Tapua

Actually I was thinking the same - my husband is part Maori and would like to retire back in NZ so I would be interested in the transport costs and the vaccinations for the dogs. :)BTW love your Kelpie may I ask who you got them from?

German Coolie xKelpie x ACD

OK update - there is a possibility that wages will get covered - I am still looking for a trainer in the Newcastle area willing to work with Michael & Juke. I have one person interested but she cant start till August so if thre is anyone available sooner that would be great.

Awww beautiful - glad to see the pair can stay together

frank is adorable very huggable - I love to hear from and see pictures of the kids that go to loving homes.just got some the other day from young man in the Army who bought a Lab from me about a year ago - its lovely to get photos!

mmmm WA would be a bit of a challenge

Hi everyone I am looking for a willing assitant to assit a young man who is blind and physically disabled in the Newcastle area. Michael bought a baby lab from me who is now 10 months old. Juke - the dog - is in harness and working well however he is reaching an adolescent age where he seems to be missing or disobeying some signals that previously he never missed. Michael the owner and trainer is accomplished with his training however he would like the assistance of a pair of eyes that are unbiased and does not know the dog to feed back to him how the dog is behaving in response to commands. When I was looking for trainers who might assit Michael when Michael first got his pup, there was someone in the Newcastle area willing & interested. If you are that person or anyone who is willing to take directions from Michael and able to feed accurate information back to him and you live in the Newcastle area please PM me. Michael fully understands the limitations of Jukes age and may need assistance for a couple of hours a couple of time just to get a hold on what Juke is doing. I garuantee for a dogloving person you will learn heaps about how dogs learn and be enriched by this team. He cannot afford to pay a wage to anyone for their time but he will happily buy you some wine or cook a great meal. A bit of background with Michael he is blind from Diabetes and he has a gammy leg which he needs to use a crutch to walk with sometimes. Eventually he will end up in a wheelchair and this pup is to replace the dog he trained as his guide/assitance dog who itself is going blind due to PRA. Michael does not qualify for a guide dog because he is disabled and he does not qualify for an assitance dog because he is blind. Micheal and Juke are a great team and Juke is a keen and willing learner. If there is someone in the Newcastle area willing to assit please PM me or phone on 63450027 and I will give you the contact details and any further information you need.

Hi Tobie Congratulations on asking the right questions. I have been breeding since 1991. In my experience and with hindsight I suggest the following. 1: Settle on a breed you are genuinely interested in and like (preferably love) 2: Commit to learning about the breed while you are showing a puppy, health nutrition and showing requirements. Showing is definately not the be-all and end all there are alot of good dogs in back yards that never get in the ring and plenty of champions who barely deserve their title.Plus remember most pups in the litter go to pet homes and you might get 1 or 2 show quality in a litter. You have a duty of care to the whole litter as a breeder IMO not just the show potential one. 3: During the couple of years you are raising your puppy to breeding age do the MDBA Introduction to Breeding Course - that will give you all the generic basics for breeding.There is also a mandatory very basic one with Dogs NSW if you ar in NSW 4: Find yourself a mentor in the breed you prefer - often that is the breder of your pup. 5: Dont be afraid to ask questions and admit when you are wrong - too much ego is involved in breeding let alone showing and its about the safety and wellbeing of the dogs and pups rather than the ribbons. (again this is only my opinion) 6: Have a good vet whom you trust - when the chips are down your vet is on your side. I could rabbit on but that will do for starters!

