dancinbcs

I have a breed where co-ownership is very common and there are rarely any problems. Breeders tend to not keep more than about 12 as they need a lot of one on one attention. In some cases the dog stays in the breeder's name on their ANKC papers but the pet owner's name on the microchip. In others the dog is in two names and both owners have to be members of their state control. Often the breeder will pay for the other membership and increased council/state registration as well if the pet owner is not going to be getting any benefit from the arrangement. When the pet owner goes on holidays the dog goes to the breeder so saving a fortune on kennel fees if you like to travel a lot and many co-ordinate a cluster of shows for when the pet owner will be away on holidays. In fact a co-own of a show dog is a great compromise for people who do have to travel a lot and feel that they would not want to have to kennel a dog that much. If you live close to the breeder, they may just collect the dog on Friday and drop him back on Sunday night when he is being shown. They will tend to show most weekends for a while, then have a break or even stop once the dog is titled. The usual arrangement for vet fees is that the pet owner pays all normal fees and the breeder pays for all health testing. Done the right way it can be a great way to be involved in helping a really good breeder to contribute to the future of their breed, while keeping dogs mainly in pet homes, not kennels. It usually works out best when neither owner is in the arrangement for any financial gain and you have to be really happy to become friends with the other person and be involved with them. If that trust is not there, it won't work. I know a breeder who has a litter at the moment from a bitch she placed in a pet home with a family she met many years ago, who loved her dogs but were concerned that their frequent travelling would make owning their own dog difficult. Back then she placed an adult male with them, that they shared back and forth for the rest of his life. He was equally happy in either home. When he passed away they got a female puppy from her with the intention of again sharing her with the breeder and she now has her first litter, sired by their deceased dog, from frozen semen and the breeder is doing all the work. When she goes home they have the option to desex her or send her back for another litter later. It is entirely their choice and they can own a dog knowing she will be completely safe and happy when they have to travel. Just have a good talk to the breeder and ask them exactly how they want the arrangement to work. If you are happy with it and feel it suits you, go for it. If anything about the breeder or the arrangement is not what you want, look elsewhere for a dog.

I love my Oldfield prototype, single motor, unheated model. It was the first one they launched to dog exhibitors. I bought it way back in 1987 and it is still going strong. They may be a little more expensive than some of the others but they last forever. A lot of my friends bought them shortly after I did and most of them are still in use. Mine has dried a lot of dogs over those years and never missed a beat even when used hour after hour, when preparing a lot of dogs for a major show.

I find that men in general are usually unable to cope with making this decision. Yes, there are exceptions but over and over I see men resisting when the women in their life are able to face the inevitable. You have to do what is right for your girl and that means telling your husband that you ARE taking her to be pts and he can come with you or not, he can come in while it is done or wait in the car. Those are his decisions, whether to release your girl from her pain is not up to him, it is the decision of the rational person and that is you. I also find once they are told that the decision has been made, they accept it. It is being part of the decision process that they resist. I feel for you as I and many women I know have been in the same position over and over again. Stick to what you know is the right thing to do and let her go. The only dog I have had a regret about having pts was my last and that was because I left it a week too long. If I could go back and do it again, I would not make her suffer through that last week and she was only 10, not an oldie.

If the puppy is over 3 months, do the surgery if possible. PDA can self correct up to about 12 months if it is very mild. If the blood flow has reversed in the heart, it is too late to do the surgery and the puppy should be pts but if caught before that, the surgery usually works very well. The downside is the huge cost that most breeders cannot afford. No puppy with PDA should ever be sold and most breeders opt to just let the affected puppy live for as long as it is comfortable before having it PTS. Some opt to pts if it has not resolved on it's own by 3 months. Otherwise they usually survive 4-6 years if left alone, depending on the severity of the condition. In their final year or two, lots of very expensive medications can keep them going for a bit longer. Most puppies that survive the surgery, live normal lives afterwards.

All Border Collies used for breeding, should be hip and elbow scored and good breeders have been doing them for over 20 years. A fit dog with dodgy hips will often show no symptoms. It is when the dog gets older and loses fitness that the problems start to show. I have seen the hip x-ray of a Golden that scored 53:53 for hips. The worst possible score. At the time she was scored she was a top winning show dog, well known for her lovely movement. On the x-ray she had flat plates, instead of ball and socket joints. So watching them move is often no indication of what the hips are like. As the OP question. Verify why the scores you were given are different. It may be a genuine mistake. A score of 2:7 is still fine to breed, specially to a lower score and the odd numbers are usually caused by an injury.

The very best remedy for puncture wounds in animals or humans is Ichthammol ointment from the chemist. It will draw out any infection so there is no need for antibiotics. My family have used it since before I was born and were put onto to it be a greyhound trainer. It heals up any injury that doesn't need stitching and is also perfect to draw out abscesses and sebaceous cysts. Just bath the wound and slather on a few times a day. Harmless if the dog licks it too.

