Tapua

If you contact Mandy Samson at Callicoma Kelpies & Pet Supplies she can make you one to fit you dog. http://www.callicoma.com.au/

I hate waiting for hip/elbow scores however we are very happy our girl Tapua Heeni Te Anna has her hip elbow scores back H1:3 E 0:0 EIC/PRA clear - tra la tra la Amazingly Xrays taken on Wednesday - results in this morning

That is very very true Mason-Gibbs dogs sooth and comfort the lonely, broken, lost or frightened heart :D

I had a GSD called Merlin - One hot night when Merlin was about 6/7 months old a stranger tried to climb through the window into my bedroom when Merlin was asleep on the bed - all I saw was an arm come through the open window - I gasped and before I could say anything Merlin flew off the bed and grabbed the arm. Whoever it was screamed and I had to grab hold of Merlin to prevent him from being dragged out the open high window. By the time I got to the door the guy had jumped the fence but Merlin was angry and pumped, growled & barked. I rang the police who located a young man with a 'bite' to his forearm. I couldnt ID the young man when thepolice pulled him out of the paddy wagon but Merlin nearly threw himself through the fence at the guy - who dived back into the paddy wagon when he saw Merlin. Lovely gentle boy with friends and kids but Merlin became a little too protective of me around men so I donated him to the police in 99 when he was about 12-13 months. He served for 5 years until his untimely death. Oh and when Merlin left town and I moved with my dogs- 5 houses were broken into in my street in the following week. My neighbours loved Merlin

My old Kelpie used to catch flys on the window - golly - slim up the fly spit it out and check it couldnt move becasue of spit - then throw her shoulder into it and roll it into the ground. It was hysterical to watch - even to the point that if the fly looked like it would move before she squashed it - she would re-slim it. strange dog!

So do you think the dog would dare disobey if he called ' Cum ta daddy baby' Obviously Geri's personal trainer buys steroids cheap

In short yes & yes. I wont register a litter until they have been microchipped which is at 6 weeks - infact you cant register a litter now without the microchip numbers now. Anyway HOPEFULLY I can send the paperwork off on the same day to the CC and its back by the 2 weeks but quite often it takes longer although Dogs NSW has gone computer savy and you can register online these days which helps. Despite best efforts I have recieved papers 2 weeks after the pups went to their new homes but thankfully that isnt very often. In NSW all pups from all litters must be registered either MR or LR. I dont know about other states.

Yep and they should be out walking being there in the middle of it when it's happening. I hear there is no funding but a couple of fines a day pays a wage and if they start doing whatthey are supposed to do life for everyone including them becomes much easier. I hear there isnt enough work for them to justify them only working in animal control but if they picked up a bit of prevention and education type duties every one wins. Councils everywhere dont hestiate to tell us that only approx 1 third of all dogs are registered - they just accept it and do nothing about it. Time we started yelling and rallying about it. There is the Responsible Pet Ownership program in NSW which currently goes into the schools - it starts with the kids in Kinder - yr 2 and it covers all the issues regarding safety around dogs. It is presented positively so that fear is not imposed and on kids but the message of the pleasur of owning a dog/cat also comes with responsibility etc - There is accurate and useful safety information to be taken home to parents/guardians as well. It has been identified that children will get to their parents quicker than standard education TV/news media. The NSW govt has copied the Vic program, which has been running for 10 years.The Victorian program goes to Year 6 and it would be good to lobby the NSW Govt to continue to fund the program to year 6. Rather than re-invent the wheel why not push for this well designed program to be supported to it maximum potential. It would be greta for the program to go national its well designed and age appropriate.

Regarding the BSL legislation - there is a principal in law that you cannot lock someone up for what they 'might' do wrong or what harm they 'might ' do. Or else the prisons would be full. However this BSL law allows people to PTS or remove dogs who 'look like they might' bit someday. It doesnt make sense. I totally support, following reasonable investigation of circumasances that if a dog goes out of its way to attack or bite an adult, child or other dogs/cats, stock etc with aggression I have NO Arguement having the dog in question PTS regardless of the breed. But where do you draw the line on what looks like it might bite and injure?

