shortstep

Shiba's are hard to train and not for the faint of heart for even experienced dog people. Poodles would be sad if left out of all family activity in another room, in fact most of the breeds listed I think would be. Aussies are pretty full on, and the gun dogs have already been well discussed. I like the idea of a rescue dog that is beyond the puppy stage, as working 10 hours a day will make it difficult to raise a puppy. It might also be good to try out the rescue dog on a trial basis, to see if the dog works out as you expect and so on. It would also be a good message to teach your children, that dogs are not disposable and great thought needs to be taken prior to taking home a dog. Maybe speak to some resecue groups, discribe your life style, family and the time and activites you intend to send with the dog and see what dogs they have that they recommend?? All the best.

I believe kelpies also get HD. I was reading the HD stats in some of the european nordic countries where all dogs being bred must pass hip scoring first which is FCI A or B, FCI A is AVA 10 or less, B is 11-20. The C D E F affected rate on the keplies was running about 20% of dogs tested. These dogs are all direct decendents of Au imports, both working and show lines. Someone I know in Norway said the rate was high enough that some who started in the breed were now leaving it as too many dogs they kept could not be bred due to hip poor scores. So this might be something you want to look into. I also know of 3 kelpies that have HD (that friends own) and one of those also has Elbow HD and Dilution Alopecia. All of these are inherited disorders. One well know kennel of show dogs I know has also found HD in some of their dogs and is now screening for it.

Good on you for helping this mother and her pups. I agree with the above post, keep mom home, and worm the pups every 10-14 days and do try to get this done ASAP (worms will cause stomach upset, colic and loose stools). I start my pups on food at 3-4 weeks. I get at the grocery a box of infants rice cereal. I cook a small amount of dark meat chicken and mush it up. Mix up the cereal with warm water (not too thick the more water you use the more hydrated the pups will be which is good) and mix in a small amount of chicken. Put mom away so she does not eat it. I spread the mush on a big flat plate and sit on the floor with the babies. I put them on the edge of the plate, usually they will start right off licking it up, if not put a bit in their mouths. After they have finished let mom clean up the plate and the pups. I feed once the first day, 2 x's the second day and 3 times the 3rd day. If mom stops nursing I increase to 4 X a day on day 4. If they are not drinking well, I get rice milk and warm it slightly, they like this and it also has some nutritional value. Do not use cows milk. In about a week you can start them on your puppy biscuits. At first soak them in water to soften and mix a few in with the mush recipe above, slowly each meal add more biscuits and less mush and slowly stop soaking them. By 5 weeks they can be on dry biscuits, feed 3-4 times a day. You will need to look into how you can get them vaccinated when they are older (around 7 weeks, perhaps there is a visiting vet?

From the web, a vets comments. Delvosteron Injections. These are a type of hormone injection that control seasons well with very few problems. Bitches on routine injections are less likely to put on weight and can lose it if dieted. Springers and setters keep their fine coats and bitches are no more likely to leak urine than untreated dogs. It increases the incidence of Pyometras from roughly 17.2% in normal bitches to 17.4% in treated bitches, which, we feel, is basically negligible. If we decide to use the drug we need to give one injection to start with, repeated again in 3 months and again in 4 months and then she needs routine injections every 5 months. We recommend continuing the injections indefinitely, and we have certainly seen 13 year old dogs get pregnant if we stop them. We routinely send out reminder cards when the next injection is due and a further reminder a month later if we have not seen you. The disadvantages are that a few dogs develop false pregnancies a month or so after the injection and will have to have another injection then. Also we have known dogs to develop white patches or bald spots where the injections have been given. This is usually confined to whippets and greyhounds and in these breeds we often give the injection over the tummy. Unfortunately a few dogs find that the injection stings for a few minutes after it has been given and they get very worried about coming to the surgery. We recommend these injections in bitches where we decide that we want to prevent seasons but for some reason do not want to operate. Want to Breed later? We would strongly recommend that you do not use any form of drug to prevent seasons. We have seen a few occasions when bitches treated with any of the above drugs do not come back into season for years, and we know a number of breeders who feel that the injections cause a long term reduction in fertility. The manufacturers of Delvosteron have a lot of evidence to show that bitches do come back into season and usually conceive normally, but we feel that you are taking a risk and cannot recommend it.

