SpikesPuppy

Wow! Do they name them like they do pedigree dogs?? Some do Some have really extravagent 'show names' but others just had the rattery prefix & the rat's call name.

Yep - what a great revenue grabber. "Money, money, money ..... in a rich man's world ..." Well, I wish the authorities would climb out of their gold fish bowl and get more dog-wise ............... and start targetting the REALLY irresponsible people, rather than just lay down paving on the 'easy street'. Oh I agree wholeheartedly just having one of those days where it all seems too much LOL.

Your own records basically. Back when I was involved we had paper records only, and I still had those until recently. Nowdays there are programs much like dog pedigree programs. You would record the birds ring number and year and that is its ID as such. And if you buy from a good breeder, then you would be able to get your birds pedigree. They just dont look quite as impressive without names. But I am sure you would list all their wins. I bred a couple of Grand Champions and had some really good wins. I miss the birds, but can no longer keep birds due to having developed an allergy to them! Thanks. I assume it might be a similar thing with chooks and other feathered friends? Does anyone know about rats and guinea pigs though?? A few of my rats were from breeders who were members of the state Rat Fancy (listed as breeders, but not *registered* like with the ANKC I don't believe), and the rats came with pretty extensive pedigrees (one was about 10 gens) but were not registered like dogs/cats are.

And then after that, it will be a choice of one of 5 'family friendly' breeds before we hit rock bottom and no dogs at all unless they are battery operated

Agree with this. It sounds like it could be an on-the-spot type of fine, too which would mean that a council officer walking by gets barked at and wham! There you go I wish I were into goldfish & not dogs

thank you ~pip~ & Leema Exactly what I'm looking for.

Nooo there was a little bit of pfft-ing (imagine wrinkling of the nose and 'ewww what the??' ) from a few but overall they were pretty cruisey We were totally prepared though with towel 'aprons' on Ziva went to lick their faces afterwards and she was NOT impressed at all LOL. My bottle cost $18 I think, so not too expensive but the Troy was only about $10. Not a big deal but considering we get the tablets for $1.50 it was a bit of a shock LOL. My little grizzley girl is fine now, and put on 17g overnight think the poor lass was just getting knocked around by her bigger siblings. Everybody has been put into a small playpen for today (beside the computer), and both Ziva and the pups are enjoying it ;) The pups are already attempting to pounce on eachother and making little growlies and yips. And they are almost walking wihtout falling over ;) so much fun :D

Wow she's taking her sweet time isn't she!!! Congrats on the new arrivals :D How many left to go?

Well, we wormed them this evening with no dramas :D Not a single drop spilt LOL though there were two of us. Had one upset pup this evening though which had me worried, as she was carrying on for a while a few hours after worming. Rang the emergency vet, they basically said it could be related to the worming or not. Anyway, stuck the pup on a nipple (out of the whelping box so it was just her) and she had a good long feed, pooped (Ziva cleaned it up before I could check it for worms) and is now (touch wood) sleeping peacefully with her sibs. So hoping it was just that she was getting knocked off the teat and nothing more serious :D Even though, to date it's been pretty easy & textbook it's still very hard to know what to do and decide when to worry or when it's okay etc, they are such precious little mites (yeah I probably wont be saying that in a week or 2 when they are REALLY active LOL).

Just wondering if anyone has any good links to basic puppy rearing articles that I can print out and include in my puppy packs? Things like housebreaking, crate training, bite inhibition, socialisation etc. I have seen a few sites in the past with free articles but cannot for the life of me find them!! Thanks in advance :D

Agreed! There was an article in our latest breed club newsletter entitled "Trust: The Silent Killer" or something along those lines and it was a true story which ended in the death of a dog who had been allowed off-leash every day for almost 7 years with perfect recall etc. SO GLAD Fletcher is okay, big hug to you and him!! Wow.

How do you give the tablets to the pups?

He said definatley within 24hrs, I'm like I can't wait that long Jeeze!!! Have you got someone who can take shifts watching her so you can get as much sleep as possible now???

