dancinbcs

No, but the OP was talking about culling merle's not the other colours in a litter. The numbers are declining thou. Actually this whole thread is confusing. While I don't object to breeders culling puppies that are unlikely to sell, what I don't understand is why you would breed with a merle then cull the merle offspring. Merle is dominant so one parent has to be merle for any of the puppies to be that colour. Surely in this case, simply not breeding from merles at all would solve the problem.

Dogs with no tail or very short tails have trouble swimming unless carefully introduced and conditioned to it. With no tail for a rudder they have to work a lot harder. I have found with my BCs that some seem to panic and thrash around but they don't sink and others just take to it straight away. The earlier they get to swim the quicker they adapt to it. I used to take 4 dogs to a greyhound pool and while three of them would get in and out several times the 4th one stayed in the whole half hour, only getting out if I really yelled at him. He swam like an otter and never seemed to tire. I was never game to take him to the beach figuring he might end up in NZ.

So you would be happy to see the less popular pet breeds become extinct? To preserve the breed someone has to breed enough dogs to carry one a viable gene pool. With breeds that have very large litters of say 12 or more, what are you going to do with the puppies if no one will buy them as pets? In nature large numbers like that would never survive anyway. Culling puppies at birth is much more ethical than raising more puppies than you can find good homes for. Personally, I couldn't do it and I have a popular breed so it isn't an issue but I would never condemn those that love their chosen breed and feel they have no other option with the best interest of the future of that breed in mind.

I have no problem believing it costs $1000 to raise a Dane puppy. It costs at least $500 to raise a well bred Border Collie and Danes babies eat heaps more food than Borders do as well as costing extra to worm, etc. Then you have to be able to sell them. I remember one guy breeding Akitas when they were new to Aust. He already had 4 Rotties and had an Akita to show and breed. She was bred to a dog of unpopular lines and no one in the show world wanted them. The public didn't know what they were and 6 months later he had sold 2 out of 8, given one away and sold his car ro try to feed the other 5 as well as his adult dogs. I have no idea what he did with them eventually. I also worked with a woman around the same time that had 2 hound breeds that at the time were not very popular as pets. She only bred when she wanted one to continue with but still culled the numbers at birth because she knew good homes were hard to come by for those breeds. Responsible breeders cull puppies at birth rather than dump them on rescue if they can't find homes for them. Responsible rescue organisations also cull at birth or desex pregnant bitches if the puppies are a ones that are unlikely to get a home.

Breeders need to all acknowledge that all dogs carry defects and be 100% honest with anyone wanting to breed to their lines. Possible links to all known problems in the breed need to be discussed and the risks weighed up because there is no such thing as a risk free mating. The main point should be to not double up on the same problem. "Popular Sire Syndrome" or popular dam for that matter, is a real problem even if they don't produce that many actual offspring themselves. The problems arise when progeny and grandprogeny become extensively used and within 10-15 years you find the original dog or bitch is on every pedigree in the breed at around the same time you trace a defective gene back to them. The health problems that are of the least worry are those you can test for and that is why I am always trying to explain to breeders that the whole point of having a DNA test for an autosomal recessive condition, is so that you don't need to eliminate carriers of that condition from the gene pool. Once you have a test the condition is no longer a problem, as it can so easily be controlled. Far better to worry about not doubling up on condtions that there are no tests for. Once you discover about 6 related cases of any defect, that is the time to rally the other breeders, find a geneticist to develop a test and start raising lots of money to get it to happen. Of course some conditions are easier to find tests for than others but open discussion between breeders is the only way to track the more complex ones and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

With temperaments, you don't just consider the pair you are breeding but the ancestors for 3 or 4 generations and other relatives as well. You can breed from two dogs with great temperaments and still get problems through from an ancestor you doubled up on. The same applies to all the other traits of structure and soundness. There have been some good points made about temperaments being correct for the breed and the insticts they have been bred for. If a JRT doesn't want to kill rats it isn't correct for the breed no matter how "nice and friendly" it seems. To me unacceptable temperament in any breed includes extreme nervousness or noise/storm phobia and any dog that will attack any human or other dog, unprovoked. By unprovoked I mean if it attacks when the person or animal is on neutral territory minding their own business and not even looking at the dog.

She appears to have a black nose so must be blue merle with tan points. She could also be sable or seal merle but it hard to tell from the photo and at this age. I certainly hope both her parents did not have merle on them as it is unethical and stupid to breed merle to merle in any breed.

Lots of poisons like snail bait can cause frothing.

And you need to be twice as careful with a Lab as you do with a BC because they are heavier at a younger age. The best guide to how much and what type of exercise will be the Lab breeder your puppy comes from.

Good temperament has to be high on the list of priorites for show dogs or they will never succeed in the ring. A show dog has to be happy to be there to do any good, be relaxed in a confined space with very large numbers of dogs and people, and be examined, often my multiple judges, at every show. Breeding for any one trait leads to disaster. A good temperament is useless if the dog is suffering a hereditary disease or has conformation that makes their structure unsound. A lame dog, constantly in pain will not be happy even if it started with the best temperament. Finally there is is no point in breeding pure bred dogs if they look nothing like the breed standard. You may as well breed mongrels or mutts from anything wandering down the street. The whole point of breeding should be to preserve the pure breed type while improving health, temperament, structure and therefore soundness. Breeding good quality purebred dogs is quite complex and not just a matter of putting two of the same breed together like the BYBs do.

The shy ones are fine so long as you aren't too alpha with them. They need a confident leader but being heavy handed with them will cause problems, so it sounds like you are doing all the right things and the vet hasn't really had much to do with Borders. Really seriously timid and scared about everything is a different matter but your puppy does not fit that description. Any time you need advice with a situation, feel free to pm me.

