dancinbcs

Some absolute minimum's are fine but a lot depends on how many seasons the bitch has had. I usually prefer 2-3 years for a first litter but had one girl on her 5th season at 22 months ,so mated her then. They lose fertility with every season so if they come in early and cycle every four months, earlier is better than later, to avoid problems. Also, while I don't agree with breeding very young bitches, the few in my breed I know of that have been accidently mated at 9-10 months, have all whelped and raised their litters with no problems whatsoever.

Yes all ANKC Border Collies are long coats but there are plenty of short coats among the purely working lines. The problem with this is that the working lines are bred for high drive and real work so are rarely suitable as pets. Some other countries like NZ have the short coat in their show standard as well, but not Australia. Do your friends realise that the short coats shed more than the long coats? After owning a Lab, I will never have a short double coated dog again. That much shedding drives me insane but I am fine with the longer tumbleweeds around the house from the long coats. Breeds with double short coats include, ACD, Kelpie, Corgi, GSD as well as short coated BCs.

Wonder who thought up these rules? I bet they didn't bother to consult the repro specialist vets. Very odd that they are allowing different ages for breeds of similar size and allowing earlier matings for breeds much larger than some they have down for 24 months. An Akita is a much larger breed than a Visla and an Airdale is a much bigger breed than an American Cocker

+1 ;) Sorry for asking a dumb question! ;) I can't help it if I'm a happy dog owner who likes to buy her dogs nice new collars rather than some bitter old hag finding fault in a thread thats really none of her business Oh, nice +1 And if it is on a public forum it is everyone's business. ;) I just don't get the fancy collar, dressing dogs up thing at all. To me collars need to be practical and comfortable for walking the dog. Mine never wear them at home so they only serve the purpose of a safely device and I prefer them as inconspicuous as possible, so preferably the same colour as the dog, so you notice the dog not the collar. Same goes for the current trend for bling show leads. Why bring attention to a lead when it is the dog you are showing? Just doesn't make sense to me at all.

Any idea if he will score them without them being done under GA? I have a friend who sent some to Prof Wyburn last week that weren't done with GA, so the AVA wouldn't be able to score them even if she gets them back. How would they know if it's been done with GA or without? The vet has to sign a declaration on the form to the AVA that states the X-Ray was taken under GA. Wyburn's form does not have this on there and he is happy to score them without. Our vets never use GA (unless the owner requests it) if the dog will stay still for them and therefore send them all to Wyburn. One of mine that refused to held down was knocked out but my others have been done without.

You do know the dog won't give a toss what colour his collar is. Sorry, but this has to be the dumbest question ever asked on here.

Any idea if he will score them without them being done under GA? I have a friend who sent some to Prof Wyburn last week that weren't done with GA, so the AVA wouldn't be able to score them even if she gets them back.

A further suggestion that helped me cope with the two destruco dogs I owned over the years. Have a box of cheap dog toys he can destroy in an accessable spot and train the dog to go there when he feels the need to destroy things. They need to praise like mad every time he picks one of his toys and use a growl or Aarrrhh noise when he even looks like touching anything that isn't his. For this to work they need to keep everything they don't want destroyed away from him when they aren't watching him, then give him access when they are watching, until he gets the idea what is and isn't permitted. Your sister may have coped fine with less destructive dogs in the past but every puppy is different and some are just born much more destructive than others, even within the same breed. Every time you take on a new puppy you need to be prepared for this possibility. With a pure bred puppy from an experienced breeder, the breeder will know which puppies are going to be more active and destructive by 8 weeks, but with a rescue it is always going to be a lucky dip. You can raise puppies giving the same amount of exercise and training, some will never destroy a thing and others will put their teeth into anything in reach. If you get a destructive one you need to make sure he doesn't have access to anything you don't want destroyed. It'd not rocket science. Oh, and never underestimate just how much damage a dog can do when in destructo mode. This dog has only destroyed minor stuff so far. I know of puppies that have eaten car seats, seat belts and roof linings out of vehicles, leather lounges, electrical equipment, lawn mowers, barbeques, one of a kind prize winning heirloom orchids, mobile phones, prescription glasses, the brake wiring of a caravan and even the entire vinyl flooring from a family room. Training, toys and exercise can all help but for some dogs confinement is the only safe solution.

