LizT

This is too important to fall on the shoulders of your lovely dog. Inform the police and possible they will direct you to some kind of Social Service people who might be able to explain to your dad that he is being taken advantage of. He may listen to them raher than family. Can your dad join a local community group that may give him the company and friendship he seems to be craving? He shouldn't have to "pay" to have friendly people to talk to. And as Nekbet says, LOCK the gate!

I had a singleton Cavalier last November. We spent a lot of time playing puppets with her and her "litter mates". My OH was the Puppet master with this and incited most games with her. Lots of bumping and jumping on etc. :laugh: I found her mother and the two other Cavalier girls also played well with her as she got older as they are a gentle breed.

Are you sure, Christina? This girl is a pig and eats her Black Hawk in seconds flat! I'll start giving her lunch too though, since she has only three and a bit weeks to go. Sure about the too fat to deliver bit ? Yes. With my own 3rd child I went from 7st 10lbs to 11 stone delivered in under an hour & got my figure back quickly with no special effort. Being pregnant really does make some so hungry. Its not greed, growing babes in your tum is hard work. Some will eat up to 3 times the normal diet & when feeding too. :) Hmmm....yes, I went from 60 kg to 83 kg with all three of my pregnancies. With the first I ate like there was no tomorrow. With the second I felt I should be more careful, ate well, exercised and still put on the same amount. Lost the weight easily breat feeding but did struggle a little with my third as I was 39 years old and it took a bit more effort to loose it. Certainly don't wish to deprive her or the pups. Just want to find that "balance". :)

Congratulations Mini Girl! WOW, that is a BIG bunch, you will have fun in about 4 weeks wont you! :laugh: Fluffy pups galore. :) I recently heard of a Cavalier that gave birth to 9 healthly pups. That's alot to fit in.

Well? What did it show????

Always seemed to have boys growing up. Probably because they were more obtainable and cheaper to desex (dads such a cheapskate :laugh: ). Oh, except for a mixed breed terrier bitch we had. I've always had male GSD's and would like to own a female one. Right now all the Cavaliers are girls, to make life easier, but I'd love a male someday, if I can make it workable and keep my sanity (if its' not too late for that already).

Are you sure, Christina? This girl is a pig and eats her Black Hawk in seconds flat! I'll start giving her lunch too though, since she has only three and a bit weeks to go.

I believe they can be registered on Limited Register. This was pointed out to me on the "White Boxer" thread a short time back.

Phew! Glad it worked out well. Healing vibes to poor Matilda.

Crissy is about 38 days pregnant with three pups shown on the scan this time. I have increased her meal to include a chicken wing in the morning, quite a large one for a little girl and ever so slightly upped her evening meal. She seems to be getting fat quickly, especially compared to when she was carrying only the one pup last time. :laugh: Obviously I don't want her fat so as to hinder her delivery, but she is constantly begging, whingeing, scrounging and searching for food. She's driving me nuts. Once the pups arrive I will have to shovell food into her like a steam engine. I thought she was bad last time but she seems even worse now.

Good Luck! :)

Congratulations Miss B and what a lovely family they are! :laugh:

Dog versus Chuck Testa! :laugh:

Got thinking and I couldn't see myself with any "droolers" :laugh: As much as I love their personalites!

Which is pretty much what I said above. What are they? Okay, so high on my list are dogs that have a good capacity to learn, lower on my list are those that are more, shall we say, "challenging" :laugh: . With everything in between, being decided in terms of it's needs and my ability to meet them, ie. current dog family, grooming, exercise, current work commitments etc. I tend to not enjoy "barker breeds" too much or those that are difficult to keep in a yard. Oh, and don't really want anything that is hard to house train (and I don't just mean toilet train but all the social 'house rules' too.) I can't see anything other than Cavaliers in the foreseeable future though, as I am not sure if there will be time for another beautiful GSD in my life when the current boy passes over. That said if a Rescue adult turned up that had lived in a house full of Cavaliers I'd take it in a heart beat. :D

Once apon a time I would have had an answer but nowadays it's more like "Breeds I would probably never own but still admire and Breeds I would love to own." :)

If you can only fit one large crate in your lounge clearly you will need it for the puppy. Just keep an eye on how the GSD deals with it. He could feel a little "put out" literally. Although the more time he is spending on his cushions helps, make him feel special with his new bedding arrangements and prasie him when he is on them. Also giving the crate a good scrub out to help remove his scent might help.