The simple answer is yes, it is possible but unlikely unless it is from a working line with no white. The original breed standard in Aust was black/white, black/tan and black tri. The other colours like chocolate (red in a Kelpie) did occur but were added to the standard later so choc with tan, with or without white markings also had to be possible. Having said that, you can usually find some white on a Border, even if it is just the toes and a few hairs in the middle of the tail tip. Choc tri is not in the Aust standard but overseas they can be any colour.

I don't find it at all unusual that a sick dog was nervous at the vets, especially a 4 month old Border. At that age all sorts of things can spook them and I avoid leaving any of my Borders at the vets (unless it is life and death) because they are a quiet breed and I find they get very stressed if other dogs bark or whine near them in a confined space. If he has been reserved from the start then yes, you do have a shy dog but they can be managed to gain more confidence if you keep doing what you are now. Take him to lots of places and let him experience different sights and sounds. Make sue you never really push him if he is scared but don't sympathise either. I find laughing at them seems to make them relax. If you tense up, they read your body language and worry more. Never let other dogs bully him, ever, or he will learn to get in first before the big scary dog attacks. Border have memories like elephants and never forget a breed that attacks them. I have raised two shy Borders and neither became fear biters. The first was submissive all his life and I just had to be a bit careful about putting him in really scary situations but he gained an obedience title, was shown at Royal shows and went lots of places with me with very few problems. The second one hid under the chair at her first puppy pre-school and wouldn't go near the trainer. She became a show Champion and an outstanding Junior Handler dog that I could lend to any child to show. As she got older she also became pack leader and the guard dog here in her later years.

The breeder of your bitch and/or the owner of her sire should be the ones to help you decide if she should be bred or not. If she really is a good example of her breed, has good results for any relevant health testing and you are prepared for the costs, work and risks involved, then go ahead and breed her. You also need to either have a prefix or arrange to breed under someone else's, preferably whoever will mentor you through the whole process. Access to a good breeder's vet is also essential for a new breeder. Not liking puppies and being skinny are not really relevant to the decision. Many bitches don't like any puppies except their own and a lot never seem to gain weight until they either have a litter or get desexed.

I hate the term Bull Breed because people think it includes Bulldogs and Bullmastiffs at times, who have completely different temperaments and instincts to the "Bull" Terrier breeds that include SBT, Amstaff, Pitbulls and the actual Bull Terriers as well as crosses of these breeds. The "Bull" Terrier breeds used to be known as the the "Fighting Terrier breeds" in some books but that term is now considered politically incorrect.

The couple of cases I have heard of in my breed were related but a change of diet fixed the problem before it became a serious issue. My guess is that some puppies inherit a need for different nutrients to their siblings for correct growth.

Why? Ticks are only found on the east coast of Vic. OP is in Brissy. I know, that is why I questioned the post about Vic. Good news that Melton has made a recovery.

Thanks, i'll put the slicker away. Thats an expensive brush. I wish I could get one at 1984 prices! I might have to invest when I get off my backside and get my tax happening :laugh: $50 was a lot in 1984 but if you get 30+ years out of the brush it works out pretty good value. Mine still has all it's bristles and the rubber backing is still perfect, so apart from being a bit scratched on the back is as good as it was new. I bought my brush with my first dog's first stud fee. :) The RRP price on the that brush is over $200 so the Peter's price is very good.

Why? Ticks are only found on the east coast of Vic.

Don't use a slicker unless he is dropping coat. A good quality bristle and nylon brush is best to use all over with a wide toothed Collie comb to check for mats. Don't forget to lift the coat and brush in layers, not just over the top. A normal comb is good for behind the ears and you can gently hand strip out the soft fine hair there by plucking it in small amounts with your fingers. This is the type of brush I have used to groom multiple show BCs for 28 years. I am still using the original brush so the price is well worth it as they outlast the dogs. My brush cost $50 back in 1984. Cheaper versions are available but nothing beats a Mason Person to get the job done with minimum fuss. Bristle and Nylon Brush

The cylinder method is the same as you would use to tape up a pricked ear that has dropped but it is taped quite firmly to keep it elevated and stop the ear filling. My vet worked out if she did that and put in a small drain where the ear was filling, with a local, and anchored it with just one stitch that she could avoid having to put a lot of dogs under general anaesthetic to fix an ear. Aural haematomas are most common in old dogs and they are the ones that most need to avoid surgery.

This sounds promising! Although I wonder if wrapping the ear around something a bit heavy with floppy ears may be upsetting for her and uncomfortable. Roughly how long did the ear need to be taped up for dancinbcs? I honestly can't remember but think it might have been a about a week with the drain in and another week without it. The ear is rolled around to allow the air to still get into the ear so you have a cylinder sticking out from the dog's head. The wider the ear, the bigger diameter cylinder it would need. With floppy ears they may need to tape the ears together as well over the top of the head. With surgery the ear still has to be taped over the head and my ones that had surgery ended up with more mangled ears than those done with the cylinder.

Which heartwormer comes as a tablet any more? They all seem to be chews. Valuheart Thanks, I probably ruled them out years ago because they are the same drug as Heartguard. I prefer to use Interceptor because it is different and the intestinal wormersin it are easier on the stomach than Drontal.

Which heartwormer comes as a tablet any more? They all seem to be chews.

I have a had a few surgically repaired but the last couple were done by putting in a small drain with a local anaesthetic and rolling and taping the ear around the inner core of a roll of bandage. This method worked far better. Not sure how it would go with floppy ears but it worked a charm with my Border Collies.