ozjen

While I would be concerned about this dog roaming the street, if I could not take it immediately to a shelter I would not pick it up. Why put your own dogs at risk from a strange dog, you don't know if it is carrying disease or how stable it is around other dogs and people. If you pick it up there is no guarentee a shelter in your area has room for it especially being a large dog and then you are faced with having to hold onto it yourself or turn it loose back into the street. I use to always be picking up strays but not any more, my pets are too important to me to put them at risk and I have beeen faced with not being able to find a shelter to take a stray. I'll check a dog for tags in the hope of being able to contact an owner, I'll knock on doors in the area or if available I'll call a ranger but none will come home with me. It is hard to leave them but my own come first. I guess the only exception to this would be in a situation where the dog was at an immediate risk to itself or people ie on a busy roadway, I think I would have to pick it up but I wouldn't be happy about doing it.

The best success is CHILLED SEMEN. Yes, the success rate for Chilled is better than for fresh A.I.'s. Are you in Perth? If yes and if you want some more info on this, go talk to Steve Metcalf at Applecross. When you do, make sure you have a clear head, as he talks very fast, gives a lot of info in a short time - it's a bit like a mini lecture on fast forward but the info you get is excellent. He has done my one attempt at an A.I. with frozen, imported semen which produced 9 pups. He also gave me a lot of info before I started my venture with importing semen from Europe. I took his advice and did what he told me to: Make sure you get an entire 'take' not a 'mating' calculated by someone else Make sure you OWN the entire take - IN YOUR NAME - no contracts re paperwork to be supplied once you've done the A.I. (apparently causes no end of troubles) The Vet who collects and freezes is very, very important and after a long search I was only able to find one in the entire region, Belgium, Holland, Germany and the north of France. You need someone who understands the quarantine issues related to Australia and the paperwork that goes with it (most universities are totally useless ! ! because they want to use you as a teaching project and won't do the paperwork). I ended up looking for someone who had collected, frozen and exported semen to Australia producing life pups. One of your biggest problems will be to get the stud dog owner interested in helping you out. (mine had to travel from Germany and Belgium to Holland 3 times) They need to take the dog to the collecting vet at least 2 or 3 times (possibly a vet at considerable distance from where they live). While that is going on (30 days), they cannot use the dog to stud. Then they need to help with paperwork. I found that making contact and friendships with breeders overseas helps. USE A SEMEN IMPORTER TO DO THE IMPORTATION FOR YOU - don't try to 'clear' it yourself. You can import a life dog no problems but semen needs to be done by an expert. As they money? Start saving wheel barrows full. You need to pay for the collection and freezing, health clearances, bloodtests and paperwork. A stud fee or whatever your financial arrangements are with the stud owner but your biggest expense is the shipping of the semen. Having said all this - I still think it is the future of any breed that does not have plenty of line diversity in Australia (probably most breeds I would say). Sorry re typo's - I wrote this post in a hurry - apologies Thanks Alenkit, at this stage importing from overseas is still a pipe dream, but the eastern states option is probabaly likely. Just having touble deciding the best way to go, I know I can get frozen and have it handy when my bitch comes in where as chilled would require more planning with the timing of getting it across to Perth. Similar problem getting her to the male. My organizational skills need some honing. :cool: Might have to visit Steve and have a chat.

Yep it sucked because I could have gone in my sisters car but took the extra vehicle so this person didn't miss out. Still, one of lifes lessons learnt. We still had a great time, just mean't that my bills had to be paid in installments for awhile as I had to dip into my emergency funds and use some of my rates money. I'd always wanted to drive across Australia though, and also try showing in another state so I wouldn't have missed out on that part of the trip and the other ladies more than made up for the one.

