were just 4 months I think, so I bred from her again straight away and the 2nd time she was so much better. No crankiness with the babies, she kept them and the whelping box impeccably clean and was even a more protective of them. Whereas the first litter she didn't care if my other bitch hopped in the box and helped nurse & toilet them (which was very helpful). The 2nd time around she seemed to know they were hers and did a wonderful job. I am not sure what her mother was like, as I did not breed her.

I agree you have to be 'tough' to stick at it, especially in the dog showing (conformation) world. I have had a battle with different things over the years I have shown, but I have had to have resolve and stick with it and I do this because I really enjoy it and love to spend time with my dogs and some nice people at the shows. I could have given up many times if winning was the only reason I went to shows, however saying that I do go with the hope my dogs will do well, otherwise I could just join a group that loves getting together with their dogs socially. I love to get a win, but that is not my sole reason for going. I also agree with others that talked about having a life other than showing. I think the more balanced people in the show circle are those that have other interests and don't put showing before family, friends and other interests. I love showing, but I fit it in with my other interests of family, church, work, and other hobbies I have.

Personally, I feel the attitude "toughen up or you wont survive" is overused in the dog showing world, and particularly so on this forum . Why should it be the courteous and sensitive that have to change, rather than the rude and vengeful? I totally agree with this statement. I do think that you need to have 'thick skin' to be in the show world. I have been showing now for about 9 years and for the most part love it. I try to remember I am there for the judges opinion on my dog, I paid for it in my entry and whether I like it or not, they gave their opinion. Next week the judge may and often does have a totally different opinion on the same dogs being judged! I think a 'well done' or 'congratulations' to a fellow competitor is just good sportsmanship! I don't want to have to become 'hard' or 'tough', however I think I have changed somewhat during the years I have been showing, but still think good sportsmanship is so important and doesn't cost us anything. Common courtesy seems to have been lost in some circles in the show scene!

How sad for you and your children you couldn't get the pup you were counting on, however I am glad you investigated further so you didn't end up with a very sick pup and possibly a large vet bill or even worse a dead puppy which your children would have had attachment to! I think it is sad that the breeder didn't keep in better contact, although I am guessing they are going through hell at the moment as well. Good luck finding a puppy, I hope you find one soon and have a much better experience.

Bonnie Working dog biscuits are a round shape, another confirming that. I bought a bag of Bonnie puppy not long ago and from memory it was about $45.

Just a warning, that if you have a compost heap/bin make sure your dogs cannot get into it! I have labs and a few of mine managed to get into my compost heap and ate some potatoes that were very 'off' along with other things, but it was the potatoes that did the harm. Both dogs were very, very ill, with symptoms of vomiting, frothing at the mouth, very weak & could barely stand. Took them to the vets, but once they got it out of their system they recovered. Very scary though!

The paperwork may be a bit slow because most Canine Councils have time off over the Christmas period. I had a litter born in December and my paperwork only came through 2 weeks ago, which I forwarded off to the new owners as soon as it arrived (I am in NSW). Hopefully the breeder will respond to the emails sent...maybe they are having internet problems!!! How long has your cousin been emailing with no response? As for the vaccination, just get one more done. I only ever get 2 shots for puppies.

I have labs, and try to be very careful how much they 'rough play' with other dogs. I usually let them play together in a smaller confined area where they do, more rolling, tumbling etc, but don't let them out in a big area where they can run and 'slam' into each other. It is a fine line between letting them socialise and not letting them play too rough. Also when they are young puppies I only let them play with another puppy of similar size. As long as you supervise and are there to intervene when it gets too rough or silly I don't thing you would have a problem.

Thanks, I didn't think slightly oversized entry forms would be a problem especially as they are typed, but wasn't quite sure. I have signed up to show manager, it's great and definitely worth the $15 for 5 dogs which suits me fine at the moment and I don't think I would ever show anymore than 3 0r 4 at a time anyway. Will definitely make entering much less time consuming.

Show manager is a great site! I was wondering though it prints the entry forms a bit bigger than the DogsNSW entry forms, I am assuming they will be accepted by show secretaries. Has anyone ever not have them accepted?

Thanks!

Ellz would you be able to tell me how much it costs? I couldn't see it on the site!

I will have a look at show manager. I have downloaded the original one I had (that Aziah gave me the link to) but for some reason it is not printing out my forms correctly. It cuts off the end of the form! Any suggestions/ideas why it is doing this. I have adjusted all my print settings, but it still wants to do it. I have wasted quite a bit of paper trying to sort it out.

Thanks so much, that's the one!

I was wondering if someone could tell me where a program for Entry forms would be. I had it on my old computer and it crashed and want to put it on the new one. It was free and you could make a donation. I think it was entry forms Australia or something like that. It would never let me put NSW as my state, always put the ACT, but was a great program.

Redz, I am so sorry for the loss of your puppy. I have just flown a few pups to different places in Australia and because of your sad story I was much more careful in choosing flight times. I always try to choose flights that are not in the middle of the day etc, but it just made me so much more aware of the danger and risk involved. I hope you recover quickly from this terrible outcome and also the new puppy buyers as they must feel so sad. Even though this was a terrible tragedy thank you for sharing and making us all more aware of what can happen.

Did anyone see it? I missed it, well actually just caught the very ending, but didn't hear what Katrina Warren had to say, was it a designer dog vs purebreed argument?