dancinbcs

About $120 - $180 here for a male depending on size. More if the testicles are retained.

If you know the breeder really well and they agree to this arrangement there is no reason it shouldn't work. I have co-bred several litters and have never had any issues. It was always understood that the dog belonged to whoever it lived with and my only interest was to continue my prefix and have options for a puppy every now and then without keeping a big kennel. If you and the breeder are the sort of people who can be diplomatic, do not tend to make enemies and can go with the flow, it can be a good arrangement. If either party is the type that tends to have serious falling outs with friends, it can get complicated.

double post

They didn't get sent for scoring, no point as a score isn't going to be useful information.. We sent them to an orthopedic specialist for comment & recommendation.. He made comment that lots of dogs won't show signs till late with the elbows.... The hips are 50% subluxated in the extended view..... If we had of continued on to do the Pennhip distraction view, they would have been 100% subluxated. I'm hopeful his hips might not cause him too many issues... But his elbows will Strange comment about the elbows. It usually shows in puppies if they are going to have problems. Some dogs with bad elbow scores never have a problem and live a normal life other than not jumping etc, and of course you don't breed them. The hips intrigue me and I would be asking to have them scored, preferably by Rawlinson, to see exactly what is going on. If the only problem is subluxation then specific exercise and diet may improve things dramatically. Supplement with Vitamin C, walk the dog on a harness and encourage him to pull into it and swim him at least 2 to 3 times a week. Stop all running for at least a month or two. Then re x-ray and see if it has made a difference. I have no idea why a young male would have loose ligaments but in bitches the ligaments all slacken as they approach whelping. One of mine didn't slow down at all and managed to pull both her hips out of place after her first litter. There was a good cm gap. I followed the above regime and two months later the new x-rays showed hips perfectly back in the sockets where they should have been and they stayed there for the rest of her life.

Absolutely not. I know someone who had their Border Collie puppy killed by other dogs it was allowed to run with at a kennel where it was just left for a weekend. Dogs owned by different people should never be together.

What are the actual hip and elbow scores? Some dogs with relatively high scores lead normal lives, it just depends how high. The elbows may need surgery though but I would have expected him to have problems way before this age. OCD usually shows up around 5 months.

My girl was 6 weeks on antibiotics but started to respond within a few days. I also did acupuncture on her for the 6 weeks. We caught it very early in the infection before there was any damage detectable on an x-ray though. Her back was pretty good afterwards but never quite the same as it had been before. She lived about another 2 years with no relapses.

I'm sure there is some legal ruling regarding boarding kennels selling the animals to recoup some of the money owed but have no idea where you would find it. Hopefully someone else with a boarding kennel will know.

German Shorthaired Pointer.

Is it a dog or bitch? My preferred option with a bitch is for the buyer to pay for the bitch then have the breeder pay back the purchase price when the bitch produces a litter for the breeder, at the breeder's premises, under their prefix. This protects the breeder if the buyer reneges on the deal or the bitch is lost or killed in an accident. Some place the bitch for free but expect two or even three litters back. Personally I think one normal sized litter is all that should be expected but some owners are happy for their girl to have a second or third. In these circumstances I think the owner should be paid the price of a puppy for each normal sized litter produced. With a litter of just one or two puppies the breeder is usually well out of pocket. Another arrangement that has worked well for me on several occasions is for the buyer to pay for the bitch and all expenses for the litter. They raise the litter, by my choice of sire, at their house, under my prefix with supervision and lots and lots of help including finding buyers. They sell the puppies (usually keeping one) and keep the money and if I want pick puppy I pay for the outgoing expenses of registration, vaccinations, microchip, etc for that puppy. This gives them the experience of having a litter with someone to "hold their hand" before they decide if dog breeding is something they really want to get in to. Some decide one litter is enough, others go on to be dedicated breeders. It allows my prefix to continue while leaving the bitches at home with their families and I have no interest in any financial gain from the arrangement.

