poodlefan

I've never bred a dog in my life and I'm TOTALLY against pups in pet stores. Why you ask? Geeze how long have you got? * Most pet shop pups come from commercial scale breeders (we call 'em puppy farmers) who wean pups early, ship them before a responsible breeder would sell a pup to a home and then split litters across franchises. Result? Pups bred in factory like conditions, with little human exposure. They are shipped when too young to have left home and only partially vaccinated then exposed to all and sundry at a very important socialisation stage and when they are at high risk for disease. At the age they are in stores they should be at home, getting fresh air sunlight and free exercise - and they pay a price for not getting them. * Those pups are forced to eat, sleep, play and eliminate in those little perspex boxes. Result? Bullying and often nightmare toilet training issues. * Pups are mislabelled by breed, sold with a bunch of misinformation to folk who are ill prepared to deal with them. Result? Dumped or ignored dogs. Labradors are not "naturally obedient". Mareemas and not "just like white Golden Retrievers. Dogs not properly groomed (oodles etc) who suffer because they're owned by people too ignorant or tight fisted to have them professionally clipped or to learn to do it themselves. You want an "hypo-allergenic" dog - that means professional grooming people but the pet shop folk can't even sell you the right brushes/combs to use on one. * Pups don't come from health tested parents. You know the result of that. If you really want an objective view about this talk to TRAINERS. We're the people who pick up the pieces and try and sort out problems. No point in just promoting rescue dogs as the alternative when you can buy a pup from a responsible registered breeder. There aren't that many pups in rescue, they're a complete lottery in terms of size and temperament a fair bit of the time and like it or lump it, some folk want a particular sort of dog for their home. That's why if you want a PUP your best bet is a responsible registered breeder who also offers support during puppy raising.

How often do you wash him? I'd go for a thicker cover or put a thick dog bed on the cushions. Old dogs deserve a few perks.

Chellz: You're not supposed to ignore it. If she wakes and whines you should take her outside. At her age, she needs to be toileted during the night. Any accident in her crate totally defeats the purpose of using one for house training. 6 weeks old.

Yasimum: What's inhumane about euthanasia?

Got a Toy Poodle at my place who thinks just inside the back door is close enough in the rain. She gets escorted out. Scolly, you've got two issues: 1. Where your dog toilets in the rain. You can solve that one by taking her out after eating and at regular intervals. Praise for the desired behaviour. 2. Your dog's response to reprimands. Some dogs are very soft. You may find that you won't get much success telling her off. In this case, revert to my advice at 1 above. It's not a breed thing, its an individual temperament thing.

We don't get to the beach much but I'd only worry about getting sand off. After the river or lake, all dogs get a thorough rinse. If the water's not particularly fresh, they get a full bath. I remember bringing all the poodles back from the lake here some years back and not washing them (this was during the drought). All three got a mild rash - probably from the high level of bacteria in the water.

Three 'no's' here too.

I'd prefer a website but Howard's breeder doesnt' have one. He doesn't do the point scores or have his dogs anywhere but the Whippet Archive online. I'd prefer buying from a breed club member but would buy from a non-member. Howie's breeder is the puppy enquiry person for his breed club but that's not how I found him. For the right show dog I'd wait a year or two and that's for relatively common breeds. For a pet - up to a year seems reasonable. For a rare breed? I'd wait as long as it took.

I home groom my poodles and use the Andis Pro 2 speed. You will need a few blades too. What colour is the poodle? Clipperworld (check the DOL banners) is a good place to shop. I don't think there's such a thing as "bargain" clippers. Generally you get what you pay for. Buy a good set and they'll last for years. The "pet grooming" cheaper ones are rubbish. Frankly with the older dogs, a fairly short all over clip might be the go. Something like a 4# blade. If your friend has no experience grooming a dog, I'd invest in a copy of Shirley Kalstone's grooming book too. It has a lot of useful tips on how to position the clippers and the dog.

Actually, you do. Dogs not socialised with people/wild dogs have hunted people - particularly children. We had a wild dog attack on a hiker near here a week ago. Attacks on neonatal babies are generally considered to be a predatory action. When you fail to socialise and train a dog with people, you fail to create a social bond with people. Fail to create that bond and to a dog you are either competition or prey.

I don't see any advantages in free feeding. With mulitple dogs you can't control who gets what. You're encouragaing potential conflict over food and you're losing a valuable opportunity to control one of the dog's most valued resources. The key to getting some weight off your dogs is not how you feed but how much. You can't control that at all free feeding. Lose the toast and the icecream for a start - of little nutritional value to the dogs and while it might make hubby feel good, its clearly not in the dogs' interests. FYI, you're feeding your dogs more than my 6.5kg mini poodles get!! I'd be halving that kibble too. Walking them every day will also help.

Temporarily, for sure. Showing with hormonal implants is one issue that still needs a decision one way or the other.

Another good link Note the findings of increased aggression in male dogs AFTER neutering..

Megz: Unless they've still got their 'nads, its going to be obvious to anyone they've been done. I think the issue with bitches is that there are no external signs they've been desexed.

The only bitches I know personally who are incontinent were spayed at 6 and 8 months. First two (6 months) became incontinent at about age 5 The third (8 months and after a season) has just become incontinent aged 12. I dont know any early desexed bitches at all.

