dancinbcs

To improve the breed you only breed on with the best. In nature the strongest survive by natural selection. With domesticated dogs the breeders need to pick the puppies with the soundest conformation and temperament that would have been more likely to survive if left to nature. Dogs with poor structure break down faster and would be left behind by the pack. Nature never intended for all puppies to live to breeding age and there is usually a whole spectrum in each litter. These days minor structural problems pose no problem for a non breeding pet that doesn't need to hunt to survive but that doesn't mean that they should be bred from. In most litters there are one ot two stand out puppies and these are the ones that should carry on the lines. Some litters are all crap so the pick of litter may not be as good as either parent. In that case none should be bred from. Occasionally a litter, often tightly line bred, will produce several really good and even quality puppies but this is the exception, rather than the rule. Puppies with structural faults as well as breed faults should be limit registered to prevent them contributing faulty genes to the breed's future gene pool. Puppies worthy of being on main register should be on main register, even if it means selling them in partnership to prevent them being onsold to dealers and puppy farms. The problem is a lot of people breeding, even if they show, have no idea what constitutes a soundly constructed puppy. I have had breeders say they have no idea about conformation. If they don't know the basics they should not be breeding, but they do.

If your boy is from a reputable well known breeder, then they should be able to help you find a suitable female. Networking among breeders is the way most people end up with a decent bitch to start with. It would be best to wait until your boy matures a bit more to get an idea of what type of bitch you need to complement him but even then there is no guarantee that he will suit her when she grows up. If he doesn't suit her are you prepared to not use him and use another more suitable stud dog. On the other hand, if the breeder of your male is not well respected for producing good dogs, then those who are, will not want to sell you a bitch to put to him. They will want their bitches bred only to the very best, not to a dog from a breeder with lines they don't like. In the mean time, as others have suggested, get out and show your boy to let everyone know that you are serious about the breed. Get your boy ready to trial and start getting noticed. I started with a really good male, that I titled in show and obedience and had people offering me bitches after a couple of years from several kennels. These days showing is harder in the big competitive breeds but if you can start winning some age classes in group and placing well at specialties people will respect you even if you don't manage to title your dog.

It is interesting to look at the breed standard, then look at some of the top winning dogs. Clearly a lot of the judges take no notice of the standard they are supposed to be judging to. Under body it states: "The topline flows from the set on of the neck, over the high long withers and over the straight back to the slightly sloping croup without a noticeable break. The back is moderately long, firm, strong and well muscled. The loin is broad, short, strongly developed and well muscled. The croup should be long and slightly sloping (approximately 23 degrees to the horizontal) into the set on of the tail without disruption to the topline."

