Leema

BTW, please realise I do not put blankets next to the toilet. That is just the way Potter likes things.

It does behoove the owner to make an effort to update details although admittedly, some do make it hard. I agree, it is up to owners to change the details on their chip. However, knowing people are a bit slack (and some databases are a bit hard), it would be nice if all details were used on the chip. (In the instance of Woof, the postal address was still correct and, if a registered letter was sent to the address, the dog would've been spared rehoming.)

So last night I gave up and left the door open of the laundry. I put two jackets on him to try to keep him warm, but this morning I got up and his body felt cold (especially his ears). And then he didn't want to eat his breakfast. He didn't toilet in the laundry, but still don't really know if it's the best solution. I'll keep feeding him breakfast (or lunch, depending on when I remember) and go back to closing the laundry door later this week... Maybe this will break the habit of toileting in the laundry at night. I should also mention that I am only fostering Finn - he's listed with GAP SA waiting for his new home, but would like to get this issue sorted for his new family.

I think these are big issues. My big problem is that there appears to be no legislation regarding contacting owners of chipped animals (i.e. what is reasonable contact process - is making one phone call once, to one number, sufficient?), and there seems to be no legislation against chipping a dog twice or more. [ETA: At least in South Australia.] There is a group called Woof's Law on FB that was started after a South Aussie had their chipped dog sold by the Animal Welfare League because the numbers on the chip was disconnected. She is campaigning for all details on a chip be used to find an owner - phone numbers, addresses, and even using the electoral roll to find the current contact details for owners. Here's the FB links for Woof's Law: http://www.facebook.com/groups/295007950530431/

Many puppies urinate in excitement. It's great that Fletcher finds new people exciting and a 'good thing', but not so good that he wees. Many puppies will grow out of this, but it's good to try to minimise opportunities to do excitement wees so it doesn't become a habit. I find that if you ask visitors to ignore the puppy when they first arrive they normally are able to control themselves and it stops the puppy getting into the habit of peeing.

I am enjoying. :) Thanks for posting!

On some dogs I can, on some I can't. I remember being creeped out with a small terrier cross breed with a very thin coat and skin - I was patting his chest and found something hard under the skin, which was the microchip! It felt very grotesque in this dog, because his skin was so thin. With my borders, they have a thick pelt, and I can rarely feel the chip on an adult dog.

I think lots of the racing greys may 'have to' pee on lead a lot in their career. Perhaps acts as a cue for 'toilet now'.

When I let Finn out in the evening, I don't watch him go. Though he is a wild marker, so I'm pretty sure he is peeing when I let him out in the evening before bed. :laugh: In the morning, if he has strangely decided to hold on, he will go pee straight away in a torrent. I don't watch him go poos in the day, but there are plenty of greyhound sized poos around - so he does know it's possible to poo outside. :p

I don't have a greyhound sized crate! I have a puppy pen that I confine to 'crate size'. But he will pee in the puppy pen, as well, and it's normally more spectacular because the urine splashes all around the dining room. Though I could, theoretically, have him puppy-penned in the bedroom, there is not really enough room to have it in there, and, if he does go in there, it's a lot more mess to clean up off the carpet if we fail. What I am thinking of doing is leaving the laundry door open... The two concerns with this is, 1, security, but 2, Finn barks at the chickens and I don't really want him to do that overnight. I am also concerned that he'd be cold. I will keep trying with the morning (or at least lunchtime!) meals. It's mostly because I have the puppy pen (8 week old and 6 week old rescue pups) to clean each morning that I don't think about other morning jobs. But I'll keep trying to remember.

I thought you guys might've been on to something feeding him earlier, but this morning there is a huge pile of mess in the laundry again. He was fed at about 6pm and had water taken away at about the same time. I keep meaning to feed him in the morning, but I just don't feed dogs in the morning and I keep forgetting. I'll keep trying but, as I said, I don't think he's having trouble holding on - I think he just chooses not to. This was also a late night - he was out at 10:30 at night for the last chance to toilet, and I just got up now, at 5:30am. My 8 week old puppies hold for this time (getting fed 4x a day, including a last meal at 10:30), but not Finn!

There is nothing in the code of ethics regarding selling puppies for 'show' or 'breeding' purposes, so it's not the kind of ethics that I am concerned about.

Wow, guys, if someone had PMed me I would've come back sooner. I prefer to let threads develop and stay on topic, and so tend to actively encourage (on topic) discussion to start with. Though, with this thread, I just forgot about it. I thought Jed's question was a bit off topic. I was asking what should be done about code-of-ethics violations, and am not really wanting to discuss code of ethics violations specifically. Indeed, I can't really do so specifically in a name and shame kind of spectical. Sure, I can respond to the questions, and I will, but that doesn't get us closer in resolving these ethical violations.

The two boys will be 8 weeks old tomorrow! They will be desexed on Wednesday and will be going to their new homes soon after. The boys are now sleeping crated by themselves at night, and don't throw a tantrum when left alone. I'm excited about their fabulous, well-deserving new families. :) Both boys are likely to be keeping their names, too - Klunk and Potter.

