The Ark

Have fun, southerners! :D Dragon & Tally (and Vivi, of course) will have a bowl of goodies in your honour. Lots of photos please

What a breath of fresh air, Wuffles! I agree - the public seems to have very little idea of any except the most common of purebreds. At a show on Saturday I had 3 separate groups of people ask what crossbreeds my Aussie Shepherds were. And as a whole I do think the public view purebred dog breeders and those who show their dogs as elitist snobs! We do very little to combat that point of view when we tell people to get their kids away from the dogs at shows. I totally agree that purebred breeders (me included!) should make more of an effort to get out to the "Doggy Day Out" type public displays. The dogs that are most likely to be on display at these events are rescued crossbred muttleys (and I rescue, so I'm not knocking them as they need the exposure too) - but that is reinforcing the availability of these pooches and their suitability as family pets, so why wouldn't a family then go out looking for such a cross? Did they pass a stand extolling the virtues of Aussie Shepherds or Havanese (for those wanting pretty, small fluffies)? No they didn't, so they are none the wiser as to the existence of perfectly suitable purebreds. At these events we could have our sociable, friendly purebreds working the crowd where (well-behaved) kids could give them a cuddle without being warned that they might mess their coat up. We need to show that we ourselves are "members of the public", and that a lot of our "elite" purebreds actually end up in pet homes because a well-conformed, sound, beautiful example of a breed can give cuddles and kisses and love as good as the next dog in a family situation. At these events we can also present the evidence that shows our dogs are well-cared for, and that we do have health tests in place to ensure the wellbeing of any dogs that we breed. Tell people how to ensure that the breeder they choose is an ethical (not just registered) breeder - what questions do they need to ask, what do they need to see, etc, etc. And you are also correct about (some) vets, Wuffles. Every time I take a new dog to my vet they ask "are you going to breed it?". And when I took a crossbred rescue dog to another vet - this dog is the worst put-together dog I've ever seen - the vet nurse was convinced that it was from a litter she had bred 9 years ago, and even proudly showed me photos of its possible sibling. Did she do any health tests on the mutts she put together? No. Is she communicating with pet owners on a day-to-day basis with the potential to influence their decisions to desex or not desex? Yes, she is. Scary, isn't it! And they always have "puppies for sale" notices around their front counters - usually bc x kelpies or wolfhound x mastiffs or the like. Maybe they could start refusing to put these notices up unless the parents of these litters have had health tests relevant to their breeds (even if they are crossbreeds....).

Nawww - what happened to the Afghachen? That might be a good summer clip!

Here are some of my lovely, clever greyhound, Colour. All brains and no beauty....... or is it the other way around? (Just kidding - she's beautiful and smart!) and just to show that one wasn't a fluke: and honestly, she'd forget her head if it wasn't screwed on....

I love the first one because you can't see his real ears at all - great photo!

I just wanted to post a little tribute to my Mum's foxie x boy, Jade, who was laid to rest yesterday. Jade was a "Doggie Rescue" boy who came to live with us about 8 years ago. He had a funny little face and long legs with a spotty foxie body. He was the ultimate escape artist, and after many, many adventures he went to live with my parents whose yard is (almost) escape-proof. He lived out his life in luxury there with his other rescue pal, Seymore. Over the past year or so Jade started to go downhill with a tentative diagnosis of pancreatitis. He was also deaf. His quality of life still seemed good with some management, so Jade went on - until this week, when it became obvious to my Mum that he was suffering, and so she did the right thing for Jade and let him go. RIP funny little Jade. You will be missed, sweet boy.

Hi teekay Jenna has a lot of Maremma in her. 20kg is not too small at all. Mal Boltons bitch was way below the standard size for a Maremma but still made Australian Champion. I also have a puppyboy just a fraction under size. Winja, by the way, is the the minimum size for a male. :D I wouldn't like to see 20kg being an acceptable weight for Maremmas. They are supposed to be capable of guarding livestock and "dispatching" foxes and the like if need be - that gets a bit tricky if you only weigh 20kg.

