dog geek

Wow - that is clearly NOT the sort of behaviour you would want; and it is just sad that people want to label it as ''just boys will be boys" ... who would want their boy to be like that??? Truly it sounds like a type of autism, are you able to get a referral for as soon as possible from your GP? It might be that there are health professionals in your area who are covered under Medicare. Certainly if you are able to get into the local health authority's autism assessment program you should do so asap, it often has very long waiting times. Until then, look online for strategies and tips on how to manage his behaviours; if you need more help you can pm me, I don't have a huge amount of knowledge but have had somewhat similar suggestions and maybe can point you towards god info. Good luck, and don't listen to the Supernanny, she is great for neurologically normal children, but has an effect diametrically opposed to what you hope for in children with ASD or similar syndromes. Cheers Nicola

Wow - that is clearly NOT the sort of behaviour you would want; and it is just sad that people want to label it as ''just boys will be boys" ... who would want their boy to be like that??? Truly it sounds like a type of autism, are you able to get a referral for as soon as possible from your GP? It might be that there are health professionals in your area who are covered under Medicare. Certainly if you are able to get into the local health authority's autism assessment program you should do so asap, it often has very long waiting times. Until then, look online for strategies and tips on how to manage his behaviours; if you need more help you can pm me, I don't have a huge amount of knowledge but have had somewhat similar suggestions and maybe can point you towards god info. Good luck, and don't listen to the Supernanny, she is great for neurologically normal children, but has an effect diametrically opposed to what you hope for in children with ASD or similar syndromes. Cheers Nicola

Oh my - she is very much making sure they are all tucked away safe from the camera monster, isn't she! BTW, I ADORE the face on Wednesday's rear end - however, it may just be the camera angle, but I just can't see the smile... to me it looks a lot more like this: :/ In which case, you may be bringing up a Wednesday ( /brat ) indeed! Keep the photos coming, I loooove seeing all your kiddies!

:D :D :p ;) ;) Go Wyntervale!!! Congratulations and good luck with the little girl! Well done Lola!!!

ME! The Pom club of NSW show for us!!!!!! :D :D

Some of those crosses sound like a disaster waiting to happen... there is a Jack Russell x Pug down the road, has had patella surgery on both knees because of injury even before its first birthday... now it is very Pug-looking but with longer legs and about twice as big as either parent breed... Kelpie x Maltese. Looked just like any number of oodle things - black, scruffy mid-length hair on a small-to-medium dog. Lovely dog, really - terrible dog to have on a property, though, really busy all day long rolling in as many types of crap as possible....

"not easier for (the dog), just easier for the humans"... WTF? Sheer egomania, if they cared for the pup they would have pts. This is just attention-seeking.

Classic!

Mind you, he did end up looking somewhat like the glamourous hound from the RSPCA Just took a few hundred woman hours, a diet attended to with more care than is shown for visiting royalty, and an inordinate amount of conferencing about which "*product* to try next...

Postage was around $30, the pen came in a 50-ish kg flat pack, but the ties for attaching the mesh to the frame are a little inadequate - if my dogs were larger and heavier I would use heavier gauge wire to attach it. re the king-size bed.... guilty!

http://www.horsesathome.com.au/shoponline.html This is the link to the dog pen, I bought the large one. So $300 for the pen; about $70 for the small aviary mesh and about $60 for the shadecloth. Then I just put some riverpebbles in. I put the shadecolth on the outside of the pen, but it continues underneath inside the pen about 30cms; then I put the aviary mesh over it on the outside of the pen. I love the watermisters! That is a great idea! At present for our hot days I have been hosing the pebbles and shadecloth.... Love the idea of the mister, if I put them up I could move in there myself!

My darling sons helped me put this covered dog pen up - they are 7 and 10 years old! So I thought - what else have you all done to improve your dog's quality of life? I was hoping to be inspired further!

Oh, I remember that prefix - it was the one purchasing export certificates from their State Canine Controlling body for tens of puppies every three months, with the new owner listed as a certain Mr M...

"It is like the barbie I never had!" LOL! I so know what you mean - same for me!

EXCELLENT post - Sandy, this is possibly the most important negative re pet shop puppies. Most buyers are not experienced dog owners (or they would understand how reprehensible it is to sell puppies from shops!) and have little to no idea how to raise a family-friendly dog. Add to this a puppy missing crucial neurological and social exposure; unable to overcome anxiety and without stable learning behaviours. This is why families end up with unpleasant, stressful experiences with their canine companions. Read a few of these authors: Pat Hastings, Carmen Battaglia et al.

