OSoSwift

Don't think pointy Whippet nose diameters will help! Sounds interesting

Agreed Winterpaws I cannot fathom people like that. Hope all works out for the handsome boy

I definately have colours and marking I like over others, but I would not EVER take a substandard dog because it was a colour I prefered. I do not think a good dog can be a bad colour and luckily in Whippets anything goes. Some people are less likely to put up blacs or clown faces for example but if the puppy had everything else I wanted I would not , not keep the puppy becuase of a marking or colour.

I have had two Dobes and a Stafford in the past, but now have 2 Whippets and teh Stafford now. They don't eat much so feeding them really doesn't cost much. We have our own beef bones, they get sardines, some chicken, cream cheese etc but they eat nothing compared to the dobes! The Stafford is old and has medical issues, his medication does cost a lot and we are lucky we have a good income. The Whippets have had a few injuries of late that are caused by high speed crashes. The Whippets have insurance so it doesn't bother me much and I have always covered the cost of the policy each year. They have crates (Dobe sized) with cut down foam matress and polar fleece blankets in their dogs runs as well as sack beds. Inside they have a foam mattress cut down and I made a cover for it and there is a piece of Vetbed on top, or the lounge, or the beanbag! I have 2000 acres and 5 acres mowed with nice shady trees around the house so they get lots of free running as well as lead walks. I do not walk the Stafford as he can get down the hill but not up it. We do lots of toy chasing and regular training and beach visits We have no issues with the dogs interacting with each other, we have rules I am boss and that is it, plus they have pretty soft temperments and well the Stafford doesn't have the energy to be bothered! I do not add up what it costs as I don't wan to know. I do not drink, smoke, gamble or go out so I spend money on the dogs instead!

How can I unread this post........................................................ ...................................

Oh Emery that doesn't sound good and I have no idea what it entails for your daughter, hope she is okay

Many bruises and scratches and bite from vet nursing day, to numerous to mention all. HUge bruises down my legs when 40kg Male Dobe decided to climb on me while swimming. Damaged cruciate ligament from my female Dobe doing an over zealous recall Black eye that was around my whole eye from the eyebrow down coupled with nerve damage and concussion Broken toe, broken finger

Hope all is okay, but I think a very sensible place to start. I am also very strict on food and dislike overweight dogs and would be devistated if mine became over weight. Today they have been at the beach, Rommi was tethered as she is recovering from a sore knee but Lewis has been swimming and running and chasing a ball. He will get a little extra tonight. Yesterday he didn't so so much so he got just over half his normal ration

All Hail the power of the I-Squeak ball!!!!!!!!!! My Lewis is the Miss Prissy Princess Pants when it comes to water and getting wet. Loves the beach but has literally done a handstand to avoid getting his tootsies wet when a wave has been coming up the beach. Today we have been down the beach. I tossed his I-Squeak just on the edge of the water, he thought about it, but picked it up. I put it a little further out each time until he was swimming and his head was going under the water to get the ball. He even ran into the water just to say hi when I was in with the kids. He came home exhausted, wet and covered with sand. So he has had a quick wash and gone into the dog run with a treat to dry off before retiring to the lounge. I NEVER EVER though Lewis would EVER go into the sea. Those I-Squeaks certainly have something addictive about them!!!

Thinking of you VCBR

No flame suit from me I mearly making an observation. To be honest though having entries at $120 for the dogs to compete in all the classes I would like was a bit of a shock, hence why I dropped one each. I wouldn't be entering and hoping I could go, put it that way, I would be making sure I could.

Not planning on it at this stage, think I need to get my hand back in at a few smaller ones first! I also do not like Perth too much so don't go unless I either really want to go shopping or am catching up with family. I will see if I can work in a show with next time I am up though.

Yes I was refering to the costs of entries to the shows and the obedience. Yes I realise they are the same cost. I was suprised at how much entries had gone up in the time since I have shown/trialed, I am quite sure they have gone up accross the board. Maybe it suprised me more than it may have because I now have two dogs to enter???? It is great they have all new equipment and I hope I get to use it one day. I know show people have the same costs - I am one, just been out of the ring for a while. I wasn't having a particluar go at the Albany dog club, but due to the fact the coat of fuel more than doubles for me to go to Perth it is a big cost for me and one that will need budgeting. Just remember if obedience don't support these clubs & whinge at cost then this is why clubs drop those events. No need for the obedience bashing I do both!

