Sandra777

Second season for a Stafford, do back-to-back then rest one season and breed her again if the first two litters were good, otherwise spay. This is the advice old-timers always used to follow and even though I haven't done it for ages (10+ years) when I did, the bitches had pups naturally, were great mothers and had very few problems. Of course now with so many Staffords about this might be good for the bitch but pretty much a disaster for the pups needing the best of homes.

Agree, but as a solution for a Chi in the hands of someone who obviously isn't very dog-smart, tubal ligation is only a disaster waiting to happen. The bitch will still come in season and could be killed if the wrong dog got to her because we both know that in some people's brains "she can't get pregnant" = "I don't have to take precautions" OP - the risks of allowing a Chi bitch to have pups is far far greater than any possible danger from breast cancer, so this is total nonsense and I too doubt the vet said this. Personally I would always recommend a bitch have one season prior to spaying EXCEPT if the owner cannot guarantee to be smart and keep her safe, in which case I would suggest spaying at about 7 months for a tiny breed like this, older for a larger breed.

Maiden bitch for AI is recommended by a lot of specialist vets due to the condition of the uterus. She would need to come from a family of good mums for me to do it, but if you have a breed where bad mothering is common then this probably wouldn't be an issue. Only done frozen once and it was with a maiden bitch. She only conceived one pup, next time to a natural mating she had 5

Semen. That way you can access the best dogs from the best lines (politics excluded). Very few people will send the best to the other side of the world - and certainly not a proven sire of high quality stock. There is the possibility of building a relationship with your breeder of choice and borrowing a high class producing dog for (say) 6 months. That would cost far more than importing a single dog - but gives you access to a dog you could never hope to own outright and possibly the chance to store semen locally as well as using him "live". If you import a live dog, how many times will you be able to use him in your breeding programme - he will not be the right dog for all your bitches. I have imported dogs from the UK to NZ and from Australia to NZ. The UK import I saw as a young-ish pup. He was chosen in conjunction with a lot of advice from one of the most respected breeder in my breed in the world (she did not breed him). He did everything she said he would do for my breeding programme and his influence is still apparent today (nearly 20 years later) The Aussie imports varied, three of them were pups, one was an adult bitch, the rest were adult males I borrowed for a short while. The thing you need to remember is that unless you are very lucky you are importing bloodlines not a show dog. Sometimes you get both!

Border Collies are being farmed for "rare colours" by the money-hungry, any breeder who does NOT care about their pups enough to want to keep them away from such a life probably isn't worth dealing with. Advertising all pet pups having a de-sexing contract (or will be sold de-sexed) is a good way of weeding out the non-genuine types who "just want a pet" but plan to knock out BYB litters. Find a breeder who breeds dogs you like, does the right health testing and who doesn't appear to be knocking out litter after litter and selling the whole lot on "Mains" to the first person with the cash. Ignore anything else about their advertising. Talk to them, discuss their dogs, discuss your expectations and you HONEST plans for the dog. You just never know what you might get offered!

If you liked the Bull Terrier temperament look at a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. If you want a more "working dog"" type temperament then definitely don't LOL

Yep - gorgeous place, love the Marlborough Sounds most, spent holidays there for many years in a small boat, just glorious, you can never see it all. The ONLY things I miss about NZ is the majesty of the SI and the clear rivers.

What does the breeder's diet sheet recommend? If it specifies the formula you can't get (I don't see any mention of "a breeder" formula on the website though) then I suggest you phone the breeder and ask what they recommend and mention that you can't get that product. I know what works for my dogs and my puppies - but what I do may not suit an ESS puppy. :)

Sending TO NZ is far more expensive because of the testing required so can't really compare them. Not recent but it cost less than $1000 for a 15kg adult three years ago. I would try for a few more quotes myself :-) A lot of the leg work can be done by someone other than the agent if you have a person at the other end prepared to do it.. if not Dogpower are awesome.

Phew, I'm exempt from reading or understanding as I own my dogs, I am not their "guardian". Will continue to feed mine the cr@p I do ;-)

Interesting info about SOME grainfree products...

Both made one or other of my dogs very sick - vomiting & dire-rear, so no big fan of either.

Honestly I think this should've been sorted out before the bitches left your care.... I haven't done breeders terms as such but I have twice leased back a bitch I bred. 1) The owners had paid for her but not full price (she was an older re-home, long story!). She had lived with us as an adult so "sort-of" knew us. I picked her up, took her to the dog and returned her to their place. 6 weeks later I picked her up again, as she was to whelp at our house. She only had one pup (which we kept), the owners were happy to have a pup from a different litter so they got a pup from her aunty about 6 months later. ETA: for free 2) The owner bought the bitch as a puppy (had waited nearly 3 years for her). We kept the sister. Sister turned out to be a horrible mother. Owner took the bitch to the dog as it was close to her (she is an experienced breeder). I paid the stud fee direct to the stud owner. At 6 weeks the bitch was flown to us as owner was going overseas. This was arranged right from the start, if she'd not been going overseas she would have whelped the litter herself. We raised the litter, paid all costs involved. Kept two pups and the proceeds of the sale of the rest of the litter (ie total sales, not "profit") was given to the owner of the bitch. This was a total of the sale of 4 pups. So technically I got one pup for paying the stud fee and one pup "free" even though everyone knows raising a litter is an expensive undertaking! This was a nightmare litter actually as the bitch got black mastitis and was very very ill - while her owner was uncontactable overseas. That doG we had known each other for nearly 20 years :)