I have had dog moms attempt to move their babies and the babies were not sick. It was always because they felt the pups were not safe. Make sure no other dogs can not get near the puppy room, I do not let them stand outside the door of the nursery either, if need be keep them outside or in the far end of the house. If you have visitors keep them away from the nursery area. Don't crowed her with a lot of people looking at the puppies all at one time. Draw the curtains in the room and keep the lights low. She needs a private and quite place, a place she feels no other dogs or strange people can get to her babies. This very protective period will last a couple of weeks. Usually by week 3 they start to relax and you can move the pups to more public areas for short periods of time, again keep the other dogs away. I handle my pups from birth several times a day and this is very important to do. Sit down on the foor next to the box. I sit with the mom and just coo at her and stroke her too and tell her how wonderful she is and stroke the puppies too while she watches me. Mom will soon relax and know you are not going to hurt the babies. At first I just hold them in my hands but low down and next to mom and the other pups. This holding them low is not for the pups it is to reassure mom I am not going to hurt them or take them away. Soon I am holding them in my hands just a little bit away from mom. After a few days she will be Ok with you hldoing the pups provided you do not move them out if her direct area. Hope this helps a little.

Hi Ravenau1, Anyone who writes a polite email to me, who gives some information about themselves and seems to be looking for a best friend, I respond to. Let me give you an example of a emails I will not respond to. Emails that would say, I am looking for a X colour bitch pup or adult to breed to my X coloured male, do you have any and how much, is their discount for no papers? Or... How much are your female puppies, are there any ready this weekend? Or...I see you have imported dog, I would like to buy this dog, how much? Or... The puppy on the Susie Page page, how much is it? Then I look at my web page counter and I see that this person sending me this email was only on my site less than 1 min, just long enough to find my email address. They did not look at the page on how I place my pups, they did not look at the parents, the health testing, breed information..all they found was my email. If they had looked around just a little they would have read I place all my pups on desex contract, I do not place pups based on the colour of their coat, that the average waiting time is 1 year, that owners are selected and make a reservation prior to the litter being bred, and so on. And the puppy on the Susie page, is Susie at 2 months old and the pic on the top of the page is also Susie at 10 years old and all the pics on that page are Susie...but that would have taken a moment to read. These folks are in a big hurry to buy a pup today, from anyone who will sell them one, with no conditions and as cheap as possible. I am not going to place a pup with them, nor am I going to waist my time trying to educate them. If someone spends a little time and sends a nice email, about themselves, their family, what they are looking for, the activities they like to do, then I always respond in kind. If I do not have a suitable pup I will refer them to others who may have and are reputable breeders. If I have one that might be of interest, then I send them a lot of information, including the contract which has the price and all conditions on it, and another 5-6 documents about the pup's family history, health tests and so on along with breed information. This should answer many of the question they might have about my dogs, and if they take the time to read it all they will be well educated on the breed and what to look for in a breeder..in my humble opinion. If they are then interested in the pup, then I have a million more questions I will ask and will also have to verify who they are. My goal is the best forever home for my pup and that means an owner who understands and wants what they are getting and is very happy with their pup, as a breeder it is my job to assure that is the outcome. This takes far more effort on both parties part, then me answering... how much.

I had to laugh about this topic. The animal rights folks want to make a law that you can not even advertize litter/puppies on line (remember the NSW law that was defeated recently). Now some people are complaining that not all breeders who have a web site have a price listed for any pup they might have available or even pups they might breed in the future. Talk about conflicting public demands and expectations. Yet again breeders can not win for loosing. I would never put a price on my web site. Nor do I normally resond to introduction emails that ask how much. My choice.

Oh my goodness, I don't check in often, this is just terriable. I just don't know what to say. Poor Jed. Candles will be lite and prayers said.

Maybe he read the fine print of his new PETA Australia membership and suddenly realize the bitzer had to go?