Because a comment was made that most members of the public wouldnt know the difference between good conformation and bad. I gave an example of non doggy people who noticed and pointed it out to me. We then had a discussion about buying a well bred dog from a reputable breeder. I'm not sure why you're being sensitive about it. I understood the original post differently to what you just said Anyway, will be promo-ing pure breeds this week, bringing my baby girl into work at some point. Everyone has oo'd and ahh'd at the pictures and been told that it's a pure breed so will be interesting to see the result of seeing the real thing She will also be traveling in on the train and home again with probably a market walk during lunchtime For those who have 'plain' or common dogs, what about practicing your obedience skills or tricks on walks? An obedient or clever dog always turns heads, especially with breeds who have a 'reputation' of being nasty, it could be a great opportunity to engage in conversation with someone. Any pure breed doing tricks is good PR anyway or just basic obedience- it also gives you the opportunity to let them know buying from known lines will mean stable temperament and buying from a reputable breeder means they will match the pup to you as well as having given the pups lots of mental stimulation and preparing it well for life as a pet Agree with you here as well, It is very hard for someone to say that a dog is nasty and vicious when it is playing dead, bowing, and saying it's prayers. I had many people who disliked Dobermann's converted after they had know my girl for a little while. She was very well trained but also had a large repatoir of tricks and she loved performing.

Isnt that funny. I went up to a mum and daughter walking two Jacks in the local area one day and stopped for a chat. I said - I know where you got your jackies from. Myrmidon JRTs. The look on her face was like this I could tell from the heads. Gorgeous little creatures. It is a sort of secret international code The X Factor maybe. If it is missing, you will pass by and barely notice the dog. If it is there, it screams at you "NOTICE ME, Like NOW!" YEp I agree, some dogs have the X factor and they are noticed!

Would have loved to have caught up and had a chance to see your boy working. Also would have loved to to have borrowed your vast wealth of knowledge to help me out with my mine - I need all the help I can get!!!! Let me know the next time you are down and I will make sure I am around, not missing out again! The girls at the club were excited you were going to go down there, I am sure they would have loved to have seen Brooklyn working. I was quite shocked at the prices I have to say, granted I only used to enter one dog at a time before and yes it has been a while, but it was a suprise. The show in February is the same prices hopefully by the time the November one comea round they have reduced them.

Have just been checking out some entries for showing and obedience and lets say thay have gone up a bit in the 8 years I have been out of the ring! 2 dogs for a double header show and one obedience class each was over $90!!! Now I know that is the least of the actual cost, especially when I consider around$150 to $200 in fuel, accomodation and food - but it is quite a bit more than I remember! And with all the things I just have to have for the dogs and new showing clothes for myself, this could require a budget!

HAving seen this many times count your blessings! They are horrendous things that can cause huge problems. And yes if I saw someone leaving a hook around with bait on it somewhere public I might just kneecap them!

It is awful to see puppies, kittens and well any animal in conditions such as those. There are some countries whose animals welfare practices and human welfare practices I do not agree with or condone therefore I will never visit those countries so I do not give their economy money or help these practices continue in any way by going to their country and spending my money. I am also a primary producer. The welfare of my animals is my number one priority. If my animals are not healthy happy and well looked after then I will not have good birth, survival or sale rates. It is very difficult to compare litters of puppies and mobs of sheep or cattle. Sheep and cattle are raised for consumption therefore they are going to be eaten (die) that is why they are bred. Puppies (and other animals) are bred to be companion animals and pets. I love my cattle and I know individuals within my herd, but at the end of the day they are bred to be sold by me and eaten by the consumer. My dogs are not. There purpose in life is completely different. I do not cry when my calves go on the truck, but when a puppy leaves, well that is a different story. My cattle are well looked after, have medical attention as required and any and all care that is required to raise beef cattle. Some days are hard when you have a 3 and 5 year old and there are some days you check cows, have to pull a calf, go out to do the next check and find another needing help, so back to pulling a calf again. Mean while you have two children that have hardly seen their mum and a meal that needs putting on the table and kids to be bathed and dressed and put to bed. Or you sit in the paddock in the freezing cold quietly monitoring a cow birthing as she seems to be working a bit hard and you might need to help her out at 10pm. I do it because I love it. I love and have pride in the animals I have and the ones I produce. It really annoys me when people try to paint the producer or farmer as the bad person that locks up animals and tortures them. It is crap and very demeaning to myself and I am sure others in my position. I look after my cattle as if I didn't I would not have the success I have and I would not have a 100% live at 12 months record, and yes that included calves that needed help and some who had to be hand raised. I would not have 100% pregnancy and live calf and live at 12 months in a mob of my cows if I didn't do my job properly. I am sure mnay people do have an idea but from where I am sitting many people would not know about farming if it was a sharp stick that poked them in the eye!

