Bisart Dobes

Veto that - have just looked through the website and cannot find a link to the survery perhaps Dogs News printed it wrong and we can't all do the survey. I have emailed them to ask details of the survey and will post later when I get a response.

Just having my toast and coffee and reading through the May Dog News - which bought me back to this thread. There is a very interesting article about the survey sent out at a recent Newcastle show and the results they received back - and people had to put their name and membership number to this !!!!! Most interesting was that 80 % of people who responded stated that they would support a new national canine organisation if it were an option. I say why the hell not the cat fraternity have about 4 and the horses just as many - why don't those of us over the crap start a new national CC ????????????? Anyway there is a website where everyone can complete the survey - please feel free to post the website details anywhere you feel is appropriate. And most importantly get on there and tell them what you really think . Canine Survey - Webiste: Dog Issues http://www.dogissues.net

Or 'The Classic' - all those nicknamed big shows that had their own presence and that 'have to be there' have almost disappeared. Sunbury can never be moved !!! - that is why that committee work so hard every year at both shows to ensure the grounds are cleaner than when the dog people arrived and most exhibitors hold up their end of the bargain as well. I think Sunbury will outlive the Melb Royal - I hope they can promote it to 'royal' level and even include televised coverage etc etc Public profile and interest would certainly help our cause. Though I entered the Sydney Royal for the first time this year and that was just as bad - officials and security staff were fantastic but the benching and the toileting area for dogs - just as bad as Melbourne. And it just puts you off entering your dogs in events like this - its not set up for the good of the dogs or for the dogs. But I really think that the bitching and backstabbing that goes on is what is killing it for most - who needs to deal with petty bitching crap like that when you are supposedly doing something you enjoy. Also too often the judges are influenced by who is on the end of the lead or put up the dog that doesn't put a foot wrong. I know its essentially a 'dog show' but its extremely annoying when a judge tells you - "just love this dog and would have loved him for my challenge but he wasn't working well enough with you" - my response "yes, well its his first show in over 7 months - so it was good practice today" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not enough to put me off but a newcomer would be devestated by comments like that - I know I remember one judge telling me I lost a class in group for my bitch . . . . . . . I was flattened, she was my first showdog & in puppy. As for 20 years in a breed - I know someone who has been in their breed for almost that and couldn't tell you how many teeth a dog should have - so sorry, time means jack. Time in the game doesn't mean you know what you are talking about. Though on the mentor side - totally agree with those comments - I was fortunate enough to have great breed mentors who have been in the breed for 40+ years and who have taught me more that I could learn by myself in 20 years and I am grateful for this every day when I look at our dogs and appreciate the breeding base we have put together for the future. Every day .

I've used the Dap plug in for several years now when we have a girl in season - I have the boys together and plug it in near their area, starting about a week out from beginning of the season - they stay settled until the girls are spot on, so to go from dogs not eating to stressing and howling for about a week to dogs eating normally and only whining for the few days they are spot on ready to be mated is a great success. The collars would be interesting to try but the spray not sure about - even the plug in takes a couple of days to really take effect.

The dobermann front is supposed to have a 90 degree angle and they are supposed to have prosternum and forechest. Just because you don't see many of them doesn't mean they aren't correct. This dog isn't for me - he is way too heavy, short on leg and isn't balanced enough for me and his head is too heavy and jowly - the brown one though.

The sad thing is its not just a Victorian issue - these things have a way of creeping their way around the country. We as a dog loving population have no voice, no real support and no-one in our canine controls who really has a pair and the the gumption or the care factor to stand up and use them. ;)

I have been trying to get it for a while now to no avail - it is out of print and most places that stock great dog books don't have it. I keep an eye on Dog Wise Books and Amazon. Good luck. A friend of mine has a copy and I keep offering more $$ each time I go there - one day . Dr Battaglia's website is www.breedingbetterdogs.com - he has a seminar in NSW in 2011 at the end of April from memory - I am going.