http://blogs.abc.net.au/radionational/2010...road-again.html

I wonder if redirect means the same thing to me as it does to you. I think what you are talking about is what I call flank commands. Sheep are 20 feet away and you a call flank clockwise, then you stop the dog and call a flank counter clockwise?? Redirects are different. Here is a example. Sheep set out at 300 meters in front of the handler, behind the handler are more sheep set out 100 meters behind. You send the dog to the first flock at 300 meters, half way to the sheep at 150 meters you stop the dog, call a look back and redirect them to the other flock behind you. Dog is redirected to another location. Another example. Paddock is an L shape. On a blind set out, sheep 300 meters straight up, then 200 meters to the left, row of trees hedge fence to the left between handler and sheep blocking the view and pathway. Dog sent to the right side of the paddock, up to about 300 meters, sheep now in view of dog to the left, then flanked again, to head dog to the left, again on the right side of the sheep 200 meters to find the sheep. Outrun is in 2 parts, up the field, then left across the field, return would follow the same route back, 200 meter cross drive, 300 meters fetch down the field to the handler. Dog is sent to one location and then redirected to a different location. I can think of 3 reasons right off an inexperienced young dog would jump a fence to get to nearby sheep. 1. Does not understand it is supoose to only work the sheep it is directed at, so trys to gather all sheep in the general area. 2. Wants to work sheep, does not want to work them under the control of the handler, so dog exits the pen with the handler and goes for the sheep in the other pen withno handler. 3. Dog wants to work but feels too much pressure in the pen it is in, either caused by fences and sheep, or by handler, so jumps out to get away from perssure but still looks for other sheep. In either case, solid training on building directional commands, working different flocks in same area, learning to shed sheep and take control of only the sheep the handler wants will all help. And certainly as you mention, stops and recalls of those are lacking. Once these skills are built, the dog will be more confident, know where it is supose to be and will have a better realtionship with the handler. Old saying, 'When you have a young dog that wants to do too much, give it too much to do'. Another words, make the tasks more complex and more rewarding.

Just an example of how this works in real life. Due to the way my paddocks are laid out, I needed to take a flock of ewes with their lambs through another paddock that had a bunch of yearling ewes and a ram. I brought the flock of ewes and lambs to the gait with my dog. I then sent my dog into the next paddock with the yearlings and drove the yearlings over to one corner, left them there and recalled my dog. I then entered the paddock with the moms and lambs. About half way across the yearlings decided they wanted to join the flock. I gave my dog a look back and redirect, and sent him, but not a cast, I sent him straight on and he drove the yearlings back to the corner again. We left them there and he came back and we finished our way across the pddock and exited into the next paddock with the moms and lambs. My dog had to maintain control of two seperate flocks of sheep and keep them seperate. Practical farm work, demands good training and then the tasks usually go smoothly. Not only for the person and the dog but also for the sheep. If the two flocks had joined, I would have had an hours work to separate them and would have had a bunch of young lambs underfoot in the process, all stressful for the sheep. Trialing is suppose to demonstrate useful work, personally I think that always need to be kept in mind. The dog should be trained to do useful work and you only go the to trial to show that off...LOL

Just doing a shed teaches the dog that sheep can be in 2 different places, so teach her to do a shed. Then work on doing sheds, by split a flock of 20 and cut off 5 sheep and work her on only those 5 sheep and let the others wonder off. My guess she will try very hard to put them back together, but keep at it and help her see that you only want the 5 sheep. She will start to really learn to only work the sheep she is directed work. You need redirects and a look back (trun around and look the other way) to finished sheds and double lifts. Teach her these commands as part of the shed training. When this gets comfortable, teach her to take off a single sheep and hold it, preventing it from returning to the other sheep. When she can do this, Then do double lifts, teach her to only gather the sheep you send her to. Set one flock of sheep at one end of a paddock and set another flock at the other end. Go to the center of the paddock, make sure she see both sets of sheep. Then send her to one flock, ( if she locks on to one set more keenly, then send her to the other set) bring them to your feet. Then teach her to let go of those sheep at your feet use your look back (to turn her around towards the other flock and look for them) and send her off the other way to pick up other flock. Join the 2 flocks, then shed them into two flocks again and take one flock off to one end of the paddock and leave it there. Then send her back to other get the flock you left behind. Then cut off only 3 sheep and take them away from the paddock, leaving the rest of sheep in the paddock. When she is doing this well and no longer trying to get to the sheep you are not wanting her to work, go back to the pens. Shed off 3 sheep from 20 in the pen and take the 3 off through the rest of the pens and leave them in the last pen (or however you have ti set up). Go back and get 3 more and repeat unitl the the whole flock has been moved. Have her shed off a single in the pen and hold it to you while catch it, as if you need to do something to it. You can muck around with these excersises a lot of different ways. These exercises will teach her to stay on task, to only work the sheep she is directed to work, will free her up, will become fun for her as her confidence and skills improve and make her a very usefull dog.