Given the somewhat high number of posts that end in snotty argument or at least highly spirited debate on DOL, it's definitely not the case that DOL is even close to conforming to one way of thinking ... Dog-lovers aren't a homogeneous, monochromatic group of people who speak in one voice. There are plenty of people, myself included (yes I'm bad, I own a crossbreed as well as a purebred and sometimes I think labradoodleslabxpoodles are a bit cute), who don't necessarily agree with the views of everyone else on the forum - we just try to be a bit more civil about it. That doesn't make us pious. Expressing yourself in the manner you did and in this post in a different thread would have been informative albeit provocative to some. In this post, in expressing what you call a 'different view', you weren't being a rebellious, revolutionary independent-minded thinker - you were simply being rude and insensitive. There's nothing revolutionary or special about that sort of behaviour - it just puts you in a class with millions, possibly billions of other humans on this planet ... Again, if you have a particular gripe about certain breeds like the Akita or if you believe that situations like this should be handled differently, you should certainly post your views - but in a different thread where people can have a proper discussion and debate. This thread should be left for the OP to receive support and guidance in what must be an extremely painful and sorrowful predicament. You've certainly got a right to express your views in any way you want and in any thread you want - but the rest of us also have the right to voice our disapprobation of your manner of expression. Just have to say I love reading your posts and you are extremely eloquent in you manner of speaking. You get your point across without resorting to having a slanging match and rather remind me of a friends mum who was much the same and a telling off from her made you feel really bad without a raised voice or a distasteful word uttered! What she said!!!!!!!!

Yes! The OP has handled the situation that gives a safe outcome for both dogs. Not only do they have the emotions and trauma of having witnessed and seperated two dogs fighting, the OP is going to rehome an elderly dog that was his/her deceased fathers. I am quite sure that was not a decision entered into lightly. For what it is worth I have owned Dobes. My two bitched fought, there was quite a bit of blood and yes it was deadly serious. I didn't rehome I managed it but you do have to be onto it there can be no mistakes with who is out or in. I got a Dobe knowing full well that two bitches together will quite often fight and ending up disliking each other for life. I do know that when a Dobe fights and it is serious they can potentially kill the other dog. I would not put my Dobe down for this and I didn't as it is a breed temperment predisposition and something I was aware of and capable of managing. I do not think that every dog that has a fight with another dog should immediately be euthanased. My Dobes over the years were attacked by other dogs from Jack Russels up to Boxers and never once did they inflict damage, usually it was a solid warning and all were controlled by command only. I trained "leave it" and I meant it and they knew that. If my Whippet full on attacked and tried to kill another dog I would find it far more disturbing as it is not a breed temperment predispostion at all. It is not that cut and dried.

I have been washing and unpacking after a few days away - tha crap you need to take for two adults, two kids and two dogs is amazing! Oh and I am definately not buying puppies - the OH would have a fit! Hope Lincoln is okay VCBR. Big hugs for having to make an extremly hard decision.

It would depend on the manner in which it was delivered and who it came from. I have had critisim aimed at my dog before and it was nasty delivered in a nasty way and I reacted and confronted the person who like most bullies, backed off. If it is constructive I am all for it. It is hard to hear things about yourself and your dog that are not the best, but delivered correctly can be extremely helpful.

I had asthma as a young child and grew out of it apparently. Shame nobody told my lungs than. I have recently spent a week hardly able to breathe and wheezing which did repond and I got rid of eventually. Claratyne daily stopped me having itching, swelling sneezing and wheezing from cats. I would go to the doctor and get checked up as my asthma quite often presented as coughing.

I do think a well bred mannered and turned out dog turns heads. I get stopped all the time with my brace of Whippets. I really don't need to take them with me to town but I do from time to time just to check the mail or a quick stroll. I had one older lady sidle up to me and say how nice it was to see "proper" Whippets again. I must have looked a little confused because she said real Whippets like when I was a kid not these over sized tall things they use for hunting around here. A local person or two do run packs of Whippets they use for hunting foxes, rabbits and Kangaroo's - yes they pull down and kill fully grown roo's! They are substantially taller , leggier shorter in back and are high on leg. I feel the best way to promote out beautiful well bred pedigree dogs is to get them out in the public eye and be open and approachable. I may chat to someone for 5 minutes and that may stay with them for a long time and maybe they might get a lovely Whippet themselves down the track. I have converted many through taking mine to training as many people think they are nervy and highly strung so to see them working and doing it well changes many false perceptions.