Sandra777

That is one unique looking pup! Greyhound x and not a lot of any bull breed in there I would have said. No way I can imagine even one parent was a pure anything, especially not pure Amstaff.

This in itself can be considered an offence. If any dog runs up fast to me or my dogs it gets my boot in it's face. Even in an offlead dog park..? x2 for the boot and yes even in a off leash area. I have lost count of the number of friendly dogs that have rushed at me and mine over the years and proceeded to growl and posture. OP - perhaps she has had a bad experience with Labs and her dogs before and doesn't want her dogs to be injured. Next time you see her put your dog on a lead and go and speak to her. No point ranting here, only she knows why she reacted as she did.

Sounds like good logic to me - but are you prepared to possibly stake his life on an IF??? I'd be trying some other product.

Ask them for recommendations closer to you, the dog world is a small place and they will be able to find out from other breeders about clubs and trainers closer to you (I am assuming they are registered breeders involved in the dog world) No matter - he needs to be outside, you can fix fleas.

Yes, he definitely should be allowed to go outside into your garden but no, definitely don't ''take him for a walk'' yet. He's only been with you two days and one of those days he was sick, he definitely does not need any more changes or excitement in his life. Take him out in to the garden without the other puppy, sit on the grass (hope it's not raining where you are!) and let him explore and wander about in his own time. When he comes to you praise him, give him a cuddle, then let him wander around again. This is quite enough ''exercise'' for a young puppy which hasn't been well, and will help him get used to coming to you for attention and love. When he lies down and looks tired (which might only take 5 or 10 minutes) he can go back inside and go to his bed for a nap. There is no way I would be leaving these two puppies alone in the same room together. Playpen for the Maltese, crate for the GSD would be my way of thinking. After puppy school I would suggest a good obedience course - and much effort from you. You have bought a puppy of a very intelligent and work orientated breed, you will need guidance to train him as you obviously don't have the experience to do it yourself. Where is his breeder? Are they near you? What trainers do they recomend? He's been with you for two days. Persistence and careful observation and you might have him mostly house trained in a week or so. He is much too young to be reliable about this, you need to find some articles about house training and follow ONE system closely, but whatever method you use, he won't be reliable for some time yet. HE IS A BABY!!!!!!!!! A Maltese is a much more compact and together type of puppy, don't let them run around together as the GSD could seriously hurt himself slipping where the Maltese would be able to turn and move better because it's a smaller dog and way more in control of itself even at this age. You can start training him now - sit before you eat, come here and we'll play etc etc etc. Make everything fun and don't expect him do do anything for more than a couple of seconds.

This is a dog you're talking about isn't it? Their claws are always ''out''

With the Cairn you might find it is just as comfortable if you strip the coat, clipping only cuts everything off to the same length, with stripping you actually take out the undercoat which holds the heat against the skin. The harsh outer hair you can pluck to suit yourself. I think it's a similar coat, may be wrong though!, as the Norwich - I used to look after a Norwich in boarding kennels and when he was clipped it made no difference, but when I hand stripped him for his owner he was much better off as the fluffy undercoat was gone - the undercoat which is designed to keep them warm and protected when working in the UK countryside - a fair bit different to Australian Suburbia LOL The Maltese only has a single coat so while cutting the coat may not make all that much difference in the heat stakes, it makes it easier for the owner to keep the dog respectable looking and if the dog goes paddling or swimming it will dry off quicker. Yes dogs perspire through their tongues and feet and their only other way of cooling is via evaportative cooling from exposed skin.

Yes but then their pups will need to be tested again, even if they are the result of 2 Clear by Parentage parents. Get it? We have to keep testing every other generation, profiling or not. Shortstep - as I said - CERTAIN labs are refusing to issue clear by parentage certificates based on DNA profiling. Some OTHER labs are still doing it. shop around! ETA - obviously some tests are available from all labs, but if DNA profile by cheek swab you can send these overseas if need be. Research research research.

Certain labs are refusing to issue clear by parentage certificates but some labs do so shop around. Pups would need to be DNA profiled to prove the two parents listed are the parents.

Interesting comment from one since it's the dog food companies that usually push for lactating/pregnant bitches to be on puppy food I 80% raw feed and don't use puppy food for anything, so makes no difference to me

As becks said, they pant when their milk is coming in but get calcium into her too - calcium sandoz for preference for me. Milk alone might not be enough. If you have no calcium supplement then try adding cheddar cheese and a little full cream milk to her ordinary food (which I trust is puppy food not adult). This is assuming you KNOW she's not lactose intolerant. The puppy milk replacement is OK, but ordinary stuff is fine for a bitch with no lactose issues. I would give her minced or whole chicken (including the bone) but don't do this if she's not used to raw food! I wouldn't be adding refined sugar to anything, but a bit of honey (teaspoonful to a litre) or a similar amount of straight glucose if you have it. Don't fuss her as even though you might be her best buddy at other times, for now she is running on instinct and her instincts are telling her to keep her babies safe and away from ''everything''. Is the whelping box somewhere private? If not, don't move her but perhaps arrange furniture (QUIETLY!) so she's not looking directly out the front windows/at the kid's play area/anything else busy. If you have an open topped box a light sheet over the top make a little cave often helps settle them - may need to use a couple of dining room chairs to support it. Keep all strangers away from her for the weekend at least and all small squealing kids. Good luck.