If your planning on sharing costs with others I'd advise getting money upfront. Did a trip over east with some friends and took the extra vehicle so that another so called friend could come. We had planned out the costs for all of us well before and this person had none of the vehicle prep costs or camping equipment costs to worry about. Anyway three quarters of the way across Australia she anounced she had no more money. The rest of us who were all travellling on a tight budget where left with her share of the costs including camping and food for the three weeks we were away and pre booked accomadation on the way back. To top it of she told everyoneat the dog shows and camp a bunch of lies about us and then disappeared on the last day leaving us a note to say that she had got a lift to Melbourne and was flying home. Also mean't that one driver (me) had to drive home across Australia without a co driver and had the full petrol costs. She was the only one in the group that didn't help out around camp too, never cooked or made a cuppa for anyone just turned up for meals and then tried to dissappear so she wouldn't have to do dishes. Plus often we had to toilet her dog as she would go off and leave him penned up at camp and he would be barking to get out. Luckily the rest of the group were great people and we had a fantastic time regardless of this person. Do wish though that my parents hadn't brought me up quiet so well, because she deserved to be left on the side of the road, but I wouldn't have done that to her dog. :cool:

Got a great set of scales for weighing litters and dog under 20Kg because a DOL'er posted about them on Ebay, it took some time but was a great bargin. Also love peoples recomendations for books, training equipment, toys etc. Even better than the products I've found through this site is the amount of information and knowledge that is shared on it, it's priceless.

Who said anything about them needing to be any good? I'll never get there at that rate Maybe next year I will entertain the idea of a camping weekend with the dogs in Geraldton. Keep your calendar open Amy and keep the training up, you're coming with The Geraldton show/trails can be alot of fun so it is definaitly worth considering and camping is availablle on the grounds for a few dollars so makes for a very relaxed weekend with like minded people. I use to go all the time, but petrol costs are a big killer these days as I usually use about two tanks of fuel with the van. One of Jenna's babies (well not still a baby) lives up there so it use to be good to catch up with her and her owners while I was there especially as she was one of the 2 that I was tossing up about keeping.

While having dog beaches is great I don't like that it is at the expense of others loosing their recreational spot. Horse owners and kitesurfers have a right to beach areas as well regardles of wether they are in a minority of not. If we want non dog owners to be considerate of our needs then we have to display the same consideration to their needs. Its not like we don't already have a number of dog beaches to choose from. Yes more would be nice but not if it means another group looses theirs.

St Francis of Assisi Thankyou! Now why couldn't I remember that?

I'm so sorry for you and your families loss, my thoughts are with you.

Furbbles(furballs) Farm Furhaven Farm Could also name it after the patron saint of animals, sorry can't think of the name of this saint. Shangra-la Lovefurlife Farm (might be too much of a mouthful)

Poor little baby, glad it was no worse and I hope she makes an excellent recovery. I bet the owners are glad they got their pup from someone with pet insurance to cover their pups.

A very good question to ask, but is it really any different to shaving a dogs coat or poodle cuts where alot of trimming and hairspray goes into the end product. A good groomer can make a dog with faults look great in the ring (except for those breeds that have insufficient hair to do so ) I know judges should still be able to pick up on what's underneath but this isn't always the case. I think it comes down to wanting to display the dog at its best in the ring. If a dog has a genetic problem with its ears then taping and glueing wont correct it sufficiently. I believe that the taping and glueing is more about controling the ears during teething when the ears can go rather wayward and as such go out of wack as the ear base is strengthening at this stage in life. This is not a hit out at any breed, I'm only using the Poodle as an example as it is a breed that gets alot of sculpturing and I'm not sure how else to express what I mean. All dogs in the ring get an element of false aid be it ear gluing, chalking, haispray, clipping or trimming, sheening the coat, groooming to hide faults or feeding supplements to improve coat etc. With breeds that are required to be solid with muscle they are not born that way but exercised to build the muscle, is that really any different, you are still moulding the animal to suit the ring.

I'm no expert but have read that dogs of this age that suddenly change temperment wise can be having thyroid issues, but hopefully your vet will check this out. If its not a health issue has your dog had any runins with your child lately? If the child has accidently hurt the dog the dog might be defensive. Was there anything about that the dog might have wanted to protect? Food, toy ect, sometimes it might be something that the human hasn't seen because it is under something but the dog knows its there. Hope you can work it out and feel safe to have your dog and child (with adult) in the same room again.

Worst of all is that they don't live forever, and it hurts so much to say goodbye and then live with that empty spot in your heart that was their spot. Others come along and fill their own spot in your heart but they never fill anothers spot. I still shed tears when I think or talk about those furkids that have already passed, I can only hope that one day I will be reunited with them all . Other than that I've had my share of bruises(some big ones from biking), fat lips and the odd black eye. I also have a couple of scars where I have coped being caught by a canine (accidently) while wrestling with my dogs. We like to roughhouse.