I agree on your first point but I also believe it would also depend on the sort of trials you are training for. As you know, yard trial levels especially Encourage do not require the dog to jump over fences. In fact it would be seen as the dog being out of control and lose points as a result. It would also depend on the sort of dog you are working ie soft or hard tempermented. Having said that, I would be interested to learn how you would make a dog that is absolutely hellbent on jumping fences, understand that this is not required at the moment using alterntive methods that won't handicap the dog. Genuinely curious. I am not sure who "they" are that you refer to shortstep? Owners/handlers or trial judges? Saving Grace in a real work situation....most definitely. But there is no denying that there are some extremely arrogant bastards out there who work purely for themselves even in the hands of very capable handlers who need to continuosly work keep these dogs in line. You've obviously trialled before, what level did you get to? I am definitely no expert in this field and unfortunately haven't been able to attend a trial for a few years now due to the dog training business but I do intend to get back into it soon. I mentioned what I do to widen a dogs experince so that he will understand to work the sheep I direct him to and not other sheep in the area. Does not matter what type of trialing you want to do, the message is the same to the dog, work the sheep I send you to and not the others. If your dog has these skills he will not jump a fence in a yard trial to get to nearby sheep. here it is again, I have added a few more comments. Teaching redirects on outruns is vital for the dogs understanding of where he position should be and for the handler to be able to direct the dog to different areas at any time. If you can not redirect a dog when he starts to head the wrong way, for waht ever reason he may be doing that, then you have no control over where the dog is going and the dog does not understand that at any time you may want him to be in another location. Teaching and useing sheds as part of daily work. Any dog that can shed, hold off a single, or drive one part of that flock off into the distence is not going to keep trying to get to every sheep in the area. Double lift outruns, leaving the first flock mid way on the fetch (maybe 150 meters away) and turning the dog off those sheep to fetch another flock in a different location, broadens a dogs exerience with working isolated flocks of sheep in areas where there are other sheep in sight. Not only does this teach them to only work the sheep you send them after, but it also teaching them to leave a flock of sheep and go to another flock. Any dog that can do this is not going to be trying to get to every sheep on the paddock or in nearby pens. All of these skills help the dog learn to work the flock it is being directed at, while also freeing the dog up so that it can be redirected as needed at any time to other flocks of sheep in the area. Scareing a dog not to jump fences does not teach the dog anything that will help him learn that he is not suppose to go after the sheep o the other side of the fence. It might be a quick fix to get by in a trial, but when there is no fence between him and other sheep he will still not understand to not go after those sheep unless you direct him to. Look my point is, scaring a dog is not dog training. It seems pretty silly to me for you to be saying that farmers with generations of experince are lacking in the undertstanding of modern dog training, and then you go hide behind a traps and jump out to scare the heck out of dog as a "training" method to teach a dog not to go off and work other sheep in the area. I am not responsible nor defending what every creep in this country does to their dogs, be they sheepdog owners or any other type of dog owner. But I will defend the role of the working dogs in this world and will defend the people that have devoted generations to breeding, training and using these dogs. The very dogs that you and I now enjoy. You might learn a lot if you gave some of these folks the respect they deserve.

Training for trials should have at least the hint of producing practical skills that could be used in real life. Sales yards, the dogs need to and do jump fences as directed as part of their job. Station yards, dogs jump over fences as part of their job as directed. To frighten a trial dog so it will never jump a fence, may be a means to the end of getting a ribbon, but will render the dog handicapped in real life. There are working dog workshops popping up in most parts of Australia .... I think the problems come from those older farmers who are set in their ways and will dare not take direction from some pen pushing, city dwelling office workers about which methods to use for training their dogs. These guys have been doing things their way for decades, obviously learning from their fathers etc etc. Resistence to change is inevitable but at least it's a start in the right direction. Perhaps some other creative uses of the scare and startle method can be taught at these seminars for these older farmers who are not training their dogs with the modern methods you want to see them use. For dogs crossing over on the outrun, they will hide in pits in the ground center field and jump up screaming like a mad thing as the dogs goes to cut across. For coming in too hard at the top the person could hide amongst the sheep draped in hessian, as the dog comes in too hard and they jump and scare the crap out of the dog (I bet that dog will come in real soft the next time, if it will come in at all). This method has endless uses in training sheepdogs. Call me old fashion, but I rather they understand that when your dogs jumps the fence at a trail, it is because the dog does not understand it's job to work only the sheep it is directed at. And as importantly they would understand that the act of jumping the fence is not the 'behavior' that needs to be fixed, and fixing it will not teach the dog anything about it's role to only work the sheep it is directed at. Edited to add, I would not say the kelpies are too smart for their own good. I would say their intelligence is their saving grace, as it is unfortunate that their owners are often not nearly as smart.

