merijigs

Try not to worry too much. Baby teeth can be rock solid in the jaw and then fall out completely the next day. If yours are a little bit wiggly and with all the bones and toys etc. I feel confident they will come out on their own. Give nature a bit more of a chance before you Ok a procedure at the vet.s

If you are a registered breeder and do all the things someone worthy of the name does, i.e. health tests of breeding stock, select complementary sire and dam, top quality puppy care and careful new home selection etc. in order to breed true to type and as closely as possible to the breed standard, then of course you are not a BYB. That said, how can you be sure you are producing dogs of a high quality without subjecting them (and therefore your breeding program) to public scrutiny by qualified judges and your peers in the breed?

A formula could be worked out to cover the number of adults residing at a breeder property per dog. Or a formula of x paid employee hours per day per dog. Many puppy farms would be run by family and some live-in casual help, and I believe that ethical breeders do it on a smaller scale purely because there is a limit to what family and live-in help can do properly. What is that limit exactly? A dozen dogs? You are in a better position to determine that than me for most breeds. Ethical breeders keep numbers to under what they have time to exercise and socialise adequately. They supervise children around the dogs. I disagree. Whole litters don't always just live or die. Instead a percentage of pups will be lost, and at the moment it may be more commercially viable to lose a few pups every now and then (cold snaps or heat waves) than control the temperature of their environment in the way that an ethical breeder would. So the answer may be to increase the minimum standard to include large areas of soft ground accessible to the breeder, I wouldn't want to remove the requirement for hygienic sleeping and whelping areas. I don't know much about that law. It sounds like it is not being enforced. First time I've ever heard of this! Steve is there anything you would want to add to a code to lift the standard that all breeders have to adhere to? Or are you just against this new code applying to smaller breeders at all?

If it is the case it is only because a large percentage of the population remains clueless about shelters and rescue groups or people are so selfish that they would rather buy a puppy (without knowing anything about its origin) then give an older dog a second chance at life. Unless you are interested in a very rare breed or in the 'flavour of the month' I believe it is fairly easy to obtain a pup from a registered breeder (as long as you yourself are believed to be suitable candidate for their puppy). This is made even easier by the fact that most breeders are happy to fly dogs interstate or overseas. Responsible dog owners also don't mind waiting a few months or even a few years for the perfect dog to come along. Why should we create a 'companion animal' market for people too lazy to research which breed would best suit their lifestyle or so obsessed about the 'puppy stage' in a dog's life that they will never consider adopting (even though there are plenty of pups in shelters too)? Thank you Fevah. You get my point and I agree with your post completely. Personally, I would give a registered puppy to the right home if it was indeed the right home. Money is no part of the placement decision for me. This attitude is the pinacle of what it means to be worthy of the name "breeder" IMO

People are not either hobby breeders or puppy farmers. Many would fall in between. Too many dogs to keep them all living in the house, too few to deserve that most hated and emotion-ridden label of "Puppy Farmer". Yes I agree so how do you go to work on having one code which is best for the dogs regardless of how many? Up until now they are all written as if we have 100 dogs . The one thats in play at the moment via the RSPCA wants every breeder to list their addresses on a website as part of a mandatory code. Might be O.K. for a person who has kennels and staff but what if your kennel is your lounge room? I just don't agree! To me, "hobby breeder" means someone who breeds dogs as a leisure activity pursued for pleasure. "Puppy farmer" is a hated and emotion-ridden label and we all know those places which deserve our disgust for their cruel and neglectful practices. To me, both these groups are unethical in the lack of value they place on the contributions of generations of purebred dogs and decades of careful choices by their breeders to produce animals of consistent type with all the mental and physical characteristics of distinct breeds. That said, I don't feel that registered breeders are very well served by their State Canine Councils and the Australian National Kennel Club. From my observations of 10+ years they do very little to 'sort the wheat from the chaff' amongst registered breeders. These agencies retain their authority only because they hold and maintain the pedigree records of purebred dogs in Australia. In theory, this task could be handed over to any organisation, hopefully one with more stringent and enforceable ethical requirements for members. MDBA anyone?

OMG I Do! Far and away the majority of puppies produced from the breeding plans of registered breeders wind up as loved companion animals i.e. pets. It is not realistic that all ANKC registered puppies are retained by breeders or sold to conformation and dog sport exhibitors. Even the most magnificent Grand Champion showdog is a pet first and a showdog second. There may be exceptions but I'd warrant they are very, very few. There are enough registered puppies produced to meet society's needs for companion dogs. If you dont' agree with this, then why not support registered breeders most of whom actually believe in and adhere to their State Canine Authority's Code of Ethics/Practice for members.

Very Good - explore some of this -quote "rather than for the "maintenance and development of type, temperament and soundness of the breed" are you saying that anyone who breeds anything other than purebred is a puppy farmer, anyone who breeds anything other than registered purebreds is a puppy farmer or something else? The term 'puppy farmer' implies production in bulk however BackYardBreeder is equally bad but usually without the bulk of product. So, my answer to your question is resoundingly YES.