I find this in Border Collies as well. The first ones to sell everything on limit were newer breeders who had achieved nothing with their dogs, other than to produce puppies. A whole litter on limit does nothing for the future of the breed. Prior to this current trend, only the inferior puppies were sold on limit with anything considered show/breeding potential sold on main. That could be one or a few puppies from any given litter but usually not the whole litter. Unless you have imported a line of dogs, you do not own the line but are simply caretaking it for the future of the breed. Someone trusted you enough to share those lines and you have a responsibility to protect them but ultimately to pass them on. A few of the higher profile BC breeders are now more wary after being let down badly but most will still sell main register puppies to new people and help them get started in the breed. As our breed is still in very big demand in China, many breeders are still wary of selling anything on main, outright to people they don't know. Keeping them in co-ownership prevents the puppy being on-sold to Asian dealers that often offer 10 times the original purchase price and some buyers find that hard to resist. These dealers also recruit nice looking families to buy for them, telling them all the right things to ask and hoodwinking the breeder. I know of several who have been caught out this way. Leaving the puppy in co-ownership until you get to know the buyer is about the only way to prevent this and still sell puppies on main register. In my breed this is often what co-ownership is for and once the buyer proves trustworthy the dog is sometimes signed over to them. Co-ownership for breeders terms is a different thing entirely. It can work beautifully and benefit all parties if the breeder isn't greedy and does it for the right reasons. I believe puppies should be sold at full price (with or without co-ownership) to people you don't know and then if you make use of the dog down the track, the owners should be compensated. This avoids the problem of placing a dog on breeders terms (free or at a reduced price) and having the dog accidently killed due to owner negligence or their vet talking them into desexing the dog. Personally the biggest problem I have had is that almost every buyer wants to desex their dog asap so early desexing is not something I am interested in at all. If a dog is too valuable to your breeding program to risk this happening then don't sell it. Assuming all goes well and you want to use the dog. If it is a male, then the owners should be paid a stud fee if they paid full price for the dog. If it is a bitch and she is returned to you for a litter, the owners should have the purchase price refunded and/or get to keep a puppy from the litter. I do know several very successful breeders that give their main register puppies away, sometimes in co-ownership, sometimes not, to get them in the ring and to keep around as breeding stock. Free males are required to be available for free studs to the breeder's own bitches and free bitches often come with the deal that they be returned for a litte or two. This is usually only to well established show homes that have proven themselves with other dogs but it is a very successful way to build up a reputation as a top show kennel, if you can afford to do it. The other co-ownership that I have had success with several times is for the owners to have a litter under my prefix. If they are really keen, I put my prefix in dual names to breed the litter. This avoids them having to make the full commitment to being breeders until they decide if they really want to pursue it. For some, one litter is a nice experience but they don't want to do it again. For a few though it can be start of them becoming dedicated breeders but most don't realise they want to breed until they try it. What do I get out of it ? Another litter to keep my line going when I have neither the time or space to have many litters. In these cases the owners assume all the risks, pay the costs, raise the litter and keep all the money from the puppy sales. I find them a stud dog, organise the mating, be there for the whelping, find buyers for them, organise the registration, vaccination, microchipping, puppy notes, etc. If I want a puppy from the litter I pay them their direct outgoing costs for the puppy which is usually about 50%. I have had 7 litters under these conditions with 5 different owners and never had a problem with any of them. Two of the 5 have gone on to get their own prefix and successfully breed their own dogs. The world of pure bred dogs needs more dedicated breeders. Sometimes you have to take a punt on someone. Will people let you down by desexing your pick of litter when their lives change. Yes. Will they sometimes do the wrong thing and breed to their friend's dog that isn't suitable. Yes. In the big scheme of things these are not major crimes. We do need to protect out puppies from ending up in puppy farms here or overseas, but other than that anyone reasonable that wants to join our ranks as dedicated ANKC registered breeders, should get our encouragement not our contempt.

Definitely the way to go. Also there should be somewhere along the way that you can buy more fresh food unless you are really heading into the outback. I took 2 dogs on a 16 day, 4500km road trip in 2009 and kept them on fresh raw food all the way.

Border Terriers are the only terrier breed where breeders seem to be able to run all their entire males together without a problembecause they are totally non-agressive. So a very different temperaments to all the others in the group. Generally they are happy friendly little dogs. No idea about Cairn temperament.

Ok you are scarying me. 14 puppies, OMG!!!! You are right they tuck them up in the rib cage so well some times. I'm praying for 6 or less. Truthfully one healthy female puppy is all i wanted but the others are a bonus and we don't have a shortage of homes waiting. I don't think you need to worry about 14 from a Cav, but I do know a of very small Cav bitch that had 10. :D We basically use ultrasound to confirm pregnancy and get an approx number. You really only need to know if there is just one huge puppy or several/many smaller ones. Also for bitches that have small litters, ultrasounds at 4 weeks then 6-7 weeks can determine if they are re-absorbing. They are also useful close to whelping to check the puppies and work out how big the first one is and what position it is in.

Generally 6 months or when the permanent tooth is about half way out, is the time for a vet to pull the baby teeth. From that photo I would give it another week or two, with lots of tug games and things to chew. You can also start wriggling the tooth once the permanent tooth is partly errupted.

