alpha bet

The person posting is in Victoria....

One thing to remember is that often giving your dogs drugs like the Sentinel which is an allcover..... is not every vets recommendation. If you do further research you will discover that over medicating is a problem too.

Some vets/breeders etc recommend only using a flea treatment IF the dog has fleas which is usually thru the summer.... tick cover is not relevant in Victoria as we do not have the paralysis tick.... and worming is usually only required 2-3 times per year.... not monthly...

Drug companies love to sell you something every month... after all if you only do things as needed you will probably spend almost 1/10th of the money.... less profit for them....

Annual vaccinations are no longer required.... look into this and you will find that most vets still recommend yearly, yet every 3 years is MORE than adequate.....

Vets can ply you will loads of product that they are making high returns on - new owners feel they need to spend this month to ensure they do all the right things.... but many vets are only quoting the research that is put out in the industry by the pet food and drug manufacturers..... Remember most vets are a GP for multi species.... some vets specialise and have more information on things like diet etc. There are many topics here which have discussed these issues at length....look up discussions on Titre Testing...... Overvaccination.... Raw Diets...... often there are links to specialist recommendations which offer much greater depth than your local vet or pet store......you might be surprised at what you read.

Personally my dogs are vaccinated every three years, have flea spot on applied for perhaps 2-3 times thru the hotter months.... I have never used heart worm (multiple dogs for 30 years) and never had an issue..... I worm twice a year with worm tablets.... now on complete raw diets and I spend next to nothing on 4-5 dogs a year with the vet.... and I am talking about the last 10 years at least.

9th March - 3 new Aussie babies - a fourth stillborn.

1 black girl, 1 blue girl and 1 blue boy.

Mum and babes doing find.

Consider this - Sometimes possession is 9/10 ths of the law.... Sale of dogs is being treated the same as other products.

Products remain the property of the the seller..... until paid in full - you could have the puppy repossessed.....Perhaps if you go to their home - no one is home - the back gate is not locked and puppy is running around.... well.......

Otherwise you just have to write off the debt and not hand over any registration papers....... you are under no obligation to provide the papers - but to cover yourself you should write a letter to your ANKC to inform them of this matter.

At least the judge has shown some common sense.... All the adults present should be taking care.... the dog was in his own backyard.....

What's wrong with that? These rabbits are all desexed - they have nothing to do with wild rabbits! That's like saying that cat shelters shouldn't get grants either because feral cats are a pest. Who cares how much they spend on vet bills? They do a great job! Rabbits are beautiful pets when kept appropriately - why should one pet's life be valued less than another?!

Edgars Mission in Kilmore gets a grant... to save bl*%$y rabbits.... Go and visit - see the media hungry Mission who is always sourcing handouts.... enjoy the three legged cow and the sheep that hasn't been shorn for probably 3 years.... she saved 9,000 chickens from slaughter when a farmer was closing down... now looking for homes for these chooks.....!!!!! Yet if anyone takes in a pet farm animal that they cannot keep (no media advantage in that) she fobs them off to local hobby farmers to free her conscious...... she has a tribe of "well meaning welfare animal huggers" who arrive each day to help out around the farm.....

The sad part is - saving these animals takes the limited funds from the real work..... just think for example:

1. The local wild life shelter doesn't get a cent.... hard working volunteers give their time and resources freely to collecting baby kookaburras who fall out their nest or joeys left to die in the pouches of their mums, not to mention the wildlife displaced from the fires....

2. Perhaps the local bylaws officers could be paid overtime to actually go out and inspect the suspected properties where puppy farms and byb are flooding the market with oodles of pups......

You can work with dogs for decades... think you've seen it all.... yet still a situation comes along that is something different. Part of the problem with much of the 'science' of dog training is that there are always situations outside of the 'norm' and as trainers we have to be prepared to deal with these dogs.

There are so many factors to take into account with regard to your situation and it is literally impossible to have all the facts online to make an assessment.

There is a great study done with wolf-dog comparisons - lots of articles and information you might find useful.

http://familydogproject.elte.hu/wolf_dog.html

4 week course is a very basic puppy school (is this at a vets?) - obviously you are going to move on to something more interesting so perhaps it isn't worth rocking the boat.... just run with the last couple of weeks that you have already paid for and get whatever you can from it - you can use this time to source something better.... Don't be afraid to ask them also for further information on trainers or clubs within your area.

