Sandra777

x2 Never seen the point in arguing with a sick dog. If he's normally not fussy then chances are that once he feels better he'll go back to his normal eating patterns. Of course if he's always been fussy then you will have a battle on your hands - but surely that's a battle that can wait until he's 100% ?

Simple progesterone test as already suggested will show a) if she is spayed b) if she is in season

Wot they said. And if the other dog is a bull breed type which has 'locked on' bashing it on the head with anything won't do a thing except make it more determined to hold on.

Is she actually in season? It is unusual but not impossible for a dog to mate a bitch when she's not in season - it's also possible for a neutered dog to mate a bitch (in season or not, entire or not) so this actually doesn't mean much. If she is in season smack yourself sharply over the head with a newspaper for leaving her with your dog. She can be spayed while pregnant so that can be taken care of. How to know if she is a tart or actually in pup? Now that could be a bit difficult - I suggest you shop around for a "breeder's vet" in your area - so one that is used to dealing with bitches and their weird ways - and get an appointment there. Don't just assume any vet will do, I have had the lovely experience of dealing with a vet who had been practicing for 4-5 years who had NEVER had an (adult) entire dog or bitch on her examining room table. Someone here will be able to point you in the right direction if you mention roughly where you live. Edit: silent seasons aren't all that common - perhaps they are more common in Boxers???? - being slightly swollen could mean anything up to and including a spayed bitch who is just reacting to the presence of an entire male in a new environment.

Not a BC but we have a pup here who came with random excessive chewing, scratching. He was raised 100% on Proplan. Switched him to a mixed diet - meat, sardines, bones, variety of dry food and it has vanished. Took about 6 weeks for him to realise he didn't need to scratch all the time.

x2 Multiple Stafford bitches is not something for the faint hearted. Seperate them or one (or both) WILL be dead when you come home one day.

Tough one. I tend to observe, then interact. Depends on what temperament traits you need - if I was breeding a working dog (doing an actual working job) I would expect the dog to do the job be this in a formalised "test" (herding for example) or in actual real life (working farm dog for example). When breeding for the show ring when most are going to be pets then it becomes a bit harder and I prefer to meet the dog and interact even if only briefly. Fortunately with Staffords it's pretty easy to pick the untypical ones, other breeds which are more aloof would probably be harder. Listen to what others say and if ten people all mention the same thing then that spec of information is probably the truth & ignore anything else that is said :laugh:

Quick up date.. Owner took bitch to a repro specialist. Bloodtests showed virtually zero progesterone & specialist said it would be pretty much impossible for it to go from "enough to make her think she has pups" to virtually zero in the time frame, so it could well be 'all in her head'. There may be a small amount of ovarian tissue left and if she has a phantom litter again an immediate bloodtest may make it's presence more obvious but still not likely to be able to solve the problem. Best course of action - do nothing.

The argument as it was put to me was that Neuter in Group and Neuter in Show are not equivalent to BOG or BIS, but are equivalent to Junior of Group/Show because it's a "limited" class (ie not every dog in the breed can compete). Sounded like an excuse to me though because you could turn around and say Best of Group isn't open to neuters therefore is a "limited" class. I have to wonder if this was simply an oversight and not actually a deliberate ruling?

Elderly - dear god the woman is 65 not 95!!!!!!!! There's a big range of breeds there - Soft Coats & Irish are quite different to Schnauzers. What does she like about these breeds - "non shedding" is a bad place to start looking for a dog, start with temperament & size and go from there. For me a Border Terrier would be something to look at, small enough to be an inside dog, hardy enough to be active and very low maintenance in the coat departments.

Well done - great result Good luck in the ring, hope you & Church have lots of fun.

Good thinking Rainy - helpful links, not good at that Jaxxie

The only good breeders are reputable and all reputable breeders are good breeders. Think you may need to check the definition of reputable :laugh:

Yes, dilute is dilute. Blue fawn, blue pied, blue brindle - all exactly the same dilute gene.

The vast majority of blue Staffords have perfectly good temperaments so this is not the issue. When looking for a pet there is more to it than temperament, you need to find a dog who won't give you endless grief at the vet with allergies and niggling issues; you need to find a dog which won't have endless joint issues due to being conformed wrong. Don't be lead into the false belief that the breed standard is just for show dogs - all dogs should be conformed correctly to lead a normal healthy life and the breed standard is the blue print for this. With blues especially you need to avoid the wide fronted loosely put together dogs, avoid those who boast about how big or small the dog is - a Stafford is meant to be from 14 to 16 inches to the wither (shoulder) and between 24 & 38 pounds - a 14 inch 60 pound Stafford is either obese or conformed incorrectly. Someone who thinks it's a selling point to tell you the stud dog is 30kg doesn't know enough to be breeding. Basically - look at lots of photos of Staffords who win a bit in the ring and get an idea of what a reasonably good Stafford should look like in outline & proportion. Don't worry about fancy points like the ears being rose or drop, the eyes being the perfect colour, exactly how the head should look. Study the proportions of the breed and then go looking for blues that look basically like that. ETA: best route - look for someone who's kennel name doesn't include the word blue; look for someone who does NOT breed blue to blue (EVER) and look for someone who sells all the pups in the litter for the same price regardless of colour.

