Sandra777

The weather wasn't horrendous on Saturday or Sunday. The ground conditions were horrible, but there wasn't any water falling out of the sky at any time I was on the grounds. I got sunburnt on Saturday.

I have owned entire bitches in various numbers for over 30 years. None have been desexed prior to 5 or 6 years of age (some older, some never) I have had ONE develop mammary cancer, she was PTS at 14.5 years - 8 years after having some mammary tissue removed. Does your breed and the family your bitch comes from particularly, have a higher or lower cancer risk than other breeds and families within that breed? THAT is the information you should be concerned about! Bit like the statistic that tells you neutered dogs have 0% chance of testicular cancer - well duh! ;)

If anyone west of Ipswich needs a dog trailer please just ask. Not sure how the hell I'd get it to you though :D

Safe from river flooding at Walloon just west of Ipswich. Continued heavy rain could give us a small amount of trouble but nothing compared with others.

Love my compact, never had a problem with it!

Agree with SoL to a point I don't do breeders terms with pet owners, it's simply not worth the dramas. Partnerships with show people - I have just done my first one ever. This is with a dog, personally I think with a bitch there are just too many things that can go wrong. If the dog is a potential trial/agility dog how would you feel seeing someone else training the dog possibly using a method very different to what you like. If a purely show dog, are they a good enough handler/presenter to make you not want to murder them All things to think of.

I used the puppy - made everyone very fat No adverse reacts, everyone seemed to like it. Didn't see any major changes either way in coat etc etc etc but the quantity got cut back very quickly!

Ah - good thinking! Hadn't considered the quantity

Yep, been using it in a spray bottle every second day but as they're now getting bathed weekly for shows I was just interested in cutting out one step and chucking it in the hydrobath on bath day instead of in the spray bottle. Maybe won't bother.

Thanks Dogs will love you - in the hydrobath twice!

Shut the back door on wet days. Make a concious and concerted effort to re-train her to pee specifically in the rain. Take her outside, treats, praise, all the stuff you did before to train her in the first place. It's really important you praise her for doing what you want her to do now you've discovered this quirk in her nature to avoid getting it any more ingrained than it already is. Yes I have had Staffords that dislike raised voices but I doubt it's specifically linked to the breed, a lot of different dogs are especially sensitive to the moods or actions of their owners - a lot also couldn't care less The very first time she did this retreat to the bed thing what did you do?

Single tank hydrobath, there's no rinsing happening here Tiny amount of shampoo involved though. Just wanting to know if the permoxin is effective when mixed with the shampoo do you know?

So is it behaviouralist or trainer you're talking about - two different things. But IF this reaction only manifests in these circumstances what is there to train?????????????? People are putting the cart way in front of the horse here assuming there IS a bigger problem (or even a problem at all, really )

Anyone?

How? Assuming the bitch doesn't react the same way in other circumstances it's obvious the trigger is her owner telling her off for something when they shouldn't be and they should stop doing it. A dog behaviour professional isn't required, a human behaviour professional? - Maybe

Question two - ''their'' breed club being the breed club in their state? I come from a breed with a clubs everywhere, some people would choose to be members of a club not in their state. I answered no assuming ''their'' breed club meant the club in their state.

Quick Q - is it OK to put permoxin in a hydrobath tank when shampoo will go through the same water - it's a single tank so everything ends up in the same place ;) TIA

Why reprimand her? You do understand that she doesn't KNOW what she's done wrong, all she knows is you're telling her off. It's possible that in the past she has learned to associate a puddle on the floor and an ''angry'' owner with serious punishment, but she won't have figured out that peeing outside in the rain is the way to avoid it. And you do know that Staffords are made out of cotton candy don't you - they MELT if they go out in the rain ;) Stop reprimanding her for something she has no control over - much better to get a newspaper, roll it up and smack yourself over the head while saying " I know my dog doesn't like to go and pee in the rain so why did I allow her free access to the house while it was raining and when I didn't know if she'd peed or not" To get her to pee in the rain, you may need to train her to pee on command and you may even need to allow her an undercover area (carport for example) where she is allowed to pee if you take her there and give her the command to pee.

Well that was fun - not. Couldn't help that there was water around, but did the rings really have to be on the LOWEST piece of "dry'' ground for miles? Most enormous green ants I've ever seen took one of my girls out of the ring (repellant isn't much good when the dog is standing in an inch of water). Don't see us bothering to repeat the experience tomorrow

Is there anyone in Shepparton who would be willing to do a drive-by to check out a property (no contact required) and could perhaps answer some questions about a suburb/area? Someone looking to buy a pup, sound legit but just want to check something - I have a local friend who will meet the person but they're not going to town until Monday PM please!

Hold that thought until tomorrow morning when we're on our way up - coming back for the night though, camping in the rain really doesn't do it for me

Wanda - no registered name yet, 6 weeks old in this photo and no, the p-ed off look hasn't changed much since

Not forum lingo - telling you the name of the breed you have bought. Sorry, then I would have assumed you would have known the NAME of the breed you had been researching and would have not started your search for knowledge with the statement that you intended for your person orientated dog to be an outside dog! Can only offer advice from the information given, so sorry I'm not doing mind reading today I must say I envy your life if you spend 6 hours a day every single day outside while you are at home ;) Hubby taking puppy to work sounds great, they (dogs, not necessarily hubbies) love that life! :D ;) big softy. Sorry you feel like that. You stated you had an 8 week old puppy bought from someone who didn't feed or wean her properly and gave you no information about how to feed or raise her, you have locked her in the laundry and want to know when you can lock her outside. Not really sure how else I was meant to take that information except you didn't know what you were getting yourself into and were showing the good sense and smarts to find out what you needed to do - which isn't actually something a horrible person would bother to do.

Why flaxseed and have you noticed any changes since starting it? Flaxseed is an allergen to a lot of dogs despite many vets recommending it for skin issues. Fish oil is often tolerated better.

It depends so very much on the breeder and the breeds. You say the breeder has 6 very different breeds, but could it be that say the wife concentrates on 2 breeds, the husband has another 2 breeds he prefers so concentrates on them, together they both have a breed they ''share'' and a child/teenager in the family has another breed? If they have the time and facilities to properly care for multiple dogs I don't see that it matters if they have 18 of one breed or three of each of 6 breeds (for example). It is ''motive'' and ability which matters more than just numbers. Do they have multiple litters of the same breed at the same time, all out of untitled dogs and bitches, and breed the same pairs over and over again? To me this would mean more..... Titles alone don't make a dog worth breeding from, but a total lack of any titles (be they show, obedience, trialing, herding, agility, whatever!) in the first couple of generations does look a bit suss to me. Hard call, in times gone by people with large breeding programmes and multiple breeds were usually seen as doyens or master breeders, now they're usually first thought of as being puppy farmers which is very sad.