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I've got a Vegas daughter from Schaeferhund, her and her sister have both been through their xrays with excellent scores. Have a look at this page http://schaeferhundkennels.com/xilly/xilly.html to see Questa and Quanta - you will notice their mother is quite pale but the girls have stayed well coloured. Its not a recent photo of Questa, but Quanta's is up to date

I did this the first few times I entered dogs in other names, and got one envelope sent back with the extras inside it! Would be great if there was a 'rule' book for these and other such tricky issues. Seems like there are some things which are expected to be common knowledge, and its not nice being in trouble when you just simply didn't know.

I had a TCI done with fresh semen for one of my bitches who was later in her season than expected, when we couldn't get a mating. It was done at Monash. Didn't work for us unfortunately, but I've heard of several other breeders who've had success (although also with fresh not frozen)

GSD

Cruising Caninies trailers are great We recently borrowed a Somerset trailer from a friend for an interstate trip and I was very impressed with it too - they'll be another company I'll look in to when its time for me to upgrade

The spirals are a pain to get on, but they're good once they are - be careful of a sharp end sticking out though. If you plan on using the panels in different arrangements, zip ties are easier because they only take a second to cut off and redo.

Drive straight through and up the main drag, don't turn off anywhere until you get to the lights on Sturt and Pleasant Sts. There is a servo on the left hand side at the lights, turn left there and it's on the 3rd roundabout on the right hand side. Or, turn left at the lights once you're in Ballarat and Hungry Jacks is on the opposite right corner (Barkley St - signs to Sovereign Hill etc) - continue straight all the way though the roundabouts and lights until you come to a t-intersection. From there the grounds are basically directly opposite and you can either turn left and then right at the roundabout to park out the front, or go straight ahead to park in the car park behind.

Craigieburn does, but not very close to Devon Meadows

Let her watch you pack everything away too. Earlier in the year my bitch lost her singleton pup at 4 days old and was very distressed. I shut the door where the whelping set up was and didn't let her in - I needed a couple of days before I was ready to pack it all up too. She took every opportunity to try to get into the room. Once she thoroughly explored the room and watched me put everything away, she turned the corner and got better and better

This is an excellent book and one I plan on recommending to my puppy buyers in the future. Its free shipping at the moment so the perfect time to buy it GSDGirl

I got some from Clean Run when they were free postage, they're fantastic!

GSDs are renowned for being vocal ;) Lots of noisy years ahead to look forward to

That is the strangest puppy diet I've heard of!

I was in the Athletes Foot on the weekend being fitted for shoes when in the middle of conversation, the lady helping me said "Jack Russell" I said "Pardon?" and she asked me if I had a Jack Russell because apparently I had white hairs on my socks They were actually tan GSD hairs but still, that was my crazy dog lady moment!

Neil Maurer at Lal Lal is great

Just remember that these styles will stop your dog climbing through but are not a safety barrier and are next to useless in an accident. I agree - absolutely useless in an accident. I'd go as far as to say absolutely useless full stop, my dogs knocked it down easily and could push the ends in to climb past.

I've got one the same as this for sale http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Petzone-Heat-Mat-Pet-Heated-Dog-Cat-Heating-Pad-Lg-/290562654697 Used only for a few hours, so its as new.

My GSD bitch gets it too

What is 'cat mince'? Is that canned cat food or minced meat of some variety? Perhaps its roo, which is very lean and wouldn't be helping to put weight on the dog

I used it for a bitch who had a singleton puppy, but at the time could only get it in seed form from the health food shop (they said it loses goodness quickly once powdered). I had to make it up like a tea and pour it over her food, but it definitely worked and helped.

Thanks very much

Bump!