They don't need to be unless they are going to bolt when you open the tailgate. If they are trained to stay until you tell them they can get out then they will be fine just behind the cargo barrier.

Dogs in the back of a wagon or 4WD need to be in secure crates of behind a sturdy cargo barrier, so they can't be thrown forward onto passengers in the event of an accident. If the seats are fairly high and you can find crates that fit snuggly, so they can't move around, then crates are fine. Otherwise get a good cargo barrier fitted and put the dogs behind that but make sure it is a steel wire one, not a plastic type because they don't allow enough air to circulate.

My clients informed me their puppy is not lame and to my knowledge their Vet did not indicate that a symptomatic problem was the reason for the xrays. In that case I would be reporting the vet and finding another one. No decent vet would suggest x-rays for a dog that didn't present with syptoms. Sadly there are plenty of incompetant vets more concerned with money than what is best for the animals. Some of the errors in diagnosis I have seen over the years have been incredible and it really makes you wonder why students need such high marks to study vet science. Some of them don't seem to have a clue. I had one, years ago, diagnose spondylosis in a puppy I bred. After several hundred dollars worth of x-rays they decided that this puppy was suffering a condition that normally only affects old dogs. I sent the owners to a better vet for a second opinion and it turned out that the puppy had pulled a muscle in it's back and couple of laser treatments saw it completely recovered. This is just one of many cases with idiot vets scaring the wits out of new puppy owners by diagnosing conditons that don't exist. There are a lot more shonky vets than there are good ones but the good ones are worth their weight in gold and we couldn't live without them. BTW, I find that good dog chiropracters are a great first stop, if you want hips checked. Ours are even pretty accurate with 8 week old puppies, predicting what sort of hips they will have. Of course that doesn't take into consideration diet and exercise, that can wreck good hips if you get it wrong in a growing puppy.

4 weeks is sometimes too early and I know of several bitches where they couldn't find them at 4 weeks but could at 5 weeks. At 5-6 weeks you can see definite puppy shapes, see heartbeats and watch them moving around and in the case of one of mine, almost "running around". Very active babies.

Around 5-6 weeks they are a good indicator of the approx number. There is often one or two more than they can find with the ultrasound, depending on the litter size and how they are lying. With a big litter they are more likely to miss some. A lot of the accuracy depends on the quality of the ultrasound and the skill of the operator too.

Maybe the puppy is symptomatic but the vet lied about the incidence of HD in the breed and then took x-rays that couldn't possibly have been of any use. This is not the way to diagnose hip problems at that age and any good vet knows it.

First this vet knows nothing about Border Collies if they think that "a lot of BC's have HD problems" or more likely, they are telling outright lies to get the owners to part with more $$$$$$$$$$$$. HD can and does occur occasionallyin Border Collies but among those from registered breeders it is actually quite rare. Lots of Borders have 0:0 hip scores and with a breed average around 8 total,it is hardly a major problem in the breed. Sadly it does seem to be more common in unregistered puppies from BYBs and puppy farmers who don't score their breeding stock but among registered breeders the compliance rate for hip scoring is probably around 50% with most being a formality to have the scoring done before breeding. Sometimes the scores are a little higher than anticpated but we are talking totals of about 16, which is still lower than the breed average for a lot of breeds. Next, the vet took x-rays and gave their opinion. This alone should make them run a mile. The only way to determine if a puppy that age has bad hips is for a specialist to penn-hip score them and decide if there is likely to be a problem. Normal vets wouldn't have a clue what a hip x-ray should look like at that age because it is not a normal age to do a hip x-ray. If the puppy is from hip scored parents the owners should have copies of the certificates. If not or they really think the puppy has a problem they need to find a specialist that does penn-hip and take it from there. Oh, and find another vet.

First of all, Gumtree is probably the worst place to look for a puppy. Most reputable breeders don't advertise there. There is a litter of long hairs at Dubbo listed here on DOL, so if you are looking in NSW, maybe start with them. Standards are a less common than minis so they may have a wait if there aren't any available now. No idea of price for a Dachy. Best idea though is if someone on here with a lot of experience in the breed can make a personal recommendation, privately. Also try the Dachy breed thread.