Ah I hate politicians - after working in the areas of drug and alcohol for the last 6 years the first thing many dealers do when they see a cop with a sniffer dog is ditch the drugs. Hense you will find more drugs on the ground when there are dogs as a 'Big Day Out' or a Night Club or pub than in peoples pockets. Secondly the dogs are an active deterant and surely that is better than no deterant at all. I think the dogs rock and I fully support the sniffer dogs. My baby boy Police Dog Merlin Served 1999-2004 NSW Police

I use baking soda as soon as I have noticed the wee - it pulls the wee out of the carpet well and I then just sweep it off into dustpan then vaccuum. We inherited a very wee encrusted carpet with the house we bought and had to rip up the carpet in the bedrooms and hallway. We recarpeted in the bedrooms which has worked well, lino in the hallway. But the floorboards under the lounge were not tongue and groove so not having a carpet of some type wasnt a goer especialy since we are on peers, the dust in summer plus the cold draft winter not good. Soooo we bought 1metre square rubber backed indutrial carpet tiles from Bunnings. They come in blue with a broken pin stripe or blue with a solid pin stripe it cost us $560 to buy the tiles and we layed them ourselves. It has been brilliant plus if I have a stained area I can lift it out - treat the stain and replace it when dry. Certaily not the most attractive colour but damn practical for us - so if you are not violently opposed to blue have a look at the carpet tiles Bunnings.

I am so sorry for your loss Jules - we put to sleep our girl on Monday and our heart just ache every time we walk into the room and she's not there. My heart goes out to you at this time. RIP Brock

Well my beautiful Dixie (Ch Mimbil Burnt Offerings) went peacefully on Monday - we cried and cried . Dixie was the last of my line of Bench Kelpies and had character+++ Her legecy lives on in her children and her grand children.

As an X kelpie breeder I think your munchkin is rather independant and dominant - firstly rule out any health issues though I doubt there is any. Secondly she sounds like some of the dogs I have had in past and currently I have a geriatric now who is literally a snob about other people. She will tollerate people in sufference, certainly doesnt need to be around them except for food and was not overly inspired to be in our company. Except in winter when the couch and warmth is more important. I love her to bits. It is a Kelpie trait that occures which its quite normal - if you are consitant and not bluffed by her dismissivness you will earn her respect. I find it quite funny to watch dominant bitches try to get it over me and I like the game of winning them over but the dominant bitches are not for everyone. This is a mind game and or course physical demands simply wont work with a Kelpie - they just walk away. Re-homing is an option - dominant bitches often do better with males and or assertive females. They make great companion dogs for the individual and real character. They sometimes forget themselves and become very friendly. But they can be hard work if you are only looking for a family pet, since they can happily decide you are not good enough to relate to. Which defeats the purpose of a family pet IMO. PM me if you would like some help.

I am not a scientist I work in welfare and if there is one thing I know about my clients is the rational windows shut and the 'yes but they did this and everyone else is to blame for my situation' emotional windows open when they are confronted. Subsiquently the individuals ability to look at what they are doing to make the current situation better or worse is lost because all their energy is waisted on defending or justifying their position. The PDE definately exposed the Pure-bred Dogworld to the rest of humanity that there are problems. Of course it allowes people to assume that genetic/conformation/behavioural problems were in the majority of kennels in the UK - Ipso Facto therefore in our Aussie kennels too. Assumptions of course are not always right - mind you they often contain an element of truth to exist in the first place. So we as registered breeders we get on our high horse and say NOOOO! Not in my back yard! Well sorry folks - the fact that detrimental genetic/health/conformation conditions are created by the matings we choose to put together is irrefutable. I do not control how the bottle is shook up after the contents are placed in the bottle. I can only make a judgement about the value of the contents when its out. Plus as a breeder whether any given mating should be repeated given the results. Its is easier to dismiss the premise of PDE in a rush of defensive rightous indignation missing the point that some pure bred dogs in some cases are suffering and or atleast unessicarily uncomfortable due to breeding practices. My responsibility is to look at my kennels and ask myself am I contributing to these problems in my breeding practices, selection of mates, screening for health issues etc. I am responsible for what comes from my kennels

