angelsun

on a baby, nope....on a terrier breed...we refer to them as 'honourable scars' hehe..you should see some of the ones I've seen (and shown) in the past in that group! Didn't affect the judging in any way!

RallyValley, that might be the target by your local clubs to actually have trials in place. I don't think that many clubs will be ready to go for the January 1st date (I do know of one that will be ready!!) Remember, clubs need to get it sorted, submit their schedule to their state control body for approval and have it published in their gazette...it does take time. We're still training judges as well and this is VERY important that we get that right before they arm themselves with clipboards and meet their teams in trials.

Many DOG people don't understand crating!! My girls are crated at night...full stop, no execeptions. They are crated during the day if we both are out and away as then I know they are safe and not into something (or each other) when no one is around. I do not agree with allowing multiple dogs to be outside unattended, but my background is in terriers and it's simply not safe as sometimes one of them gives another 'a look' and it's on! We teach the shepherds crating so that if there is injury, they can cope without stress. We use the trailer for this mostly. This also means if for some reason they need to be contained when too much company shows up or work is being done around, they don't freak out. I can't lock this many dogs in the laundry!! I can't tell you how many dog people I know that will NOT crate train on any level and end up being held hostage by their dogs inability to be contained during certain times. The gang here love their crates. They are not a jail like so many may think. They are not in them 24/7 and that's the difference I guess. Like using correction collars, crates are great but when used incorrectly they are not the positive item that they were intended to be.

There are a ton of really neat names in Newfoundland, and of course the slang is not always acceptable to repeat in company, but pretty neat anyway! I agree, buddy is a big term there...and boy but it's pronounced 'by' Gros Morne (amazing place) Port Aux Basque (squish it together) Hearts Desire (yes, that's a place as well) The Rock (yup, that's what we call it cause that's what it is....big hunk of granite for the most part) Harbour Grace (great dog show there!) Avalon Quidividi (hehe...and how do we pronounce that?) Paradise Torbay Gander then the places not so well named for a prefix like "Dildo" or "Conception Bay" The best names are the little tiny villages that are found on the upper coast. Twillingate or Fogo for example.

what is the difference between a breeder who breeds a recognized breed and one that doesn't? Plenty....but the line in the sand is the motivations and vision of both. Registered breeders of purebred recognized dogs that don't test for example, breed for the sake of profits and don't guarantee or offer back up to the purchaser...because they breed a recognized breed, they are better or more ethical than someone that breeds an unrecognized breed? We ALL had breeds at one point that were not 'recognized'. The person that is breeding with a plan, testing and retesting that unrecognized breed....they are backyard breeders? What are those that are registered and breed without registering every pup or litter, without testing known genetic issues for their breed, or mix their breed because they have two separate purebreds....because they have recognized breeds and are registered, they are NOT backyarders? We see all too often the registered breeders, pumping out pups hand over fist...we see puppy farmers doing the same thing...a male put over a female and $$$ in the pockets. Those that choose to commit to a dog breeds development over many many years, and do what they can to ensure the longevity of that breed are far from backyarders. I say again to those short sighted, we all started with unrecognized or rare breeds....where would they be without the committment of those you call backyarders, today....in many of our lifetimes we would not have the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, the Eurasier or the Russian Black Terrier for example. Dogs of defined mixed heritage that over generations of hard work by so called backyarders, now breed true, were developed with a purpose and know their genetic weaknessess due to ethical testing and breeding practices.

Find an experienced person to show her how to tube feed...regardless of whether the bitch had a section or any other situation, this is a skill that in my opinion, every breeder should be able to do with competancy. BTW, love the holier than thou attitude of some....jeeze...simple question here..no wrong answers.

I would have to say that events, like all others, will be published in the Gazette, however I have not heard of any at this time. I am hopeful that this changes in the next few months. As for training, start bugging your local clubs...they wont offer it if no one asks about it.

All breed only here in N.E. Vic and southern NSW. Our Rikki is a 13 times BIS winner (and sable). Seems in many cases, its pointless to train them to good manners, slack lead and under control as the wild ones lunging on back feet only and tripping up handlers, seem to be many judges favourites. We have the none roachy backs with substance that can walk without touching hocks to the ground, but that doesnt seem to matter in this day in age.

perhaps BB, but it's worked a treat MANY times for me (along with the belt used to firmly keep the fat blob (with the coin) from popping out.) for me, doing something this simple, that works..is far better option than surgery or leaving it and finding that the fat mass increases, as often can happen. The big thing is simply proper handling of the pups..no tummy stretching...again....it works, so who am I to change that? ;)

http://www.workingdogs.com/lshaw1.htm this was sent to me by a friend in Canada who owns/breeds shepherds. I find this quite interesting and would be interested in what others think about the written opinions given based on the photos.

I was hoping to get down for a visit with the Gaudin's as they are very good friends of mine. I can't see me making it though. Wish I knew where they were being hosted as I would give them a ring to say Hi.

I have always done pups at six weeks with a straight parvo shot. Pups are always weaned prior to this. Two weeks later, they get their regular combo shot and then it's recommended that at 12 or 14 weeks to boost. Generally that's all I do, and have had good luck with it for many many years. I used to put off rabies shots til after a year of age and never combined with any other shots. Worked for me.

