Miss Danni

Dog Geek, we imported our GSD in whelp and had no problems, but it might be vastly different for a small breed. We mated our girl and she was on the plane 11 days later, we had no idea if she was in whelp or not, luckily she was and we could tell by her 4th week that she was, so her Quarantine carer then treated her like she was pregnant. We had her xrayed the day that she was released from prison and she had her pups right on schedule at home. I would do exactly the same thing again. Bear in mind that our girl left Germany at the end of April, so the difference in temperature when she got here was not extreme, but the humidity here knocked her for 6 for a long time. Also, with GSD's from Germany, frozen semen is not allowed, so we had one shot to get her pregnant to a German dog, we are not in a position to take semen from a German dog and have it sent here, the SV wont allow it. Your situation might be completely different. Good luck with your importing!

Hi all, I have heard today that despite Hugh Gent apologising and saying that the whole mess was an administrative error, the topic has now been listed for discussion at the October ANKC conference. Clearly this is not dead and buried like we all thought. What a bunch of liars! Did they think that they could trick us and get it in "formally" behind out backs? Time to jump up and down again everyone!

Protexin is worth it's weight in gold! We keep it on hand and give it to every puppy when we start weaning them off their mum. I think that it helps to strengthen their immune system in general, as well as their intestinal system. The other thing that you should have on hand when your pup comes home from the vet, is Nutrigel. It will greatly assist to give him a bit of an energy boost and you can give it to him 10 times a day if you like. Good luck with Carter. I'm sure you will have many happy years together!

Bump. Anyone?

Hi all, I have sold a puppy to a lovely family at Watsons Bay and would like to pass on a recommendation for Puppy Pre-School in their area (or close-ish). I would ideally like a School with a qualified trainer, not just the vet nurse (unless they are one and the same!). Thanks in advance.

I find that Puppy Passports expire sooner with the adult bitches than with the adult dogs, who tend to be more tolerant of a puppy's misbehaviour for longer. In our pack, Passports generally expire when the pups reach maturity, around 10 months (that's the adult girl's limit). With the adult males, they seem to put up with nonsense usually until the pup has her first season or until male pups hit the 10-11 month mark, when their testosterone levels are through the roof and they think they are invincible teenagers. Having said that, one of our girls still puts up with crap from her 2 year old son! But no-one else does.

We have had 2 litters 10 weeks apart in 2008 and it looks like we are about to have 2 litters 8 weeks apart in 2010. In 2008, we mated our girl and then found out not long after that our import, who was still in Germany, had also come into season. As we were hoping to bring her out in whelp, we mated her, popped her on a plane, and sure enough, she had pups after her holiday in Quarantine and so there was 10 weeks between the litters. They were exhausting litters - 5 in the first that basically needed to be bottle fed because their mum had little milk after her caesarian and then 10 in the import litter, where I had problems with 2 pups who also needed round the clock care and I eventually lost them both. This time around, we are dealing with age. We have a 7 year old bitch in partnership with another kennel. We have only owned her 2 years and they had their litter last year, so this year was our turn. She does not live with us, so we had to mate her whenever she came in. Her pups are now almost 3 weeks old. The second bitch, we put her out on breeders terms when she was about 18 months old. I always think of her as being young but realised with horror that she is 4 this year!!! Her owners also want to spay her, so we decided that we would breed her as soon as she came into season this year. She was confirmed in whelp yesterday! So, as the pups from the first bitch start to go to their new homes, the pups from the second bitch will be coming into the world! 8 weeks apart! I have had my kennel prefix since 1993 and these will be my 8th and 9th litters in that time. A puppy farmer I'm not, just a victim of unfortunate timings

I was one of the foundation members of APDT, but I think that it went off the rails some time ago and I haven't renewed my membership for years. I'd still go to the conference if I could afford it and the speakers interested me, that's a whole different kettle of fish.

We have had one chip go missing in a puppy after she went to her new home. She was re-chipped and I received a copy of the new microchip info for my records from her owner. Realistically, animals should not be chipped until they are 6 months, then chips would not go astray. Of course, legislation ignores reality, so we can only do our best! I advise our puppy buyers to have their dogs scanned every time they take them to the vet, because you never know!

I bought baby scales from eBay. They are tops! Go up to some massive weight that I'd never use and the pups seem to be very happy and stay fairly still when I weigh them.

I have 6 of them and they are all fantastic. Used daily but mostly indoors. A couple go to shows with us and have stood up to all of the punishment our GSDs could dish out.

Feeding the egg raw, shell and all, makes it a complete and balanced feed and an excellent protein source. Without the shell, too many eggs can cause problems by blocking the absorption of biotin. I have a bitch feeding pups at present and 4 days a week for the next couple of weeks she will get a Nutripet Egg Flip, after that she'll go back to a raw egg or two a week mixed into her dry food (with shell). Eggs can definitely help with coat, but in moderation!

I have run Sibes and GSDs over the years. My old GSD didn't start sledding until she was about 6 and she was a natural! One of her daughters used to bark the whole way around the track. We even ran a mixed team at the snow and also a GSD team at the snow. Great fun

It's most likely that they have not been able to get a new Import Permit following a change in formulation. Happens all the time with food products. The stock that is in Australia would be fine, unless they issue a recall. Dont panic!