And this is why pounds and shelters put down thousands of healthy young dogs every year. People get a puppy with no though of how they are going to raise it, stuff it up completely and dump it at the pound to be put down because the chances of this sort of dog being rehomed is just about nil. Then they go out and get another puppy and so the cycle continues. Most dogs surrendered are medium to large crossbreds, 6-18 months old, usually entire males and completely untrained. There are very few saints willing to take on a dog that size and age that already has problems so most are put down. The little cute dogs and the purebreds will probably get another chance but not the large crossbreds so if you are going to take on that sort of puppy you need to be very sure you get it right.

This dog needs a secure pen built where they can lock him up when not under direct supervision. He must be fenced off from the clothes line and pump out hose or he will continue to destroy them. Either that or hook the electric fence up to the clothes line and hang wet towels on it. If he gets zapped for grabbing the towles he might get the message to leave the clothes alone. The pump out hose would be from a biocycle septic system and it is very enticing for a young dog. Treated water will gush out of it suddenly at intervals making the dog chase the water then chew to hose when it stops. If they can't fence him from it they will have to keep buying replacement hoses like some of my friends do. They put out a new one and it just keeps getting shorter until they have to replace it again. Finally the owners need to dragged around by the collar and slapped for being so stupid as to think that will achieve anything other than confusing this poor puppy. Do they do that to their children when they make a mistake? Why the hell did they get a puppy if they don't have time to raise it properly?

I grab my puppies by the scruff and growl at them if they grab feet from about 5 weeks. As soon as they back off I praise like mad. It usually only takes a few goes for the most persistent foot chaser to get the message that it is not allowed. I always worry that they will trip whoever's feet they are grabbing and get injured when the person falls on them. I have a softer breed and most only need one or two goes to understand but the idea is to act like an adult dog would if the puppy took too many liberties. A swift growl when they get it wrong, followed by praise and an invitation to play is understood by most puppies, regardless of whether the correction comes from human or another dog.

I was badly bitten on the face by one of my dogs that turned out to have scar tissue built up in his brain as a result of bacterial meningitis, we didn't know he had. The scar tissue was preventing the cerebral fluid draining from the centre chamber of the brain and compressing his brain out towards his skull. He must have had some mighty headaches. He had been acting weird for about 6 months but not enough to really ring alarm bells at the time. In hindsight it all added up to a neuro problem but you don't always see it at the time. The vet assumed a brain tumour and because he was now dangerously unpredictable I opted to pts and get a thorough autopsy to find out what happened. The damage was irreversable so my decision to pts was justified and even if it was something that maybe could have been fixed - as my vet said " he won't be able to tell you if the pain is gone and you will never really trust him again". There are no guarantees with brain surgery. This dog sounds to me like he has a neuro problem not a behavioural problem. Never take warning signs of escallating aggression lightly. If you can't get to somewhere for a brain scan, I think I would pts and autopsy rather than take the risk that the next attack could be a major one. Behavioural aggression is usually predictable and can sometimes be managed. Agression from a problem in the brain is highly unpredictable and very, very dangerous. As most owners don't bother with an autopsy after having an agressive dog put down, we have no idea of how common these physical brain problems are.

You can also buy it direct from Dr Karen Hedberg's surgery at North Richmond. If you want one as a gift she will sign it for you as well if you ask.

I can highly recommend Henderson Houses at Wagga - http://www.hendersonshouses.com.au The house we stayed in had a fenced yard, front and back as well as lots of undercover areas, plus the dogs where allowed inside as well.