Don't pick up the puppy by under the front legs. Stretching the tummy will keep the hole from closing in properly. Tape a coin to the tummy with a belt of surgical tape. Tight enough to help hold the hernia inside. Do this after the pup eats so you allow for a full belly. Always scoop puppy up under the bum so the tummy doesn't stretch. Two to three weeks, the hole will be closed and the fat blob gone. No biggie..have done this many times. No point throwing a pup out because of something so simple in my opinion. Jury for me is still very much out on the hereditary arguement based on my own past litters and many others I've followed with/without this problem.

No different than when we have mini schnauzers in with Akita....same size difference, sometimes the same 'playtoy' mentality. Right now, the way the groups are lined up...size is an issue...do we split groups with 'over 50cm' and under? Remember, ultimately groups were SUPPOSED to be sorted based on EITHER original function/purpose of the breed or the look (size as in the case of companion/toy group)

With two 'G' breeds in two separate groups, we clash all the time. We have to prioritize when this happens....a couple years ago, we were focused on one dog (GSD) and the baby GP therefore stayed in the trailer...this year, our focus is on the GP to finish her title, so the minor GSD stays in the trailer when we have clash issues. We know this when we enter, it's our choice to enter and our gamble that we make it to the ring with both breeds. No biggie really as many times we don't clash and all the dogs get shown. May shows in Albury were tricky with two GSD's in the breed for us, and three GP's and sure enough, both in the ring at exactly the same time! Bit of a juggle, but no one marked absent that weekend!

I like the FCI group set up and would encourage this sort of thing to happen which puts dogs into what I believe to be more correct groupings than they are now. In Canada, a huge push was on to put a spitz group in place, and yes, it brought on arguements about Akitas competing against Poms and what exactly would be in the group...double coated, prick ears and curled tail? No easy answer, but I know that I'm for reallocation of all breeds as many of them are just in the wrong spot...but if that's done...ASK THE BREEDERS!!! Don't leave it to the hands of a bunch of registry employees, many of which don't have dogs or even know what breeds are what, never mind the history and/or function of these breeds to help determine where they would be grouped. Another arguement is that some groups (using FCI system) would be so small to not warrant it, or that it's simply more for each club to offer extra trophies etc....I've seen Utility groups at 35 dogs or Non Sporting less than two dozen....it exists already in some areas or at some times of the year.

To my knowledge, there isn't a good website yet for accessing information such as rules/signs etc. I'm hopeful that the states will get on this sooner than later, but suspect nothing will happen til after January 1st.

yup, cost a mint...but more important was my breeding programs future. Not sure where I'm at now to be honest.

Why don't you charge more for your puppies then? Because you can ASK all you want for the pups...but the average buyer will go to those unpapered ones advertised in the paper, without breeder back up or health testing, simply because they are cheaper...after all.."we only want a pet" Charging more, doesn't mean you get it...unless you add 'oodle' to the end of the breed of course.

No pups for me unfortunately

Actually I completely disagree. You size up a Pekingese to Kelpie size and you don't have a "normal" looking dog. Size up a Pug and you have a dog twice the width of a Bullmastiff. They are NOT proportionately the same. There is an idea that all dogs have the exact same hip shape - they don't. We've bred them to have different pelvic construction. You can't turn around and say now they all must have the same structured socket. I think each breed should identify what they are tested for and not have all breeds have the same testing requirement based on what *your* breed tests on. I am not anti-health testing (I actually known as a campaigner for it), it just needs to be applicable for breed. No point testing eyes and hearing and not Von Willebrand if dogs are dying from VW and <1% are coming up abnormall in ears & eyes. I'm not saying that you can upsize a peke to kelpie size and maintain the peke 'type' I"m saying that our breeds as we know them know, have been genetically altered from Size A to Size B over many many years. If we go BACK in history of our breeds, use the Pom for example, knowing that many many years ago, it was a larger spitz breed that was genetically designed to be smaller generation after generation. We see the puppy farm Poms more to this as they are more worried about how many pups can a bitch carry, compared to what is the written standard for size requirement, but this is aside from the point. The breed began as a size...WE changed that size by selectively breeding the smallest to the smaller and suddenly many of the toy breeds we know now, were born. Therefore we have in fact begun with the same dog as many of the spitz breeds, but have reduced it, ratio to ratio, the structure is the same. To proclaim (or split hairs) that the angles are different and therefore the risk of HD becomes different, isn't factual or even remotely accurate. Lets look at what is scored...Cranial acetabular edge...all dogs have this. Acetabular fossa....all dogs have this, cranial eff. acet.rim....all dogs have this, femoral head recontouring...all dogs have this. Where then is the logic that some breeds, who come with all these structural components, would not have incidents of defect that COULD end up being considered hereditary? We can not say that because a sheltie has features of the collie rough, but it is in fact NOT a miniature collie, that whatever a collie may possess as genetic problems, is not in a sheltie because a sheltie is simply NOT a collie? A border collie is not a collie rough, but they share some problems, and these problems can be found in other breeds not related to the collie family at all. The ETT (toy manchester) came from selectively taking small Manchesters and breeding them together. Over many generations they became so small and fragile they couldn't walk. They broke bones easily and were abominations to look at. They no longer looked like their larger relatives other than they were black and tan and short coated. But they still held the genetic issues common to both. Over a time, once folks realized how badly they were screwing up the dogs, they realized the 'teacup' manchester wasn't a good thing and they added some standard manchesters to give the breed some substance. Now we can see standards coming from toy litters..we see occasionally the ETT produce some whoppers....clearly a Manchester in all aspects. As such, they come with the same problems....LP for example. Regardless of size, we find slipping patellas in many breeds, not just toys as often many believe it to be strictly a toy problem. I'm reminded of the bullmastiff with the grade 3 patella problem, owned/bred by a friend of mine.....so many scoffed that it was the same problem as could be found in pugs....why? Because "patellas don't happen in giant breeds", to which my friend pointed out...they all have knees..... This is my point in regards to hips and testing....ALL dogs have hip joints, and sockets....they are all called the same, regardless of the breed and an exray sent to a vet with no other information, will be read like all the others...measured and assessed. It's simply a hip/socket assembly and breed not withstanding, should be assessed as such. It is a good thing that there are many out there that clearly know their breeds percentage of HD incidences....but is this based on what total testing figure? When beginning to compile the stats for Pennhip in my breed, we had our figures lumped in with all other breeds that were done....because we didn't have enough individuals to form our own percentile. To be in the 95 percentile is great when you are talking about 10 thousand examples...not such a brag when you are talking about ten.