The breeders I knew from the 70's & 80's (yes I was showing and breeding then) were prepared to go a lot closer than that. One based their kennel on a bitch bred from a 3/4 brother-sister mating, another based their kennel on a brother and sister from a litter bred son-mother and another had a variety of dogs all descended from a single bitch and her brother's son. They did a pretty good job of type substance and temperament and definitely were NOT frowned upon. In fact prior to any DNA testing being possible, very close matings were routinely recommended in some breeds to see if a promising stud dog carried a certain recessive gene that was a problem in the breed. Most people I knew bred their bitches on their second and third heats, left them one heat then bred them again. Most people I knew allowed their young prospective stud dog his first mating at 7-9 months.

No experience with toy breeds, I have bred a bitch (Stafford) for the first time at 5 years and a second one at about 5.5 years. Both had no problems. I believe it's not unusual for racing Greyhound bitches to have their first litter at an ''older'' age - but again they're not a toy breed either

Not clear if you're talking about a dog or a husband :p ;) ;)

Congrats, hope all goes well from here. Assuming the pups are strong and suckling, don't leap in to supplement them - they really do need very very little from mum to begin with and the more they suckle the more milk she will produce (ALMOST ALWAYS!) They will drop weight in the next 24-36 hours this is normal, so don't panic so long as they're still strong and firm feeling. After a caesar I have always found mine are delayed about 12 hours in the upping of the milk production. (which is colostrum at this stage, but trying not to get technical!) Good luck ETA: I don't generally swap them around, but definitely make sure they're all latched on and suckling well.

I would've thought if the shop had RC cat they'd have RC dog, or maybe could order it in? I use RC above anything else, but mostly raw feed. Not for small dogs, but puppies and very active young adults. One of the best IMO.

Hugs to you. You gave her love, remember her with pride.

How'd it go?

Nothing but a big thumbs up here for Fur Kids vets. Shame a clinic which is set up as a breeder's vet (something few and far between these days) is subjected to comments as above. No I won't be going there for C5 for my current pups, I don't do C5.

Really Sorry about the quality of friends you have a acquired over the years then

She WILL tell him when she's had enough but that could be some months away. Some of mine would put up with this from a pup until the pup is 5-6 months old, others wouldn't I'd go with the bitter apple and separation, but in the end she has to be the one to tell him enough is enough - and when she does make absolutely sure you praise her big time and back her up so to speak. Seen it so many times that when the adult does finally decide the pup is old enough to know better and tells them off the owner turns around and tells the long suffering adult off

In that case generally I would expect to be dealing with someone I know and trust and a handshake would be enough for me. For you, you could supply a stud/litter form and have it returned to you to be signed once the breeder has completed the names etc and one of the pups would be written up as being registered directly into your name. If you have a stud agreement then this would probably cover the issue to.

I expect to get the stud form when I pay the stud fee, whenever that may be. I would expect the stud dog owner to supply it to me. I wouldn't expect to get a "blank" form - and if it was my stud dog I would never give one out - it would have the bitch's name & number on it as well as the stud dog's. "Blank" as in no number of pups - well unless you were actually there when the bitch whelped you don't know for sure how many she had anyway and if you even imagine the bitch's owner would be unreliable on this issue I guess you wouldn't be letting them use your stud dog anyway.

Staffordshire Bull Terriers tend to only be escape artists if they are lonely. The odd one will be regardless of what you do but I have found that they usually escape either because they learned they can do so when they were very small puppies OR they are left alone too much. If you like the temperament of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier then they'd be a good match for your description of your family. The small rodents may be a bit too much for many to resist with but they can learn to leave small pets alone, you would need to find a good breeder and take their advice on the probably temperament of the pups (and don't believe them if they tell you they'll all be great with small pets if they're trained to be) I think you need to do a bit more research about the temperament of the breeds, the difference in temperament between a SBT and a Beagle is like two different species! A Stafford can be a very intimidating dog if you're not used to their in-your-face type temperament, but if you've survived a Boxer I think you'd do fine with a Stafford! ETA: Fox Terrier and small squeaking pets - ouch!

Or as some call them - the Finished Spitz :D Love the look of them, but the barking ;) they'd be finished if they lived here!