I've had my OKS trolley for 12 months now and love it. I can imagine that one with big inflatable tyres as mentioned above somewhere would be great, but the normal ones are fine for most places you need to push them around showgrounds.

He's beautiful!! And has coat! My poor girl is naked at the moment and is all legs and wiggles.

I thought you were supposed to put it directly where it could be absorbed without food? I'm just wondering if we need to know a bit more about rescue remedy including a real per kg safe dose rate - I used some with my mini pinscher at a show a couple of weeks ago because we had a bitch on heat and he was out of his mind. It seemed to calm him alright - to the point where both his (normally erect) ears drooped completely and he could hardly keep his eyes open. He slept in a crate in my room for the first time ever because I was so worried about him. And he only had a "couple" of drops on his tongue. The rescue remedy was the only "out of the ordinary" thing that my boy was exposed to that day, and I can't say for certain that it caused that reaction but I won't be brave enough to try it again on him. I'm also aware of someone else who used it on the weekend and had a very strange reaction from their dog - maybe there are cases where it shouldn't be used? If anyone is aware of possible contraindications/problems it would be good to be aware of them.

Very cute!

Gorgeous girl. ;)

It's an Australian site and it says that Australian Shepherds come in two sizes - standard and miniature! :D And apparently mini pinschers don't come in red (very common), but do come in chocolate (rare) and blue (extremely rare!!)! I heart my dogs 85% somehow, and I don't use yearly heartworm injections.

I think you're right, Aidan. I'm pretty sure there is nothing "paranormal" in Cesar's notion of energy - it is purely and simply the way a living thing "is", ie. the way it carries itself, sees itself in relation to its environment etc.

Thanks guys - all is clear now.

This has always confused me.... why do some people have LGDs to protect alpaca flocks, when alpacas themselves are often suggested as her protectors? (Edited to "LGDs" instead of LSDs :D )

Hi Leanne, We attend Maitland Dog Obedience Club which trains at Largs Oval on Sunday mornings. They use positive reinforcement (but not clicker training), no food, and are definitely interested in supporting members who wish to trial - that is their main focus. They are very big on recognising members' achievements in the dog world whether they be in obedience trials, showing, gundog trials, agility - whatever! They are a very supportive bunch! :D We've been attending for 2 years now and love it! They also have Wednesday night sessions available for people who are actively trialling, but that is by invitation only so that the groups remain small and very focussed.

Thanks for the info. I will definitely be following his progress with great interest!! Also, while I have a Kelpie expert in the room - do you know when Kelpie's ears are supposed to go 'up'? Hoover's 4months plus now and for a while it looked as though his left ear was On The Rise but it has sunk down again I'm not fussed because I love his ears whether up or down, but I was just curious. My Jasper's ears didnt go up until well into 4 months... but then again, because he was a show dog, he had a little help with some tape. It can depend on the size of the ear too... most of my dog's ears are up by 8 weeks, but those with the big 'uns can take a while... Seems the working dog's ears are getting bigger and bigger ! All the better to hear you with! I don't have kelpies but have had a couple in the past, and was interested to read on here that they can have white markings. I have been guilty of assuming that those with white markings must have been crossed with a BC or something similar. Silly me. Can I just ask for interest's sake - how many show kelpies also work or do herding/agility etc? I have Aussie Shepherds, and I know that a lot of these compete in several disciplines - eg. showing & obedience/agility/herding/endurance. Is it the same with kelpies?