Although I don't have cardiomyopathy in my breed running rampant, I occasionally do cardio testing. We have had cases...we know that the Dobermann was built up from using our breed (there were other breeds as well) so I for one, knowing a few cases of heart issues around, and knowing what it did develop into, sporatically check. If this was made manditory, I'd have no issues....any dog with a heart, can have a malfunctioning heart condition. Although my former breed (manchesters) did not have HD issues...I got hips done often. We did have (in the toy variety, equivalent to English Toy Terriers) Legges Perthes problem, so by checking from time to time, because the toy manchester is the same as the standard, other than what they weigh on the scale and how we do their ears.....it makes sense that it could pop up...lets face it..they both have a femeral head....like any dog with hind legs.....it's not HD persae...but it's a genetic problem that needs to be kept tabs on....knowing your breed...accepting the physical structure of all dogs as grounds for potential issues, and being open that not testing, doesn't mean there is no problems, to me is simply not good breeding practices. Lets put it this way..there is no way I would buy a Pyr or Saint for example that didn't have parental hips scored.

Well it's the case of mate them cause we figure one won't catch, but both probably will!! Add to that the GP litter expected early September, we could be hip deep in pups. ugh....We tried doing the 'nope, we'll only mate one of the girls and see how we go' only to find out she didn't get pregnant....and repeat that....and repeat that...so suddenly we are thinking..stuff this....fortunately they are breedings we are really excited about so not wasteful in the least! :D

GIPFEL German Shepherd Dogs October 2nd and October 12th (if all goes well)

I see what you are saying and yes, this is valid. If we test for enough, we will certainly find a problem, however the key is testing and seeing if by these results, we in fact DO have a problem or simply an isolated incident or two. by knowing the history of my breed, where it comes from, where it went (my black and tan terriers were used to develope other breeds which in turn have known genetic issues, therefore it made sense to sporatically test to see if the source could have been my breed as opposed to other breeds that were put in the mix to make up the new breed) As well using experience in the breed and communications with others to assertain if they were having issues (this happened BIT...that would be Before Internet Time) when we wrote to each other or used the phone or sat at shows and actually talked to each other about our breedings and offspring, good and bad. By doing this, we figured out that we MAY have an issue in a certain area, and opted to test to either A) find out for sure if we did, B)find out if it COULD be a genetic/inherant issue, C) was a random 'schit happens sort of thing, or any combination of the above. Importance fell to firstly what could shorten the breeds quality of life or span, and secondly how many times it was occuring in the breed and therefore became not a fluke, but a potential genetic problem. No, not at all...because based on the above criteria, we attempt to seek out situations with dogs that may develope into the bigger problems. I am currently watching very close to see if there are more incidents of a spinal condition in my breed as well as a degredation of the liver. The latter seems to be more prevalent in dilutes (such as we know that coat colour alopecia is found in blue dobes for example, we have the same in my breed, hence why we test for dilute in pure colour parents to avoid producing dilutes which could have this problem) I don't have enough date on the spinal issue that would link it to a breed specific problem. Unfortunately this often happens when we see one or two episodes....the trick is to not have a knee jerk reaction, however we can't ignore it either, and like so many issues today that we test for and don't give a second thought, some of these conditions, may in a decade or more, become the same sort of routine testing. Today, because we simply don't know enough, we think they are a big deal..or we believe them to not be genetic linked....we had those thoughts about other things in the past and because we kept our minds open, tested when no one demanded it, we learned in time, that some were hereditary and others not, or at least not when correct breeding practices were put in place (like vWD)