Sandra777

Some of the most important and influential breeding animals have come from very close matings so no there is nothing inherently wrong with the practice but you need to be experienced and ethical to consider such a mating as there are many things to be considered such as health and temperament along with conformation which is less obvious to the average pet buyer. If you aren't experienced enough to know whether it's a good or bad idea in general I wouldn't expect you to be experienced enough be able to judge whether or not this specific mating is a good idea or not - so my advice would be to look elsewhere. Perhaps it is a great mating, perhaps it is the pinnacle of this particular breeder's 50 year plan, but for the average pet buyer how would you know this?

So long as whatever he is chewing isn't toxic, let him do it to a degree - but you do need to be aware that today it's twigs, tomorrow it'll be the outdoor furniture. Best to give him things he is allowed to chew than to allow him to choose his own things, you will never be able to teach him everything he's not allowed to chew, it's a lot less stressful to teach him what he is allowed to chew. You can include twigs and branches in the things you "give" him if it makes him happy, plant some around so he can discover them for himself, but include purpose-bought or made chew things too. I don't do chew toys with my crew, I prefer them to chew on their food, but with puppies they need to experience different tastes and textures IMO so pups around here have a weird selection of toys. Plastic drink bottles are the favourite.

Yep

At an open show there's no points given for championship titles. The judges are learning too and it used to be more relaxed, now some people get quite wound up about it. Sometimes they don't judge in show awards, just to group level. Some offer a lot fewer classes. Apart from that, everything's works the same. Championship show, points on offer for titles, judges more experienced and generally a bit more serious for more people. Open shows are a good place to learn, to practice and to get some ring confidence for handler and puppy.

Newspaper and sheets - you can get sheets very cheaply from Salvos. Only problem with sheets is they can be a little slippery which isn't ideal, but mine have always coped. Older pups - 10 days onwards, polar fleece or if you really get lucky, those cotton blankets that are cheap in Salvos but really expensive to buy new

ditto. I've got one family that does that great woo woo woo when greeting people and another that likes to walk around with something in their gob going grrr grrr grrr. We were so happy when Diva trotted up to us about 4 weeks ago with a shoe in her mouth going grrr grrr grrr

Not at all unusual, I have a ten week old boy who argues about everything

Yep, did a search What is the situation now? Is camping allowed or not? Officially, unofficially, whatever. Or, alternative places for 1 person with a dog trailer....for Easter

You've gotta wonder what some vet's think dogs ate before Mr Hills was born

What did the breeder say on their diet sheet? A 6 week old puppy is waaaay to young to be away from mum though. My pups get raw food right from the start of the weaning process (3 or 4 weeks), but it depends on the size puppy you are referring to. It you are going to feed raw you MUST feed bones, whether whole or minced, so it's not really a 'wait until later' situation if you intend to go the raw road. Don't be surprised the vet wouldn't reccomend raw - they make no margin out of you not buying their food and sadly too many people feed raw very badly and the vets have to deal with the aftermath. In what way is your puppy ill? As it was taken from the litter much too soon some of it could be stress, but if you didn't feed it the same diet as the breeder then this could well cause problems for the poor wee mite too----- so more info please

Highly likely it's some sort of rub from her being in confinement - pushing at the cage door, something like that. Glad she is yet another one who doesn't keel over at the sight of a grape

I know nothing about CKCS but if he has a lot of white around his nose it'd wouldn't surprise me at all if he was born with a pink nose and it pigments up as he gets older ("older" in this instance depends on breed, could be 2 weeks could be 6 months). Certainly happens that way in the breeds I do know Ask the breeder.

I won't be leaving another Stafford of mine past two. Back in the olden days I used to breed them on their second heat almost without question. Had a lot less hassles than I do now, bigger litters, easy whelping (most of the time, mind you only one family has whelping issues now so it's not exactly taken over).

We have an Oztrail - and hold out to buy the sides if you go for one of these I got 2 of the older sides (which cover all 4 sides of the gazebo) for $29 each - this was at BCF about 6 months ago.

Oh yes, the poison onions. Same dog that liked purple grapes used to eat whole bags of onions if he got the chance. Strange little guy he was :D

All my dogs have always eaten grapes, no ill effects except for the unfortunate incident with a whole grape vine full of luscious purple grapes, one greedy dog and a nice cream coloured carpet :D

Staffordshire Bull Terriers don't. A lot of foxie type crosses do.

CCCQ have been pretty good at putting all the information needed in their magazine. Just take that along and slap the vet around the head with it. No reason to think the vet associations/whatever haven't been educating the vets, all the ones around here seem to know about the ammendment. Then again - speak to the VET not the 15 year old on phone duty and you usually get a better answer

"Ms Knoblock, 23, said she had only owned her pup for five days after buying her from a breeder at Gayndah in the Central Burnett region." Owned a 6 week old pup for 5 days "Dr Fargher said Buddy could have caught the hookworm three to four weeks ago." How does a two or three week old puppy get hookworm. Genuine question, is it passed on from mum or resident in soil? "Ms Knoblock said she had since asked the breeders to help foot the $650 vet bill, but they had refused." Now there's a surprise, hope she reported them to the SPCA instead.

The pups can be chipped at any age provided the vet who does it is of the opinion that no harm will come to the pups if they are chipped under 8 weeks, OR there is a certificate stating the same if the chipper isn't a vet. If you can't get a vet to do it or agree to it being done prior to 8 weeks, then 8 weeks is the minimum age. It's all in the CCCQ magazine. Had my crowd done at 7 weeks, no problem at all. ETA: The rule was changed from a minimum of 8 weeks to under 8 weeks with vet's approval either in early December or November. Your vet ought to have known about this I would have thought.

Hmmmm 6 weeks old and that bad a hookworm burden?? What about the rest of the litter please? And WTF is that little white thing - oh yes one of those mythical English Staffordshire Terriers

Unless I've missed something, I don't think you need to worry much about a Mini Dachshund choaking on a brisket bone. The only ones I've ever heard of are dogs with bigger and stronger jaws - Staffords and Bullmastiffs feature a fair bit - they seem to have the strength to be able to pull the bone in to their throats when it's too big to swallow. I've lost one that way myself Lamb shank - would he be able to eat the leg bone? It'd be a bit hard I would think? Oxtails are a good recreational bone for a smaller mouth too - lots of corners and bits to pull on and a lot of the bone is very soft and covered with gristle so very yummy for them.

I trust you reported this to the relevant CC so they could investigate it and demand the appropriate DNA tests.

Dogs are designed for gorge and fast - he absolutely will not be harmed by not getting breakfast. Many people regularly fast their dogs for one day, or simply forget to feed them. Even if his vomiting was nothing important at all it won't hurt him, and if he is feeling a bit "off" it will do him good to rest his gut, provided he has plenty of water he'll be just fine. Pest control spray - I would be finding out what exactly was used and not taking "it's safe" as an answer - it probably IS safe, but you now have 2 dogs acting oddly so look in to everything.

I would have to wonder if there's something in their environment causing this. Perhaps noises they find distressing/unusual (a builder using a nail gun can be very upsetting to some dogs for example); perhaps something actually physically harmful to them - plant, mushrooms, garden mulch. I'd be inspecting the whole garden and maybe even staying home for the day and seeing if there's something you don't know about happening in your neighbourhood when you're not around.