I wonder if the same law is relevant in this situation - I know you cannot lock-up a human for what they 'might do wrong' so how come you can lock-up a dog for 'looking like it might bite' one day?

Nothing speaks love like a Labby's wiggly bum :D So glad Rover is with his mum & dad finally

Labrador maybe - sensible after the puppy stage (particularly the females) easy to live with gentle by nature very robust temperament - definately will bark assertively if a stranger was around:)Buy from a responsible breeder who does hips/elbows & DNA.

OK I think we are saying the same thing but in different ways And sorry Mason - I think we have gone way off on another tangent with this discussion :D

As a general rule I don't reward in position anyway. Easier to demonstrate IRL than try to explain it online but it's all about how you use the reward and the experience of getting the reward for the dog. Always rewarding the dog for being still and calm will mean it's harder to teach the dog that chasing food or tugging and being in a highly excitable and aroused state is what will gain them the reward. Now this will probably sound crazy, but I actually WANT my dogs to break stays in training. I want to get them to the point where they are so keen for the reward, value it and want it so much, that they simply cannot wait for it and break. I want them sitting there full of anticipation and excitement. It's then easy for me to give them a NRM for breaking and teach them not to do it but the end result is a dog that is highly focused in stays and has great durability (unlikely to break around distractions because all it can focus on or think about is getting the reward). Daisy used to break her stays all the time from boredom, she'd self reward immediately by scenting on the ground (and your nose is very close to the ground when you are scent hound in a down stay!) once I retrained stays above in drive it was not a problem again. Again it's not for everyone but it's how I'd do it OK Ive got where you are coming from - however IMO I am the stimuli which triggers the cue for the high excited drive I cultivate in my dogs for hunting - however I also have a need to have an off button - where they will return to being sensible. When my husband and I go into the top block to 'play' my dogs instantly cued that something is on. They bark, yelp and are demanding ironicaly they are motivated to obey me for the reward of the tug toy or whatever we use. We also use the cue to work to triggr them to do directed searching and on command they will seek high and low to find an item they know we have hidden. My yellow 5 month old and black 12 month old hunting for the hidden item on the new puppy training gym The same dogs finding it within seconds However at the command - 'thats enough' everyone settles down. IMO the cue is MY behaviour which switches on our dogs drive - whilst the toy is an added incentive our focused interaction is what motivates. When in drive I will direct the dogs to search for items and they will bust a boiler hunting in tunnels, on the wood pile under the house for whatever item we have hidden. Once found ( which rarely takes more than a few second) game over - loads of praise and play. However all that activity may take on a few minute - I am not in favour of issolation training - so there has to be an off button because my dogs live with me and they must settle when I say so. Rewarding calm behaviour is of course a pet/companion low drive activity - its important for the dogs to learn the difference or you end up with a high wired nut who can be unriable when it matters... IMO.

Manners IMO ar always important - I have to live with the buggers and basic manners improve our mutual understanding. Dog communication IMO is more to do with subtley than over obedience - the conditioning and leadership which is quietly reinforced by being around each other and rewarding by recognition desirable behaviour is important. Training to show and training to sit is a piece of cake - I occassionally show and I do obedience/retrival. So for me I have the pup in her show lead, stand infront and cue the show stand position with the term 'showing' which means I ma in position infront - where-as the 'stand' in obedience is cued from the left side with a hand signal. Auto sits are of course left side also. I know this is spelling out the obvious but I know the pups learn the difference very very quicly based on my position more than the verbal command.

