SilverHaze

An unfortuante incident all round. Sadly some larger dogs see smaller dogs as prey - such is life. They are dogs. They aren't doing anything wrong in this behaviour. Small dogs see smaller animals (rodents etc) as prey, and we don't see anyone howling about this. But for a fence damaged by the council, this incident would not have happened, and all dogs would still be living their lives as normal. The owners had obviously believed their dogs were adequately contained and safe. They obviously were able to exercise and live with these dogs without issues or danger to anyone else prior to this. We all care for our dogs with their safety as their highest priority - but who can forsee a fence being damaged and permitting your dogs to escape? And who can predict what their dogs will do if left to their own devices in the big wide world?

dry bed - its the only thing my destructo dog hasn't destroyed or eaten. everyone else is fine with old doonas and polar fleece blankets.

lol - the cruciate surgery cost a fair chunk - probably similar to what you paid, but well what else can you do with such an active breed. My boy seems to have declared himself healed and thinks he should be hooning with everyone, and isn't impressed with the short walks he's limited to. Of course with all the things he's gotten up to i think my vet would have a heart attack if he knew! A pen where your boy can see and interact with the other dogs should help alot. They just don't do "on their own" very well.

Do you reckon if you had a crate big enough for two dogs that they would generally be calm chilling in there together? I do sympathise - my older boy is 6 weeks into his recovery from a cruciate surgery (cut bones and plates and the lot lol) and he's going mental already and he's allowed to walk and generally have free reign at home as long as he's being sensible. Of course sensible went out the window this morning when he dug under the fence to go visit the neighbours yard I'm counting down the days till he can exercise more - i don't know how he would cope with a year of confinement!

Are you crating him with another dog next to him? Or completly on his own?

Dare i say, we took at bitch who was 7 weeks pregnant away with us for a week long trip to our biggest race of the year. This race is up at the snow, so she travelled in the car, slept in the trailer in the garage of our chalet, and really her life did not change much from when she was at home. She would have been more stressed being left at home without all her pack or her mum, than she was travelling to a race as per normal. She got walks around the resort everyday, got to free run (well trot) with her pack in the tennis court, and generally continued life as normal. She wasn't taken around other peoples dogs, but that doesn't mean she didn't go places they didn't. She was happy and healthy and we were home with a week to spare before she was due. I guess its a case of being sensible, and weighing up the pros and cons of how stressful it is to a bitch to change her lifestyle. We usually book our race accommodation months if not a year in advance, and our bitch of course came into season early - as they do!

And therein lies the difference, you didn't let the old cow get away with that sort of behaviour. Neither would I! But these people are encouraging this young pup and it will not only be to their detriment but to the dog's as well when she attacks someone Oh and this pup WILL attack if this behaviour continues to escalate. Siberians are smart - once they figure out they have it over people, they lose their respect for them, and the boundaries disapear.

Actually - it can be a trait in extremely dominant siberians - and they do exist, and they are not for beginners. Remember siberians are pack animals, and with a pack animal you can have dogs at both extremes, submissive & dominant. It is not however a desired trait within the breed, and i would not breed from any animal exhibiting such behaviours. My first siberian was like that, and i did a HUGE amount of work with her. She wasn't allowed to resource guard - doesn't mean she didn't try, she just didn't win. Dogs like this need training or you are going to end up with a huge problem very quickly. Obedience classes and specialised work with a trainer who understands dominant dogs will be essential for a pup such as this.

Also try yoghurt mixed in with the mince and dry, all the good stuff and most dogs love it.

I have a holy terror who will shred and eat pretty much all bedding. The only thing we have had success with is the vet bed/dry bed. It's all he gets now in his crate and in the trailer. Hasn't trashed a single piece (nor ingested any). Oh and off cuts make great puppy play toys!

Ok ours were done for $25 a pup.

I wouldn't remove declaws on an older dog unless they were a real problem. We didn't remove them on our first few litters, however our latest litter, which was straight working lines, and all pups went to working homes, had their dew claws removed. Very quick process at the vets, no stiches no worries. I believe the pups protested more at being picked up than having their dew claws removed lol I haven't had a dew claw injury while working the dogs, however when having to booty the dogs, dogs with front dew claws tend to have problems with the booties - either they come off, or they will rub the dew claw etc. So dew claw removal is done to ensure we can safely protect feet when working.