Oooops Sorry Erny :D - any time from 6pm this week next week can pm you. Hate to be a naysayer but once it gets to this stage we really don't have any luck. We even went through legal channels with the taildocking and had a serious high up contact on the inside of Mr Helpers team who assisted in constructing letters and presentations/meetings (who was/is on our side) and still we got nowhere. Still if we don't try !!!

Letter going straight to Mr Useless. Though been there done that with Tail Docking and I think you may as well bash your head against a brick wall. Judy - have you contact the management of Dogs Vic to ask where their representation / opposition is on this. Do you have the time to get a meeting at the office with CEO - E White and the President P Frost. If you can get it out of normal hours happy to accompany you. As at January 2010 there were 335 restricted breed dogs declared in Victoria. - does anyone have this list ?? I did write and request it but have never received anything . . .

Brackett's Theory is one of the most famous breeding formula's in the world. Definately read his work. Another good source is Dr Carmen Battaglia - who refers back to Brackett constantly. Bracketts theory is basically - Let the sire of the sire become the grandsire of the dam. It is fascinating to read and learn genetics and modes of inheritance but to actually put it into practice and see what the outcomes are is even better. We are only up to our third generation mating - and it is a Grandson/Grandmother mating - and is essentially a mating to make a mating - in other words this litter is to produce a bitch to go back to a particular dog or our next step. It will be very interesting to see where the genetic dice fall with this litter thats for sure. But we're getting to the above.

This is very interesting - thanks for posting this - I've learnt something today . Dobes have white spots come through sometimes. A few lines here have quite prominent white marks on their prosternum. Some have white toes which tend to disappear as they age - we had one with white toes in our last litter, which disappeared by about 4 mths and now he has just a white stripe down one toenail, his speed stripe . It seems that your puppy's markings are so minor I find it interesting that people are put off by it - do they lessen or disappear with age ?

I love to get even the smallest info on our puppies (and they are our puppies for life regardless of who's life they take over once they leave here). We like to develop friendships with the people who have our dogs but this isn't always what suits them and their lives, so we are happy with whatever contact we get from those people but we always respond.

Yup, 2nd that - be spoilt and have one just for the dog stuff .

There is one vaccination which can now be given at 4 wks with the new protocol. It is intranasal administration and is for Kennel Cough - Nobivac KC. Maybe its worth checking if it were this that was given - if there is alot of KC in the area (and there seems to be a fair bit of it around again this year) then maybe the vet thought that this was a wise choice. Anything else obviously isn't. As for eye tacking - good lord how long till the RSPCA get hold of this interferring procedure and ban that as well.

Jessica Watson & The Pink Lady are nearly home. What an amazing young lady. She is simply amazing to have achieved what she has - what an inspiration. What more can you say .

There are so many whinging stories about puppy buyers and breeders lately that I wanted to share our great story and would love to hear of others who have had a great experience with puppy buyers as well. We are all in need of the joy this brings with recent events. I just wanted to share our journey so far with some of the families waiting for a puppy from us, as they are simply some of the best people I have met in this wonderful journey of being a breeder. I have just got off the phone with one family and have just finished a lengthy email answering questions to another and they have me beaming with their enthusiasm and readiness, so I wanted to share. Our puppies aren't born yet, are confirmed but still we have several weeks to go. These families have pretty much everything ready. Toys, bowls, leads & collars (in different sizes even :p), bedding, crates, puppy pens, food, supplements, time off work - we simply couldn't ask for more. They love our dogs and have such a great raport with all of them that we know these puppies are going into the best of homes. They are already moving into the friend catagory and this I love, as it means that we get to maintain that friendship over the years, get to have constant contact with them and our puppy over its life, get to be truely available for them when they need it and it is this that makes breeding such a valuable and meaningful experience. I am so proud to have these people wanting one of our puppies (and I don't mean that in a condasending way - just cannot think of a better word atm) - they have questions nearly every few days and have gone away and done exactly what we suggest they do, they are so organised and so excited for their new puppy that - well, its just great ;). It makes me think that I have finally got my 'puppy people process' on the right track as well. They are all coming to the puppy classes we run for our puppy people from 8 to 16 wks as well which makes their baby puppy journey so much smoother - so again yet another thing to be excited about. Now, I can't wait until the puppies are here and we can begin this wonderful journey with the pups. All of our adult dogs are very excited - they know its getting close and the whole house has 'that' edge to it, they are all excited to greet 'mum' and well you all know what a total joy this time is and having these people come into our lives has just made it all the more so.