Have a look at this website regarding colour genetics and Labradors - its great and very accurate. http://www.blueknightlabs.com/color/coatcolor.html In Labs there are only 3 colour Black, Yellow & Chocolate however there are different hues or depth of colour shall we say - most noticable are the yellows where the EE can be expressed as near white/cream to dark yellow . Chocolate can be expressed in the most desirable liver (dark chocolate) to a paler milk chocolate. The much disputed 'blue " Lab has been created by introducing a Wiemeraner (fawn) to the breed - which diluted the black creating blue. Having bred bench Kelpies in past I have bred 2 solid blacks who carried red & produced reds, a solid black & solid red who produced blue/fawn/red & black pups and solid reds who have produced two tones. In Kelpies there are 7 recognised colours and 2 extra non recognised colours by the ANKC. Plus breeders who falsley register two tones as solids and cream (yellow)Kelpies as fawn - and bred from them - so I NEVER trust a Kelpie colour pedigree. By comparison colour genetics in Labs are a piece of cake

Eh kids! My 6 month old thinks she is a mountain goat - if she can get up on something she will, crates, freezer, tunnels anything - she just sits there and wants a pat - so she gets a pat and gets off. I dont mind this becasue when she is searching for items she doesnt hesitate to look high or low. The last few months she has been facinated by the front loader spinning - she is a crack up to watch with her head going round & round Its a big wide world for puppies - I love the innocence and fun they make of it.

Hi Dog Geek mmm yes the chronic lack of sleep is the 'fun' part of breeding ugh! Check how your girl is going with food & water - Tua wont dring any milk at all only water and only eats chicken mince or chicken wings ( even though I offer her a huge range of options) - so I have stocked up on chicken. Also I make Tua go outside for a wee and stretch atleast twice a day so she gets some circulatiuon and a break - she didnt like leaving the pups much for the first 3 days but staying still with the pups for hours isnt good either. Obviously I change bedding while she is out and I keep and eye on her discharge - I wash her rear end and keep the area clean - my girl is large and after lying down she tends sapurate for days. (another fun part of breeding!) Other than that - she is a 4 legged milk bar and the pups are thriving

Sorry I had to laugh when I read this gotta love a lab who thinks you MUST FEED ME NOW Sound like Mr Gidds is starting to understand you exist beyond the food and his 'feeed meee nooow' plead isnt working. I think Mason spoilt you for expecting good manners ;) One of my girls was a manic feeder and I used the food to teach the word 'settle' - I would get dinner ready sit the dogs - feed immediately the ones who sat first and were quiet I'd tell the others to settle - my nut job Lab would sit, drool, fidget, whine and she did not get the food until she sat quietly. She was always fed last until she clicked that if she sat and shut up she would get fed first - bingo - the lights went on. Every Lab is an individual - you just have to work out the key to that little groover's brain - beyond the food. Now that you have Gibbs is starting to listen - give it a week or so - up the anti and require him to settle before you feed him. Worth a try.

... and finally the 2 girls weighing in at 645gms

Then there are the yellow boys who are bigger - all between 650 & 750 gms

Congratulation Dog Geek its great when they are born at a civilised time - Well my brood are 7 days old and doing fine - Tua is a great mum and I am very happy with the pups.These are the 4 boys - all have gained weight about 200gms from birth - although the smallest they weight between 580 & 680gms

My girls all get a mixture of brewers yeast, dolamite (calcium) & kelp which covers the B complex, Iron,calcium. The powder mix is placed in a large salt shaker and shook over 4 -6 meals a week. I was told undescended testes is a genetic thing where the bitch carries the trait and the dog expresses the problem. But that was 20 years ago. I think the lack of a balanced diet or inability to uptake certain vitamins and minerals maybe closer to the truth. Mine you I have large breed - Labradors - I would think any food suppliment for a toy breed must be very carefully done.

So Julie just wondering - I used to do contract now I accept I have next to zero control once pup has left the premises - not my property any more. Nowadays if I am wanting control over a certain pup - I dont sell it - simple. Now my main question is - would it be appropriate to say to the new buyer something like 'If at sometime in the future you need to re-home you dog and cannot find a suitable home please contact me first option to take him/her back or find a good home for/him her'. Or is that too open ?

My dogs have about 3 pet names each and as others have said they respond to the tone Someone who is buying a pup from this litter is calling him Lord Henry go figure lol