The Ark

I've had very positive experiences with registered breeders and have been astounded with the trust that some people are willing to show in an unknown like me - trust that I have been very grateful to have. I have always been upfront and honest and kept up good communication, and have been rewarded with some wonderful relationships.

KTB - Love the photos of Elbie with food on his nose!! I've wanted to do this with our guys but no-one has the hang of it yet. Stunning Ava as usual, Wuffles. :D

Thank you Kelly_Louise. I do love this little scrap of puppy. I did have a lady who was waiting to offer her a home, but I sent her an email explaining the situation and letting her know gently that Little Bear will be staying with me.

Wow! That's impressive

Hi Jed, She didn't specifically mention that, so I will ring and check.

Thanks KTB - she is valiant. I have high hopes for her. Here's a pic of her next to her "normal" sister, Tess. The difference is obvious, but I think they are both cute.

Thanks pers, that's what I'm hoping. I'm going to see what sort of physio/exercises/games might help strengthen her as she grows.

Well Little Bear saw the vet today, and the diagnosis (for now) is that she probably has some type of cerebral palsy. Her heat tilt, the fact that she has tremors which increase when she is excited (looking for food) or stressed (eg. at the vet), her wide stance and high-stepping erratic gait all point to some motor-neurological problem. She is otherwise healthy and developing at a reasonable rate (gaining weight, becoming more alert and interested in her surroundings, feeding reasonably well), so we are going to keep battling on. As long as this little girl seems happy and well I am going to keep fighting for her. I just hope she doesn't have any other health issues that will pop up along the way and decrease her quality of life. The vet gave me some Hills AD mushy food to help boost her nutritional intake, so we'll start a bit of that today. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I got up to watch television at about 1.30am. This disturbed Ginger and the puppies a bit, and Little Bear climbed out of bed, went to the toilet and then stood at the gate of her pen whinging for a feed (bottle). She had a good drink, then snuggled on my chest until it was time to go back to bed. She's a brave little girl. She's 4 weeks old today!

I know there is usually a reason, and if she had just faded away that would maybe have been okay, but she's just had such spunk since birth. I hope to find out that she is at least capable of leading a comfortable life because she has made it this far.

I have a litter of 3 min pin pups who are just about 4 weeks old. Puppy 1 and Puppy 3 are big, robust, healthy pups. Puppy 2 (Little Bear) was the runt, and 3 1/2 weeks on I am still bottle-feeding her. I would have given up on her had she shown any signs of giving up herself, but she is a little fighter. She opened her eyes and started walking at the same time as the other two, and is gaining weight slowly every day. Sometimes she is frustrating to bottle-feed as she just plays with the teat, but other times she sucks strongly and gets a big bellyful. I have noticed her feeding from her mum occasionally - she's just not persistent enough to get enough to live on that way. The main issue now is that she has a constant head tilt. Her head seems oversized because the rest of her is so tiny, and she seems to always hold her left ear noticeably lower than her right ear, and sometimes seems to circle around to her left when she is walking. She is generally quite frail, but shows such interest in life that I am not ready to throw the towel in yet. Has anyone experienced head tilt in tiny puppies? I've read a few threads about vestibular disease but they mostly seem to involved older dogs. I am planning to take her to my vet on Monday, just wanted to tap the DOL wisdom in the meantime.

Very nice, Sammie. Mine is not very professional, but is cute and fluffy!

Gayle she is beautiful.

I looked outside today to see my min pin, Chester, laying on top of our shadecloth-type pool cover. It sags just enough to give him a little "pool" of his own. He would lay there for long enough to cool off, then go and lay on the grass again.

I'm adding "Wish". Can we alter the thread so that it just updates the first post?

Supposedly she had about 130 dogs back then after that raid (according to a local ranger), so she's upped her numbers since then. What is she going to do with 130 dogs by February?

You could try sticking some feathers on it - she used to like the feel of those...... Seriously - I love watching every new video you put up, Wuffles. Your training is very inspiring.

I can see the logic in this, but it is hard to take that step and advertise in the very places where puppy farmers and other undesirables do. I guess it's a fear of not differentiating ourselves from them - but you're right. This is where many members of the public look (if they're not staring into a pet shop window) so maybe that is part of the solution. Having just looked through another thread by feistylady which kind of followed on from this one I can understand the frustration of the genuine puppy buyer who doesn't receive any acknowledgement of their enquiry. I am pretty sure I have never missed replying to an email - although as evidenced by this thread maybe it would be better if I didn't reply quite so promptly in some cases.

Great work, Bec. That is beautiful.

Yes that's right Esky.

Yes I might start saying that, Nekhbet. Good idea. At least you do get rid of the real idiots. And I know we have to trust some people, Wuffles, but some people just ooze authenticity and enthusiasm and you know in your heart they are the right home for a pup. It's just the frustration that gets to me. I know we shouldn't run other people down to make ourselves look good (one of my husband's favourite sayings) but it is just heartbreaking that there are so many uneducated people out there and they are allowed/enabled to buy puppies from any dodgy old breeder/pet shop. I do try to keep emotion out of my "education" talks....... I try to talk up the positives of buying a pup from a reputable breeder, but for yobbos like this there just isn't any justification for the ridiculous prices we apparently charge. While I understand your concern I don't think that comments like these help improve the reputation of breeders - in fact it sounds like you are just confirming the "all reputable breeders are elitist, money-hungry snobs". Surely polite positive education is the answer rather than insults - after all this is a public forum. Hello sparkycat, Thank you for your input, and I do agree that polite positive education is the way to go. I have calmed down and sent the person involved a rational explanation of my concerns, letting them know just how much my pups mean to me and offering them some things to consider when looking for their next pup. I also took Nekhbet's advice and advised them that my puppies would be desexed before leaving me. I am aware (and said this to the person) that "show breeders" still need pet puppy homes, and we like to guarantee our pet-puppy buyers the very best quality pups in terms of health and temperament. And that our puppies come with lifetime backup. Hopefully they will at least be a bit wiser in their search for a puppy.

There are some things that should be and are outside the restriction of trade laws. If we had open slather free trade on everything, w would have free trade on slaves. We obviously don't and shouldnt have that. The ethical question becomes should we have free trdvon all animals? I think not, some will disagree, but restriction of trade is a weak argument in trade of animals. Nicely put, Busterdog! I was trying to think of a way to word that myself and you hit the nail right on the head.

Mrs RB I'm sure that does happen, and I forgot to agree with that aspect in my earlier reply. Yes, I'm sure some people think that "registration papers" are the Companion Animal ones. I had my boss at work tell me once that they bought the "Australian Champion" Dingo X for his parents, and what an awesome dog it was. "Australian Champion" was mentioned 3 times in the conversation. :rolleyes: ;)

I can't wait until the min pins open their eyes. It makes such a difference to little puppy faces - you get to know the "puppy inside" then! :rolleyes:

Is it still a restriction of trade if it is legislated by government?

Yes I might start saying that, Nekhbet. Good idea. ;) At least you do get rid of the real idiots. And I know we have to trust some people, Wuffles, but some people just ooze authenticity and enthusiasm and you know in your heart they are the right home for a pup. ;) It's just the frustration that gets to me. I know we shouldn't run other people down to make ourselves look good (one of my husband's favourite sayings) but it is just heartbreaking that there are so many uneducated people out there and they are allowed/enabled to buy puppies from any dodgy old breeder/pet shop. I do try to keep emotion out of my "education" talks....... I try to talk up the positives of buying a pup from a reputable breeder, but for yobbos like this there just isn't any justification for the ridiculous prices we apparently charge. :rolleyes: