Sandra777

My pups' first food is always scraped beef. I don't give them anything sloppy ever, IMO that's why they have teeth. Tiny toy breed pups are no doubt a bit different to Stafford pups - but I'd personally still be inclined to avoid sloppy stuff if you intend for them to grow up chewing their food, earlier they learn the better. The age I start weaning depends on the mum and the pups, usually closer to 4 weeks than 3 though. First few meals are scraped beef (about 1/2 the size of a golf ball to start with, much smaller amount for a Pap baby I'm sure!), then finely minced highest grade human beef mince, then I forgo the beef and move on to lamb and/or chicken mince, all human grade until the pups are about 5.5 weeks old, then they get roo, pork, lamb, beef or chicken meat (usually chunks rather than minced) as well as chicken wings (necks might suit you're guys better??), small lamb bones, basically anything of a size they can pick up and carry. Whole egg is usually hilarious, I initially introduce it broken over a meat meal, and they get canned fish at least once a week (and usually hate it the first time) They do get dry food but I never soak it - they play with in, chew it, swallow it whole and generally have lots of fun with it. I use medium breed puppy (Royal Canin last time) and find the size quite OK - I would think the toy breed puppy would be small enough for yours? IMO, the wider the variation the better provided the pups are doing OK and you aren't offering alternatives and so encouraging them to be fussy.

Anyone can show at a speciality - the dogs that WIN are the ones that are being discussed Under what judges though - to me THAT is the crunch question. A dog which wins multiple groups and in shows under all rounders SHOULD be a good enough example of the breed to win at the speciality shows, but how many of these awesome dogs you admire so much do this? No, not saying all dogs that win at all breeds shows can't win under a specialist nor am I saying dogs that win under specialists can't win under the all rounder, but when you have a dog which can be highly awarded under an all rounder but never under a specialist, or vice versa - who is "wrong" Again, what are the creditials of the judges that are putting up these dogs. IF (and I am not saying this is the case, just IF) the dogs that are beating these major winners are doing so under judges who actually don't know much about the breed, then are these wins that can be considered valid or is this just another example of the generic show dog putting in an appearance? A dog is a good dog whether it wins or not, a hundred Best In Show ribbons make no difference to the actual quality of the dog!

No you don't need to show to breed. You can take part in sheep dog trials, gun dog trials, sled dog trials and be a great breeder in these fields without going anywhere near a show ring. You could breed outstanding working guard dogs without caring or needing to care in the slightest about how the dog would do in the show ring. You could breed the world's greatest winning earth dog trialists without going to a show. The conformation show ring is (or should be!) a very small part of the big world of dogs. It depends on what you are breeding for.

I worm the bitch about a day after I worm the pups - usually use Drontal.

Unfortunately there are many breeds in which a dog which excels at specialist shows (or under specialist judges anyway) will be less than successful under all breeds judges. Yes, in many instances the big winning specialist dogs will also win at all breeds shows, but in the vast majority of cases in these breeds the biggest winning dogs at all breeds shows are conspiculously absent when the specialist comes to town. If this the fault of the specialist judge or the allrounder judge is an argument that will never be answered to suit everyone, however in most cases in "my" breed in my experience it is definitely a case of the non-specialist judge putting up dogs which completely lack breed type which quickly get chucked out with the rubbish under more educated judges. The generic show dogs abound unfortunately!

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Difficult situation. Firstly I would contact dog control in your town and make sure they know what the situation is (include photos). Nope, this probably won't help if the worst happened but if the neighbours start make complaints about the 'savage dogs next door' it could well help DC sort out what is actually going on. Secondly - is there somewhere you can confine the dogs somewhere out of sight of that fence line, at least when you're not home/actually outside. I'm thinking of somewhere along the opposite side of the house or something like that. Thirdly - yes I am glad it's not me, we only have to put up with the neighbour's young GSD cross type which is constantly lunging and barking at the fence line at either us or our dogs (doesn't try to jump) and rushing at people using the walkway on the opposite side of their property. Gotta love neighbours - 'cause you're not allowed to kill them

Dislocated ankle, then three weeks later dislocated knee - same dog, same leg. B*****y thing lived to be 16 :rofl: :rofl: (dog not leg)

This may or may not be true at GSD specialities, but in other breeds the placings at speciality shows can often differ hugely depending on the judge. Case in point, just 10 weeks ago we showed on the Saturday at a speciality show, entry of over 200 and everything we showed "went out with the rubbish". Sunday, again with an enty of over 200 we came home with a res CC and an in show award. The dogs' condition and conformation didn't change THAT much overnight If we had taken our lead from the first day's judge our breeding was totally off, the second day, nearly the best :D Both judges considered breed specialists - and we see this over and over again. Being a specialist judge doesn't mean you're going to agree with every other specialist judge anymore than allrounders do.

Yep, just approach the breeder you have your current boy from. Is he neutered/limit reg? If not it might turn out that they're happy for you to show him (I have no idea of your circumstances but odder things have happened ) As for getting a show quality pup - well you don't. You can get a pup which has show potential, so if any breeder offers you anything more then run a mile. Not saying the breeders you already know will, just making sure you understand this. In most breeds it's easier to get a show potential dog puppy if you're a newbie - quality bitches are the life blood of a kennel and are usually jelously guarded! It could be that the breeder's you know may have a dog pup that's looking good and they'd like to put him in a home where he will be shown if he's good enough, quite possibly on half ownership or something so they can still have access to him as a future stud dog but will know he will have a lovely home and a great life. Talk to them first. Are they reasonably local to you? If so (assuming they show) they'd be the best people to show you the ropes. If not, they may well know a local exhibitor who will take you under their wing and help you along. Failing this, as Alyosha has already said, most major centres have a club which runs training classes. Some are much better than others, but at least it will give you a place to start. Good luck and enjoy!

Er that would depend on the breed and the family within that breed. With one of the families I have if I waited until 8 weeks I would have missed the prime time to pick which is 6 weeks, with the other family I have picked them at birth for 3 generations now and not regretted any of the decisions I have made. OP - I think your actual worry seems to be will having a second litter from a bitch who needed a caesar create a problem for the bitch or their progeny - and the answer to that is you just never know as it depends so much on why the bitch needed a caesar (which you have explained a little about) If the bitch is a high quality example of the breed both physically and mentally and the pups she produces (when they grow up) are a cut above the rest - no not necessarily every one of the 10 - then it would be worthwhile to breed her again, even in a popular breed like Labs there aren't enough good quality pups out there. I wouldn't ask the opinion of the breeder who was so sure a dog pup at 10 weeks would make a good stud dog.

To me that's just creepy. Twice we have reused a name when we've had to rehome an older pup and really liked the name, whether or not the new owners have changed the dog's name, but both times the pup with the re-used name hasn't turned out either so we don't do that any more - but naming a dog after a dead one?

Uh Miss Whippy In your original statement you say breeds which have been bred to attack humans or dogs. The SBT originated back in the early 1800's as a fighting dog so it fits the criteria of "which have been". Is it being bred NOW for the same reason - well not in my house! If you are going to wipe out entire breeds because of their original purpose I think you need to understand the enormous numbers of breeds which originated to kill other animals or to defend human property from other humans. Pretty sure you'll find your Whippets were originally bred to kill other animals (not dogs of course) so I think perhaps rabbit fanciers would say they were bred to be aggressive towards their favoured animal. Dogs regardless of breed/size/shape/pure or cross that are NOW being bred to serve that purpose is the one you want to worry about.

OK, so we'll take our enormous population of Staffordshire Bull Terriers and destroy the lot then shall we?

Fair amount of experience with them and yes, those with sensible owners are great dogs just the same as any other dog can be with a sensible owner. The ones with d-head owners are IME very bad news. I have met enough of both to form the opinion that dogs of this sort of cross and muddle have the potential in the wrong hands to be much worse than any pure bred/purposefully bred protection dog I have met because pure bred/purposefully bred protection dogs have a foundation of being bred by people who had some clue on what they were trying to achieve (which didn't include a dog that would eat their children ) I should have been more precise and said that it is the POTENTIAL of these dogs in the wrong hands that worries me more, than hundreds of specific individuals that I have met and made a scientific study of. On the whole these dogs are bred by people who want a tough dog or a cool dog, so they are ignoring things that an sensible breeder would not - nervy unstable temperament (mistaking it for "good guard dog") - would be the first thing.

hmmm, and this isn't happening now? Not talking about the protective instinct bred in to certain breeds but the basic natural self preservation all animals have evolved with. Big leap here but just suppose someone took the Tibetan Terrier and used it's natural wariness of strangers and crossed it with a breed which is more aggressive (thinking one of the true guarding breeds here so perhaps BOLD is better than aggressive), added a dabble of something which is a bit nervy so it becomes unpredictable and created a dog which looked like a Tibetan Terrier (to the uneducated eye of course) which was wary of strangers, aggressive and unpredictable? Then we would have a situation where "Tibetan Terriers" are seen as aggressive and dangerous even though you and I know they're not really TT's nor are they typical of what the TT is. This is a off the track of what the topic was about so sorry! The Brazilian Fila comes to mind as a breed intended to be naturally protective and unapproachable by strangers but I don't believe the breed is MEANT to be aggressive in the sense that it will go off looking for someone to bite, my understanding is they have the mastiff style temperament which is you invade their space or threaten their people and you pay the price. Yes, you breed this poorly or cross it with a more reactive breed and there is a major issue, but this is really no different to what is already happening with crossing the Neo & DDB with ""pitbulls" (not) to create a large guardian dog with a reactive temperament - these are the crosses that scare the hell out of me!

Playing devils advocate here - in what situation? Suppose the dog was protecting a flock of sheep and a neighbourhood dog out on a walk with its owner entered the paddock to chase the sheep and was injured by it. The neighbours dog could be shot (dead) in these same circumstances, so being injured while "trespassing" is probably the lesser of two evils. I have no time for people who believe no dog should ever under any provocation be allowed to defend itself or it's "pack", dogs are dogs not little furry pacifists - even the so called "nice" breeds have the same instincts for self preservation.

Just a little update. No more episodes so that's good. Electrolytes every 2nd night now, still running around like a crazy beast and working hard on her walks. Had her to the chiro as I mentioned previously and she does have an area of muscle degeneration in the upper thigh on the leg opposite to the one which was most useless during her episodes, so that may or may not be relevant. Revisit in 2 weeks to see what progress there is in rebuilding it with exercise and massage. Her back was quite out of alignment over her loin but not as bad as it was last time (she ran head first into a 5000 litre concrete water tank when she was about 8 months old - did I mention she runs around like a crazy beast? ) Urine and blood analysis done and results filed for possible future comparison (hope never to need them) and nothing in the analysis was even slightly unusual. Just a matter of wait and see now I think.

Thanks for that thought Oakway! May not be going after all

Me!

This is a Maltese x Poodle - why is the headline about a terrier? Obviously one of those rare black Maltese Terrier crosses :rofl:

Did the breeder not discuss the health issues in the breed with you? There are some breeds with serious issues BUT there are a lot of individuals within that breed which never have problems so you need to know a bit more than "the breed has a lot of problems and dies young" because this is not true of many individuals within a breed. Without having a clue what breed or disease you are talking about - as a general rule if the genetic condition this dog is a carrier of is caused by recessive genes, then the fact it is a carrier will mean nothing to it's health. I would encourage you to call the breeder and discuss your concerns with them. If it was one of my adults I would give you your deposit back to avoid my dog ending up somewhere it isn't really wanted, but I don't take deposits anyway!

A bitch with pups that age doesn't generally produce gallons of milk and so doesn't generally need pounds of food. I would be more concerned with ensuring her calcium levels were kept up rather than fuss and upset her with constantly offering her food when she is obviously not wanting it. Warm BBQ chicken from the supermarket almost always works Warmed raw egg (or scrambled if she is known to hate raw egg) Above all else, calcium supplement. Lightly cooked "low fat" mince (still warm) usually goes down well too. I say low fat because it's usually dogs that don't like to eat much don't digest fat well, and the last thing she needs is a stomach upset. Put the food near her in the whelping box (wedge it in so the pups can't tip it or crawl into it), turn off the lights and leave her alone could be useful too.

The breeder's diet sheet will cover what you need to do as the pup grows. Honestly? You can't go too far wrong with feeding it however much it needs to keep in good condition, there is no magic number.*** If you want to continue to feed dry food then do so. If you want to change brands, then do so (slowly!) once she has settled in to her new home, just make sure the new brand agrees with the dog. If you want to add other things, then do so, remembering to change things slowly and only begin to change the diet once the pup is settled into your home. Always remember nature designed then to eat meat AND bone so if your not feeding dry food do NOT feed them meat just on it's own It's pretty hard to stuff up puppy feeding if you always remember it's not a human nor a herbivore **** ***EXCEPT for giant breeds which need very careful rearing and you need to be incredibly careful with these pups until they are 12-18 months old.

Er Shortstep Good quality healthy Staffords is an all in one - not good quality OR healthy - but good quality healthy Staffords being the minimum expectation for someone breeding. There's no implication that blues are not healthy in that sentence.