Sandra777

Thanks SwaY - straight off the vic dogs site? The person who wants to know said they couldn't find it there

You can buy the taps (ordinary garden taps, plastic type taps, whatever you like) and insert them into those 20/40/60 litre jerry cans which come with either the little tap for drinking water (which is what I think you are referring to) or with no tap and a pre-made hole to insert a tap instead. BCF had them in various sizes last year, all had the drinking water tap attached to the handle for the buyer to insert but the jerry can itself just had the hole with the bung in it. You may need some silcone sealer and/or plastic glue to make a good seal. ETA: or just buy one of those 'rubber' buckets Bunnings is selling for drinks and rinse him with a jug/cup.

Sorry Ellz, but breeders in 1949 fully understood that blue with a black nose wasn't possible. Marion Forester spent much of her breeding career trying to recreate her foundation bitch Moti who was a blue - so this makes most of the original foundation stock of Australia descended from a blue too. She corresponded with many of the top breeders in the UK between the 1950's & 1980's so had a reasonable grasp on their thoughts. She told me many times that blue with a dark slate nose was what was intended and required. A very prominant NSW kennel I believe you had dealings with was also founded on a blue bitch. Some of the prominent breeders in the mid 1950's onwards in the UK also housed a blue or two, but back in those days it was the quality of the dog that counted and if it happened to be DARK blue with a slate coloured nose this was considered just another fault, like a dodgy ear, light eyes or any other cosmetic fault. Problem is of course now that it is the colour that is important and not the dog.

Can someone tell me if there is a minimum age for junior membership in Victoria? Not for handling classes but for actual membership of Vicdogs. Also, is there a minimum age for a child to handle a dog in a regular show class... in Victoria and in ACT TIA

I have faced this exact situation, except she was nearly 12 and although a little deaf, in excellant health. Cleo simply could not come with us when we moved from NZ 14 months ago, she would not have coped with the climate and would not have coped with the flight (has ear issues) We made the decision to try and find her a home but if we couldn't we would have her PTS. Not moving was not an option for us either. Miraculously Cleo found a fabulous home, where she is still doing great and ruling the roost, she's even learned to swim and kayak at the age of 13! If you feel your dog could cope with a change of home then by all means try to find him a home, but at the same time mentally prepare yourself for the horrible decision that he must go to the bridge. What other choice do you have, dump him? (tongue in cheek) You can't take him with you and if you can't find him a home where he will be happy there is only one choice to be made. Don't compromise on the choice of home just to save yourself the pain of having to give him his wings, you will never ever forgive yourself if you do that. ETA: we have made a pledge that once we own our own home we will repay the kindness of Cleo's new family by taking in a old rescue ourselves.

Plastic rubbish bin from Bunnings - about $12 and holds a 20kg sack with space over. Don't use a lot of dry food anymore (thank you freezer god )

No sympathy for you. I'm keeping 3 too, 2B 1D but 2 litters. Anyone with enough bad taste to want a black brindle bitch, pet? She's completely demented, the character of the black crew.

:whee: :rofl: I was thinking that Mae & the big dog (no, can't think of a name) were never going to officially be 3 months old Diva of course is perfect - Diva was born on November 27th.....

Have the same "problem"with a pup born on November 29th. Interesting, there is actually a show here on February 28th..... but I never had any intention of entering anyway.

Registered breeders can be puppy farms too so the fact that some pups have come from a registered breeder doesn't mean much of anything really.

Feeding egg white alone can cause issues if you do it a lot (a lot depending on the dog), white and yolk together is fine because the yolk has large amounts of biotin. Shell as well is even better.

:eek: Yes! Show dogs are only bred for their looks and are stupid and unhealthy, and in the next breath my gorgeous lovely Fluffy has XXX champions in her pedigree.

It's my understanding that the vaccine used is exactly the same as the "annual" one. Titre testing effectiveness?, not sure what you mean by this. The titre test is a measurement of the free antibodies in the bloodstream however if the dog hasn't encountered the virus it won't have the same number of antibodies in the bloodstream as a dog that has recently done so, so it may appear to have less immunity, but the immune system doesn't work like this - it doesn't constantly manufacture antibodies for diseases the dog is not encountering - that'd be a waste of time and effort!

OK - quick low-down Staffords come in brindle, whole coloured red, tan pattern or white/pied. They are either fully pigmented (not blue) or dilute (blue). There is also liver but ignore that one for now Red to red only produces red or black and tan (could also produce liver) brindle to brindle can produce absolutely anything because it is the dominant gene and can hide any other gene. Generations of brindle breeding can produce huge surprises - I know of a dog which sires red pups despite the fact his nearest red ancestor is SIX generations back, and then there's only one of them! Blue is a recessive gene which dilutes black pigment. It is not actually a colour in itself. AFAIK two blues mated together can produce only blue dilute - however it could be blue fawn or blue brindle. "Blue"and "blue brindle"are the same colour. The only exception to this would be pieds and whites - white is an absence of colour so masks what is there can you could get a pure white dog which is genetically blue dilute because these are two different genes and one cancels out the other. A blue mated to another colour can produce anything as it's a recessive gene so can be overpowered by virtually any other gene so without knowing if both parents are blue or what the other parent is I can't even begin to guess. If they have both the parent's DNA certificates they can DNA test the puppy to confirm whether the parents are genuine or not, they don't need anyone else's permission.