Even then size is a lottery. Generally most purebred dogs will end up vaguely within the breed standard size but in breeds with a fairly big height range it is impossible to predict which end of the scale they will end up. I have had an 8 week old 3 kg puppy finish up near the top of our standard and weigh 21kg mature. I have also had some weigh 8kgs at 8 weeks and end up anywhere from 15kgs to 26kgs mature, all within the height standard. With crossbreds, anything is possible.

I have had one not ready until day 26. We got matings days 26,27, 28 and she had 7 puppies. They can be ready any time from day 3 up to day 30 so don't panic. If you have been running them together they may have already mated so you won't know when she is due. She may still be several days off being ready or she may not be ovulating. None of these problems will be resolved by a forced mating. I would get the prog test done to see if she has ovulated, separate them and try them together early morning and late at night under supervision.

Apart from health and quality issues there is also the breed standard problem for both SBTs and Amstaffs. Both standards state the nose must be black and this is not genetically possible in a blue. So unless the KC standards are changed to reflect the genetic possibility for a blue nose, then no blues can comply with the breed standard. The really odd thing about the SBT standard is that the colour blue is specifically included as an allowed colour even though the nose colour cannot be correct. Therefore anyone breeding blues is not breeding to the standard, yet they are charging ridiculous prices compared to the dogs that do comply with the breed standard. These are not the the only breeds where the allowable colours have been put in by people who obviously have no idea about how colour genetics work. Most standards were written a long time ago and the colours have never been reviewed in light of new genetic research. Many of the breed standards make no sense with genetic colour possibilities.

There is an over the counter wash you can use for demodex but it is very toxic and can't be used on puppies under 12 weeks. It needs to be used weekly for several weeks to clear it up so it isn't a quick fix. It is pretty unusual for demodex to show up at 7 weeks so don't treat with anything until your vet is sure of the diagnosis and gives you the ok to treat it. You will need to hang onto the puppies until you get the problem sorted, however long it takes.

Dogs digest bone far better if they have to grind it up themselves. Digestion starts when they start to chew. Feeding it minced makes a lot of dogs ill. No idea why your dog would have tolerated it up until now but I would try feeding the whole chicken frames (with the wishbone removed).

Calm but willing Borders like Ness are not unusual at all. You just need to specify what you are after and let an experienced breeder pick one out for you. Sometimes there will be several like that in a litter, sometimes just one and sometimes none. You might have to wait on a couple of litters to get what you are after. The parents temperaments are a bit of an indicator but you really don't know what the puppies are going to be like until 6-7 weeks. By then you can be pretty sure how they will turn out and that is when I decide if the puppies I have, suit the homes I have waiting. If not I put the buyers onto other breeders to try to get a suitable puppy, while I wait to find the right homes for my babies. The same pretty much applies to Aussies as well.

I wouldn't be without Ichthammol Ointment for wounds and anything that may have a foreign body in it. Heals puncture wounds and abcesses without antibiotics. I can't remember the last time any human or animal here needed antibiotics for a wound that didn't need stitching. My family have used it on humans, dogs, cats and horses for over 50 years. My parents where told about it before I was born by an old greyhound trainer and they have used it ever since.

I think of your two, Ness would be more the temperament she is after.

Your list pretty well describes an Aussie or a Border Collie. Both come in a variety of activity levels. Most are happy to be exercised then be lounge lizards for the rest of the day. As puppies they are pretty active compared to other breeds but when trained they mature into very easy to live with breeds. They should shed twice a year and when they do there is a fair bit of hair but in between they are low maintenance long coats. Most bitches have a lot less coat than the males so if you get a girl that would reduce the coat care but the males are easier to train. Aussies are a bit bigger, Borders are a bit smarter. Other than that not a huge difference. These observations come from many friends who have owned and trained both breeds.

Is that really a problem with Cockers? We usually don't even bother with the pig rails with Border Collies, finding that the puppies constantly get stuck under the rails and I have never heard of a Border bitch lying on a puppy. It mainly seems to be the large or clumsy breeds that have problems. Read the description of the trampoline type box and still can't see any advantage over a normal whelping box.