It is a shame they have you all sitting down, often this means you end up with some dogs cowering under the chair and others pushing to get to them.... limited space creates limited opportunity for these little dudes to move around and relax.

With our puppy groups we have them in a large area - no chairs (everyone stands up) and we also have some little puppy agility equipment so people start moving around and getting their pups to follow them and play games. This also reduces the focus on any puppy just targeting another pup.

When you look for something with more to offer, I suggest you look for puppy work that involves lots of different activities.... Good luck

To quote Jean Dodds DVM - who for anyone who is unaware is the guru of vaccination

"I do NOT recommend vaccinating bitches during estrus, pregnancy or lactation."

Think it is pretty clear and it is surprising the number of vets who seem ignorant of this fact...... Only last month when a friend took her dog for AI the vet nurse kept stating that the bitch was due her annual vaccination..... She ended up ringing me to clarify the recommendations and then took some firm words for the vet nurse to just shut up and accept......

These are the stories that every breeder dreads.... can only be worse if you end up loosing the bitch.... my heart really goes out to your mentor.

It is these facts that anyone (BYB or newbie) interested in breeding has to consider before embarking on this venture... Easy for outsiders to look at what breeders charge for puppies and think "Wow Chaching" ... but the reality is no where near as rosy - at times there are heartaches and stress, let alone the financials costs...

GABBA please ask your friend to share the results of the autopsy.... she can remain anonymous.... but there are many of us here who would love to know more.... breeding is a constant learning curve....

Zoos around the world can belong to the breeding program... many of the animals have a Stud Master - which is a zoo keeper who keeps a record of all the bloodlines of that species. If there is an overpopulation of one bloodline in one zoo the studmaster then looks at where excess stock could be useful... perhaps arrange for an exchange with another zoo.... however not always possible and moving these larger animals can be very stressful. Decisions to put down their charges are not made lightly.... perhaps the giraffe in question had some health issues... perhaps these issues could even make transportation difficult. ..... perhaps it had difficulty living within the existing herd.... perhaps there is limited funding available and the risks are not worth it.....

It can be very complicated moving livestock from one zoo to another. Even more complicated when it is a one of the meat eaters..... To relocate lions is extremely difficult, they cannot just move them and place them in with another colony... they would end up with fights and deaths.... how good would that be for the public.

We should be careful about judgement of these issues... I have seen how attached these keepers are to the animals, they do not put animals down needlessly, they have the animals best interest at heart.

Had two of my dogs assessed and passed thru Delta but then discovered that the facility has to pay an annual fee to Delta for visits. I was a bit confused because I thought the whole things was a volunteer thing.

But often nursing homes etc are still happy to have dogs visit private.

Canine Coach - Another one for the list - Dr Bruce Syme in Castlemaine Vic does the titre testing.... send me the list when you get it together and I will place in my puppy pack along with all the updated information on vaccine schedules. Love to give my puppy buyers as much info as possible so they don't get bamboozled by the vet into spending excess cash.

Where do you buy/source vaccinations - I would love to buy my own and inject my own pups.... but didn't know you could buy vaccines....

For a change of tack... perhaps provide a chair for the dog to sit on..... and then work the stays.... easier for the dog to sit on the chair as not really room to lay down.....

Once she is more comfortable with sitting for a longer period then change the format so she is sitting on lots of different things in lots of different places, a coffee table perhaps even when you go for a walk look for things like a fallen tree or a cut log, a round pine log....

Make it more of a challenge for your dog to balance in the sit and then progress to the ground in stages - even things like getting your dog to sit inside a hoop.... no cheating she must keep herself inside the hoop.... by making it a bit of a game then you are creating a habit of sit.....

Just think about what Kennel Cough is.... basically a dog version of cold or mild flu...... more likely to affect a dog who has his immune system a bit weak therefore pups or old dogs possible more prone as would dogs who are under stress.... for example:

dog goes to a kennel and surrounded by strangers in a strange land = stress

but the same could be said for a dog who is unused to socialising with other dogs at a park or dog club = stress . moving house = stress. death in family = stress

KC is also airborne, we all know of cases where people might have 3 or 4 dogs but only one dog gets KC but perhaps a neighbours dog does to..... so ask yourself why does a kennel environment seem more of an issue.... after all a dog has to bring the KC into the kennel in the first place and this can happen whether the dog is vaccinated or not... and not all dogs will catch it?