I am just weighing in here because I wonder about some of the generalisations about 'show dogs' and who is responsible for the breed I find a bit obtuse. Surely if I choose to breed pure breds then I am responsible for what comes from my kennel. Surely I set the standard for the puppies, dams and sires that I have bred or run in my back yard. Currently I breed Labradors and have every intention of staying with the breed however prior to settling with Labs I bred working dogs, Bench Kelpies, Border Collies, GSD's. Primarily Kelpies. You will find behind a number of the to winning show Kelpies in NSW ATM the prefix Mimbil - thats my old prefix however my Kelpies have also worked as assitance dogs. If you want to start the working vs bench arguement talk to working dog people. However let me also explain that with the working ability comes a high drive temperament that needs to be entertained. So unless your market for breeding ( for want of a better term) is primarliy working/agility/obedience options then there will be complaints from people who buy a working dog as a pet. Now onto Labradors - in past as I understand the 'job' for the Labs was to retrieve in the fishing nets and be a loyal companion later they were developed to retrieve birds and retain that loyal companion trait, then as guide dogs in preference to GSD's because Labs are more tractable to the handler than the GSD (the original guide dog breed). Currently Labs are used as service dogs for the blind and disabled - guide & disabled, service dogs for tracking & sniffer detection - search and rescue, bomb detection, customs work & drug detectioin. Plus of course the much loved safe family companion. As well as the working hunting dog. I currently have Labs who are trained guide dogs, assistance dogs, family companion dogs for children with intellectual disabilities and much loved family companions. They have a valued job to do and I am approached by the training organisations for my pups - two from my currently litter are going to Guide Dogs NSW. Just the other week I was approached to breed Labs for a trainer who trains Labs for the Army & Customs here and overseas. But this is my problem - the Army/Customs trainer does not want show lines because like most, he assumes show lines cant do the job. They want all the other ducks lined up though, hips/elbows/EIC/PRA. I have a kennels of clear bitches with good hips and elbows - now I am looking for a male puppy for stud work in my kennel. I want a puppy because I need to monitor and develop/test his retrieval skill as he grows to ensure he is suitable to go to my girls. I cannot tell you how hard it is to find a suitable line. Because for me the drive and retrieval ability of the sire must be high it also means the sire is probably a pain in the butt to live with and show and very very few people want to live with a high drive dog. So I come back to issue with 'working' or high drive lines. They are a pain in the butt to live with - which is why high drive dogs get found in the shelters and pounds around the country. Yes I feel the 'show' people need to raise their standard and do all the hip/elbow & DNA testing necessary and I feel they need to prove they have done so prior to breeding - currently only hips & elbows are mandatory. I also feel a catagory for dogs which have a working title as well as show title at Royal's may also encourage people to look at the ability of the dogs as well as the conformation. I like showing - not alot - I am not a weekend warrior for the show ring but I dont mind showing a good example in the ring. I dont believe that show dogs are inept for ability as some have suggested however there is little avenue to showcase ability with conformation and unless it is mandated I doubt it will happen. Having said all that I am the one who sets the standards for the dogs in my kennel and I am the one accountable for what comes into and is produced by my bitches from my kennels first and formost. I see that the buck a stops with me - I cannot do everything perfectly but I can surely establish and maintain a standard I am satified with.

thanks everyone - I think they are pretty precious!

Here are our little litter of three. Sam (on the left) is going to a lovely home in Sydney & Dan & Digger are going to the guide Dogs.

OK I thought it was just deceased dogs. I am enlightened

Just wanting some clarification - I thought that the catagory in each breed section called 'Past Champion' refered to quality deceased dogs not dogs which are still alive and either showing currently or retired fromt he show ring. Some of the breed owners in the Kelpie 'past Champion' section are listing retired but very much alive dog or currently showing dogs in the wrong section. Have the catagories changed to include retired dogs in that area as well?

Poor baby so much pain - just another testament to the loyalty and love dogs have for people healing hugs & kisses for Mason

Poor baby did anyone notice the poll asking if dog owners should have a licence - the pole results are 83% yes. mmmm as if we the ones who do the right thing arent over regulated anyway!

Gorgeous video you should send it into funniest home video's its cute

Thanks for all the ideas people as requested here are the critters 3 days old - mum & pups growing well.

Love them - very tempting some of these ones!