If your aim is agility and obedience, go to some trials and watch the different working styles, talk to the owners of successful dogs. For obedience any of those 3 breeds would be fine. For agility I would probably lean towards the GSP as being the best build for speed and less injuries. Of course the ferrari of agility dogs is the Border Collie :D but lots of other breeds do agility very well.

Is it a dog or bitch?

I cannot believe any vet would say any heart murmur is "probably innocent" and has a 90% chance of resolving. How the hell would they know without very expensive specialist testing? Yes, many heart murmurs do resolve but a lot get worse and there is absolutely no way of knowing which it is unless it does resolve or they have testing done. Any breeder who would allow a heart murmur puppy to leave their care before the murmur resolves has rocks in their head. They are inviting a law suit to pay for thousands in testing and surgery. No matter what went on between these parties the breeder is still at fault for expecting the buyer to to take a puppy with an unresolved heart murmur. They should have offered a refund of the deposit at any time the buyer wanted out and kept the puppy until the murmur resolves or they make a decision for surgery or euthanasia. Now they have a dispute and do not want the puppy to go to these people anyway the best way out is to refund the deposit, cut their losses and learn a valuable lesson to never sell a puppy with an evident heart murmur.

This raises an interesting point. Are breeders who regularly have litters for sale registered as a business? Most breeders cannot register as a business, even if they want to because they never make any "profit", income yes, profit no. By the time they deduct all their expenses for their dogs most operate at a loss so you cannot register as a business. Only those producing very large numbers, not showing/trialling and not keeping dogs for their entire lives would be able to make enough profit to qualify as a business. So even though the Fair Trading laws do not apply, it is still illegal to not refund a deposit on faulty goods, whether it is a business or not. Once these poor people get their money back it would be great if they came on here and named and shamed this breeder. There is no excuse for selling a puppy with a heart murmur yet the AWL have told me they do it. It really makes me mad that they think it is ok to sell deaf puppies and those with heart murmurs when reputable breeders wouldn't dream of doing it. Some may give them away with full disclosure but they are not fit to be sold.

My bitches usually don't sleep with the litter at night at 5 weeks but have access to them all day if they want. Get rid of the mush. With a large breed they need something to get their teeth into. My BCs will eat soaked dry food for a little while at around 4 weeks but from 5 weeks they prefer it dry. They also prefer meaty bones, chicken wings, meat chunks, canned fish chunks and milk as a separate drink. Feeding everything mushed together seems an instant appetite turn off.

So none of the internationally recognised registries. Anyone can set up and call themselves a registry but if it is not recognised by the KC, AKC, ANKC and FCI, it doesn't mean anything.

Thank you for that :) I thought it must cost more for surgery on large dog because of the extra medicines required, but I wasnt positive. Cost wise we are probably looking at next year for actually getting a dog. Depends how OH goes getting the job he's after. Either way it seems that we'll have to have a decent amount of money sitting in a dog fund :laugh: Owning a large breed is turing out to be a similar cost to owning my horse! With around 600kgs difference ;p Raising a giant breed puppy will cost you more than stabling and hard feeding a horse. The costs drops a bit when they mature but they are still very expensive to keep. I wanted a Pyrenean Mountain Dog in my early 20s but then worked out it would cost more than my horse did to keep so scrapped that idea. I looked at Rotties and was advised by a very experienced breeder that I, at about 85kg at the time and not short, was too small to hang on to a Rottie if it was determined to chase someone or something. I settled on Border Collies and could not be happier. Several of them have been very protective of me and my property, but not all. I had friends with Tibetan Matiffs but would never own them. Too much of a liability as are several of the other serious large guard breeds. I till love many giant breeds but feel they are just not the most practical breeds to own. I cannot even imagine having a dog so big I couldn't pick it up and get it in the car on my own in an emergency. Now with decades of dog experience, if I needed a more serious personal guard dog I would go for a GSD or Dobe. If I needed a property guard I would choose a Rottie, Black Russian or Rhodesian Ridgeback due to their imposing appearance and guard instinct. The RR is more likely to lick someone once they are on the property but most people wouldn't try to enter if a RR was barking at them. Also consider that as a young married couple there will probably be children in the future so if you must have a giant breed choose a gentle giant that looks imposing rather than one of the guard breeds that is bred to actually attack intruders.