Personally from my point of view and experience of running a boarding kennel for 20 years is that provided a dog is healthy to begin with then Kennel Cough is more an environmental issue - we accept C3 vaccinations as per AVA recommendations. Note we have NEVER had a case of kennel cough

so why is my environment so different?

1. We are a smaller structured kennel, only carry about 30 or so dogs... helps to reduce stress

2. We have all dogs (or those who want to anyway) going out into large grassed/treed paddocks to romp and play - often for 2-4 hours a day..... helps to burn off energy and hence reduce stress

3. We house the dogs in a mudbrick building with individual painted concrete inside and large sand runs outside - solid walls provide good natural insulation but still allows for easy natural ventilation

4. We don't use chemicals - dogs supposedly have 100,000 more nose receptors than humans, so think how disinfectant smells to us and then x 100,000.... certainly this would be an irritant to colds

5. We never pressure wash pens with dogs in, nor do we put dogs back into wet pens (they are outside playing remember) - hence dogs do not have to sleep around damp environment - bad for colds

6. We don't let them bark - achieved in a multi level system- tired dogs are happy dogs - we have loads of deciduous trees around the pens creating a more natural comfort - hot days we use soaker hoses on trees and sand to mist the pens - cool dogs are happy dogs - we don't leave them next to dogs who are intimidating them....less stress. Indoor area is visual block to other dogs but external area allows them to chat to their neighbour - choice helps reduce stress.....

Kennels are located next to my house backyard.... so I know what is going on up there... each year seems to get easier... all the regulars know the system and relax straight off... newbies might take a day or two to settle but the existing dogs ignore them which seems to help relax the newbies....(otherwise I shuffle dogs around to find what suits them).

Remember that Kennel Cough vaccination only lasts for approx 6 months, so if your dog has one at easter it will not cover your dog at xmas.......!!!!

The truth about Kennel Cough - I run a boarding kennel, so always checking and reading new reports and searching information for new recommendations. We all know that Dr Jean Dodds is the guru on this subject and yet many vets seem oblivious to this.... really it would seem to be such basic information that every vet students should know.

There are about 8 strains of kennel cough of which there is only a vaccination that covers for two of these.... hence many dogs who are vaccinated can still contract KC

Also note that the vaccination for KC is only recommended as a 6 month cover.... but I have NEVER had a vet ever mentioned this - I assume they do not know!!!!!...... hence why many dogs can have their annual vaccination but still contract KC

Vets must be starting to hate the information that clients are able to source online.... we now learn to question their advice....

p.s. I accept C3 vaccinations as per the AVA recommendations, also will accept the titre test.... just wish there was one local vet who knew how to do this without wanting to charge $250 per dog!

Whoever made the suggestion that we compile a list of Vets who use the AVA recommendation and titre test - Great Idea.

The important thing to remember on any boarding kennel.... it is not the pretty reception or matching staff uniforms that are important nor is it really the cost... it is how and where the dogs are kept.... and how they cope with the environment..... Many of the vet clinics and larger boarding kennels have small runs and tiny exercise areas... whereas smaller ones might not appear as slick but perhaps offer a great service.

$36 per day is expensive for kennel fees.... paying more doesn't always mean getting better.

Hope it all goes well.

Could be an interesting show.... Perhaps introduce the idea to the general public... that the average vet may not know or understand what is good feeding for a dog or not...

Most vets are really just a GP... for multi species at that..... yet they are quick to tell new puppy owners that they should feed an all dry food diet...."oh and we happen to sell this here in our clinic"

But then it could end up being like Pedigree Dogs Exposed... full of biased ideas and vague half truths...

Hey I get to be first on the list this time....We had one of our girls come in early caught us out over the school break ..... however luckily still able to organise the stud dog and get a mating....

Alfoxton Aussie Shepherds due about March 5th....

don't you think most of you are focussing on the wrong issue... nothing to do with dachshund....

We should all be writing to Dr Nicole at Prahran and complain that she is promoting the puppy farmer by encouraging people to dash out and grab a little cross breed.

One vet can do more harm with mis information.....