He doesn't have access to water overnight, but he does have access to water until he goes to bed. I am more inclined to feed him in the morning, and can do, but I doubt it will have an affect. I think he CAN hold on, he just chooses not to.

He is fed in the evening, but the time varies. Some time between 6pm and 9pm, when everyone else gets fed.

I don't think the benefits are substantial to justify neutering a male dog. With bitches there are more healthy benefits associated, but for a boy, I'd just leave them entire. If I did really want to desex them for some reason, I would wait until 14 months or later.

I've had Finn, a 3.5 year old Greyhound with me for about 4-5 weeks now. He has slept in a small puppy pen in the dining room (by small, I mean with enough space for him to turn around and lay down, like a crate), and in the laundry (also small by greyhound standards). I have a problem with him urinating and defecating at night. About 70% of the time, there is pee or a stool or both in the laundry when I go to let him out. I thought I had this solved (until this yesterday and this morning!) - it seemed like he was going when he realised someone was awake and he got excited. So, I would make sure he was the first dog I let out in the morning. He hadn't gone overnight for about a week, but the last two mornings, he has gone. I'm not sure what to do. He has an opportunity to toilet before we go to bed at night (9:30-10:30pm), and then I get up at 5:30am most mornings. I am assuming that Finn had to sleep with his own filth as a racing grey, so has less of an aversion to his waste than most dogs. Finn has been 'ok' with toileting otherwise. He is only in the house supervised, and he has gone to pee on the puppy's pen about thrice and has been caught in the act each time. Otherwise, he's been good. Any suggestions? I am not really inclined to get up in the middle of the night, but I'm thinking I might have to.

How important is it in the show ring for correct detention? Depends on the standard, the judge, the dog... Should a dog win if missing teeth?[ Should a challenge certificate be awarded? If the dog has virtues that outweigh its missing teeth, yes. Teeth are only part of the whole dog-package. If so, how many missing is okay? Again, it depends on the quality of a dog. An excellent dog could have many teeth missing and still be an excellent dog. A poor dog with a few teeth missing is unlikely to be put up in any situation. Should correct bite win everytime over bad bite? No. again, if the dog has enough virtues that nullify the state of it's mouth, then good. Do judges really look or know what they are looking for? That's a good question. We hope that judges are reading the standard and examining dogs based on the standard. I show border terriers, and the standard calls for a scissor bite - not full detention. I can only think of one judge that I've had in my 4+ years (not long compared to some!) years of showing that looking beyond the front teeth. This doesn't bother me, but if I had, say, a Dobermann, and the standard called for full dentition, then I'd be pissed if this aspect of my dog wasn't being taken into consideration (assuming I had a correct-dentition dog!)

Most vets actually recommend desexing before their first season, as it reduces the incidence of some cancers. Now that she has had a season, there are limited benefits to desexing. However, one significant benefit of desexing in bitches is the removal of the risk of pyometra. It is a serious and life threatening condition, and common. If your friend can ensure that she won't get pregnant (e.g. secure fencing etc) then it's up to her to decide if pyometra is a great enough risk to get the bitch desexed. If your friend can't ensure the bitch won't get pregnant, I would get the bitch desexed ASAP.

My reproductive vet waited for Clover's progesterone levels to drop before doing an elective c-section. Her levels dropped at day 64 (from ovulation). We were doing progesterone testing at a local vet, and went for the 1.5 hour drive to my reproductive vet for the c-section.

Steve Austin is pictured here with a dog he trained to locate feral cats in remote areas. This dog is trained to scent-track cats, so they can be destroyed. Though I cannot know for sure, Steve Austin seems rather pleased of his dog's achievements. I think I would be rather impressed if I trained a dog to perform in such a regular and useful way.

Steve Austin is pictured here with a dog he trained to locate feral cats in remote areas.

I'd suggest perhaps looking at his diet. I have had rescue greyhounds who, though wouldn't get diarrhoea, would get very loose stools on occasions on some brands of dry. I normally find these dogs do well on raw food. For example, I've had two greys who would have unpleasant stools (and farts!) on Advance dry, but had lovely firm stools consistently on raw food. One of these greys did well on "Uncle Albers" (for whatever reason!!) and raw. The other one I haven't been in touch with, but I hope they continued with raw or found something that worked for him. Another thing to look at is any other products you may be using - Frontline? Advocate? Anything else? Sometimes these can cause diarrhoea, too.

Talk to breeders in your breed. Have they had singletons? Were they delivered naturally? Some breeds are known to do okay with little litters, some breed are known to need help. Talk to breeders about your breed's experience with c-sections, too. Do they recover well or are they likely to disown puppies? Have an x-ray done at 45 days or later. This will confirm that there is only one fetus (as ultrasounds are inaccurate). If there's more than one fetus, problem solved. If there is one puppy on the x-ray, how big it is? Does it look like your bitch could pass it naturally? (Singletons are known to grow big.) If it's too big, problem solved, you'll have a c-section. If there's only one puppy, that looks like a normal size, then that gets tricky. It's a decision best made with consultation with others in your breed, and working out what you think would work best for your bitch.