Some international courses with a dog leg outrun, may require a dog to jump the fence to take the shortest and most correct route to access the sheep. I guess you never shed? In a 300 acre paddock when some sheep are at one end and more at at the other end, a double lift is the most efficient way to gather the sheep saving the sheep from excessive running. Instead of scaring the dog about jumping fences which was not the real problem, it might be better to address the real problem, assist the dog to learn to work the sheep it is being directed at and to leave other sheep in the area alone. Teaching redirects on outruns is vital for the dogs understanding and for the handler to be able to direct the dog to different areas. As well as teaching and using sheds. Double lift outruns, leaving the first flock mid way on the fetch and turning the dog off those sheep to fetch another flock in a different location, broadens a dogs exerience with working isolated flocks of sheep in areas where there are other sheep in sight. All of these skills help the dog learn to work the flock it is being directed at, while also freeing the dog up so that it can be redirected as needed at any time to other flocks of sheep in the area. Just old fashion training, widening the dogs experiences, handed down over the generations by sheepdog handlers.

Uhhhum That was written in the US, 16years ago. There were not a lot of kelpies around. However I am sure he would not mind and would even happily agree, if you want to substitude Kelpie for Border Collie and change black and white to black and tan!! :>)

So do you train sheepdogs? Is that your keen interest in this topic, or is just any animal welfare issue you are keen to get involved with? Seems they did not have much to say about how the dogs were taken care of. Just how they were trained. I have a couple of things to say about that. People have been using border collies and kelpies for real work for well over 100 years for the kelpie and likely around 200 years with the border collie. These same people using these dogs were the people who developed the breeds. They did a fine job in my opinion, as both breeds are very talented on stock and can get the jobs done. Fact one, for a sheepdog to be a good example of the breed, it need to learn it's job without a lot of fancy training. If a dog requires too much effort to learn it's job, then that dog is a failure (might make a fine pet but not a good sheepdog). No farmer has that sort of time to devote to training a dog, not every average farmer is going to be a great dog trainer, sorry folks but this is just the way it is. Do you suppose that is why the border collie is listed as the most intelligent breed? That the dogs that figured it out with out a lot of fancy assistance and succeeded, were then selected to breed? I know this is what happens. A slow learner, a dog that need a lot of help learning its job is not going to get bred from. This is also why they have so much instinct to move a certain away around the stock, to balance stock, and a dozen other working traits. It is also why they are so keen to work and will never give up when working sheep. It is part of the package of what makes a great sheepdog. I believe this is the only appropriate method and selection for sheepdog, it is what made the bred what is it today. Change this and you change the breed. As far as shock collars, I have never seen nor heard of a shock collar used on a kelpie or border collie. They are far too soft to tolerate that type of training. I would guess that the shock collar use comes from those doing attack training, police training and those sorts of activities. Sheepdog training is reward based and has always been so. It is the dogs desire to work the sheep that keeps them going, and it is the good feeling they get when the job goes smoothly that is the reward that teaches them what is expected. These dogs 9 times out of 10 already know instinctively how to move around sheep, what they do not know is the commands and the functions that the hander expects. It does take time to widen a dogs experiences. Working other animals with dogs is always unpredictable. You can not go out there with a lesson plan and hope the sheep just happened to do the right thing for what ever it is you want to train. Farmers, who are good dog trainers and not so good dog trainers have muddled through for almost 200 years, using and developing these breeds. Again they have done a fine job. Do remember that these dogs are vital to getting the work done, so this is not something that those who are not involved with the actual training, stock work and breeding should get involved in if you ask me. If people from a Uni want to tell stock dog handlers how to train dogs, they better get busy and train a few of their own first. No one will take anything they say seriously if it is all book learning and theory. They need to get dusty and hot, put their dog in the paddock with the sheep and cattle and show us how to train. They might actually find it is darn bit harder then their theory indicated. Border Collies by Baxter Black Excerpt from Cactus Tracks & Cowboy Philosophy: Commentary by NPR's Cowboy Poet and Former Large-Animal Veterinarian Just a word about one of the greatest genetic creations on the face of this earth...the border collie. ******** Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall fences in a single bound. The dog that all sheep talk about but never want to meet. The fur that legends are made of. Makes coyotes cringe, sheep trip the light fantastic, and eagles soar somewhere else. Invested with the energy of a litter of puppies, the work ethics of a boat person, and the loyalty of Lassie, they ply their trade on sagebrush flats, grassy fields, and precipitous peaks from sea to shining sea. "Away to me!" I command. They streak and sail, zipping like pucks on the ice. Black-and-white hummingbirds, in out, up down, come by. Sheep. With head up, one eye cocked over their shoulder asking directions. To the gate through the race. Mighty dog moves behind the bunch like a towboat pushing barges around a bend. And heart. Do they try? "Just let me at'em, Dad!" Stay. "C'mon, I'm ready!" Stay. "Can't you feel me hummin'! Listen to my heart! It's purrin' like a cat! I am primed! Aim me, point me, pull the trigger!" "Away to me!" It makes me feel like Robin Hood. He leaves my side like an arrow. Workin' dogs is like manipulating a screwdriver with chopsticks. Like doing calligraphy with a plastic whip. Like bobbing for apples. Like threading a needle with no hands. Like playing pool on the kitchen table. There are no straight lines in nature. Only arcs. Great sweeping curves of sight and thought and voice and dog. Always having to lead your command about a dog's length. Sheep bunched like logs on the river. Dogs paddling in the current. Always pushing upstream. A ewe breaks loose. Then another, amd another. The logjam breaks. Dogs and sheep tumble about in the white water. Calm again, they start back upstream. Border collies. Are they truly smarter than a chimpanzee? Cuddlier than a koala? More dedicated than Batman's valet? Can they change course in midair? Drag Nell from the tracks and locate the missing microfilm? Yes. I believe they can. They are the best of the best, the epitome of "above and beyond the call of duty." Head dog. Top Gun. I salute you, for man has never had a better friend. ****** Originally aired on National Public Radio on June 28, 1994

