Sandra777

Just another thought - ages ago I had a really obese Lab in the boarding kennels. Every meal time I'd take her out into a run and throw each piece of dry food individually for her to find and eat. Took a little while, but got the dog walking (trotting in the end). She'd do it for pieces of carrot or apple too. Figured that the amount of calories she was getting out of the dry food was probably not too much more than the energy she used getting it :laugh:

Domestic pets yes - dogs only except in a specialist situation I think would be unlikely - and even with domestic pet "only" in a more rural area I guess they would still deal with horses, pet goats, pet sheep etc etc etc. :D

IMO Limit Reg is for dogs which are not show quality so no, I definitely wouldn't be a fan of that! We have enough judges who honestly have little or no idea of the finer points of many breeds - filling neuter classes up with dogs which don't conform to the breed standard in major ways isn't going to help anyone. Really? I am putting show quality dogs on LR because I don't want them bred from and I can't keep them all to show. Looking at some LR papers right now, I can't see anything written on them that even half way implies "all low grade dogs here." IMO Limit Reg is for dogs which are not show quality Did you miss that bit when you had to run off and find some LR papers? Wow "all low grade dogs here" - nice. Just occasionally my 'non show quality' LR dogs manage to do other stuff like being therapy dogs, companion dogs for disabled kids & on the odd occasion they even manage to be just loved members of their family - nothing low grade about being a pet. Other people use LR for other reasons (obviously you do) I use LR for pups not suitable for the show ring. "I don't want them bred from" means you get them sterilised before they leave your control in my world :)

1 x a day here for 2-3 days (depends on the pups & mum) then twice a day. No slops here either - pups learn to chew much easier than lap.

No it's not your fault. Demodex mites are transferred from mum to pups shortly after birth and are NORMAL. We have mites in our hair follicles too, it's a perfectly normal thing, so don't guilt yourself. Most dogs have no issue with them but sometimes in some dogs their immune system just gets out of whack and the mites breed out of control causing the problem you're seeing. Most of the time this will right itself regardless if you do anything or not, but sometimes the dog's immune system is chronically weakened and they need help. I believe Advocate is commonly used - the injections are usually ivertmectin and can be pretty harsh on the dog and may contribute to lowering their immune system even more, causing a vicious circle. Discuss it with your vet and don't be bullied - if they refuse to believe there is any solution except for injections then I personally would seek a second opinion. Yes in some cases this is the best solution, but all options should be open for discussion. If the patches aren't infected (and secondary infection is common) then you certainly do have the option of taking a wait and see attitude. Just a warning, if you bought this bitch with the intention of breeding you need to discuss the problem with people who know her ancestors. A part of the strength or weakness of the immune system is inherited and if it "runs in the family" it may be that you choose not to continue the problem into another generation. As she had the condition when you bought her (assuming the bald spot on her nose was demodex? It may have been just a normal puppy-inflicted wound :) ) the breeder would be the place to start, did they say anything about it at the time?

HATE resident animals - especially "friendly" cats. My dogs have never co-habitated with cats but are terriers who lure race - that's never going to end well The last thing they need is anything stirring them up, they're quite over excited enough just getting to go to the vet's! Yep - they're odd :laugh:

It's natural to have dogs within one breed with variations in features, and natural for some of these variations to be 'exaggerations', but for one of these to actually win at a show sends the wrong message. If they make you shudder, should they be winning? Even if there are only a handful that do? That sends the message to the breeder, and the other breeders involved in the same breed, that those exaggerations are desirable. I think the judges ought to take a long hard look at themselves, and how they are shaping the dogs, and how that is affecting the purebreed community. Their influence, by awarding (and rewarding) certain traits, is why we are having this debate in the first place. I'm sorry but that's a crock of..... the blame lays squarely with the breeder of such animals Doesn't the pool of judges usually come from from the pool of breeders? I assume this was a rhetorical question sheridan :)..... Judges must have bred at least one champion to be able to begin the process of becoming a judge in this country. One champion in a single breed which might not even be in the same group as the one they're now judging. My ability to breed a champion Outer Mongolian Truffle Wuzzer has very little to do with my ability to judge a class of Toy Honey Sipping Fluffy Dogs. There are far too many judges who obviously have no grasp on the basics of many breeds they are invited to judge.

IMO Limit Reg is for dogs which are not show quality so no, I definitely wouldn't be a fan of that! We have enough judges who honestly have little or no idea of the finer points of many breeds - filling neuter classes up with dogs which don't conform to the breed standard in major ways isn't going to help anyone.

