Sandra777

Personally I think it's extremely unlikely any ethical breeder would send a puppy to your mother given the information you have provided. Anyone who says they don't want the pup for such a trivial excuse would ring every alarm bell for anyone who cares in the slightest about their puppies. No one I consider ethical would send a pup to someone who had said they didn't want it - the refund is a totally different issue, the pup simply would not be going end of story. Agree with whoever it was said it wouldn't be all that hard to find another home for the pup in the time given.

Are you anywhere near Cooper's Plains in Brisbane? Nutrilious (sp!) treats there has them and would probably sell you one - I've never asked but they have lots of samples

A carrier of a recessive mated to a clear can never produce a puppy with problem "later in life" or any other time. Before you make blanket statements you need to consider the nature of recessive genes and that different diseases have different modes of inheritance. You can improve the breed by breeding from superior dogs with a known genetic fault far quicker than breeding from mediocre dogs with no known genetic faults but quite possibly still carrying some genetic condition which no one has discovered a test for (yet)

It would depend a lot on the disease, it's prevelence in the breed, the quality of the dog/bitch concerned and the importance of it's bloodline to the breed and to yourself. Yes I have contemplated breeding from a carrier - she was the only bitch produced by a dog I bred which died before either of his 2 litters were born. I knew her mother was a carrier at the time of the mating but the dog was clear and of the 5 pups 2 were carriers (pick dog and only bitch of course!) and 3 clear. I ended up not breeding from this bitch as we moved countries and didn't bring her with us, but had we stayed in NZ I would have.

With Pav Lova here. If you don't have a flea issue why treat for it? Most adult dogs which are well kept and don't scavenge animal faeces don't have major worm issues, so why treat for it monthly? With a small dog I would definitely avoid putting excessive chemicals into their system. To me ticks would be the biggest thing to worry about with a heavily coated dog such as a Pom (any dog, but a thick coat makes finding them even harder) and heartworm after that I use permoxin for ticks but this needs to be applied daily and would be a pain in the butt with a long coated dog I would think. What does the pup's breeder recommend for ticks? Monthly chew or pill for heartworm is the go here - annual injection IMO is too risky, if the dog has a reaction to it you can't do much about it until the drug wears off, a year is a long time!

The weather we've had up here lately I don't think any heating is needed at all! I have a litter of 3 week olds, they have had no heating since day one and from the third or fourth day mum spent most of her time lying outside the box on the cooler floor. She has a fan blowing air over the top of the box (not in to it) and a window opening on to an enclosed outdoor area open about three feet above the box all day.

Couldn't agree more. The breeder who cares about the future life & welfare of their puppies/dogs, tends to be a person who cares about the welfare of their dogs, in all respects. Health, temperament etc. So a breeder who wants to know lots about how I (as a potential adopter) have cared for my pets & animals, gets a thumbs up from me. And who centres the conversation on the important things in caring for dogs. It's just lovely to find yourself on the same page as an experienced highly respected breeder when it comes down to the basics. I've found that breeders like this talk about their dogs.....using their call names....just like any dog lover tends to talk. It becomes very evident that they know their dogs well....& are close to them. And even tho' they might not use jargon words, like 'socialisation'.....they do it, in how their puppies are made to be close to people from birth and have all the experiences on their level of development. I've also found that breeders like this, have a deep interest in their particular breed & very, very happy to talk about it or point an enquirer to the good information. And when that breeder says, 'Now, if anything should ever go wrong....call me.' They're the magic words. I've got dogs from breeders like these & they've been a joy. That about sums it up for me too Mita. On the initial call, don't ask leading questions about health if the breeder doesn't mention it they probably don't think it's important or don't know about DNA testing, specialist testing etc (where relevant).

What a worry - sorry I can't help as I haven't been unfortunate enough to encounter a tick yet. Just hope the little one is OK!

Miss Demeanour

Thats where this becomes confusing because that exact question was in my original list! Seems what one question someone finds acceptable another person won't. One thing I've learnt is even if the breeder says 'send me your list of questions' as this one did, I should probably say I'd prefer to talk to you about them when you have time! But if you don't want a show potential puppy how is the question relevant? My answer was to Merci who asked about enquiring about a puppy for show.

If you want to get involved in showing you would need to do research into breeders before you even start approaching them, so that's completely different to looking for a pet - some people breed great show dogs which make great pets, some people breed not so great show dogs which make great pets and some people can't manage either Buying a pet puppy and buying a prospective show puppy are not the same thing - every show dog should be a pet, but not every pet should be a show dog. Also showing in itself is irrelevant to the quality of that specific puppy - some people will breed great show dogs from unshown parents on a regular basis while some of the top show dogs in the world are terrible producers. No there is no harm in asking (there's no such thing as a dumb question!) but asking if the parents have been shown is irrelevant unless you also ask how successful they were, if they weren't shown then why not etc. In toy breeds it used to be normal to breed from bitches which would never be shown as they were too big for the ring. I don't know if this is so true anymore? Actually if you want a show puppy a more sensible question would be how successful have previous pups from this dog and bitch been (not necessarily to each other)

How is this relevant? Some people aren't club people, some clubs will accept anyone who pays the membership. Some breeds don't have clubs (but I assume you know the breed you're interested in does or you wouldn't ask ) Some clubs are closed to anyone from outside the "right clique" so NOT belonging is usually a good thing. Why is a health check of any interest to you? I think you need to be specific about what breed specific testing is relevant and ask about that. Taking a dog to a vet and having a health check and calling it good is a hallmark of a BYB or uneducated one. There was a person on here not too long ago who got taken for a very long and expensive ride when the breeder said yes to just this question. a) how can you prove they're not lying and b) any dog on main register can be shown, that doesn't actually MEAN anything! How is this relevant? At 8 weeks old I don't want my pups messing about with cats who can blind them in a second with one swipe or chickens who freqeuently carry salmonella. You are asking the same question 5 times. What documents come with the puppy will answer all the rest of these questions. Registration and pedigree aren't the same thing but the pedigree is on the registration certificate and while some breeders might supply a separate written out pedigree, many won't as this information is on the registration. How is this relevant? My pups get a variety of rubber, plastic, wooden and soft toys to wreck, boxes to climb on, pipes to run through, buckets to climb in. I certainly won't ever give any dog a kong (friend's dog died after getting her tongue caught in one) and chew toys for puppies is a redundancy - everything is a chew toy to a puppy. Better to ask what sort of things the pups get to play with in general

Sorry shags, the broken Stafford joke is an old one around here. Staffords that don't do this that or something else are "broken" (as in not functioning properly). Yes, you want her to rush or move forward Personally I don't like harnesses on Staffords but that's up to you. I would give her a chance and see how she goes first, if you put her in a harness and she still refuses to move and pulls back there's a lot more of her body exposed to the unpleasant sensation of material pulling on her skin, which could make everything even worse. Patience is the key - and if she is really stubborn then just totally stop trying to lead train her for 7-10 days, and teach her to follow you reliably off leash (safely behind a fence of course) and perhaps sit or lie down or some trick, then go back to the leash or you could end up with a dog that decides that it doesn't want to do anything at all for you because the "only" thing you ever do involves a leash she obviously has a thing about.

Couldn't decide between a Cocker and a Stafford? Please get him more educated before he chooses either! Good on everyone for turning another one from the dark side

Join Dogs Queensland (which you have to do to show anyway) and you will get a magazine every month with all the schedules in it. You can see the show schedules on the Dogs Queensland website too You could also become an associate member of Dogs NSW and get their magazine for all the Northern NSW shows since they're probably closer to you than most Qld shows OR there is a website where most of the Northern NSW show schedules get put up - can't remember the address off hand but no doubt someone will have the link (or just google Dogs NSW and search for Northern NSW on their website)

Had it done with frozen at Glenbred in NZ. Conceived one puppy (semen was high quality from a young dog). The bitch was a maiden. Later the same bitch conceived five pups to a natural mating. Proceedure was simple and considerably less traumatic on the bitch than surgical, but results???? Hmm, not really sure quite frankly.

Some of my Staffs have behaved like total monsters on leads to start with so I know what it's like I've never been a fan of the let them drag the lead around method and I wonder if she thinks the lead is her toy and doesn't like it when you "take" her toy. Me, I would change the lead to something completely different and use this one ONLY when you are holding it. Even if that means just using a piece of string rather than buying a new lead. Before her meal times, get her food in one place, pick her up, put the lead on her and plonk her down beside you, hold on to the lead while you prepare her food (even if this is just putting biscuits in a bowl), walk off with her bowl in one hand and the leash in the other. If she resists walk one or two paces further (extend your arm) and put the bowl down. If your puppy doesn't immediately rush forward to eat she's broken If this doesn't work, pick up the bowl put it on the bench, unclip the lead and walk off. Try again 10 minutes later, then 10 minutes later etc etc etc. Unless she is really defective she will eventually get the message. At this stage be careful not to put any pressure on her neck while she's pulling backwards as that only encourages her to pull back more. Don't make walking on a lead a big deal or a special thing, just make it something she has to do if she wants to get her meals. While you're trying to teach this don't give her treats or tit bits between meals for ANY reason - make your voice or a special toy an exciting reward for toilet training and other things just for now. If she gets the idea walk one or two paces further the next time, then leave it at that distance for a meal or two, then another step or two. In between times don't even put the other lead on her, just make meals and the lead get associated. Assuming she's not a total cow (and yes, some of them are!) within a couple of days she will have figured out that you're not trying to kill her when you put a lead on her and you can go back to getting her to walk for treats in different places.