I have never owned a desexed dogs, only entire. I have never had one that would cock his leg in the house. IMO it is a part of house training, not an excuse to neuter early. An desexed dogs can and do cock their leg, scent mark, mate bitches and be dog aggressive. It's a training issue no matter what the size of the dog.

OK - so how come my dogs who eat meat on the bone every single day for every single meal poo out rocks and not treacle? Dogs can't digest whole grains and unprocessed vege and don't have the correct intestinal make up to make use of carbs as their primary source of energy. They have the gut of a carnivore combined with the stomach acids of a scavenger.

agreed largeish bones with heaps of meat on are also terrific for first feeds- pups start out sucking, slurping, nibbling, then chewing...... ;) :mad :rofl: at the thought of Pom puppies chewing on half a cow. I love giving the Stafford pups chicken wings - they chew and suck everything off so what's left looks like a cartoon of a cow after the pirannahs (sp!) have been there.

X2 PLEASE no more chemicals for this puppy. Supermarket spotons are very well known for causing reactions, especially in a dog so small as a 10 week old JRT puppy. Washing her every day is way over the top even if she's not sick. Milk is totally unnecessary (and an expense you can cut out) - give her clean fresh water and leave it down at all times. If she is thirsty she will drink. Perhaps when your pays get sorted out you could investigate pet insurance or start an account with a vet. If you have a good record of doing a direct deposit $5 or $10 a week most will be happy to treat your dog in an emergency even if the amount of your credit doesn't quite cover the cost of treatment. Good luck

Lapping takes some skill and it's a bit beyond most 3 week old pups - solid food in tiny pieces (very tiny for Poms!) is the way to go and is more natural plus easier for the pups. I have always started pups on scraped meat - get a piece of beef snitzel or cheap steak and scrape it with a serrated knife, you get the flesh with none of the gristle, fat and fibres. Goes down very well for a first meal (and mum usually likes the left overs) First two or three meals are the same, then on to highest grade premium mince meat for a couple of meals. It's usually several weeks before I introduce grains and other such junk food to my pups.

Agreed, this is correct. Natural, chilled or frozen makes no difference it is the egg that is the determining factor not the insemination. If you know via Prog test the exact day of ovulation than it is easy to track when your bitch is due. Here's what makes frozen AI different (from an excellent piece on K9 reproduction . . . ", insemination with frozen-thawed semen is best performed 3-4 days following the LH surge (2-3 days following ovulation)." I had it wrong above in saying the AI was done at ovulation. Yep "mating" occurs 2 or 3 days after ovulation so if the bitch whelps 59 or 60 days from mating she has whelped 62 or 63 days from ovulation. The method of delivering the sperm to the jobsite is irrelevant. Only done frozen semen AI once (transcervical) and she was booked for a caesar 60 days after her first insemination (as she only had one pup).

It's always been my understanding that a bitch whelps 63 days from ovulation, the day of mating has little to do with it. Good luck with the pups

It's included because of politics dating back to 1949. Blue wasn't included in the original breed standard in 1935 but was added on the re-write. I would guess people figured breed experts would know what to do with blues (plus they were extremely rare back then) and would wink an eye at a dark grey nose, or perhaps they never really thought it was an issue. They certainly did know that a blue couldn't have a black nose, but IMO the blues they were talking about then were the proper steel-blue coloured ones that have very dark pigment so to all intents and purposes look black under poor lighting (think 1940's post war UK village halls ) There's plenty of things in breed standards which require background information and can't be taken exactly literally.

Unfortunately 75 years od ostracism hasn't done much to eliminate either black and tan OR liver from the breed. There are black and tan dogs being shown (and doing good winning) all over the world today - in the guise of the black-with-brindle-markings/red smuts/red & creams and the ever popular just-about-black-except-for-the-three-brindle-hairs-on-her-foot. Liver brindle dogs have won top awards under a wide array of judges over the years. Some of the top stud dogs world-wide have been tan-pattern carriers so the gene is so well entrenched in the breed and will remain so for a VERY long time. It still just makes my brain reel that joe public could come on to a site like DOL, see 75 advertisements for Stafford litters, 70 of them for "rare blues" and still swallow it. Sorry, if people are stupid enough to believe the colour is rare they probably deserve everything they get. Personally I love the colour of a PROPER coloured blue - the dark steel blue. The washed out Weimaraner & Amstaff crosses just leave me cold regardless of how good the dog is underneath.

No there is no formal criteria, however if you are dealing with an ethical breeder who gives a toss about the future of the breed - which is of course the only sort of breeder anyone on here would want to deal with then only puppies which show the potential to make a positive contribution to the future of the breed should be on main register. There is always the option to upgrade a pup from limit to main if people change their minds and the pup turns out to be better than first thought.

Agree with this completely. I've had litters of 9 and 10 (breed average 4-5) and not supplemented, all survived and thrived. Put it in the bitch and she'll put it in the pups. I will supplement a pup once or twice if it looks perfectly normal and if mum is concerned about it but if it still fails to go ahead or if mum consistently pushes it away then it's not meant to be. I haven't had the misfortune of losing a bitch, just had one who had a singleton and produced no milk at all. That pup was found a foster mum on day 3 but if I hadn't been that lucky then perhaps I would have gone on and tube fed him, but he was doing very well on a bottle up until day 3.