I don't understand your point. Every single puppy in every litter has: The same amount of work, effort, health testing, diet, conditioning, exhibiting, titles etc etc etc go into their dam - for years prior to being born. The same price charged for the sire or semen. The same amount of genetic tests run. The same amount of vaccinations done. The same amount of worming done. The same amount of food, supplements, etc etc offered The same amount of time spent on development and socialisation. The same amount of grooming and handling training. The same amount of good behaviour and obedience training. The same amount of individual time to build up confidence. The same amount of cuddles and love. The same amount of washing done after it. The same amount of poo picked up after it. ETC ETC ETC God, we could all list a thousand things we do for each puppy before it goes to its new home. We charge the same for each puppy, puppies which are not going into a show home are on the limited register, but that is the only difference from the litter mates that are on the main register. They may be equally as good and could easily be shown but that is not their journey. The same amount of care, love, diet, wellbeing, health testing, socialisation and conditioning and veterinary care goes into each and every puppy. Who say's the dog we sold to a pet home who saved the family's kids from the burning shed isn't as worthy as his litter brother who titled in the showring ??? Not his ANKC registration thats for sure. To his family he is priceless.

Ours are normally btwn 2 & 3 weeks when they get their first solids - this includes the 'pink slushy mix' and slightly pulverised chicken necks. The mix they wolf down and the necks they love gumming and sucking on - with these they learn to eat bones, you can see the mucles in their little bodies working as they learn how to hold the necks so that they can gum them and they start to growl possesively (very cute) over their prize and ofcourse there is always one who manages to get a stash on the necks they can 'guard' from the others while they eat one. Then mum gets to come back from her break and clean up the mess . They actually eat a fair bit more than you would think, they manage to get alot of the chicken meat off the bone and they just progress naturally from there.

Our thoughts ofcourse are with Jed & family. I have been so overcome every time I come into this thread, I just cannot imagine. I wish there were more we could do than donate, feel useless being in another state. Thank you to everyone who is there on the ground - again it is inspirational to be involved in the dog world when you see people step up and make it happen. Sending healing and loving thoughts to all involved.

I should have said - same here and . . . We get alot of people, and I assume most breeders face this, that are insistent that they want "a black bitch/dog" or "a brown bitch/dog" - like we can just go and pick one of the shelves out the back for them :D. Once they understand there is no guarentee that exactly what they want may even be in the litter (prior to being born) (or may be staying here) it is easier to work around their wants and what they are capable of living with. I have started broaching the subject very early with people now - "if we don't end up with a black bitch in the litter woud you consider a brown bitch / black dog" etc etc. Most people once they have had a chance to think it over and discuss it privately decide that they don't really care - it changes to their preference is but - - - . When people are visiting the litter during the 'picking weeks' - 6 to 8 weeks - I let them spend time with the whole litter while all the puppies are excited and loving the visit and once they start to settle down I remove the puppies we are serious about and explain why. I haven't had anyone who didn't understand this process and even had one couple wait for their puppy out of our 2 pick boys which we ran on until 12 weeks - 1. because they liked those 2 boys and 2. because they had a wedding OS the week after they turned 8 wks.

Same here & no complaints so far.

- I have this in our puppy book, for a bit of a giggle - I know which people have gone home and dutifully read their puppy book from cover to cover as they are the ones who email me or text me with Ha ! Ha's ! - but also tell me how shocked they were that I would suggest such a thing - then they read the next bit .

I breed to keep the best puppy for us and our future needs, and the price of a puppy is the price of a puppy - no variations. I was recently offered a very large sum of money for my young dog Ryder by an overseas agent. He's not for sale - regardless of the amount offered but it took several polite rebuttals for the point to be made. To some the almighty $$$ rules - I guess.

This must have been quite a while ago - there aren't many out there now that would even care and most expect their owner to step up to their defence -as we see time and time again with our temperament test.