How much? Good question - i'll have to dig out my receipts, but it wasn't a killer. And to top it off, she told off a vet nurse who didn't understand why they were getting their front ones done - said simply, because they are working dogs!

We had a vet do the dew claws on our last litter - cleanly done and cauterized (not stitched). Very quickly done - and healed wonderfully. Happy to let anyone know who it was if they are looking for a vet in melbourne.

I've enjoyed the two ET's i've done - despite the white knuckle ride it can be with Siberians And once you've done it once you realise how pretty relaxed and cruisey it is. 10kms an hour is not a hugely fast speed, and broken into 3 sections, most fit dogs will do it with ease. I think i might do it with my younger boy next year - took him out on the bike for th first time last week (using both spring and lead) and he took to it really easily, i think he'll enjoy it. I did it with my old girl years and years ago - but was never game enough to attempt it with my older boy because he's a screaming lunatic with no off button when it comes to exercise - and after a few bad incidents with the bike (as is want to happen with screaming lunatics), has a huge dislike for running beside the bike.

Lol - i think we'll take the trailer down to a back corner (its rather large) so i won't worry too much about other cars. And no stress about power either

How much room is there for camping if you rock up on the second day? Haven't done these shows before, but we are thinking of doing the second and third day and camping over night (yay for the new trailer with sleeping quarters :D )

There are a number of issues i see standing in the way of there ever being a solution that is satisfactory to all. Firstly registered ethical breeders are just not breeding enough. The supply of "good" dogs just isn't there. Until there is a much greater supply, there will always be a large market for puppy farmers/byb/pet shops. And that large market will still be there even if we do breed more, for the simply fact that a large amount of the people who go looking for a pet, probably shouldn't be getting one in the first place. Or they have their heart set on a completly unsuitable breed/species, and it doesn't matter what anyone says - they will obtain that pet. You can't have your cake and eat it too unfortuantly - you can't have the whole population going to registered ethical breeders, only for them to be told you can't have one of our dogs. So someone has to give. And i won't give on where my puppies go. You can make it as desirable as possible for the general public to want a pure bred dog, but if they can't obtain that dog - in time they will begin to look else where. Sorry if this doesn't offer any solutions - i think you can minimise the problem to a certain extent, but you will never be able to get rid of pet shops/byb/puppy farms altogether because they will always have a market - and so the cycle continues

Has anyone heard anything about these people? http://www.genemovers.com.au

I agree with your comment here......I have used Cryogenes in the past & was not impressed with the communication & the continual change of expected ETA's. The semen did eventually arrive...although months after the promised date!! I'm between a rock & a hard place here....this is why I was contemplating using Sires on Ice for this importation BUT I am very apprehensive with the US side of things with SOI. SilverHaze, can you tell me when you imported using ICSB?? Apparently the contact person at Grass Valley is now a different person to when I imported...and apparently is very good, her name is Bridgett. Do you know if it was Bridgett or Barb who was the ICSB contact?? PM sent

And yet our experience with Cryogenes & ICSB was an utter disaster! Lack of communication, an inability for the people over here to get things moving over there. Pain in the ass when you pay good money for someone else to do all the work for you - and you still end up stressed out of your head, and having to take action to get things moving.

I have a VERY laid back siberian - hugely fit (she's one of my wheel dogs) and not much fazes her at any time.

We did a prog check because she absorbed her previous litter, and both the previous litter and the next one she stopped eating, so we decided to check the prog level first to see where we were at. After establishing that she was pregnant, and at a healthy prog level, we proceeded along as per normal, doing our best to keep her eating. She had a normal litter. If she had had a lower prog level which gave us concern, or left us supplementing her progesterone, them i'm sure regular prog tests would have occured.

We were told when did a prog test at 4 weeks with one of our bitches, that below 20 - no viable litter, between 20 & 40, litter in danger, supplement with progesterone, and above 40 would be good, much higher great. Our bitch was sitting at 80 and carried her litter to term.

When i was at the vets the other day, sitting in the waiting room, i got to observe all sorts of wonderful stuff. One of my favs had to be a young girl come in with her dog muzzled - ok she knows she has an issue and is being responsible - great! Then a moron with a poodle comes in and lets his dog go right up to the muzzled dog, right into it's face and say hello - the moron was not even paying attention. What was worse was this poodle was on a show leash in a show cut - surely this person should have had a better clue!!! And as others have said, if the dog is muzzled, well then in the issue of danger is non existent! Obviously they have never wittnessed a determined dog getting out of a muzzle!