Smelling salts Sheridan? Actually I'm sure we've agreed before. I think it was in one thread in about August 2006.

Mistiqview: One view is that these conditions continue down the bitch's line. Removing affected males from a breeding program doesn't necessarily resolve the problem. If folk are deadly serious about it they'd not breed with the mother or any litter sisters of an affected male. Brings a slighlty different aspect to the issue doesn't it. Then there's the evidence that these conditions can be nutritionally based. If there's an issue with the rules, then the most ethical method of dealing with them is to lobby for change. I don't really hold with the we show dogs in order to breed so only "breeding stock" should be eligible to compete philosophy. No other animal fancy has this approach and that's for good reason. Limiting the 'proper' exhibition of purebred dogs to entire animals limits hobby (as opposed to breeder) participation (huge in some other fancies), and is absolutely no guarantee that those animals that win are capable or even likely to reproduce. I think there's at least one Westminster winner with a genetic condition that makes him unsuitable to breed (shall we introduce rules requring test results before entry?) and at least one Crufts winner has been proven sterile from memory. The best test of a breeding dog's quality and value appears in the litter box, not in the show ring. The more quality animals you see exhibited that were produced by that dog or bitch or by their progeny, the better a breeding dog its likely to be. How challenging it can be to find even one or two good dogs by a prospective sire when nearly everything is petted out or the dog is rarely used. Personally I find it ironic that people continually lament the decline of dog showing but refuse to make changes to encourage more participation. Don't even get me started on those who make these laments but won't sell a dog to a show home or allow their stud dog to be used by anyone but themselves. Breaks my heart to see a whole line come to a complete end with a breeder exit because they never allowed a Main Register dog off their property.

Yes, but it's a bugger to get them on the slippery suckers

They can be Lic but it depends on a few factors: * how much exercise and stimulation they get * what barking triggers exist My Minis don't bark at nothing and certainly bark less when well exercised. I never had issues with barking when I had the one poodle in a town house. I rate them as generally less noisy than the Toys. When I had a friend's two minis with me I had a barking complaint (her were debarked but would still bark and trigger mine) No issues since they left. I'd not generally rate them as incessant noise makers and inside access will make a big difference. Mine will sit in the window and bark at dogs that walk past ( and the garbage trucks) but most of the day they're asleep. Gee if your sister is a groomer you're set!! If you're going tyre kicking at Hillsborough, it might be worth visiting the poodles.. wait till after classes though if you want to chat - they'll be grooming up madly beforehand. JAG (DOLer) often exhibits her toys there so would be able to steer you around. Great, thanks for that info. I will be sure to wander amongst the poodle peeps whilst i am at the show :laugh: You might want to PM JAG and see if she's going. She's got mates with Mini Poodles.

Unless its a bucket bigger than 40L, I'd not do it. Goldies need a lot of water to thrive. Dangerous algae like blue green algae needs high nitrate levels and low oxygen. Keep the water changes up and a little of the green stuff won't harm anyone.

They can be Lic but it depends on a few factors: * how much exercise and stimulation they get * what barking triggers exist My Minis don't bark at nothing and certainly bark less when well exercised. I never had issues with barking when I had the one poodle in a town house. I rate them as generally less noisy than the Toys. When I had a friend's two minis with me I had a barking complaint (her were debarked but would still bark and trigger mine) No issues since they left. I'd not generally rate them as incessant noise makers and inside access will make a big difference. Mine will sit in the window and bark at dogs that walk past ( and the garbage trucks) but most of the day they're asleep. Gee if your sister is a groomer you're set!! If you're going tyre kicking at Hillsborough, it might be worth visiting the poodles.. wait till after classes though if you want to chat - they'll be grooming up madly beforehand. JAG (DOLer) often exhibits her toys there so would be able to steer you around.

I have no words of advice. Only this: I have yet to have to make this decision for one of mine Danielle. But if she's no longer finding any joy in life, its probably time. The hardest part is when they seesaw between good days and bad.

Adinil444: Legally? No. That's hardly likely to solve the issue with your neighbours though. I suggest you talk to them about it.

One thing I'd get sorted out very quickly is the townhouse approval for a pet. Body corporates grant permission for pet ownership to individual occupants, not to the homes themselves. That means you will have to go through a formal process of getting approval for a pet even though the previous tennant/owner had one. I'd suggest you do that before commiting to a pup. I think Whippets are one of the undiscovered gems for a family dog. Yes, timidity does crop up in the breed but the right bloodlines and heavy socialisation will make for a robust, confident family pet. Howie my Whippet loves people and other dogs - a bit too much for his own good at times. A safe FENCED, offlead area is a must to allow one to zoom a couple of times a week. Recall training is another must. I'm going to add another dog to the suggestions - Miniature Poodle - brilliant family dogs and you have an excellent breeder right on your doorstep (Elire). The grooming is the price you pay for having a non-shedding, people focussed dog that is well accepted in a lot of places. As I have both a Whippet and Mini Poodles, I have to say that both are wonderful pets.

The best advice I can give you is to find a vet that you don't feel the need to argue with or justify your decisions. I don't use the supermarket wormers so can't comment on them but the adjustment by the AVA to three yearly vaccination protocols is hardly revolution - its been that way in the USA for years. You can also titre dogs and that's an increasingly common service offered by vets here.