ellz

Goodness me...don't you all get it? Noah wouldn't have needed refrigeration for dog food......he would have fed BARF!! Ready supply with many of the other species on board! But I do agree the aRSePCA would have been after him for neglect. You're not allowed to keep certain species confined.

Not quite true. Because there was no BOB, there was no GSD in the group lineup so BIG and BIS weren't options and therefore, neither were the points. Western Australia and Tas are disadvantaged for sure, but West Oz does have a slight advantage in that you ARE at least on the same landform and don't have to cross water to get there. If you don't fly (which is also difficult now, certainly more difficult with large dogs due to very recent airline changes and the fact that many of the planes used to get into Tasmania are not suitable for animal transport), your only option is the ferry and that is fraught with difficulties too. Travel with dogs from Tasmania has changed so much in recent years and the airlines are making it even more difficult so it will only be a matter of time before Tasmanians will not be in a position to use air travel at all and that will also obviously impact interstate visitors too. Our Royals are already seeing dwindling numbers of exhibits.

Just hope that nobody from Tasmania whose council demands debarking of a nuisance barker (which will be an interesting scenario since NO vets in Tasmania will perform the procedure) relocates to Victoria with their debarked dog!

OK Greytmate, I GET that you're upset with me and that apparently in your eyes I am an imbecile. And that I have no idea what I'm talking about and should always agree with you and everybody else that posts and not have my own opinions. I do apologise most humbly and sincerely. Now can we let it go please?

Did I recall you saying she is dilated? I would be concerned about that if there were no action soon. An open cervix can be a super-highway for bugs. Remember too that bitches who are carrying a large (or small) litter are often quite unable to go into labour naturally.

Mucous can also indicate a worm burden.

The only rules and regulations I can find relate to bitches not being flown if they are more than 6 weeks in whelp. Unless the bitch becomes particularly stressed as a result of flying (in which case she probably would have been so stressed she wouldn't have conceived anyway) there is really no huge danger in flying. I've flown bitches back days after mating or weeks after mating with no issues whatsoever. And also consider those bitches which come into quarantine in whelp.

Good for you Nancy!! The way they handle the card/certificate requests here in Tassie is to stickytape a piece of paper on a table at the Secretary's office for exhibitors wanting cards to write down the exhibit number. That way they are just checked periodically for new additions, crossed off as written and left in a convenient place to be collected so that the entire flow of the office isn't disrupted for card requests. They even did this for In Group cards this past weekend due to so many people not collecting those which were previously written automatically.

I do not respond to mobile numbers if they are left as the sole method of contact. In the first place I see no reason why I should foot the bill for what is 9 times out of 10 a lengthy conversation and anyway, I cannot dial mobiles from my home number by choice. If somebody has sent me an email, then a reasonable assumption is that they have email capabilities and I am then more than happy to continue communication with them VIA email....up to a point because there will invariably be a need to speak with them sooner or later if our "relationship" is to continue. But by then, they will more than likely have rung me anyway or other mutually agreeable arrangements to speak will have been made. I have no discrimination against free email addresses. I tend to use them as well so as to keep spam and viruses away from my private address books.

Learn to use the search function. It is very simple to use, and you will avoid getting confused about what has been said. I don't expect you to appease my sensibilities, I just think it is rude to complain about what others say without really reading what they wrote. Er....complaining? I thought I was adding some more comment to the thread in rebuttal to your comments about car yards and car salesmen? Forgive me this time for having an opinion. Oh and FWIW, I do use the search function frequently but if you try and do a search for that particular post, without actually knowing WHO posted it (because I honestly couldn't remember), the entire thread still comes up! Just a little FYI....... FFS, is it a full moon? Or NEAR a full moon?

Public forum.....multiple page thread....topic been in and out of my mind all night. My SINCEREST apologies for not going back through every single post so as to appease your sensibilities!

Can't remember which post it was and haven't got time to go trawling back through them all, but was thinking about this thread overnight (as you do) and something occurred to me. It rang a couple of bells at the time but I couldn't work out why......... It was about a car saleyard and how the people there are trained to deal with "tyrekickers" but still treat them all the same. Dog breeders are NOT car salesmen and I'd be appalled if they were suddenly perceived as having to BE like a car salesman. Breeding animals of any kind is so much unlike retail sales that it is like comparing apples and oranges as any reputable and responsible breeder would and should know! Only the enquiring party will truly know whether or not they are a tyrekicker or time waster when enquiring about a dog or a litter of puppies and the breeder/seller has to make their mind up from an initial enquiry. If a person is so offended at seeing "No time wasters" in an ad, then they more than likely won't bother to enquire and the seller has lost a potential sale. I'm sure the seller is aware of that and can probably sleep very soundly at night!

My Roger won another two Baby In Groups this weekend and beat sister Flame both days! This sees the end of their baby campaign...next time out, they're up playing with the big kids!!!!! Another lovely social weekend with the Rajacadoo-doo-doos, Flatchat, Maxbox and Hounder. Spied Quoll in the distance I think and Huganewf came along today too. I *think* I saw Bokezu, but wasn't sure if it was her or not so didn't go and say hi. Beautiful day yesterday, very changeable day today. Winter is definitely on its way Down Under Down Under!

We witnessed a classic "judge in a hurry" scenario at a show today. Group 6 specials were being judged. The first few dogs were in the ring. The judge walks over and hands the sash to the Dobermann exhibitor.....as the Samoyed comes flying into the ring. The Samoyed exhibitor was justifiably pissed!

