poodlefan

Agree with RSG - there's nothing magical about the words "imported" when it comes to quality. Australia leads the way with the quality of dogs in some breeds. Choosing a sire might mean you actually want to see him for yourself to assess him AND to see some of his progeny before committing. That's not easy to do with frozen semen unless you go O/S yourself.

If the new puppy is a working breed mix then its got every chance of being car sick - lots of working breeds suffer from it.

I expect it would be up the tree fairly quickly.

Congratulations Fliss! I think Neuter CH its a good starting point for pet dog owners with nice dogs and have always advocated being able to work towards a title. I hope it will encourage more breeders to put a few more out there on Main Register.

They never gave Haile (my cat) any grief. Mind you, he'd have been more inclined to clobber them than run. I recall FHRP and I stayed at the house of a fellow agility competitor who had three cats. FHRP's Rogan (Vizsla) had his eyes out on stalks as the cats sauntered in and out of the room he was in. If she loved him at all, she'd buy him a kitty of his very own.

Have you taken him to training? What do you mean by "he won't play fetch"? Does he chase after the thrown item? Does he collect it? Does he want to hang onto it? He wont do any of the above.... Have you taught him to take an article from your hand and give it back? In dogs with no natural retrieving instinct back chaining from the return to hand is usually the starting point. Going to do some training at an obedience club would be a good idea if you aren't doing that already.

Have you taken him to training? What do you mean by "he won't play fetch"? Does he chase after the thrown item? Does he collect it? Does he want to hang onto it?

How come we should wait until he is matured? I know a few people when they got their pups at 8 weeks they were already desexed, and they seem fine. Correct me if I am wrong, but I read if you don't desex them early enough they will still hump and spray even after being desexed? Is there anyone who had their pup desexed younger then mature age? Early desexing won't stop that from happening. Lots of people have their dogs desexed as babies. Lots of people wouldn't ever do it. IMO, the more you know about the process, the more likely you are to wait. Desexing isn't a substitute for training like some folk seem to think it is.

I don't regard dog owners who don't obey the law as "my own". People who don't do the right thing as dog owners cost the rest of us dearly. If you think wanting to see them being held responsible for breaking the laws that the rest of us obey is "petty" then colour me petty with sparkles. I'm petty enough to get the complete shits with people who think that laws don't apply to them and their dogs and who don't give a rats arse who they inconvenience when they breach them. Talk to a person in a wheel chair about what its like to end up with dog shit all over their hands from the wheels and then come tell me that folk not doing as they should is no big deal. What's so petty about wanting to see people penalised for failing to obey the law? Leash laws and no dog parks are the direct result of irresponsible dog owners. So is BSL. Rubbish. If consent is required and they don't comply you go get yourself a warrant and compel the test. If he takes a dump in a public park then you sure don't need a warrant to collect a sample. You have no idea what you're talking about.

If you have no intention of showing him then get him desexed. Just wait until he's matured before you do it.

Local puppy preschools would be a good source of subjects.

Ooops - wrong thread

If you mean that a hell of a lot of breeds started out as generation after generation F1 crosses designed to cash in all all the good qualities of their parent breeds and sold on those terms, then I'll beg to disagree. I regard the argument that most breeds started as in that manner as a partially informed myth. Many breeds started with a dog or dogs that displayed desireable characteristics, were bred to other dogs that displayed the same and type and line breeding were set pretty quickly. The closest you'll probably get to a two breed cross is the Pudelpointer and there's at least three breeds and fairly quick line breeding in that one.

PF do you know what breeder that Frenchie is from? It's :p No, sadly I just yanked if off the net. A good pied FB is a stunning dog though.

Thank you. What cute puppies!! I really like the puppy and teenage coats :p . Then you should get yourself one of these: Polish Lowland Sheepdog!

Oh, I was told different. Thanks for the correction!!

Saw him at Wagga in June. :p

Again, thank you PF. Ewwwwwww, one would certainly need to be dedicated and know they would have the additional time necessary for this sort of care !! A lot of these dogs are clipped if they are pets. Its a hell of a lot of work to maintain a decent corded coat. Takes hours to dry one, that's for sure. Not a coat for a high temperature environment full of grass seeds!! White Puli cos I can:

A corded coat is carefully maintained to keep cords separated and not to pull on the skin. There is no detriment to the dog in terms of comfort and movement. When coat change happens, the beginnings of "mats' are carefully separated into cords and then each cord is carefully and regularly separated down to the skin to maintan it. It's not just a great lump of hair that clumped together however it formed. Not low maintenance, that's for sure. There are several herding/stock breeds that are corded - notably Pulik, Komandors and the Bergamasco. Its a practical solution to the issue of a non-shedding coat in an outdoor working breed. Pic of Komandor:

Don't forget you've got a French Bulldog as well. Love these dogs!! French and British are the the only two ANKC recognised "bulldogs".

The principle is the same - a non shedding coat that "felts" or matts into the coat. You've got the option of brushing and clipping it, keeping it brushed out (impractical in an outdoor working breed) or allowing it to cord. You can cord a good poodle coat. A corded coat is highly weather resistant and offers good protection from wolves. However without careful grooming it becomes pretty stinky and your dog ends up looking like a lamington with grass etc in it. Its not low maintenance for the show ring.

Will you show your puppy Miss Squish? Always nice to see a rare breed exhibited.

Great Idea! If you wanted to maximise attendance, holding it midweek near a major concentration of specialties or a Royal would do a good job.

Well if we can't restrict breeders from doing the wrong thing then perhaps we can educate them to do the right thing. One area I think quite a few breeders might benefit from in terms of both education and networking is seminars. Its pretty gobsmacking that you can attend seminars for dog sports but not for breeding as far as I can tell. Case in point - someone I know is doing his Hound Judge training at the moment. I said I'd love to sit in on the Whippet breed lecture but apparently you have to be a trainee judge to do that. Why??? Surely you'd argue someone embarking on or already breeding a breed should be able to learn about the standard from senior and respected breeders. The raft of questions asked here about mating/whelping/puppy evaluation/litter raising suggests to me that folk would line up to attend an annual seminar on breeds and breeding issues. Hell, even dog trainers have one of those and people come from all over the world to present at it. The APDT semimar is a combination of education, emerging issue spotting and a good old fashioned knees up. People travel from O/S just to sit and listen. We need the same for purebred dogs and the MDBA is very well placed to provide it I reckon. I can suggest a few speakers and I'm sure others can too.

I think its perfectly normal for a dog restrained by a lead to resort to barking and snarling if the owner isn't reading the "I'm uncomforable" signals and keeping other dogs away from it. Its normal defensive behaviour. The body language you describe is the language of dominance and this is not the body language that fear aggressive dogs or those that lack social confidence display. Their body language is usually that of avoidance - no eye contact, lowered posture etc. A dominant dog won't be deterred by it at all. If the dog using avoidance cannot avoid the encounter, its likely to warn the other dog off using normal dog language - growling and barking. I'd expect to see the barking escalate and commence at greater and greater distances if 'greetings' continue to be forced on the dog by the owner. Sadly, not all dogs read body language as well as yours.