Yes, I have to admit the concept of putting a dog in a cage was alien to me years ago but I wouldn't be without my crates/cages now! They make life much easier in a multiple dog family and the girls love going in them. It's their refuge from when I'm ranting at the adult/kids :laugh: It's a "time out" for us and them. :) Great for youngies, when unable to keep an eye on them 100% and when I had two sick girls with a shocking case of Gastro a couple of years ago it saved my sanity as the poor babes were pooping liquid and had to be crated on newspaper and bottoms washed after each episode. Hope Piper is feeling well again soon.

Three of my dogs protect their crate and will carry on a treat (will bark and growl) if dogs walk past. They are quite happy if they have crate covers on and are tucked out of the way. Take them out and they are quite happy to ignore the same dog walking past. I think you need to look at canine behaviour before you judge a dog that is in a confined area with strange unknown dogs approaching their territory. These same dogs compete in flyball, one is a delta therapy dog- they are neutralised continually to as many stimuli as I can imagine but that doesn't mean that they aren't going to tell another dog to get out of their territory if it walks into it. We are putting dogs in a VERY artificial environment and putting extreme pressures on them. I don't mind dogs carrying on a treat- I do wonder why they are not covered and at the back of the gazebo rather than exposed out the front- but that is a human issue not a dog one. Mind you I also try not to take my dog too close to other dogs crated because that dog is in its 'safe place' and would probably like to have a nap without strange dogs walking past. Just an aside- Would you be happy to set up a bed and have a snooze in your PJs on the sidelines of a big football game and have people think they can bump and push into you and your bed? Guessing you might feel a little exposed and try to get people to give you a little space too.... Yes. A crate is a 'den' and the 'den' must be protected at all costs. They are wolves after all. But yes, agree, that if asked if one may pat the dog in question, the dog should be approachable if the owner has said yes. Nothing worse than being invited to pat a dog and have it growl and snap at you. Yes, this happened to me once years ago with an old ladies mini daxi. And back to the OP's original question. Nearby exhibitor might think she was looking out for her fellow exhibitors dog but she should have the whole story before snapping at someone who perhaps to her, appeared to be patting an unattended dog.

I believe it's the smartest breed followed by the Border Collie and then the GSD. :) It doesn't have to be kept in a frou frou clip either.

How horrible! Poor little one.

:laugh: Wow, I don't think I've even heard what an Iggy bark sounds like and I show in the Toy ring. Poor things but have been quite on edge.

It sounds to me like they are declaring the dog dangerous based on his breeding and using the actions of his parents as justification. They can't declare the dog dangerous based on its breeding. They can only declare it restricted for that reason. If they have decided to declare the dog dangerous, not restricted then the dog itself must have seriously attacked - its all there in the link to the act I posted. Yes, that is what I thought. So maybe the Ranger isn't too 'up' with what's what? You definitely need to find out what your dog is "alledged' to have done, which appears to be nothing. Then if the Ranger is saying it is based on what his parents have done you have those links to point out he is barking up the wrong tree. Leastways if he has got out and done something you should have had the alledged "event" pointed out to you.

It sounds to me like they are declaring the dog dangerous based on his breeding and using the actions of his parents as justification.

I'm beginning to wonder if these "sudden and unprovoked attacks" we hear of involving the APT has some connection to bad breeding of this "former" fighting dog? Just a thought. I mean with the breed having been driven underground, so to speak in recent years there is probably alot of dubious and ill advised dogs with very questionable temperaments being bred instead of openly breeding well adjusted animals in the hands of thoughtful and experienced breeders.