Both Staffords and Am Staffs are more likely to be dog aggressive than say, your average Golden Retriever and NO it is not all about how you bring them up. The temperament of the parents is a good indicator but not 100% reliable. I would also suggest an adult dog from a known source (ie not straight out of the pound) with specific temperament features you want.

"Irish Staffy" = "Pit bull" Poor little boy, hope he recovers physically and mentally.

Agree with espinay2 - just have a standard response and it takes no time at all. From the buyer's point of view, what's the point in them writing a great long email when you may not have any pups available, so the first question to some might be "are there any pups" followed by "how much" because they may have a budget, or may not even know how much a Lesser Indian Rat Hound costs. Yep, annoying but all part of the territory.

You're correct you can enter her on the last day - it's three separate shows, not one show running over three days (like a royal for example)

That dog is seriously un-photogenic. Hope he gets a lovely home - whatever he is :)

x2 Get a dog on joint ownership. Prove you are in for the long haul. Present and show that dog to the very best of your ability. Build a relationship with a breeder. If you prove yourself to be genuine and dedicated you will be surprised by the good things that happen. It's not all that easy for someone who has been in a breed for a long time to get a bitch worth breeding from in some breeds - they're certainly not going to get handed out to a new-comer who might just find it's all too hard to keep up the coat-care required in such a difficult breed, so drop out. That sounds harsh, but it is the reality most breeders have learned over the years. Forget about getting a prefix for now, that's not only putting the cart before the horse, it's putting the cart in another post code to the horse. Even if you got a show quality/breeding quality bitch puppy tomorrow, you wouldn't be breeding from her for at least 2 years, so what's the rush?

Application for her kennel name has to be done as if she was a total newbie so just follow the info on Dogs NSW website. She will not get the kennel name if it's already being used here, I would suggest she gets something to prove she has it already in Canada as this might be checked and she could get the silly answer back - oh no you can't have that name, it's already registered in Canada :-)

I leased a bitch I bred, paid all the costs (stud fee, feeding puppy vaccs etc) kept two pups and gave the owner all the proceeds (not the 'profit') from the remaining puppy sales. Every single situation will be different - she doesn't even need to leave your property if this is what you'd prefer - but whatever you do, get everything in writing - up to and including what happens if she dies.

It is most likely he doesn't know what to do and since puppies can be very clumsy in their attempts to appease an older dog, he may think they're not getting the message so he esculates his behaviour. How much socialisation has he had with puppies? I would suggest a decent trainer to help you understand what he's doing. You may be able to get him more used to pups or he may be one of those dogs who never really "gets" puppies (a friend has one of those, he's a Stafford too and a very VERY well trained dog, he just doesn't do puppies). In the meantime, please don't let him randomly socialise with puppies in case he esculates to an actual bite, and also please don't reprimand him for growling and showing you that he is unsure and needs some help - firstly because a dog that has been taught that growling is bad goes straight to biting and this is extremely dangerous, and secondly because he's almost certainly confused and needs your help not your anger. Good luck.

I wouldn't necessarily be concerned about the temp on it's own - it would depend on whether or not the bitch had other things going on. How are you keeping the litter - if she's in a whelping box with nice thick vet bed, in a confined space with limited airflow even if she's not panting and looking "too hot" she may actually be just a bit too warm. It's been very humid & warm here (west of Brissie) for about ten days, so if it's the same where you are she's going to get warm just being in the whelping box instead of spread out on the tiles in the air con :) Hope she continues to be fine and all the best with the pups.

Lets all think of the best producing bitch in their breed - not the best one you personally have had, the one that produced the most progeny you personally admire and desire. THAT bitch should have as many litters as she humanely can (so 4-5-6 depending on the breed) as she is one of those special ones who can carry the breed forward. If you are the owner of this paragon but only breed "for yourself" you are in effect damaging the breed by not allowing more of her offspring out there with other committed and ethical breeders. There is a huge difference between breeding for yourself, breeding for the breed and breeding for the pet market. There is no shame in breeding a litter and allowing the best one or two (or three or four) to go to other responsible, dedicated people while you keep nothing, because likely you will use a son of one of those pups to bring back into your programme further down the track. Breeding a litter and flicking the whole lot off to people who have no intentions of doing the right thing is a totally different scenario.

:thumbsup: Excellant news - hope it's all good from here on in and there's nothing major wrong with his leg.