Great statement....I agree. Yes, it is a great statement and I totally agree with it in essense....however it does bother me, (and I'm sure this bothers all breeders) that this also means that the greater majority of YOUR breed is out there in the community having been bred by BYB, Puppy Millers and those that do no health checks and do nothing to improve the breed or produce a quality representation of YOUR breed. But I'm not really sure if anything can be done about this under the current climate. What are you talking about??? My breed only has 3-5 puppies of which I keep at least 2 to run on so maybe 3 are sold as pets if lucky. How can you say this when you bred the whole litter for pets....how many were in the litter???? I did not breed the whole litter for pets. My hope was to have something good enough to keep, but that is not always the case is it? I have retained a bitch that I have high hopes for but cannot keep all five bitches. My hopes for the remaining pups in the litter was for them to also be sound healthy puppies that would be placed in Pet homes. With a popular breed like Cavaliers there is a huge BYB market and they are always seen in Pet Shop Windows, usually poor examples of the breed to boot. THAT is what I am talking about! Therefore, I don't see what your problem is with producing a litter of pups, from which I intended to keep one bitch, and any other pups I hoped to be healthy, quality puppies for the general Public to own. This just sounds like a misunderstanding. You said originally that you bred the litter just for pets, but later clarified that with your last post above. And I understand that you would rather see the general public with great examples of the breed rather than the substandard BYB pups that are often seen in pet shops etc. I think we'd all like to see that!

I am amazed the lengths people will go to in order to excuse a dog biting someone! Sorry, but it sounds like the jogger gave the dog a reasonable amount of room (according to the OP, and I realise this is hearsay) and I really think the person responsible is the one holding the leash (and at least it was ON a leash, thank goodness). If the jogger ran up behind it and kicked it in the arse, then maybe it would have a reason to bite but if it is so nervous that it would not only lunge but remove flesh from a passerby it should not be in public unless it is wearing a muzzle. I would not accept my dogs biting ANYONE when out for a walk. We are trying to convince the public that dog owners are responsible citizens and that we should be able to enjoy more freedom in more places with our well-trained companions - and then some moron lets their dog take a chunk out of a jogger. FFS, control your dogs or keep them at home and let the rest of us have a chance to convince people that dogs can be valuable members of society!

I know exactly what you mean!!!! Most of my shows there have only been one or two dogs there... so when there are a few dogs I get completely lost! 10 months in I'm starting to get a clue... although you should have seen me at the Varieties of Bichon Speciality when Lola won BIS in the Open show... and on top of having to work out when to go in or not I had to work out when to have my photo taken and ended up never in the right place... embarrassing... but anyway Congrats on Lola's win, that must have been so exciting I think it is going to take me a lot longer than 10 months to get it all worked out :p In fact I can see myself in 10 years still with no clue what I'm doing You'll get some idea way sooner than that, Gumnut! Even if you don't try, it kind of seeps into you somehow.... (says she who regularly misses taking dogs back in for their respective classes in group because she isn't paying attention.... :D ).

a neo baby i need to get myself back into the ring! I'd even get to sit in awe of your baby being in your ring! haha, definately a motivator! Where are you located? There is also show training at raymond terrace.....but I would reccomend hills over it. Hello Jessm i live at rutherford, i may try and get to hills for training next week tuesday. Raymond terrace would be better but couldnt get any info and was told they dont do it?? Where are you located? Rain, I'd go the bit further and do the Hillsborough training - it's worth the drive. I have gone in from Raymond Terrace in the past (can't now because the kids have swimming lessons on Tuesdays).

We won a raffle at our obedience club a month or so back, and I finally got around to taking the plastic off it. There is a packet of brightly-coloured reconstituted rawhide lattice-type blocks which I was going to throw in the bin because I figured anything that colour couldn't be good news. I just read the back of the label to see if it is imported or not (and it is a Chinese product) and the caution on the back says: "For chew and play only (not a food product). Remove if your dog tries to bite off or swallow pieces or chunks off this porduct [their spelling, not mine]." Hmmm, not sure many dogs would "play" with or "chew" a crumbly rawhide product without ingesting any? Anyway - in the bin it goes!

Thank goodness that's over and done with, then. Now let Tom get on with what he does best.

Yeh I was talking to Deb bout morriset i'd love to go but I have to talk to work about seeing if I can have it off. Heres too hoping. Just looked at the nov gazette but and im gonn def enter the arvo shows at hills. the fri and sat, so if i don't see youse before then i will be there! where is buladelah? haha. What dates are those hills ones? Im not sure but mum and I are hoping to do mostly away shows in november unfortunately! I think they may be mid-January shows?