Andisa

Congratulations on all the new litters, beautiful pics. Sorry for those who have lost their pups.

Great idea, will keep this in mind if/when I breed another litter. Lots of fun is had with this baby

The way I think of it is simple. If I can't trust a dog or pup with my own family - it will not be placed with another. edited - re worded :D

That is what I paid over 10 yrs ago for a male rabbit to be desexed :D .

You can always call around and ask for quotes, normally I just book the dogs in for desexing and just pay the bill. For a retained testicle that quote sounds normal until I found a new vet - well worth the half hour or so drive. Going off topic a bit: We recently had Piper (Rottweiler) spayed (7 yo in Jan - had 2 litters, both em c sections), quotes were $560 - $251.70. The cheapest vet was recommended to me by another Rottweiler breeder friend so had no issues going for the cheapest quote. He is a country vet and now my new vet . All the other vets said when quoting that the cost could be more due to her age, she had litters and previous c sections - the vet we went with said EVERYTHING is included. As it was she was a difficult spay, her uterus was butchered during her previous em c section and was a real mess. It was very difficult to remove due to the thickening and scaring, had to make a larger cut to get to it. He said if that was the result of one of his c sections he would be very disappointed with it, said she would never have been able to be pregnant again, luckily we never tried again then. No doubt had she been spayed at one of the other vets the price quoted would have jumped heaps... Sorry to take that way off but after having Piper spayed it has changed my way of thinking when I spend my money at the vets from now on - and I have spent thousands on vet bills!!!

Congratulations on your new litter. So very sorry for the loss of your puppies. Best bit of advice I was given is to be thankful for the ones who have survived - especially MUM. and Don't dwell on the ones you lost - put all your efforts in to those who have survived. Pretty sure most of us have typed through tears when things have gone wrong - I know I have. 3 out of the 4 litters I have had were via em c sections, one litter was 6 days premature. It hurts like hell, but sometimes there are no answers as to why - it just happens... Would love to see some photos of your new Mum and babies :D

I don't hate cats - but the allergies I get from them makes it near impossible to live with them. The dogs are affecting me more as I get older so I may need to consider a low allergy breed in the future or learn to live without them. Being a groomer sucks this time of year .

Does he have a plastic or rubber ball/toy that he is obsessed over? Hamish had what looks the same as this when he was playing too much with a jolly ball - he is obsessed with it and when he first started playing with it I had to take it away from him to allow his mouth to heal properly. He has toughened up since and it no longer bothers him. Just a thought - hope it is nothing serious.

This is too messy for me - I would be making an appointment at the vets asap to have the litter aborted and tell the stud owner that there was no pregnancy... can't see this ending very well otherwise. .

I was told many years ago by a vet that I trusted that there is no need to vaccinate old dogs so I don't. I do the puppy shots and 1 - 2 more during their life span.

Crate training a dog makes life easier, they are safe and have their own space. Great when traveling, injured or recovering from surgery. Once crate trained you can pack the crate away if you like but knowing they are happy in them when necessary is peace of mind. I would have thought all vets would appreciate dogs who are crate trained and would encourage it. Would make life much easier when dogs are settled and clean in their crates. Nothing worse than an upset dog who is stressed being locked up and messing in the crate when crate training can prevent that. The vets have all said how much they enjoy having my dogs - they are happy, quiet and clean :D . My dogs love their crates, happy to use them when they don't have to. I keep one set up inside for Hamish to sleep in at night time and they all sleep in there if given the chance. However there was a time when I thought they were cruel - then I learnt all about them . Crate training has a lot of benefits and once people can see how happy the dogs are they usually agree.

Thanks for the update - I have been keeping an eye on this thread. I thought about Hamish having the implant, I doubt he will be used at stud but want to keep my options open. I spoke with someone a few months ago who had his dog done only to find that it wore off around 10 months later when his bitch was gaining weight. Took her to the vet and sure enough - she was pregnant. How typical - dog being fertile when you don't want it and delayed when you do. Think I will leave Hamish as he is for now, at least while he is easy to manage. Hope his fertility returns soon.

Um - corrective surgery has been going on for years.

I agree with you here.

This thread has just reminded me of the time we bought over 300 merino sheep that the stock and station agent said "they only need love" - Imagine over 300 of the bastards that had limited handling with long thick horns - some around 10" long coming at you in the stock yards :eek: Torn clothes, cuts and bruises and lots of swearing but we some how managed them and they did settle down after a yr or so. But we never forgave the agent for those ones....and never got them from that property again either.

Does she have a favorite plastic ball or toy that she spends a lot of time with? Hamish made a mess of himself when they first got a Jolly Ball - all my dogs love it but he is obsessed with it. I had to remove it from him several times when his mouth was irritated - he must be used to it now because he doesn't have problems with it anymore. All bowls and buckets here are SS. (the prices in that link is heaps cheaper than the horse shops)