You got it Souff. Since they are doing everything possible to drive off dog breeders, fewer and fewer people will breed. As the risks associated with being a breeder continue to increase, the prices will go up to cover all of the liabilities. Then people will not able to afford a dog. Oh that's right, that is the real plan anyway. Oh well, dogs are carbon excessive and won't fit in with the new post ETS/Copenhagen treaty life style anyway.

I disagree with this. There are studies that show diet and exercise can affect the severity/expression of HD. None of those studies say they have eliminate the inheritence of HD, or that HD is not always inherited. Diet and exercise can make it more severe. But no amount of bad diet and exercise can make the dog get HD if it does not have the genetics to get HD. A freind of mine is very involved in HD research and she is very clear about this. In fact researchers are saying to breeders, that severe control of diet and exercise to reduce the expression of HD is actually only masking affected dogs. If breeding selection is made on dogs raised this way, you might be breeding affected dogs and make the problem worst. Yes tell you puppies buyers to control weight, calories and keep the calcium levels low to give the dog the best chance of having the best hips possible. This is excellent advise, but it has nothing to do with breeding dogs that are free of inherited HD. If a dog gets HD and is fat and had too much exercise, all we can conclude is the dog has inherited HD, possibly made more severe by it's rearing, but none the less it has inherited HD. A breeder can not write off this dog as not really affected with HD becasue it is fat or otherwise raised incorrectly. Edited to add. Overweight has already been determined to increase the symptoms of tracheal collaspe, also heart disease make it worse.

Here are a couple of studies, some of these are just the abstracts, I later saw the whole study, so in interesed search it by title. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal...820367/abstract http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal...=1&SRETRY=0 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6732009 Steve I would not think it would be diet. If something long those lines, it might be inability to absorb certain nutrients, even more likely the inablity to build the compounds to make normal cartalige. This might also be a path to follow ....Ultimately, the researchers analyzed DNA from more than 3,000 dogs from 143 breeds to pinpoint a specific gene sequence variant, or haplotype, associated with small size in the canine genetic code. Nearly all of the small dogs studied shared this genetic variant, implicating it as a major influence on stature in dogs.... http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2007/nhgri-05.htm

I have had 2 toy poodles at two different times, both had it. Started early adult, maybe around 3 years old. Both lived to a good age.