IMO 7 is a random number. 7 for a Dane is "older" age, 7 for a smaller breed bitch is quite a lot less than 1/2 her life expectancy. Some dogs no matter what their age are keepers, some aren't. There's always some which are going to be happier living as a single dog and their age doesn't change this - so what to do? Keep a 7.5 year old bitch to avoid being labelled a puppy farmer or keep her for another 8-10 years in a situation where she is never as happy as she could be elsewhere? Sandra, You're tossing numbers around here! For a Dane, 7 is mature middle-aged but for even the hardiest of smaller and longer-lived breeds, a lifespan of 15 to 17 years is not very common. Most dogs last from somewhere between 10-14 years in my experience. Or someone who has not been in the breed for long, or someone who breeds very infrequently and has lost all their oldies through natural causes. We lost all 3 of our over 14's in a space of 8 months quite a few years ago, our next oldest was 5 - from ethical reputable breeder to puppy farmer in 8 months? IMO a puppy farmer is about motive not actual physical things. A beautifully kept kennel with all the latest mod-cons can be a puppy farm. Although admittedly, no loving caring people would keep their dogs in a sea of mud so the reverse analogy isn't 100% correct.

Too funny! Thanks

O.K. So lets explore these a bit. Why breeding every season when canine reproduction specialists say its BETTER for the bitch to breed every season? disclaimer - I dont breed a bitch every season because its against my codes of conduct not because I'm convinced its whats best for my dog. When do you think a bitch should stop breeding? You say "canine reproduction specialists say its BETTER for the bitch to breed every season" Sorry, but you really have to substantiate this statement with citations to peer-reviewed, published research in academic journals for me to believe this is the proven truth.

Great Steve! I'll step up to the plate with some initial thoughts. A puppy farmer is someone: who breeds dogs for financial motives rather than for the maintenance and development of type, temperament and soundness of the breed. A puppy farmer can be identified as someone: who exports whole litters or multiple puppies from the same litter to a single person or agency who exports whole litters or multiple puppies from the same litter, from multiple breeds who fills orders from pet stores or retail chains for puppies of specified breeds or cross breeds who breeds a bitch almost every season of her adult fertile life who fails to meet legislated standards for animal welfare especially provisions addressing adequacy of housing and veterinary care who fails to provide breed-appropriate exercise and training for multiple breeds in their care I hope these thoughts will help to progress effective action against puppy farmers whether they are registered with a State Canine Authority or not.

Anyone who knows me knows I hate the fact that the b#$%^&s who run the ACT Canine Association continue to process hundreds of puppy export licences (at $75.00 ea. last time I looked) for registered breeders who are actually just puppy farmers with more legal protection. When and what can be done about this despicable practice? Absolutely nothing so it seems. Before anyone goes slinging off about the RSPCA, PETA DAS or anybody else, i wish we breeder/owner/exhibitors could clean up our own act!!! Somehow!

definitely teddy bear in there

Yay!! Great news. Charlie is both a Mystery and a Miracle. Bless your household.

Personally, I agree that Neuter classes and Championships are a great idea for involving beautiful non-breeding dogs and their owners in the show scene but I 've also noticed a reluctance amongst show organisers to offer these classes. Why? It is my suspicion that pure snobbery is the reason. It's seems to me that organisers find it too much of an effort to offer "non-traditional" neuter classes. Owners of beautiful neuters are going to have to push hard before the neuter classes are a regular, normal offering.

and could you please supply contact details for the person who did the work? Please?

You poor thing! Poor Morrison! We all know that a dog attack is horribly violent and literally shocking. I really, really hope that Morrison is OK and that you will be OK. If I could get my dog up off the ground without getting knocked over I think I would. The agressor dog would probably jump up so I would hold my dog up as high as I could all the time shouting NO! DOWN! NO! OFF! in the biggest oudest deepest voice I could whilst gradually backing away.

I would love to do this out the front of the pet shop in my country town when they have puppies in the front window as they do from time to time but I feel sure there'd be trouble. The owner would call the police to move me on as a disruption to business I reckon.

Anyone coaching rally o in Canberra?

She is Beautiful!!! Those eyes!!!! Lucky you

I feel so sorry for your great loss of Leo. No more struggles or pain. Rest In Peace.

Wow, I have learned a new swear word today!!! Too Funny BB!!!

Well done Sheridan. Many thanks for the info.

Few people have photos of him, I have so many that I dont know which ones to choose. When he was young? When he was a show dog? When he destroyed toys and looked super cute? When he was on a kayak with me? At the beach? Asleep? With other dogs? With people, parrots or bunny? I will miss him for ever. I'm am so sorry to hear of your very great loss. Hold onto those memories fiercely. Rex sounds like a wonderful ambassador for a gorgeous breed. Fly free good boy.

Hi, This products sounds exactly what I need to some shine onto my wavy coated breed. I can't see it on Horseland's website. Horseland is a franchise so not every store would have it??? Is it called No Nots, Know Knots, No Knots? Please give me further information if you can. Many thanks.