I know this wasn't the intention of this topic, but regarding the "neuter is a waste of time" sentiment - Dog shows are allegedly about assessing breeding stock. Any half way serious breeder know the ONLY way to assess breeding stock is by progeny testing. It's totally irrelevant if a dog has 500,000 points and 657 BIS wins - if he produces crap. If you could go to a show and see 5 adult animals by a specific dog and they were all good examples of the breed, produced from 5 different bitches from 5 different lines - that would be the dog to use for breeding, not the supreme champion with extra anchovies who produces...... crap. If all 5 of those adult animals were neuters how does that affect your decision that their sire is the dog to use??

You don't say what she actually looks like though? Can you feel but not see her ribs/hips (yes I know it's hard to see on a GSD :laugh: ) If she's in good body condition to me it's irrelevant what she weighs. Instead of a rawhide bone which has nothing in it, can you get her something to chew on that will add a bit more actual food to her diet? - thinking of a meaty beef rib or something like that.

AFAIK most of the "weight control" dry foods involve adding bulk and reducing everything else and upping the price. I would agree with Pav Lova - use a food with a good protein % and lowish fat % and add your own bulk. I like ordinary cooking bran (not breakfast bran), mixed with something the dog likes (mine would eat it soaked in plain water LOL). Adds lots and lots of bulk & fills them up, but it definitely does create elephant poos!

Try Qld where we don't even acknowledge the title

Run free Oi - may there be plenty of soccer balls and lots of stock at the bridge for you.

Can't speak for the other mentioned breeds but if you want a well bred mains register Staffordshire Bull Terrier bitch you are going to have a very very long wait! Absolutely agree - you can buy a "staffy" anywhere and a main reg bitch no problem at all (provided you want to buy a rare blue english staffy), but a good bitch from a breeder who actually knows what they're doing are like hen's teeth. There's a huge difference between main reg & show/breed quality in many breeds. And for the record, when I bought my first Stafford in 1978 I was after a red bitch and came home with a brindle dog & the promise of a bitch further down the track when 'something suitable' came along. Reason I bought the dog instead of waiting? - they were a rare breed in those days and if you were offered a show potential puppy you grabbed it. Dog turned out to be an all breeds R/U BIS winner in the days when a Stafford winning a group was a very rare event. (Oh how times have changed!) Wasn't given the third degree but definitely had it clearly explained why Staffords were not for the faint hearted - unlike so many so-called 'breeders' today who seem to be trying to pretend Staffords are really miniature Labradors.

No reason why you can't make it work with the sensible use of separating when unsupervised, separating while in season and just general common sense in being prepared to do the hard yards. I say separating while in season even though they're all bitches because often bitches get very snaky with each other when their hormones are raging :D

x2 - unfortunately that particular horse has long since bolted in Staffords

We had a fair bit to do with a Bulldog owned by a friend's 19-20 year old son. That dog went pighunting, swimming with the family Labrador and ran up and down steep hills with the pig dog pack. Yep, pure bred registered Bulldog. He mated naturally no problems at all (even bigger bitches because he was bred to pig-dog bitches, not my dog, not my decision); and on the two occasions he was shown he won 'Best on Parade' (NZer's will know this one - small comp's not unlike the Australian open show or member's comps) at all breeds events and both judges were astonished to see a Bulldog with actual muscles. His littermates that we saw were the same in activity level, saw him mum and she was the same, his dad I saw in pictures and he was a similar style of dog but a pet and not kept fit. They walk among us..... :laugh: :laugh:

+1

Don't use oxy without a very good reason here. Haven't had a after whelping vet check for, trying to remember - probably 20+ years. :)

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/172826-rawnatural-chitchat/page__hl__raw+feeding Here's a good place to start :D

DO they dominate though. Where are your stats to prove this?? There's no TV news (or facebook drama) in a healthy dog with no issues. Vets don't see the healthy dogs with no issues.

Sounds like a perfectly good diet for the meantime - mince chicken bodies have lots of digestible calcium. If she'll take a supplement too then that's probably not going to do much harm. Add some plain meat to the minced bodies, lean protein is very good at this stage of motherhood, and leave her be would be my advice. Too much mixing & matching is only more likely to make her picky. If you want to leave a small portion of dry food with her at all times, she may pick at it if offered the choice, they can be so contrary at times!

Two questions arise... where are the stats proving these claims? ........ Lets make the bold assumption 50% of dogs in five breeds have serious health issues - this is good reason to take a swing at the 99% of dogs in the other 450+ breeds which don't have issues?

AR is Animal Rights and PETA for one is an AR group with a stated aim of eliminating domestic pets. It has already taken hold.

8 weeks seems very young to be worrying about ear set! I have Staffords, same rose ears - if you are out West and get no better offers you're welcome to come & I can show you how it's done.