If maintained correctly no. I would gather your sisters Irish sheds either because there not working enough on the coat & the dead stuff is starting to self shed Ruby really sheds very very little. Literally a couple of hairs in her bed. But her coat is worked regulary. If she was worked less often and perhaps say only with a Mars coat king, she would shed a little more I think but no where near as much as our short coat dog or the Aussie Shepherds. no clipping, no no no no! I would never advocate clipping a healthy Border Terrier- all that does is shorten the coat, not allowing the new coat to come through and can potentially lead to skin issues and ingrown hairs etc. Stripping is so easy to learn (and there are a variety of tools such as Mars Coat Kings that help with this, especially for pet maintenance) that IMO if you can't be bothered to do it twice a year then the BT is not for you (of course, if you are physically unable to strip that is a different story!). They do shed, too, but if you comb them every couple of days with a narrow toothed comb (I use a steel flea comb) the shedding is very minimal. Otherwise, yes I think a Border could be a suitable breed temperament wise (and size wise- I went from Dobe and Newfie to these guys :p ) I'd never recommend clipping any Terrier. But here, in Wellington, few groomers can and will strip. And many clients aren't prepared to pay to get them stripped. So they get clipped. No problems that I'm aware of. But I personally always stripped. It's really not that difficult to learn and requires little financial outlay to do so. I just don't understand why someone would want a particular breed if they weren't prepared to take basic steps to maintain it's health and character It's an hour twice a year, geeze :p Gracie is a pet BT and she's maintained with the Coat King, and Mum strips her right out before summer. That's all she usually gets, she doesn't knot so doesn't get brushed/combed, just the coat king over her occasionlly keeps it at a nice level. She doesn't drop much hair, but isn't completely shed-free either. Exactly. The coat king costs what? $70 or so?? Does seem to depend on the coat quality but overall, I feel clipping is uneccesarry.

no clipping, no no no no! I would never advocate clipping a healthy Border Terrier- all that does is shorten the coat, not allowing the new coat to come through and can potentially lead to skin issues and ingrown hairs etc. Stripping is so easy to learn (and there are a variety of tools such as Mars Coat Kings that help with this, especially for pet maintenance) that IMO if you can't be bothered to do it twice a year then the BT is not for you (of course, if you are physically unable to strip that is a different story!). They do shed, too, but if you comb them every couple of days with a narrow toothed comb (I use a steel flea comb) the shedding is very minimal. Otherwise, yes I think a Border could be a suitable breed temperament wise (and size wise- I went from Dobe and Newfie to these guys :p ) I'd never recommend clipping any Terrier. But here, in Wellington, few groomers can and will strip. And many clients aren't prepared to pay to get them stripped. So they get clipped. No problems that I'm aware of. But I personally always stripped. It's really not that difficult to learn and requires little financial outlay to do so. I just don't understand why someone would want a particular breed if they weren't prepared to take basic steps to maintain it's health and character It's an hour twice a year, geeze :p

Okay now I'm scared Will stick with the liquid as it cost enough!! Waiting for mum to get home from work- not game to do it on my own

I will add that although my dogs are crate trained, and have a soft crate in my bedroom as well as dog beds beside mine, they 99% of the time sleep in my bed snuggled up to me But it's great if I want to take them away or camping etc to know they can happily/safely sleep in a crate.

Hope everything's okay with your girl, CB!!

Interesting. Thanks. I wasn't sure which brand to go with, ended up sending mum to the shop and she picked up the Drontal because of the brand I guess Cost nearly twice as much though

Any particular reason for doing this? The liquid seems much easier & easier to get the correct dosage. I have wormed one litter and that was a BYB/Farm litter. I think we did them about 2 weeks-ish, but if it weren't for our insistance they wouldn't have been done at all.

Thanks Sorry for the annoying questions! Soon as I figure out a plan, I come across something that contradicts it & I get confused and unsure I need to stop reading so much. (And yes, I do speak to my girl's breeder about it but there is such a range of knowledge on DOL and I like to look at things from a variety of angles).

That was a scary case If he can do that to an innocent cat ................. I only hope he gets continued counselling and help once he is released.

She was wormed in late September and then again at 42 days (I think... the recommended time anyway) pregnant. I guess my main worry is is it going to be safe to worm them now? Using the correct dosage of course!!

I think that a dog behind a fence barking or even going ballistic should be considered as guarding the property, and talling the passersby to move one. I have never been intimidated by a dog barking behind a fence, although sometimes it can freak a dog I am walking. I think that kind of legislation would open the door to all kinds of neighbourhood complaints and disputes. There has been the odd occasion when I've been walking along in a daydream and a dog has barked at me and I've nearly jumped out of my skin :D but the same thing happens if a kid zooms past me on their pushbike etc :D I also like the houses with barky dogs because it's great for training purposes I don't hang around to distress the dog but it's great to know that my dog can be walking on a long lead but will come back to heel even if there is another dog etc.

we unfortunately don't have afront fence, otherwise I would love to let the dogs run around there, the front yard is huge so actually, if we owned the place we would fence most of it off and have it as an extension of the backyard (via the sideway), however we'd leave the driveway/front access free. Our old house, the backyard was actually along the side of the house (was meant to be 2 units howev re only one was built and the other half of the block left for a yard.