Crisovar

I must have a different breed then.

Coat management and care and diet have changed dramatically over the years, when you look at some older photos and videos of show dogs it is very obvious, now even the shorter coats are groomed to perfection, nothing steps foot in the ring till it has been blasted with the dryer.

There are as many bad home made diets as there are commercial, what some people cook up for their dogs just boggles the brain but we digress... Firstly there are some excellent commercial foods out there that won't break the bank, generally speaking you do not have to feed as much of the better quality foods to get the same result. There are many to choose from, if you go that path look for minimal grains and for MEAT as the first ingredient. Some GSD can have easily upset tums so change carefully and do not introduce too much at once, especially during the settling in period. The dog does well on chicken, so keep with the chicken meat and maybe a better quality dog food to start with. If you want to go for a more natural raw type diet start with chicken and add from there, Turkey necks, chicken frames, chicken quarters, are all good sizes for a GSD, but if bones have not been fed before you will have to watch carefully that he does actually chew his food properly and not just gulp it. There are many excellent threads on feeding raw and on commercial foods if you search here on DOL.

I don't know if it is so much a case of animal lovers disliking children as it is that more and more are raising the animals up to be of equal standing.

SO, are the images used typical? It is easy to find the most extremes of anything and push it as being the norm but is it really. Is the GSD shown on the latest version of PDE typical of what we see every day?? Far from it, the images are used for shock value and they work. I shudder to think what future generations will think of Australians if they continually see videos of Julia Gillard as representative, do we all sound like that?

I wouldn't find it hilarious if he did that to one of my dogs, and I doubt it would be terribly funny if another dog took offense and decided to teach your dog some manners. It is not well tolerated by most dogs. Another vote for keeping him leashed.

Not all of them! I've had shepherds for over 30 years and I've FINALLY got one that hardly sheds - and she's a long-coat . I was going to ask if the long coats shed less - it would seem logical. If they are Long coats(no undercoat) then yep they are not going to leave the fur bunnies, Long Stock Coats(with undercoat) will.

My girl did too when she arrived, but since we sorted out the skin and other issues she has been just terrific.

We don't have too much of a shedding issue, it seems to help if they are on a really good diet and you keep the grooming up. We have far more Lab hair around than GSD hair, and the Lab is much better than many I have seen. Don't be put off by the coat ;)

We can be flooded in quite easily during the wet, so far we have managed to always have one person either at home when there is high risk, or someone has been able to get home even if it is by boat. :laugh: I certainly hope we are never in a position of that not being the case, regardless, I am anal about ensuring that all animal water is fresh and full and that every one has access to safe areas or are contained in safe areas if we are experiencing bad weather and leave home for any reason. We have like minded friends close by so everyone keeps in touch during risky periods.

If you wanted to look at it from the angle that a baby pup can be a bit of a gamble, then it makes it all very interesting ;)

No it is normally the opposite with horses :laugh:

I don't believe that you have to raise a dog from puppyhood to get the best result. The strongest connection I have ever had with a dog is with a bitch that cam to me at 15months. My OHs dog arrived at 3yo and you would not get a closer bond than they have. Whilst pups are all fun and games for some, for others an older dog is simply the right choice. Being older does not devalue them in my opinion.

This place never ceases to amaze me, after all this time it shouldn't but it does.

I hope so but I do realise that I cannot keep everyone happy. My main aims are to run a prodcutive business that has happy safe dogs and happy owners so I will have loyal repeat customers and dogs that want to come visit and drag their owners in the door :) I think you will do just fine :)

Very true and sometimes it is by knowing the history behind how the standard developed that we begin to understand why some of these things were included in the first place. Take my breed (Pyrenean Mountain Dog) which specifies colour and particularly that black to the root is a disqualifying fault. It specifies particular requirements regarding eye rim, lip and roof of mouth pigment. It also specifies double dew claws. On the surface all these things seem very cosmetic. That is until you understand that black on the dog was taken by the French shepherds to be a sign of crossbreeding with herding dogs (which introduced behaviour traits they didnt want in a LGD) so these puppies were regularly culled/removed as they didnt function well at their job. Pigment was important as it reflected glare (particularly on snow - helping prevent snow blindness), prevented sunburn and also helped prevent deafness (given the link between lack of 'pigment' in the inner ear and deafness) which they instinctively could note as a correlation. Double dewclaws were also taken as a sign of 'breed purity' by the shepherds and another way to avoid the introduction of unwanted behaviour traits. For these reasons I encourage people who may wonder about the so called 'superficial' specifications in a standard to first consider exactly WHY they were put there in the first place before dismissing them outright. There might be an actual reason for them being put there. This! It is very interesting to delve into the history of different Breeds and then read their standards and extended standards, it certainly helps to fit pieces of the puzzle together.

Simply from reading the OPs posts here I would think that MOST people should be more than happy with how she intends to operate. Some people will never find what they are looking for, and others may think they are finding that elsewhere but in reality may not be ;)

It is a real "how long is a piece of string" question I'm afraid, Whilst some see an older dog as coming with some of the pitfalls of puppy raising removed others see them as less desirable. From my own experience I have paid far less than puppy price for an older youngster whilst also having paid the going puppy price for another. Personally I think anything up to the current puppy price is acceptable unless you are buying a proven show prospect as such.

Some people need to look at in home pet sitting services rather than a boarding kennel.

In my experience no the testicles do not have to return original size. It is one of those very individual things though, if you are looking at using him maybe do a sperm count.

I'm not really up to date on it either, the koolie people would be better placed to answer. They are allowed on the Sporting Register but I don't know if they are interested in getting general recognition. They keep their own register, and are non-ANKC for the same reasons that the Working Kelpie Council keeps their own register - conforming to a physical standard is not helpful (and would probably be detrimental) to having a good working dog. Which is why kelpies are divided into bench and working lines, so the people that want to show can show and the people that want them to work can continue to not care what they look like as long as they can do the job. This shows a clear lack of understanding of what a Breed Standard is, the standards describes the PHYSICAL attributes necessary to perform the task required. Have a read here for an example Labrador

Secure safe kennels, runs and exercise areas is a biggy for me. Confident and competent management and staff, a love of animals simply isn't enough. No kenneling, exercising or playtime with other dogs. Food supplied by me to be fed and nothing else.

Out of interest would you expect to pay an additional Grooming fee for this?

If this was my dog, I would immediately stop the treatments, avoid all drugs and chemicals and put the dog on a completely raw diet. I have seen some excellent results by simply strengthening the dogs immune system an allowing it to deal with the mites. Just recently I was able to observe the dramatic improvement in a dog with Demodex after following this course of treatment. I wish I had some photos to show you the before and after, such a complete turn around.

Demodex takes hold when a dogs immune system is compromised. Demodex are always there but a healthy strong immune system keeps them under control. There can be many things that trigger this, weaning, illness, vaccination, upheaval in the animals life. Often many things happen at once to young pups and Demodex raises its head. The issue in Staffords seems to be an immune system weakness. I have seen some very bad cases of generalised Demodex come good once the overall health of the dog and its immune system have been raised. I believe there is a lot you can do to help your dog but it will probably mean a complete overhaul of the way you feed and the way you approach basic health care for your dog. I agree that not breeding him is advisable though many still do, which is why we see so many immune system issues. I would definitely speak to the breeder, if only to try and discover if they have in fact had immune system issues previously.