I've had BCs, so medium size breed. My preferences would be a heated section one side only, sides only about 40cm high with some way of attaching higher lightweight sides/top (total 1 metre high)for warmth if needed in winter. High sides in hot weather make it impossible to keep them cool. Maybe a section underneath one side to put ice packs in would be useful for very hot weather. Removable sections to floor level to allow mum in and puppies out as they grow rather than a hinged flap that tends to make a slippery dip effect.

Westie Club of America This page has a link to info about kidney problems in Westies. It is interesting the the Westie Club of Vic site doesn't mention it so maybe it is more of a problem in US lines.

If they're a little flexible on size, a Collie Smooth? Or otherwise, bigger but not taller - a Cardigan Corgi? efs A Smooth Collie or Corgi will shed a LOT more than a Sheltie. They just don't need as much brushing to avoid tangles. Give me a long coat over a short, dense double coat any day as far as shedding goes. The only non shedders are the curly coats like the Poodle, Lagotto, Portie or Bichon or some of the terriers like Bedlingtons or Westies. Then there is always the Xolos.

There are Triennial Vaccines available that are registered as such. But this is a TRIPLE dose. No way in hell I'd let my dogs have that! FWIW, this isn't what the AVA is recommending, they are saying a single dose every three years. Yes, they have put the vets in an awkward situation. My vet believes the normal vaccine should be fine for 3 years but cannot actually say it will be. Legally she can only do it with the triennial one but she has never pushed over vaccination. I haven't used C5 in the 17 years I have been going there due to a dog having a bad reaction to it previously and she never questioned that decision. Having also had a very old dog with parvo back in the days when we only did puppy vaccines I would not leave a dog it's whole life with no boosters either. I think 3 yearly with a C3 is a good compromise. The most dangerous of the lot though is the heartworm injection and I will never use that again due to problems with it in my dogs. Back to monthly tablets for us. As to vaccinosis, I am very sceptical it exists after some Border Collies in the US, that were diagnosed with it, turned out to have the fatal genetic condition, TNS. No other breed has a genetic test for this faulty immune system problem that is common in many species and is highly likely to occur in other dog breeds. My theory is that dogs born with a condition similar to TNS will be the ones that react badly to basic vaccination that healthy dogs can easily cope with.

There is an exemption clause for working dogs, meaning dogs used for work purposes - sheep and cattle dogs, guide dogs, defence forces, etc.

I don't believe these results go into the AVA scheme. They use PennHip however I am guessing these X-rays will be going to a private reader for scoring under a different system. There are strengths and weaknesses in both systems and so people can choose which they go to. They are sent direct to a private reader but the statistics go to the AVA database. We used Prof Wyburn for many years to score them and now most people I know are using Prof Rawlinson. On the forms you have to agree to the stats being sent to the AVA but there is no requirement for a GA like there is on the AVA form. Many of us prefer a private reader for consistancy over the years. With the AVA panel you never know who you will get and the readings vary a lot. I have known of dogs to die under the GA having hips done so avoid it unless absolutely necessary. The difference in the score might be a point or two but that can happen with the positioning and even more so with the reading if it goes to the AVA but really the exact score doesn't matter. What matters is if the dog has good or bad hips. The only issue that can arise is if you are exporting dogs or semen to countries that have cut off scores for breeding but most don't. As for advertising scores, the majority of my breed are done without sedation so no one even thinks about it. Maybe I should advertise my boy's 0:2 as being done with a GA because he is the exception to most but he didn't want to cooperate.

Thankfully we dont have paralysis ticks, if we did I would have said a lot more! I thought that paralysis ticks were pretty much spread right throughout NSW??? They are only along the coast, anywhere west of the mountains is safe and much of the mountains themself are as well, just depends in how humid and warm it gets. Anywhere that gets very dry or cold does not have ticks. I am in the SW of Sydney and we don't have them here but the eastern and northern suburbs do.

Interesting that it mentions pesticides but not herbicides. I wonder if they were part of the study.