Starkehre

I can see why you'd come to this conclusion. The reason many show dogs don't cut the grade as top working dogs is because of the breeder. They may not be a working person themselves, so are deliberately not placing enough emphasis on temperament, work ethic, instinct. They may be selecting sires that will assist them in continuing their success in the show ring and ignoring the working virtues. I just find it really sad when both show and working people do not believe they CAN have it all. And instead of trying to achieve same, they come up with reasons why they can't. IMO it simply is not true.

DC, I respect and totally understand what you are saying. However, I disagree with much of it. I have no real issue with working registries and breeders breeding for specific working traits and deviating further and further away from the Breed Standard and deliberately breeding from dogs with faults/disqualifying faults. But me not having an issue with it is not because I agree with it. It is simply because I have no intention to worry about what everyone else is doing. I feel the need to mention one particular point you made that I vehemently disagree with (sorry I don't know how to quote) ... You cannot breed for every single aspect of the breed, so people focus on a few. IMO breeders can and should absolutely breed for every single aspect of the breed, every single time. They won't always get it, but they should be trying. Enough goes wrong when breeders try to tick every box, let alone when they deliberately choose to ignore some of the boxes. I know everyone won't agree on this working versus show debate, they never will and it really doesn't matter, but I think it is important to realise that making statements such as the one you made above is just an opinion and not a fact.

Exactly!!! Unfortunately some breeders deviate for one reason or another. I won't buy into the debate regarding other breeds, but I will say that this is particularly true in our breed. All Rottweilers should be bred to be successful in both the show ring and in working arenas. Rottweilers were never meant to be as hard or as high drive as some of the more serious working breeds anyway, they are slightly softer worker. Very much a "Jack of all trades, Master of none" sort of breed. That's not to say that plenty of individuals aren't or have not been very successful in different arenas, but they are certainly not the breed would deliberately get into if you were a serious and super highly competitive obedience, IPO or Herding enthusiast. IMO all breeders should be aiming to tick all the boxes, not breeding extremes of either side or ability.

Another Rotti :D This time, finally it will be one I have bred myself.

VM, I am so sorry to hear of Tibor's passing. Run free at the bridge special boy

Great photos Grumpette!!! :)

The other thing is, not once have you mentioned conformation, temperament or health. Just color, makings and head shape. Now, sure you are entitled to want these certain traits in your next pup, I don't see any problem with that as such. What I can't understand is that your wish list seems to be all upside down. You seem to be a bit dirty on breeders keeping their pick puppy or passing them onto the stud owner in lieu. Do you think they should be passing on these litter picks to you? OK, so it seems to me that it just so happens that the puppies you've desired from the litters you've inquired about just also happen to be the ones that tick all the other boxes such as having excellent type and temperament, fitting the Breed Standard. These pups are no doubt considered show/breeding prospects. Do you expect to be offered a show/breeding prospect? You are not offering a show home, nor have you built rapport with a breeder or proven yourself, so therefore cannot possibly expect to be offered such a good quality specimen of the breed. Not suggesting that you necessarily should be able to, but for the point of this post I will say that from what I gather I doubt you would actually be able to identify excellent conformation if it was stacked in front of you. Therefore the breeders that seem to be more ready to part with puppies exhibiting the attributes you want, may in fact be average to poor examples of the breed. And this may not be an issue for you at all, as long as you get your color, coat, markings, head shape. Yes, you will be far more readily furnished with one of these puppies. And if a head type or markings, coat type is more important to you than getting a puppy that is closer to the Breed Standard all over, more sound, better example of temperament etc, then that is your choice entirely. And if you wish to go down this path, choose breeders that are less high profiled and don't seem to have as much regard for their breed. I am not sure of what occurs in Chihuahuas, but are you aware of all the possibility health issues that can related to dogs with shorter muzzles and certain skull to muzzle ratios? Just saying, there is a lot more to a dog than looks. By all means stand your ground for your litter pick puppy, want it now and want all the physical attributes that are not relevant to health or Breed Standard. Don't be concerned about top line, angulation, forehand and other important virtues. Plus don't be prepared to wait. I think you are setting yourself up for failure. Your expectations are simply unrealistic. Something will have to give, be it waiting time, puppy quality, your personal wish list. Look I get it. I get that you were surprised about being screened so vehemently. But you are quite right, if you had come here first you would have realised that this is pretty much normal procedure by many breeders and been less shocked. I also think that if you were slightly less defensive and more ready to actually listen to advice you are being given, you would be a lot further along in your puppy purchasing journey. And then there's the latest issue which you chose not to discuss. Fair enough. Nobodys business but yours. But if it happens to be related to contract/s or breeders terms, this is quite common/normal also. But you may wish to chat about it to get some advice as to whether or not it is a fair contract for both parties. Good luck :D

Scar tissue. Could be there for years. Nothing to worry about.