That may be the case, but as the certificates are printed and supplied by DogsNSW, then I would be very surprised if they were not available to clubs to purchase as well. In many places it would seem it is a "domestic" decision whether or not to offer them.

Is that Postive Feedback from the Judge??? That would be great but seems to be a rare thing, Iguess they are too busy to say much at the time, and perhaps it's not the done thing? Although I've been bouyed by encouraging comments from Judges such as "promising puppy", "what a lovely line up of beautiful bitches I have here today" and "nice job". But I think comments are rare, apart from a few 'niceities'. I do get alot of postive feedback (and constructive critism) from my fellow competitors which I value greatly. And it's not about the 10c ribbon or a piece of carboard, when I started this post I was very thrilled and happy to have been chosen for a RC, it was my first, and as the days have gone by my initial euphoria has wained somewhat. Some of your comments have made me feel that perhaps it really is no big deal. But it did give me some encouragement for a short while there to keep trying when at times I've felt like giving up, not because I don't think my dog is up to it, I know she is, her biggest handicap is me, but I've been trying hard and learning alot and felt that it was finally starting to come together. I'm sorry that you feel your win has been somewhat negated. I vividly remember the excitement of MY first Reserve challenge so believe me, you're not alone!! Hang in there and your first CC will surely not be too far away!!!

+1 As for NSW not offering Res CC certificates.......when my Stafford was Res CC at the SBT Society Easter Show 1999 (following up on his SBIS the prior Easter), he came home with the Res rosette and a Res CC certificate.

Sounds very reasonable and responsible to me. I'd just say that breeder is one of the ones who belongs in the rude breeders' thread. I'd rather a person do their research and change their mind BEFORE they take a puppy, saves a lot of angst all around later on.

Well I was dead serious with my replies. Most people DON'T know that the American Cocker is NOT a Cav x Cocker. And for some reason they DO think they bark with an accent. And most people DON'T know that the Stafford jaw doesn't lock because they DO listen to the crap spouted by other people and in the media.

EXACTLY!!! As I said in my reply...I'm more than happy to spend hours talking about my breeds and to answer any questions and I receive many, many calls and emails every week whether I have anything available for rehoming or not. 9 times out of 10 a caller themselves will know if they are a timewaster or photo collector. Many are just trying to amuse themselves. Many of them have phoned/emailed EVERY breeder they can find trying to find a puppy....not the BEST puppy/breeder match for them but the cheapest or the one they can haggle down. And many others of them have absolutely NO intention of purchasing because they don't have any money at all, but think that they might manage to luck into something if they try hard enough.

psssst....Labs don't come in gold. The correct colour is yellow!

I've been showing dogs for 24 years now and I still have some of my first Reserve Challenge certificates, although I stopped collecting them after a couple of years or so. Once in a while, I'll come across the folders in which they are kept (one for each of my first dogs!) and smile at the memories they bring back to me. In this day and age of declining numbers, if providing Res CC and even place cards is what it takes to encourage people to hang around for long enough that they are replaced by the next lot of newbies...then it should be done!

The first Mr Ellz made his handling debut when roped into taking an English Cocker bitch in for her class. He somehow managed to get his thumb stuck in the ring of the choker and the judge had to help get him untangled! Over the years I've done the "base over apex" trick a few times....once most notably when I was about 7 months pregnant and showing a Saluki. Have also disabled various tables, place markers and even the odd steward or two!

I look at it this way. I may well have something to sell and I'm perfectly willing to stay on the phone and discuss a potential puppy/adult placement or even just a general breed enquiry with somebody for hours if necessary. BUT...I confess that I get really, really NARKY with people who enquire about something I am offering for sale when they have NO intention whatsoever of actually purchasing it, or if their only intention is to try and haggle, swindle or otherwise deal me out of my own possession simply because they think they can, or they want to. Many people only have a half-hearted idea of whether they are interested and might just be testing the water, but they will still know if they are in a position to actually purchase the puppy/item etc offered and not just kick tyres or collect photos for the fun of it.

Don't be too concerned about not feeling movement just prior to, or even during whelping. Often the puppies go into a kind of "down" process whilst they are summing up the energy that it takes to be born. And if they are in the birth canal, there isn't a lot of room for movement either. I had a maiden bitch recently whose temperature dropped at midday Saturday, she started nesting and getting very uncomfortable at midnight Saturday night and by 5.30am the next morning I had decided she wasn't progressing fast enough and rang the vet. She subsequently had a c-section to deliver her 9 puppies safely. 9 puppies considered a LOT for this breed of dog so the vet wasn't surprised at all. If your girl is expecting a large litter, you need to be that little more vigilant. Sometimes the puppies in the horns of the uterus get very active and end up like a road map inside the bitch and no amount of normal straining can get them out. Once you see VERY intense nesting behaviour....and you'll know it when you see it. It will either present as constant ripping, tearing and scratching at the bedding or alternatively very intense nesting that occurs in regular waves (ie every couple of minutes or so - the same as with human birth contractions) then you need to be on alert and stay with the bitch. If you are at all concerned, get her to the vet for an internal. They can at least tell you if the cervix is opening as it should, whether any puppies are presenting and you are then on hand for any other treatment that they recommend such as oxytocin, observation or worst-case scenario - surgical intervention.