Sorry Nadia, I'm not driving 2.5 hours each way to come to your committee meetings. I know how frustrating it is running shows, but it's just as frustrating to be an exhibitor and not to be able to get to the ring without a lot of stress and trouble. Gazebos were packed so tightly around the rings that I couldn't get to the ring without passing through someone's gazebo - I don't WANT to be ringside and don't WANT to risk over heating my dogs by arriving hours prior to the show. Isn't it possible to lay out walkways so people who choose not to participate in the mad rush for the ringside seat can at least GET to the ring from the track side of the grounds? One per ring would be plenty! No one moved any gazebos anywhere I could see in the time I was there. And don't even get me started about the people who parked car and trailer combinations parallel to the rings along the inside of the track...if you can't back your trailer park on the outside of the track (it's only a matter of a few metres!) so 5 people who can back or those with no trailers can park in the spot you have taken up all by yourself. Someone wandering around with a diplomatic manner and a large stick could do a lot

Had a registered name & call name for a bitch picked out when her mum was only about 10 weeks old Her grandkids were born 2 weeks ago, had 2 call names waiting for the dogs in the litter that was going to be just lovely. Surprisingly the bitch did have 3 dogs and 2 of them are looking very nice at this age. Normally this would be a curse and I'd get bitches only....

Tell them it's a Papillon cross then - if it's half of each then either way is the truth

Thanks teamsnag. Now just to get there early enough to GET a place by the ring Not the best organised ring layout I've ever seen I must admit, and getting to the ring at all without walking through someone's gazebo was virtually impossible last year.

Hypocrite or ill informed, either suits me. You go on repeatedly about pedigree dogs but do you understand the difference between ethical pedigree breeding and pedigree breeding? Do you understand that BYBs and puppy farmers can and do breed pedigree dogs? Do you understand that helping or enabling the search for a $200 or $300 puppy of ANY specific breed is almost certain to end up with the person buying a puppy from a BYB? Do you understand the difference between animal welfare and the animal rights nonsense you put on your profile? You say your neighours don't want to spend $1500 on a puppy, well that's their choice, but how many breeders (and I mean good ethical breeders) have they had this price quoted to them by? A friend bought a GSD puppy very recently from an ethical breeder for slightly more than half the figure you quote. Have you explained to your neighbours why ethical breeders charge more than $200 or $300 for pups and why it is worth buying a quality 'product' from the start? If they're not in a position to buy a quality bred puppy then they probably aren't in a position to fork out for the health issues a poorly bred puppy could bring them. Direct them to GSD rescue and do everyone a favour. And who said there was anything wrong with a pound puppy? I said that making weird statements like "don't buy while shelter pets die" is crap because you BUY dogs from a pound. I am confused by your continual reference to pound puppies - don't you like adult dogs?

Yeah - how about one of those pound puppies you think we should all buy instead of breeding sound healthy predictable dogs? If you think it's appropriate to put such an offensive, rude and down right inaccurate thing on a pure bred forum, then to be blunt you are a hypocrite to then turn around and "help your neighbour" find a PURE BRED dog. Send them down to the pound. ETA: and don't buy while shelter pets die is crap. You BUY a dog from a rescue/shelter/the pound.

Can you tell me about the camping facilities please? Not expecting or wanting a power site, but is there going to be a set camping area or can we camp by the ring (gazebo tent)

Deejay - whether it's the same problem or not is irrelevant. According to you the dog randomly has a go at other dogs. Quite likely it's not for the same reason as the OP's dog but I really don't think someone who's dog is the target of a dog "having a go" actually cares, and I think you might find the council and/or court wouldn't care either if one day this dog "has a go" at another dog which is seriously injured. Serious injury in a dog fight can happen with surprising speed and without the attacking dog being really nasty either - a canine tooth in an eye socket is usually quick and messy and permanent. Why all the defensive back peddling?