Diva

The only dogs I have had get it have been the C5 vaccinated ones. The one who isn't vaccinated for it because of an allergic reaction never picked it up even when the others got it.

That's good news labsrule, thanks for the update

This is what happened with my dog - started bleeding, the vet had no diagnosis, dead in 3 days, hemangiosarcoma only identified on autopsy ( I know it's not called an autopsy on dogs, but you know what I mean). He had no sysmptoms before the bleed, and because he had had IMHA a few years earlier I was always alert for signs of lethargy.

I lost a ten year old dog to this disease but it happened too quickly to consider chemo, so I am unable to offer more than best wishes.

Thanks, that's interesting. I like seeing the facts rather than the conjecture.

Yes me too. A whole sensory world humans can only experience a very small part of, so small I doubt we really understand what they 'see' compared to us. Glad he enjoys it, it's a great thing to do with them.

Just because he is isn't tracking your footsteps doesn't mean he is isn't following your scent. He could be airscenting in a search mode or following your traill rather than your track- scent moves off the exact course you took and trailers will follow the dispersed scent, footstep trackers are following not just the person's scent but crushed vegetation etc. Different techniques with different but overlapping applications.

Yep, not that I have 'top show winning' Borzoi, but mine also can and do catch bunnies. In Russia of course they still do hunt tests for Borzoi, and some western Borzoi compete occassionally. Pretty sure that Jim Sillers (USA) took some of his show bred dogs over years ago and they held their own well in the field. I think, but am not entirely sure, that you still can't make up a full Champion of Breed in Russia without a hunting certificate. I hope they hold onto the hunting tradition.

I used to get it from a couple of local butchers who carry game meats/organically raised meats - ridiculously costly but what the heck, I'm light on for other dependents to spend money on, LOL, and the lamb and chicken are cheap. I now get the rabbits more reasonably from a stock food supplier who also carries venison bought from local hunters (forgot to add deer to the list of things they get to eat). Of all the meats I feed, the rabbit, hare and deer and the ones they go crazy over.

Yep, too low fat for mine. The main meats in their diet by far are lamb, chicken and wild rabbit. Pork, beef, goat, duck, fish and hare are fed occassionally. Roo is a disaster for one of them, and not great for the other 2. But I imagine it suits others very well - you have to find what works for the breed and individual you have.

No group of people is perfect. I'm truly not anti-registered breeder. I know a lot of registered breeders and have been around the show/obedience scene on and off for over 30 years. I don't recommend byb's or pet shops. Nor registered breeders I don't know personally. Truly dodgy registered breeders are few, although as others have pointed out, they do exist. More common than dodgy registered breeders are those whose priorities are show wins only - and they can often neglect the things that don't affect show wins chasing their next grand champion. It is not uncommon for that to happen. Other breeders can't see beyond their own kennel, and deny there could be any health or temperament issue in their dogs, just because they are their dogs. Or ignore codes of ethics because only the 'newbies' need those. I don't blame individual breeders for those things (except the truly dishonest), because that is the way the system works and what it rewards. I don't want a big barny about it either, because I know I'm not going to convince registered breeders of it - too much vested interest. It's just that the overselling of the ethics is kind of hard to stomach sometimes. Sorry if it's boring and complicated Real issues often are.

You are usually telling people not to go to registered breeders, or they will get ripped off, but it's confusing when you tell them not to go to a puppy farm or a byb either. I wouldn't go somewhere wher "it isn't certain". You can't expect people to do what you don't recommend. What does 'sometimes that's all true' in my post mean to you Jed? To me it means that some breeeders do all those good things. What does 'not at all certain' mean to you Jed? To me it means you can't make a blanket statement that all registered breeders do those things, because that isn't correct. I have NEVER told people not to go to registered breeders. But I don't recommend them so freely as I used to either. I mostly don't recommend anyone now unless I know them personally - except possibly an MDBA breeder because that framework has good potential. Being registered is no guarantee of anything except the ability to register dogs with the kennel control - because the regulatory framework is inadequate and the incentive structures poorly designed. You seem to want to characterise me as anti- registered breeder, but I'm not. Stormie has summed up what I was saying very well. Edited to be clearer, and to remove a joke that was in questionable taste.

Diva Now, this is very confusing. On one hand, you are warning people not to go to a puppy farm or back yard breeder, but you are also saying don't go to a registered breeder, because they are paying for a companion who may not have been fed, vaccinated, wormed and cared for, vet checked and given a clean bill of health. They may not get a puppy whose parents have been screened for genetic disease and probably hasn't been carefully bred to produce the healthiest of pups. You are paying not for the kennels 'name' or reputation but for life-long support from a breeder who wants the best possible homes for each and every puppy they breed which there is a fair possibility they wont get What exactly are you advising prospective puppy buyers to do? Where should they go? None of the choices seem acceptable to you. Maybe they should just go to the pet shop, they could get one from a shonky registered breeder there, or from a horrible puppy farm, or be tempted by one from a back yard breeder. And the buyer wont know, so they can simply take their chances, if each choice is as bad as the other. Wrong Jed, read my post properly. I did not say don't go to a registered breeder. I said that buyers cannot be assured that all registered breeders do what SecretKei said, you cannot assume they will just because they are registered. Toofarnorth understood- assume nothing.

Of course the fact that she was soflty spoken doesn't at all mean she would necessarily have any trouble with setting boundaries. The best dog handlers I have met have no need to be anything else. You did the right thing Kelpie-i. They are a breed that pays heavily for their cute looks I think, anyone who wanted a dog like that who had no better reason that its appearance, and also had a housing situation where a big shedding dog was likely to be unwelcome, really needed to rethink. You did everyone involved, her, her family and the pup, a favour. Even the breeder whether they know that or not.

One of my Borzoi used to chuck 'tanties' as a pup too. No biting, but thrashing about at the end of the lead and screaming weren't unusual if she didn't get her way. She did have a history when she came to me that explained her rather spoilt nature and she grew into a very easy dog to live with, very obedient and well behaved - but she did have to learn that tantrums weren't going to work. I didn't use corrections really, I tend not to with youngsters, just a lot of 'not rewarding' and waiting it out with a disdainful expression on my face. Takes a thick skin just to stand there in public till an extinction burst fades - but I used to tell myself she wasn't embarrassing me, just herself As soon as she was calm she got some verbal prasie and we'd continue on our way.

That's interesting, my dogs often refuse to eat human-grade mince, and I've always assumed it was because it smells or tastes to them of the preservatives added. So much so that I stopped buying it for them.

I suggest you PM Steve, she appears to have a detailed understanding of dietary issues. Good luck with the fracture, cage rest at 13 weeks is not fun!

Chicken pet mince direct from poultry shops often doesn't have preservative - testified to by how quickly it starts to pong! I don't often feed mince but if I do I try and get it the day it's made, if chicken, from a butcher who swears he doesn't add preservative. I don't think you can get kangaroo mince without preservatives, at least that's what one supplier told me.

Where do you get it? I've tried but I've been told the health regs make it practically impossible in Australia

Control yourself woman

Sometimes that's all true. From personal experience as a buyer of pups from registered breeders, I assure you it is not at all certain. This is certainly true. Love your dogs, but pls don't be tempted again by those who breed dogs 'to death'. Sometimes it's literally true.

Why can't you influence the bureaucracy? Isn't it self-regulated - eg don't the particpants elect the decison makers? It's a genuine question, I don't do agility, but sometimes I think people use 'bureaucracy' as a catch all for plain old inertia.

Good on you, have a great time.

Fair enough