her original quote was $245 and then its was an extra $100 because the breeder couldnt make it to the airport and the pup had to picked up from the house instead and the breeder has offered to pay $50 of the additional cost for the muck around. I am being sympathetic of the breeder, her father has a bacterial infection which is eating away his stomach and has to go into surgery on the day the pup has to be flown out, which is why she cant take the pup to the airport herself, hence the extra amount from dogtainers. and because of this as i stated, she has offered $50 contribution to the extra costs, I have offered my mum money....she still thinks that its the breeders fault and that they have changed their mind blah blah and changed things on their end hence they should be held liable for any extra expense? i hate feeling this way about my own mother this breeder is going through hell with her fathers illness and my mum is hassling them over a measly amount of money.... This is still confusing me. The original purchase price of the pup was $850. The breeder reduced the pup to $750 because your mother is interstate. The breeder now has a family emergency and needs to make other arrangements to get the pup to the airport for $100 and has offered to pay half of that - $50... Your mother should have expected to pay the original $850 + transport costs, she still could have had the pup $50 less than the original purchase price (not including transport) - your mother is very unreasonable and simply does not deserve the pup now.. If I was the breeder I would say "see you in court" - I would not be handing a pup over to her after all this either. It is obvious that your mother has simply changed her mind about wanting a pup. Your mother agreed to a purchase price knowing the deposit was non refundable - she even managed to get the pup discounted by $100 due to location (I would not have done that). The breeder has a family emergency (which sounds serious and could mean further delays) and has needs to make other arrangements to get the pup delivered to the airport and has gone halves in the extra expense of only $50....there really is no pleasing some people no matter how hard you try. I feel very sorry for the breeder.

Agree. I had a few bastards over the years but managed to turn them around. I broke in 3 of my own and 1 for a neighbour. I would not think twice about sending a horse to the knackery if I could not sort it out myself or with the help of the local breakers. The horse that I had my worst injuries from I had for almost 15 yrs (got him as a baby with his mother) - loved the bugger. He kicked me in the face as a yearling and I saved his life that day, Dad was going to send him off but I stopped him. He fractured my face, I was only about 13 or so then. My big fall was 4 yrs later during a ODE while jumping, I had a weak ankle and I twisted it in the stirrup while jumping and just let go - unfortunately the landing was a good one and I have lived with it since. I had surgery on my foot but that accident was not the horses fault. The young ones will bite and kick until they learn manners, but given time to mature and settle if they were still not safe they would not have had a future.

yes, the breeder asked her what the exact reason was, " health, moving etc.." and because it was simply change of mind over an tiny extra added expense of like $50 or something, she breeder said that is definetly not a valid excuse to go back on what they discussed and i agree. Im a bit dissapointed at my mum atm but its her choice after all .... Well if $50 is "the straw that broke the camels back" she better not get a pup - ever... the little buggers cost money for the rest of their lives . (didn't you say earlier that the breeder already reduced the purchase price anyway because your mother is interstate?)

She may not have signed the contract but was made verbally aware of the contract that she agreed to - same thing. oh - and size of the dogs doesn't really matter .

What a lovely choice of breeds, love Cavs. The breeder has been very reasonable in the refund options as per the contract that you mother agreed to before buying the puppy. :D If your mother no longer wants a Cav then offer 3 is the best way to go and fair. Why should she expect a full refund when she knew exactly what she was doing. The breeder is not at fault.

This is clearly not an impulse purchase - your mother spent enough time and effort finding a breeder, had conversations with the breeder and made a few payments then weeks later changes her mind. The breeder has been very reasonable about the interstate transport costs - she reduced pmt to help when she could no longer do the trip to the airport herself which is fair. It also proves there has been more than one conversation between the breeder and your mother. Impulse purchase is just that - on the spot purchase with little or no thought about it. I admit that I am curious about the breed, you are a new DOL member. If you have talked about designer breeds before joining a purebred forum then chances are she thought she was doing the right thing. As a dog groomer 95% of the dogs I do are fluffy crosses of some sort - while many were impulse buys, most were not. Don't know if the breeder legally has to refund the purchase price because the buyer simply changed their mind and no longer wants the pup. If there was something wrong with the pup - different situation all together. I would give a refund and be thankful the pup never left home, I don't take deposits but some people will insist, if that happens it is only $100 to keep them happy. A couple of time when people have asked to pay the pup off (they come to visit the pups weekly - shows commitment) I will accept the money but it is placed aside in case it needs to be refunded allowing for an emergency which would mean they are no longer in a position to have a pup at this stage. Sorry if this comes across as rude but your mother is mature enough to know that she has made a mistake, if she gets her money back then hopefully she will put a lot more thought in to the next pup before she buys another one. edited to ask: just re read the op:

I wish I could turn back time for Hamish - he has always had small, thick ears but when he left home ~ 4 1/2 months old they were sitting correctly. Unfortunately his then owner refused to tape his ears while he was teething, he was massaging them BUT he was doing it wrong and this is what he looks like now By the time he came back home at 15 mths old it was too late... Hamish at 2yrs/10 mths old. Correctly set ears makes a hell of a difference. (Tweaked for this pic - taken at 15 months when he came back home) In future I will tape and massage ears until the cows come home if necessary.

Glad Daisy is fine now - very frightening when these things happen. I think we all need to remember that anything a dog puts in it's mouth has the potential to cause choking/blockage. I know more owners that have had surgery on their dogs to remove blockages from foreign objects than bones. Hope Daisy is feeling much better soon. eta: I was told off by a vet for feeding bones and when I asked him what the surgery ratio for the removal of foreign objects and bones - he told me point made. I took that as the higher ratio was foreign objects.

I have a Liberty ULTRAFORCE MK 2 (not heated) has high and low setting but a bit much for the little ones. Also have a Melbourne Dog Center S1H Turbodry (heated) that I absolutely love, can turn it right down for nervous dogs and head if they are not keen on it. I did burn out the motors on it a few yrs back and the repairs was higher than I would have liked - fantastic drier. Both driers are not cheap. I also found both companies easy to deal with. Liberty drier bought about 11 yrs ago and MDC drier a yr later, the Liberty drier has hardly been used since I bought the MDC drier.