Send an email to Prahran Clinic and complain - they have an online contact system....http://prahranvet.com.au/contact-us/

If they get inundated with responses they might pull their head in.

Sounds like your off to a good start.... as a new breeder you will find you will learn a great deal about people from conducting these interviews.

I was in Personnel for years.... people filled out their forms and i would walk to the waiting room and meet people and walk back to my office for interview, however I learnt more about the people walking to and from the office as it gave me the chance to learn things we were not allowed to put on the form.... people relax and tell you more about themselves than they realise.

Some advise: Don't be too judgemental - the fact someone works full time - has young kids - has a small yard - lives in rental accomodation...... doesnt matter really, as you can ask how they plan to work around these issues.... A lot of what you hope to suss out is what is their long term picture they see about a dog.... remind them they are buying the adult version not the cute puppy they come to visit.

I love having people come to visit even prior to pups being born or when the pups are just a week old.... they then focus on the adult dogs and I can see how they interact.... we have a cuppa and a chat.... It is really good to see how people have planned out mentally for their dog.....

Just remember if you feel uncomfortable with them don't be talked into selling a pup - you might have to deal with them down the line and you want to feel good about talking to them. My biggest hate is when I think someone is telling me lies.

FINALLY - At all times suggest that people go home and think about things overnight at least... this gives YOU a chance to mull over the visit before you agree to sell them a pup.

Swan Hill is a fairly major centre there must be more than one vet in the area or nearby.... I am in Kilmore which has a smaller population and we have 4 vets within a 20 minute drive. Certainly sounds as if your vet is a bit behind the times.... for a start the recommended time for vaccinations is 1st at 8 weeks, 2nd at 12 weeks and 3rd at 16 weeks then not until 14 months and then every three years..... Prior to 8 weeks is no value as the pups Maternal Antibodies are too high. Here are some links for Articles about the vaccinations as well as other health information you will find useful: www.vetsallnatural.com.au www.animaloptions.com.au and www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM

I prefer to have a vet check of pups/bitch between 24 hours or 3 days.... whatever is convenient and get the vet to come to my home. Depends how things are going or if I have any concerns that the mum might have the chance for infection etc.

Often have found that some vets or vet nurses will give inexperienced people a hard time about certain issues - but if you know what is the recommended they will often abide by your wishes. Rear dew claws are best gone but don't worry too much about the front.

Ask other breeders for as much information as possible..... often they have more experience on these issues than a Vet.... after all not that many vets are breeders...... some things cannot be learnt just in a book.

Every enquiry should be taken at its own merit.... no hard or fast rules apply.

Some here might dismiss just because it is someones first litter but remember - Anyone starting out in breeding is unlikely to have their own stud dog..... We all had to start somewhere and the rules and regulations are making it more and more difficult.

The world of pedigree dogs will grow smaller in the next 10 years unless the breeders help and encourage new people into the dog world and that includes breeding....

The ANKC is often confusing with their forms and requirements - even something that used to be as simple as getting a breed prefix.... it is important that new people be given support and the owner of the stud dog can/should be prepared to guide a new person.

Our Dog World can seem a very big judgemental world - just think of what we see on Forums/Newspapers/TV/Facebook

People complaining about their being too many dogs so only get a dog from rescue.

Welfare often seem prepared to condemn our breeding practices as unhealthy and cruel.

Even vets will advocate the benefits of hybrid vigour....... (misguided fools lol) but you can see their point at times.....

THINK BEFORE YE JUDGE......

Note: I did not vote as both question are nearly identical and I don't see the point of this poll

Sounds like this rule has been set out by the pen pushers sitting around the board room.....

Its almost the chicken and the egg scenario.....You can't get a prefix without having a Main Registered bitch..... so one wants to sell you a Main Registered Bitch without you having the breed prefix.....!!!

It doesn't make sense that people can't sit the breed prefix requirements, pay the annual fees but that the prefix is held as inactive until they actually wish to start breeding. They then apply to have the prefix activated by transferring ownership or lease of the bitch into their names.

There are two things that I suspect the Association is attempting....

1. Prevent backyard breeders / puppy farms from grabbing ANKC prefix to then sell pups 'without papers' but giving the appearance of legitimate breeders. This is quite possible.

2. Becoming difficult for the ANKC to source prefixes that are not existing or close to existing... many of which may also be dormant prefixes.