Gives new meaning to having a spring in his step. Looks like the boxer was enjoying itself and getting well exercised. I think my girl would like one of these as she loves to jump between beds like a kid when in the spare room.

With a son who is a keen fisherman, I always say anything he doesn't want or use I want although like you I was abit unsure of wether to remove scales, sharp fins etc. In the end I did remove scales and sharp fins.

Thanks Amiepie, doesn't look like I have yet so that would be great.

When I inquired about frozen semen storage at Kenwick it was about $14 a month which I though was quiet reasonable at the time but sounds like it might be a bit higher than most. As I am thinking of using frozen semen for the first time this is a very interesting thread. Who do you guys think is the best at insemenation in WA and what is the average price range and success rate? I do prefer natural but with the male I'm considering at the other end of Australia I do worry about my bitch getting stressed by a plane ride and truth be known I don't like being separated from her. Also she doesn't follow any sort of a pattern with her seasons to plan ahead. Last litter 3 years ago, 1 mating very late in her season, 8 pups. Last season, an unexpected one right at Christmas she peaked as day 6. Would also be interested to know what is involved with getting semen from overseas and average cost of doing this, not including the cost of the semen itself. This one is still a pipe dream at the moment, but I'm still interested.

Had to laugh at this thread, especially the number of people that use quick, quick as their command. Now I really want to know how many of those doggies got toilet trained in the Winter where owners didn't want to hand around in the cold. :D My command is a boring "pee,pee" or "two,twos" although if she's being fussy I will speed her up with "last chance" which usually stops her wasting any more time. My sister uses "sniffy, sniff" on her dogs.

Good choice, pretty sure we are in that one too, unless I forgot to enter :D .

Have you done Herding yet? :D :D Had a couple of goes at it on and off but the distance and cost are a problem for me especially when I can't do much training from home and on top of the other dog costs. Still hope to do it one day but with the cost of everything going up and the wages not going up at the same rate it seems to be getting further out of my reach. Need to win lotto or find a rich husband. Know any nice fellows that wouldn't be upset with the amount of time I like to spend doing dog activities. Doesn't have to be super rich just semi.

Hehe, why not really mix it up and do tracking too! Hey, are you going to enter Kyzar in the state agility trial 16/17 April?

Yep it can be abit of a juggling act can't it. I'm not that fussed about missing obedience but will also have Jenna's season to work around and am hoping to breed her. At least tracking is mild enough to do while she is early in her pregnancy. Still waiting for a Lincon cuddle, are you going to the DOL picnic?

Emailed Sue with regard to the tracking and while pups can't compete in trials till 6months they are more than welcome to train. Early training is more a game of hide and seek so not too hard for playful pups and early trials are only over 400m so 6month olds and oldish dogs could handle this. Sue started one of her dogs at 8weeks. There is no need to pre book as they will have plenty of tracking trainers available at the intro, I did mention that we are discussing it on DOL and there could be a few of us turn up. Looking at the schedule for Agility for April I might have a problem fitting in the tracking (I need longer weekends), wish agility stuck to evening trials abit longer. Will have to see how the intro goes, perhaps it will be okay to miss a couple of classes at the start (sorry Rubystar) if I do scent work at home :D , but still need to learn things like how to handle the lead, reading alone just won't work. Really want to do it but also really want Jenna to continue her Agility. Trouble is I'm greedy, I WANT IT ALL!!! :D

Will Giz be there then? Amypie and Rubystar- Just got off the phone to instructor, will most likely be next Friday for measurments. Also Amypie I think you should still enter, put Kyzers approx height and a note that he is being measured ASAP. Dogs can jump up a class but not down one so if he is borderline I would overestimate. I think you will find they don't mind esp if he is entered as NFC. I did think about it after reading about the Paps with tracking titles in the eastern states, but given that he is comming up 14 and has a bad heart (although you wouldn't think so as it doesn't slow him down these days) I might be better sticking to Jenna. Besides some dogs might think he's a bunny and eat him. With regard to measurments on entries for the Nationals contact Di Rose (will be listed in the Canine News) for advise, she is the one recieving the entries and will be able to let you know.