LizT

I think it goes back to the days when only the rich could afford to own a purebred registered dog. BYB and hobbyists would be able to sell, cross breed and off load puppies, without any huge amount of labelling about what they did or didn't do. If you could buy a more affordable purebred dog all the better. Health testing was at it's minimal with most good breeders going by eye and experience and a Vet was only required for vaccinations, desexing and if an animal were sick or injured beyond the capacity of home remedies or a wish to be spared from the shotgun. There were more than enough unwanted puppies being gladly given away for free for every man to be able to own some type of dog should he wish it. The surplus were quietly disposed of, no fuss was made about it, quickly despatched, easily replaced. Now with the ability to draw on more scientific health testing a definative line has been drawn between BYB and Purebred dog breeders. Combine this with a social concience and you will immediately get factions. Blaming purebred dog owners on the surplus today is about as logical as blaming Rescue groups for making it easy for people to offload their unwanted dogs with a lighter concience than in days gone by. Neither is that cut and dry.

Happy Birthday Coco darling. Glad you are feeling so much better.

I was okay until the point where the chain was cut off. From then on I was a mess. Yes, agree well done, focussed on marketing etc. etc. Sad thing is these dogs are out there everywhere. Why can't the brilliant spin doctors make the focus on treating your dog right in the first place??? Rather than the need to rescue so many dogs. Oh yes, of course, maybe no money in that. But there could be. A dog food company could sponsor responsible dog ownership. Where are the education videos of this type??

Thundercat you are an awesome person. Thank doG that you were on that bus that day. Ewww...peed on the couch huh? Not yet desexed. Sounds like Lochi might have been a forgotten in the backyard dog. It could well be he didn't have a warm place to sleep outdoors and maybe your care will help with his "condition". I'm not even going to bother with a tirade of what I think about his owners. Being dumped was the best thing that ever happened to this dog....up until he met you of course.

Oh is this the one you didn't hold out much hope for? :) Yep this was the one with the prog of 84 the day before she was mated, and she had the 3 25 min ties on consecutive days :D ... I was sooo hoping Mother Nature was going to take over, and it looks like she did ... See, nothing is for certain, Woohoo, glad it is a positive outcome.

Be glad she's not a horse! (11 months) :)

I try this with not much success.... at least my dogs don't yell "I'm about to" at me. :)

Congratulations Hotfurball/s :laugh: Rolf looks a darling. I think it wont be long before it will seem like he's always been there. :)

Issy, just be careful that in your desperation you are not trying too many different things in a short space of time. That certainly won't help him. Sometimes it can take a while for something to get out of a system and for the stomach flora to adjust to a new food. Trying him on different things can make it worse. That said, one of my Cavaliers full litter sister had terrible allergies and itchies. Her owner put her on Advance Sensitive and she did very well on that. She then tried her on Royal Canin Cavalier and she thrived on that with no itchies at all. :)

My OH has always said this and when I used to pick him up on it his reply was "I'd be better off at the vets"! And, recently at a horse show I was admiring a lovely horse going round and referred to it as 'him', as the horse passed closer by I corrected myself with "Oh no, it's a bitch". My daughter standing besides me laughed at me and said I spent too much time with the dogs. A woman nearby, connected to the rider said to us "Actually your mother is right, the mare is a BITCH". :laugh:

Indeed. I love happy endings. :)

That puppy is not 8 weeks old! It would be lucky to be three to four weeks. Look at it's ears.

I am surprised no one commented on the bit bolded above. How tiny? I would expect a 7 week old dog that matures to the size of a Cane Corso to be somewhere around 8-10kgs which is hardly tiny. Young yes, not fully vaccinated yes, but tiny, no. If the puppy is a lot smaller than that it may in fact be a lot younger than the supposed 7 weeks. Maybe it's a "relative tiny" as in it has that look of a vunerable infant despite being a big puppy!

Oh is this the one you didn't hold out much hope for? :)

Speak to the breeder, this test is something you can arrange together. Good Luck with whatever decision you make. It needs to be right for you and your family.

Does your dog like watching TV? Mine prefer video games! :D Personally I think watching other dogs on TV would set up an intruder alert barking spree! http://bigpondnews.com/articles/OddSpot/2012/05/16/TV_just_for_dogs_750753.html

+1 Awesome!

Yep, I ordered stuff Monday and it arrived today (Wednesday). (Not express post either.)

This happended to a maiden Maltese X bitch of mine who let a tiny kitten I received nurse on her. Despite eating solids the kitten latched on and within a few weeks the bitch had milk. The kitten was very young, (in hindsight probably only 5-6 weeks old) it's mother was a purebred Chinchilla and I think the owners were keen to get rid of the "mistakes". What a lovely Poodle family you have there Minigirl. Yes, I would agree any potential danger has now passed.

Bet that dog is worth a lot of dough! :laugh:

Why? The pup would have been fully weaned for weeks. Many bitches would be spending little time with pups of that age. The owner was trying to socialize the pup in the same manner many novice owners adopt. Calling him a moron is unfair. Seems to me some friendly advice was what was called for. Agree. More flies with honey than vinegar. And, truth be told good breeders are trying to solialise puppies at this age, although anyone with an ounce of sense would not be taking them to a dog park, still it would appear this owner is trying to socialise his new pup, jus unsure of the best way to goabout it is my guess. It's a tricky scenario, re vaccinations, I've always taken my 8 weeks pups to puppy school. I feel the benefits outweigh the risks and usually it is a controlled environment.

Hmmmm....and it seems any idiot can breed and sell any dog too.

You can order it online from Peperone. :)

Agree. Huge emphasis was put on "valuable goods"...if they were 5 1/2 week old mutts from a shelter at $150 each level of concern would/should be the same!

Good grief That takes the cake!