We have a spare bedroom that is set up as a puppy room when we have a litter due (GSDs). Our last litter was November and the first few nights were cold enough to need the heater and thereafter we had a heatwave and had to go out and buy a portable airconditioner! Initially I keep the whelping room at around 27 degrees but start to drop the temperature down after about 5 days. I keep a thermometer at floor level so I know what the pups are experiencing (despite the sweat dripping off me, sometimes the pups are still too cool for my liking ). The room is large enough to fit the heater or air conditioning unit beside the whelping box. Floor of the room is slate, which is fantastic dog flooring. I sleep next to the box until I feel that the bitch and pups are doing well enough and then I go back to my normal bed - this is usually after 5 days or so - and I can hear every squeek and sniffle very well so that I can jump up a million times a night! I use newspaper on the floor of the box, covered with an old blanket then a sheet and dry bed. If it is very cold, I hang another blanket over the top of the box to keep the heat in. I also have a heat pad. I use wet towels on one side of the box if the pups are too hot and change them as they dry out. Puppies are extensively handled right from birth and the box is changed twice a day while they are little and more often as the need arises when they get bigger. Once they are mobile, they will come into the lounge room with us to watch TV at night and have their first outdoor exploration weather permitting, confined to a puppy pen to start with and once they are around 5-6 weeks, they will have more roaming room. They also have the hallway as their play area from the time that we start toilet training at around 4 weeks, as this has access to the backyard and is also slate. They do not have physical contact with adult dogs other than their mum until around 4 weeks old, but once mum is happy, we put a pet gate on the door of the whelping room and canine family members can look in but are too far away from the box to touch. They sleep in the box at night until at least 6 weeks (but mum is already back in her own bed) and then, depending on the number of pups, we will start to crate train them and they will sleep in our bedroom so that we can continue their toilet training. All of our dogs sleep inside, most of them in our bedroom, so this also means that the pups get plenty of socialisation but are protected by their crates from overzealous relatives.

When a bitch has mastitis, the milk from that teat is fine for the pups to drink. In fact, it helps with reducing the inflammation if pups will drain the teat. The problem is usually that the teat is so sore that the bitch will not allow the pups to drink from it, so you may need to force her to co-operate. You can also use the hot/cold compress and cold cabbage leaves and also gently massaging the teat yourself helps. With your pups sounding like they are throwing up, perhaps they are being little glutons and eating too fast and then choking themselves? If not, you might need to refer this to your vet. Also, while the bitch is on antibiotics, put the pups onto Protexin, so that the antibiotics that they are getting through her milk wont upset their tummies.

It is illegal in NSW to drive with a dog unrestrained in your vehicle and you would most certainly cop a fine for driving with a dog on your lap! From the RTA website: Driver to have proper control of a vehicle A driver must not drive with a person or animal in the driver’s lap. The rider of a motorbike must not ride with an animal on the fuel tank. This does not apply to a person who travels less than 500 metres for the purposes of farming. PENALTY: Three demerit points (four in a school zone) and a $324 fine ($405 in a school zone). RULES AROUND ANIMALS A driver, motorcycle rider, bicycle rider or passenger must not lead an animal, including by tethering, while the vehicle is moving. Animals should be seated or housed in appropriate areas. Some people are purely morons, including the d*ckheads that leave their dogs on the back of utes without protection from the elements and usually without restraint or inappropriate restraints. Seeing a dog break it's neck by falling off the side of a ute and being tied up by a too long rope and collar is not something I ever wish to see again.

Hi Pockets, just saw this thread. How horrible for your family, I hope that they are doing ok and that Tyson will be home soon.

BlackBronson, what is your point regarding Kwint? Kwint has been well used in Australia and have produced some lovely animals, including the Gold Medal bitch. Kwint holds a Schutzhund title as he was Kkl1 in Germany. So according to your own argument, Kwint is the dog that every bitch owner should use, as he has the required conformation AND working titles

Labkisses, if you use a fan, make sure that it does not blow into the box at this age. Set it to blow over the top of the box so that it is basically moving the air around in the room but not contacting the puppies. Also, wet towels in the box are a quick method of cooling down hot babies. Wring them out a little and lay them in one section of the box and then put the whingy pups onto the towel. If they are hot, they will quickly get quiet as they cool off and once cool enough, they will wiggle off the towel to the dry section of the box. Just replace the towel once it dries out too much to be cooling. When one of our Mums didn't eat a great deal after whelping, we managed to keep her happy with egg flips flavoured with Nutrigel for a few days until she got her appetite back. Oh and roast chicken hand-fed to her as well of course

You could try Before You Get Your Puppy and After You Get Your Puppy by Dr Ian Dunbar, you can download them for free from his site.

Rot in hell mongrel bastards Bob was worth a million of them. ;)

Paw Wax is an excellent product for specific uses, such as dogs running in the snow/ice or to provide grip on smooth surfaces such as polished concrete. But I would not use it to soften up your dogs' pads. As Erny said, your dogs' pads sound fine and I'd leave them as they are unless the splits deepen and cause your dog pain.

Stitch, she might be affected more than her brother by teething. Have a look in her mouth and see what it is up to, probably lots of teething bumps and really sore. I also would not worrty about the comparison with her brother, I always find the boys to be gutses in comparison to their sisters! I second Vit B for a dog with poor appetite. I have used the injections and, in between, the equine B-Calm paste that you can get from most produce stores. Dogs will lick it straight out of the tube. If her body weight is fine, dont worry too much about how much she eats.

Is it possible that she is getting cold outside now? Not sure about Victoria, but the early mornings at our place are distinctly colder the last few weeks. Maybe she is getting cold outside and therefore doesn't want to stay out there at 5 o'clock in the morning. I'd be letting her do her morning ablutions and then bringing her back into bed, maybe with a Kong to keep her quiet for a while until she falls back to sleep.