Kudos to the breeder I say. And like a couple of others, I too believe the seemingly intrusive requests may well be a test to see just how far you are willing to go to get one of their puppies. A gauge to see if you are an easy going person that would feel privileged to get one of their puppies or someone who feels entitled and is likely to get their back up over something that unless one had something to hide should really be no big deal. This breeder may have a list of puppy people as long as your arm and not be able to supply puppies to many of the wonderful homes they already have. They could afford to be as picky and choosy as they wish. I see absolutely no harm in the questions and if I was absolutely keen as on what this breeder is producing, their ethics, their lines and animals husbandry (not something I really think you are yet actually familiar with or aware of) I would be jumping through hoops. As others have said, you are leaving your run late with each litter. If you take time to build rapport with a breeder prior to them having a litter you may find there is less pressure for the breeder to get to know you so quickly and therefore they may be less inclined to hit so hard with detail criteria. I am planning my foundation litter around this time next year. I already have several people on my puppy list. I am getting to know these people now. Knowing they are willing to wait and are doing their research gives them all huge ticks in my books.

The "start as you mean to go on with" idea works really well... and this is why you are having problems now. You didn't expect your puppy to sleep outside from day 1. In saying this I am not saying you should have either. I am not surprised your puppy is carrying on early in the morning. It's the coldest time of the day and he's decided he's been alone too long, is awake and ready for some interaction. Personally I would not expect a 12 week old puppy to sleep outside, particularly after spending much of the day inside with his family, but it is your choice. Any barking at this time is not acceptable for neighbours, not just long term. Many dogs will not use a kennel outdoors, they prefer to lay right near the door closest to where their family spends most of their time. I think if you are going to insist puppy stays locked outside all night, then you are up for some night time training and some neighbours complaining. Keep in mind that every time your puppy is allowed/able to bark outside in the dark in essence you are teaching him to do so and it may become habitual. So aside from his current needs, he may just learn to enjoy the sound of his voice. It might help to speed up the process if he is banished outside during the day also... once again not something I'd do, but can you see it from his point of view? If you can't make his night time more similar to his day time, try it the other way around. I might add, when he scratches on the door during the day, do you let him out? That's not something I would be training my dog to do. Dogs are wonderful at learning context etc, but not so much at this early age. When he's an adult he'll understand the difference between scratching on the inside to get out and scratching on the outside to get in, but not now. When he is inside, ensure he is put outside at regular intervals for eliminating and play, on your terms, not his. Good luck with it

What Allerzeit says. Added, to be breeding in accordance with NRC(A) (National Rottweiler Council of Australia) COE one must be a member of at least one of the 6 state breeds club. To be a member of a state breeds club one must be a member of their state CC. Among our breed if you are breeding in accordance with the NRC(A), seeing that is a must more stringent COE than any ANKC affiliated club, it goes without saying that they are a state CC member under the banner of ANKC. The hip/elbow/eye/mouth certificates/testing are all NRC(A) requirements, not ANKC. ANKC only ask that the dog is hip scored. They don't care what the score is. NRC(A) states that both sire and dam of any litter must not have a combined score over 20. Also, most the dogs in their pedigrees are bred by people I know personally or know of and all these people are also ANKC registered breeders. I don't believe I know this breeder/kennel prefix, though it is possible I have seen them and were not aware of who they were. Bedazzled, though I totally understand that many pet people would not know about the NRC(A), it would suggest to me that your friend should do some more research about the breed if they are looking to purchase a puppy. They could email or call any of the 6 state breed clubs to find out some more general and specific information on the breed. I would also be more than happy to answer any questions they may have.

But as just a member of your CCC (without having a registered prefix) you are still not permitted to breed your dog. So it would still be in breach.

Breeders can do what they like (certainly not against the law) provided they do not mind being in breach of their state canine council Code Of Ethics and risking the penalties. If Dogs NSW get hold of this and this person is in fact a current financial member, then this person may be fined, suspended or slapped over the wrist.

Our Polar Pads are a fantastic idea for these super hot conditions. Depending upon the conditions they can last several days before requiring re activation. The quantities we are posting to QLD at the moment are incredible. I really feel for you guys up there, you've had such hot days. We have Polar Collars as well, but I prefer these for supervised or semi supervised scenarios. http://k9softdogcrates.com.au/polar/polar-pads

For chicken wings, mince try Pauls Poultry in Somerville. For turkey necks, chicken wings and mince try Sunrise in Cranbourne, formerly Crystal. The mince chicken is better from Sunrise.