Cooked food is not needed at all but they are usually partial to any leftovers you have. A premium quality dry food and/or raw meaty bones from beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, etc, plus fish, eggs and raw very finely chopped veges are best for any dog. No milk - why? I have had Borders for 30 years and mine all get milk every day of their lives. Goats milk, low lactose milk or a specific formula like divetelact are enjoyed and are a useful addition to the diet, not necessary but it does no harm at all. Most can in fact digest normal cow's milk. I'm sure in the past, many a Border in the highlands worked all day on a plate of porridge, some milk, an egg and a meaty bone. For centuries they have lived with the shepherd's family and eaten whatever was available so they are pretty adaptable as far as diet goes. Most enjoy any fruit and veg ranging from mangoes to parsnips but again they are not vital parts of the diet, just possible additions.

What was he eating before all this started? My two dogs of different breeds, recently had mystery vomiting illness for 3 days each with the second one starting on the day third day the first dog was ill. I suspect a bad batch of dog food as I had just opened new bags of Blackhawk and Sunday Pets. Both threw up everything for a day and a half then managed to keep down very small bland meals but threw up any dry food. After 3 days each was back to normal without dry food and I still haven't tried them back on either batch of dry food. They are fine though with some A La Carte I had here. Neither seemed really ill, they drank, peed and pooed normally but just could not keep food down.

Members can search the Pedigree Lookup function on the website to check if a prefix has actually had any litters registered to it but you would have to call the office to check if a number was active.

Rear ones should always be removed, except in the very few breeds that are required to have them. Front ones are a personal choice, depending on breed. In some breeds they stick out and are a nuisance, in both my breeds they are tucked neatly into the leg so there is no need to remove them.

Getting rid of fleas in the environment helps reduce the chemicals used on the dog so start by treating the dog with Advantage or Frontline and flea bomb the house at the same time. Also use a yard spray if you have sandy soil and make sure grass is kept short. In most areas Frontline Plus has stopped working but I went back to Frontline Original this year and it seemed to work. If the flea load isn't too bad you may get away with just one treatment. I also use a small amount diatomaceous earth in the dog's food but am nearly out of it and my supplier has not been able to get any more food grade, so when it is finished I won't be able to use that again. As far as alternatives for an itchy dog go, once the fleas are gone you can use a large array of treatments but it is best to start with a normal antihistamine as well as the alternative treatment. Try different antihistamines until you find one that seems to work and check with your vet for dosage. Phenergan is a good quick knockdown but makes the dog drowsy. I find Claratyne works well after a few days on it but others find Zirtec better. Alternative treatments range from the simple - coconut oil, omega 3 oil, rosehip vital canine, feeding more fish and eggs to much more complex Chinese Herbs, depending on how bad the itch problem is. I treated, over two years with an assortment of Chinese herbs, a dog that developed severe itch problems after a heartworm injection stuffed up his immune system. It worked and he is pretty much a normal dog now, only occasionally having some herbs with some antihistamine during hot, humid weather but he is off most of the treatments we used. It all needs to be prescribed by a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine as they treat the individual dog, not the condition. I use Lyn Stevens at Alternative Therapies at Camden, NSW.

And what is wrong with that? They may not want one this second but will want one within the next couple of months. Most ANKC breeders - 70% - only breed one litter a year so there is no point wasting your time or theirs if you have nothing to sell, when there are other litters available. It is different with a rare breed that always has a waiting list but in many breeds there are puppies available somewhere, most of the time. Only experienced owners realise that one puppy is not the same as the next one. The rescue push sprout that idea all the time when they try to get people to take a rescue dog instead of a carefully chosen purebred puppy. In their mind a dog is a dog. There is also much hype now whenever their is a dog attack, blaming the owner and how they raised the dog, talking about puppies being a blank slate and the only ones that are dangerous are made that way by the owner. No wonder puppy buyers figure one puppy is the same as the next. Of course all of that is hogwash but the public don't know that. If you don't have any available, they will move on to someone that does. They also need to know before anything else, how much the puppy will cost. If it more than they can budget for, they have to choose another breed or save up until they can put the purchase price together.

First make sure that you are buying from a dedicated ANKC registered breeder who health tests the parents - Hip and elbow scores and DNA tests for CL, TNS and CEA - for both parents, at a minimum. Make sure they breed for a reason - show, performance or herding, not just to produce pets. All puppies in the litter should be the same price regardless of colour, sex and register and the nose and eye rims of the parents and puppy should be fully pigmented. If you find a breeder who does all that, trust them to advise you on how to feed the puppy to make sure it grows properly. QLD is home to a lot of shonky registered BC breeders so make sure you pick a good one, not a shonky one.

My bet is a ghost and I would also bet that your son can see it too. I think you are going to have to wait until he is talking better to get an answer.

Old dogs do seem to get heavier, desexed or not. The risk of pyo far outweighs any risk from them being too heavy. Switch to lower calorie food and up the exercise and they will be fine. They do seem to change shape a bit, getting thicker through the flanks but that isn't a health issue. I have always desexed my old girls.