Contact courier companies - door to door semi-rural Vic to semi-rural Qld - $187 guaranteed 24 hour delivery (will be less). Toll or TNT, can't remember which but probably quicker to phone both and ask than wait for me to get home and find where I wrote it down :laugh:

You signed a contract that said the pup was on the limit register. Doesn't sound like a great thing to do if you want a main register pup IMO. IF you paid more for a pup which is on Main then you might have a case that you haven't received what you paid for but the ruling could be that you are entitled to a refund not an upgrade :) If the only thing that is wrong with the dog is a slightly short neck then the breeder would have to be crazy to exclude such a perfect specimen from her breeding programme.

OK - had a phone call this evening about a bitch I bred. She will be 3 in about 6 weeks, been spayed 16-18 months. Never had a litter, prior to spaying seasons were 100% normal. Owner noticed the bitch had slightly enlarged breasts about 3 weeks ago, prominant nipples. Not really large but definitely fuller. The bitch has been a bit sooky and clingy recently but nothing really strikingly out of place. Came home today and the bitch has collected herself a litter of the kids' toys and made a nest in her crate. Was snarky when the other dog in the house (older neutered male) tried to have a look and was very growly towards her owner when she tried to remove bitch from her nest - extremely uncharacteristic behaviour After ten minutes of the owner calming her down, bitch gave up her toys. Bed washed, crate moved, all toys confiscated. Tried to re-create nest with some dog toys, dealt with the same way. Vet's advice - she has some ovarian matter left behind, we'll have to open her up. Some important background: 5 weeks ago this bitch met a litter of pups, played with them for quite some time. Spent the next three days with a 9 week old puppy (different pups) around her a lot. She has no changed eating or drinking habits, is her usual self. So the questions are: Anyone experienced this before? Is there any actual harm in doing nothing? Even if this is genuinely hormonal and not just "all in her mind", will it do the bitch any harm to have some ovarian tissue "left behind"? I wonder about stump pyometra being a possible outcome in the future?? Is there any blood test that could prove or disprove the presence of stray ovarian tissue? Even if it can be "seen" in a blood test it's not going to be easy to find is it? Am I wrong in thinking it could be literally anywhere? - as in randomly attached to a kidney or lodged in her right ear :laugh: Thinking of random cells which were never actually part of the ovary rather than a piece of the ovary which somehow got snipped off and left behind during the spay op. A second opinion is being sought but neither vets are repro specialists - what recommendations are there for a specialist who would do a phone consult about a possible course of action and discuss the pros and cons of different actions with her owner?

Doing chilled semen semi-rural Victoria to semi-rural Queensland any time now (please come in season now Penny :laugh: ). Prog testing is not going to be fun, lucky the vet does it in-house and is only 5 minutes up the road.

Looks less like a Staff in the second picture. Black & tan is not uncommon in the breed - just not allowed in the show ring. Usually the black & tan ones are the pick of the litter in all other ways :laugh:

Glad he's safe. In that photo he looks more like a purebred Stafford than many which are advertised as pure - any more photos?

We lived in a Lepto area in NZ. For about 4-5 years our dogs were routinely vaccinated with no problems. Then we had a vaccinated dog die of Lepto - the vaccine doesn't cover all strains PLUS the vaccine only lasts about 4-6 months as Lepto is not a virus so the immune response is not the same as to viral diseases. We knew both of these things but the dog had only been vaccinated 10 weeks earlier. Then we had a dog die on the vet's table within 5 minutes of being vaccinated (for Lepto only). None of my dogs will EVER be vaccinated for Lepto again. If it's a requirement, get it done but get that vaccine ONLY if you possibly can & be aware that it doesn't guarantee any sort of immunity so just assume there's no immunity is the safest thing to do IMO Lepto is a horrible disease which is almost always fatal in dogs unless you are very lucky.

So sorry for your losses, unimaginable

Grew up with a Cocker Spaniel and although he was a perfectly good dog, I have absolutely no interest or fondness for the breed. The first dog I showed was a Japanese Chin belonging to a friend & I like the breed but would never own one (oddly enough my sister has owned one & I showed him for her too, still wouldn't own one!) My first dog was a Stafford when I was 14, long before they were a dime-a-dozen breed. I have owned a Greyhound & a Portuguese Water Dog. Loved the Grey but I don't think I would own another one, however I would have another PWD in a heartbeat. I can see a Basenji somewhere in the future (OH loves them) and probably a Border Terrier or two as we both like them, but life without a Stafford - never!

And if you consider the advertising power of a franchise.................... I have been to three different green cross franchised vets. One was a total disaster zone and contained the three most useless vets I have ever met along with the rudest "receptionist" imaginable The other two had brilliant vets, the last one especially was a fantastic vet who did an amazing job with my bitch and didn't charge the earth either - for a 6pm-on-a-Sunday caesar.