Come one, come all. Awesome place for dog owners!! :D There is also Backmans in Seaford. We used to get whole rabbits there, but I'm not sure they still have them They stock fresh meat etc. There is a wholesale butchers in Rosebud that do heaps of lambs necks and other meats and bones. A great dog pool and groomer in Rosebud also. I also know of a wonderful secret place to safely run your dogs if you want to know more

Without a doubt, some breeds and (individual dogs for that matter) are "easier" than others. However, in my opinion a person's prior dog ownership experience is not always a good indication of their suitability for some of the more challenging breeds. I've seen owners with years of experience and they are still useless owners, making the same obvious mistakes time and time again... and never learning. On the other hand I've also seen complete newbies that are dedicated to researching their breeds' temperament and characteristics. They have realistic expectations, are good at knowing their own strengths and weaknesses and are willing and able to learn and adapt to what needs to be done and to make their relationship with their dog flourish in a healthy fashion. They happily accept the time and effort that is involved in developing a well rounded family member. They are committed to following through with what's required to gain the skill and mind set to becoming a wonderful owner of even some of the most difficult breeds. I think ideal first time match ups are way more about the owner and less about selecting from a list of first time suggested breeds. I believe people must be able to realistically and honestly assess their strength of character, patience and general personality. Some people are simply not cut out to own some breeds, no matter how much they try. And if they can't see this, here's hoping the breeder will spot it. A good breeder should fairly easily be able to assess if a prospective puppy person has got what it takes to successfully raise one of their puppies.

SAS, my apologies, I misread your post as saying your boy was 6 months and looking at doing it at 8 months. Seeing as he basically only has filling out type development to go, not bones and joints, I doubt you'll see a major difference if you do it at 18 months as opposed to 2 years. And whatever you lose ie head and cheek fill, even muscle around the legs etc will all return once the implant wears off.

And there's where the dilemma's begin, there are plenty of examples of dogs that have matured lovely de-sexed before final maturity. Wow, OK, I've yet to see one.

Sounds like you are doing a pretty good job so far LL. You didn't mention any play time. As well as all the training are you remembering to enjoy your puppy with lots of games and play time for both of you? Play can be way less structured than training, and eventually built into your training as a reward. Also a good way to start teaching puppy to have an "off switch" Enjoy, Lagottos are beautiful :)

Regarding development, the Suprelorin alters this similarly to surgical castration. And don't waste our time asking a vet cause it seems to be yet another one of those areas they are denial has any physical affect at all... doesn't fall within the realms of diagnostics and medications... I apologise, I shouldn't have a vet bash

Ah, thought that may have been the case... sounds your trainer wants you to raise your dog how she raises hers. Her goals are very different to yours. She is training and competing in specific disciplines where it can be advantageous to structure raising your dog a tad differently to the average pet person. Furthermore she may be terrific at training her own dogs (I don't know) but sounds like she can't differentiate between her goals and her clients' goals, which in turn means that she is possibly not good at training people. Training dogs and training people to train dogs are two totally different skills. Relax and breathe, you're doing fine. Enjoy your dog and don't get too caught up in other peoples' opinions... cause hey, we've all got one :D

I am a firm believer that owners giving their dogs 24/7 access to them are doing their dogs a great disservice. Sounds like you are mixing everything up very well for your dog. Just make sure he's not getting too much walking at his age... everything else seems as good as if not better than most of the pets dogs that I know of. Your trainer sounds like a knob, unless he misunderstood what you are aiming for with your dog or interpretation/communication has fallen down somewhere.

Yup :) Quadruple yep!!! :D

He will not mature to have the same head in terms of breadth, fill and testosterone based muscle (which is largely what gives a dog its "boofy look" because he was desexed prior to reaching sexual maturity. His face and skull will still age and mature, he won't always look like a puppy, but he will appear to have a longer muzzle to skull ratio and probably slightly more loose skin (wet) around the cheeks as these will not fill out. Yes, of course you'll love him just the same :) and there is nothing wrong with wanting to know if your lad will end up looking the same as he would have if he was left entire into sexual maturity. On the upside, more often than not, dogs that are desexed once sexual maturity has been reached, although there finished skull will be more developed than their early desexed counterpart, will still lose their testosterone based muscle around their head within months of being desexed no matter how late you desex them. This is particularly more noticeable in larger breeds. Another upside is the average pet owner, unless they are very used to studying dog anatomy, are not likely to even notice these differences because they may not be significant enough to spot.