No idea. Where are the ads you are looking at and what breed of dogs ?

Any eye problem beyond simple conjuctivitis or anything that doesn't clear up in a week, needs the attention of an eye specialist. Don't mess around with eyes, permanent damage can occur very quickly.

I would guess brain damage of some sort like a a damaged cerebellum that can occur if the bitch has had an infection of any sort during pregnancy. This is common in cats that get feline enteritis during pregnancy but it can occur in dogs as well. Hereditary Cerebellar Abiotrophy or Ataxia is another possible cause of head bobbing but I'm not sure if it can be evident that young. It is pretty rare in Borders and doesn't show up usually till a few months old but I think it can occur in the first few days in Kelpies, so maybe it is another form of that.

Totally agree with this. I have had to put down 7 dogs and 2 cats over the years and my criteria with younger ones is if there is no hope of a normal life then it is time to let them go. With the oldies I usually get to point with illnesses were I decide that the next thing to go wrong with them will be the last, and stick to that decision. Making the decision is by far the worst part of the whole process. We keep our dogs alive for us, not them. In nature they would already have passed away but with veterinary medicine we keep them going because it makes us feel better. Once the dog is no longer gaining any benefit from being here, it is time to let them go. Once they are gone, it is sad because we miss them but we also have happy memories we wouldn't have had if they hadn't been a part of our lives. Having made the final tough decision to aid them on their way, leaves a feeling of relief and knowing you have done the right thing for them.

And here I was thinking it would be oatmeal and haggis. And Scotch Finger biscuits washed down with single malt. ;) Border Collies ate whatever the shepherds family ate, so mutton, rabbit, salmon, chicken, milk, eggs, oatmeal, barley and maybe even leftover haggis would have been on the menu. Vegetables and fruit when it was available would also have been among the tablescraps served up and it is probably why most Borders will eat just about anything served up to them, like a varied diet and have a passion for fruit and veges. Mine all love parsnip and stonefruit but I don't know where the mango fits into this theory . Haven't tried them on whisky but they love shortbread. :D

Oops, double post

Can I ask what benefits there are using a dog dryer vs a regular hand help human hair dryer? I groom my own boy, and just use my own hair dryer set on the lowest heat function. I'm careful not to over dry his coat. I have never looked into a dog dryer before, but thinking it might be something I should look into. A dog dryer will dry a coated dog in about a quarter of the time that a human hair dryer takes and at much lower temperatures. My full coated male BCs used to take up to 2 hours to dry with an ordinary dryer. It only takes 30 min with the force dryer. Not an issue for Poodles but for double coated breeds, a good force dryer can remove an entire shedding undercoat in one or two sessions with very little brushing or combing. It simply blows all the dead hair out completely. My Oldfield dryer is strong enough to blow a Toy breed off the table if you use the concentrator.

hi RallyValley, Yeah i have but the problem is i was going to get 2 pups from different breeders and 1 feeds Eukanuba and the other Advance.....so im a tad stuck....lol I'm surprised the second one would sell you a puppy. Do the breeders know you are getting two together? Most breeders do not recommend raising two puppies at the same time unless you are able to separate them except for an occasional play session. There have been lots of threads on here about why two together is a bad idea. If you must get two, keep them on their breeder's diets for at least a couple of weeks, then decide which food seems to be working best. Also keep in mind that some individual puppies do better on different food, to others of the same breed.

Article A young boy will undergo surgery after being bitten on the face by a dog in Sydney's south. The five-year-old was walking with a relative along George Street, in Waterloo, at about 4pm (AEST) on Saturday when the animal lunged at him, police said. The dog was being walked on a leash when the attack took place. It bit the boy on the face, leaving him with a number of marks. He was taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick and will require minor surgery on one of his injuries. Police are now hunting for the dog and its owner, and have appealed for help from the public. The animal is said to be caramel coloured.