Kostalot

Sorry for the late response. Yes Blossom has been reunited with Sammy, she had spent the weekend in the police station being spoilt rotten. All is well, Sammy and Blossom will be returning to Perth on Wednesday.:-)

No, she's not found so I don't know where that has come from. Blossom is still missing!

Sorry, should say Sammy and Blossom are from WA so are not familiar with the area. You can see a photo of Blossom under Lab breeders.

Ch Fermanagh Orange Blossom "Blossom" is a yellow Labrador Retriever bitch. She and her owner are staying at the Avina Van Village and are in Sydney for the Lab National. Blossom snapped her lead and broke out of her crate last night (Sat 8/5) when some kids across the road let off a whole heap of firecrackers. Blossom is microchipped and may still have her soft collar on, Sammy Caldwell is her owner and is desperate to find her, she can be contacted on 0407364991. Please keep an eye out if you are in the area and phone Sammy if you see any stray yellow labrador retrievers.

Hi There is no minimum age, however to register puppies, both parents must be hip and elbow xray'd and scored and the scores submitted to your controlling body. This cannot be done prior to 12 months of age. Hope this helps.

Get a second opinion I believe should be your first move. Some vets are far too quick to recommend surgery when in fact it is not required and will not improve the dog's quality of life. I am sure your breeder would be happy to recommend another vet or preferably orthopaedic specialist?

We ship chilled semen from the easter states to WA (or vice versa) quite frequently. The owner of the stud dog takes the dog to the vet, gets the collection done, chilled, packaged up and then drives it out to the airport for next flight transport. The owner of the bitch (or their very obliging husband) then goes to the receiving airport picks up the package on arrival and either takes it (with the bitch) to the vet for insemination or if need be, home to go in the fridge overnight for inseminating the next morning. Easy peasy!!

The ANKC at their last conference voted to continue their support of the current BVA scheme and not PennHip, however it does seem that the "commercial" partners associated with PennHip are really starting to push their case. At this point in time, however, there is nothing to show that the PennHip is superior in reducing HD over time compared with the BVA scheme. BVA scheme is that which is accepted by ANKC member bodies in terms of litter registration limitations for Lab Ret. However, you do not have to use Wyburn to score, you can choose to send your rays to the AVA panellists, however the turnaround can be several weeks (if not a couple of months from what I have heard), whereas with Wyburn, you send down the rays and I normally get a result from him within a few days. I also think that with the number of rays he scores, we are getting a more "complete" picture from him, IMO.

I have had about 6 dogs done in the past 12 months, none have been given a GA, all sedated only, recovery is much better, less risk to the dog and you are in and out of the surgery generally within an hour. Placements have all been great, good scores back on the majority, but no issues with any of the xrays. Also the xrays I get done are now digital so all you have is a disc, I store the xrays on my computer and email them to friends to have a look if they want and then post down the disc and then when the disc returns it is there as a backup. oh and the cost is wayyy less than a GA.

BOB Labrador Retriever - Driftway Moonlight Serenade

p.s. I hope they did have the dog microchipped prior to, or at the same time as, the xrays.

Most vets do not do GAs anymore for hips and elbows, well those that know what they are doing don't. Most are just gassed down, xray'd and then reversed, takes no more than 20 mins for them to come out of it again. Obviously this person is not an experienced breeder and the vet is not experienced in dealing with ANKC (not just Dogs Qld) requirements, this is an Australia-wide requirement and has been since about 2002 from memory. Hopefully the vet has some idea how to place the hips and elbows for the xrays otherwise they may all just have to be redone again, an expensive error all around I think.

I have had really bad giardia in a litter of pups, nearly killed all of them. We finally worked out that it was from them eating potting mix, which we weren't aware of until my Father In Law who comes down and feeds pups lunch mentioned it in passing one day when I rang him to check if the pups were eating and he told me "oh no, they're off playing and eating potting mix like they do everyday" (potting mix was thrown out that day and father in law given new instructions). This litter actually had antibiotic resistant giardia and it had a devastating effect on their bone and condition. They are now just starting to look like real Labradors at 6 months of age. I hate Giardia and wish we could get the vaccination or Drontal that is available in the USA which includes Giardia in its spectrum. Nasty, nasty stuff.

Any Lab results yet please?