OMG! That last photo is very special, PP - what a beautiful momento of both your puppy and her young master (?) to have. Very gorgeous baby dog! Sooooo teeny tiny! Has the special Stafford grin already, how cute! The Poms didn't really mind the bath, although Daisy is not keen on having her head wet - she was all "don't splash my face" as if it her makeup would run lol! I didn't have them to blow them dry, so it will be interesting to see what they think of that. And I am dying to bring them home, they are absolute sweeties, Comet plays with my two kids so nicely it will be lovely to see him here with them. And Daisy is such a lapdog, once she gets used to sharing with the cats and the two big dogs she will be very happy here, I am sure. Cheers everybody - and keep up the pix of the fluffy guinea-pig bubbies as they grow up, I am really enjoying them

If I was showing neutered animals I would do so in neuter classes... Any stock I was showing would be demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of my breeding program. I think altering phenotype (or enhancing colour/coat texture/drape) to match the breed standard is lyin' and cheatin'. And I think that altering an animals' hormonal suite chemically or surgically and not declaring it to be altered - by continuing to show in classes for entire animals - is not good sportsmanship... and is deceitful and dishonest. If an exhibitor decides they cannot show their animal without a hormonal implant to alter the hormonal balance, then can they approach the regulatory body for an exemption? I mean to ask for permission to show while temporarily altered?

I have been reading the desexed bitch thread with interest - and one question occurred to me... Are there not more animals involved in breeding decisions than just immediate ancestors? I mean - what about sibs/halfsibs/aunties/uncles/halfaunties yada yada yada? Sure, you want to see the parents/grands/offspring... but wouldn't neutered 'peripheral' animals being shown be an immense help when planning a breeding?

Hi Everyone Went up and bathed the doggies on Thursday; then played with them and brushed them for two hours until we had to go. Their attendant is holding them for me in the pic - they just looooooover her, and she calls them her 'kids' lol! CanNOT wait to bring them home, they are such little sweeties

There is a company in the UK selling little microscope kits (Matetel) that you can use to establish exactly when your bitch is ovulating - and more power to them: they sound like the product is easy to use, has all you need, and they sound willing to work with you if you have problems. The feedback from the forum indicates that more people than not are thrilled with them, and the science seems sound. I know you observe the dogs closely and thus know when to let them mate, but I am going to try to increase litter size, since Daisy (Pomeranian) is a good size bitch; I had been going to prog test with the vet... but I will now try this instead! So have you got a microscope? You can examine a slide that has your bitches' saliva coating it under a microscope, and if you see crystallisation then she is ovulating! Why? Because the peaking in the release of oestrogen is paralleled by a peaking in the release of electrolytes. These are salts: so swabbing a bitches' tongue with a glass slide, leaving it to dry (hmm… might try blow-drying it) and then chucking it under a microscope will let you see the crystals. You start about a week after she shows signs of being in season, where you will just see 'blobs' rather than 'frost patterns'. But the closer she gets to ovulating the clearer the crystals become: you are only a couple of days out from ovulation if you can see ‘sticks’ or ‘lines’. After you get a slide with proper crystals, you mate her within 48 hours. From my extra-curricular reading I think I will mate every day for three days; since spermatozoa are viable for 7 days and oocytes for 3-5 days I am keen to avoid having 'under-done' puppies. (But still want to get fresh little wrigglers for the late-maturing oocytes.)

@ jrm88 - that is pretty awesome of your family! How fun! Smoothie Girl (btw I love your elegant smoothie, I knew one growing up who was just delightful), the black and white is the boy - he is smaller than her, should stay smaller than her. He is absolutely bug-eyed with excitement in his pictures, but he is not usually so pop-eyed lol. The girl is growing back coat after puppies - and she feels as plush and cuddly as she looks, I love her colour, hope I get babies like that! The Gordons are beautiful, can't wait to see your puppy pix!

Merry Christmas, hope everyone has had a safe silly season. Went and visited my doggies in quarantine on Wednesday - they are SO CUTE! The little boy is 9 months old and still a puppy, adorable and playful! The little girl is so quiet and shy, she was quite worried at first at us being so strange and all, but ended up curled up in her new bed that we brought her, giving us little licks! I am so excited - I will have to drive up at least once a week, a round trip of five hours, until mid-January! And then bring them home here... cannot wait!

Oooo... Pandii he is SUCH a nice looking dog! I love his colour - and he looks nicely put-together, too. Four more sleeps, huh - how are you coping lol!

... .... Edited???? They are claiming it is edited??? Look, I am sorry, but quite clearly this is accepted practice among a significant proportion of her fellow exhibitors and judges. The efficient, and practised, way in which she wrung that dog out like a dishcloth - let alone the ease with which she located and used the pressure point under its jaw - speak volumes. I am expecting a cascade of support from her confreres - all stridently claiming that such treatment was perfectly acceptable, and that it is necessary in order to get dogs to stand for examination, and that at such giddy levels of professionalism it is the only way in which to be competitive blah blah blah... With the amount of interest world-wide this video is generating, maybe we have the chance to change the culture which implicitly believes in cruel and abusive practices in relation to their interactions with dogs?

How sweet does that little Lab face look... what a beautiful baby! Aannie, I love the tricolour Cavs, they just seem to be so gorgeous. Bet his little face is super adorable... Parrotpea, I know I went back through this thread to work out what breed your puppy is- but cannot for the life of me remember... wait, ... Stafford? My dogs are arriving in Sydney on 22nd December... so excited now, I am worried how I am going to manage the drive up there on the day I visit lol...