Lyla

I read a similar article. This is what concerns me: Any American pit bull terrier not registered by September 30 will be destroyed. The biggest question for me is who is actually policing it? Any old joe who gets hired by council is then qualified to pick pit from non pit? I am all for the owner being accountable for the dogs actions, but there should be more focus on pushing training, socialisation etc, rather than wiping out a breed to magically make the world a better place.

6, 12 and 16 weeks is usual around here.

Bernese Mountain Dog

As long as she has some kiddie friends as well, I wouldn't worry too much. My kids spent the day "lungeing" each other! My eldest has recently started riding lessons. :D

RIP gorgeous girl.

RIP Narla.

Perhaps breeders of purebreds in the UK are percieved as being less careful with their breeding, or are not ethical? Who knows? This is the way I see it: With pedigree dogs, we are aware of what breeds can have what issues, therefore where possible, we test to try and eliminate / minimise issues. With a cross bred dog, there is no "history", so you have no clue to what potential issues an individual dog may have. Because there are no "cross -bred health tests", I guess Joe Public thinks this means there are no potential health issues. Noone says your BYB Dane x Mastiff is a large breed therefore has a pretty high chance of having HD. I think just because we have tried to be responsible and educate people with the health issues we know of, it has become the focus for pedigree dogs. Because we don't know what a crossbreed could potentially have, noone talks about it, therefore there mustn't be any problems. I know what I mean, but it's not coming out quite how I want it to.

Me too.

Hi guys! Congrats on all the new babies. Sorry for the bad news Bel. Sorry I have been slack and not updated. Mine were born on Friday 10th, and once again we had dramas. Took Faith to the emergency vet an hour away at 3.30am on fri morning when contractions led no where, and we started having some green discharge. She had a c-section and because of massive complications this ended in a 4 hour surgery and the removal of her uterus. She was carrying 9 pups, but we lost the first one, and euthed the second as it had a cleft palate, and a rear leg was the wrong way around. We now have 7 healthy bubs, 3 chocolate, 4 black. 5 girls, 2 boys. (1 black boy, 1 choc boy lost) They are doing well, and mum is doing a great job with them. She would not leave them for the first 3 days, even if i put a lead on her she would not budge. I am also "retiring" for the forseeable future. I have one other girl who is 19 months old, and I am paranoid that she will also be "ruined" if I breed her, since my other 2 girls have been ruined in the space of 2 months, 1 was a maiden. Apart from that I am officially poor due to the $3.5k bill to deliver the pups. Too much stress for one year. Photo linky to the puppy album on FB (cute mum and bub cuddle pics): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1864534325606.2097279.1008439091&l=992ceb50e0 Good luck for trouble free births for those still waiting.

Shyfig, there is more than one strain of kennel cough...and not all are covered by vaccinating.

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Awful situation.

Our local news had a story on this last night, headline quoted "pibull" attacks, then they continued to mention the dogs referring to them as bull terriers about another 8 times. The dog shown clearly wasn't a bull terrier. I think if they did not have the footage of the pitbull looking dog, most of the other bite stories would barely have rated a mention. If the "authorities" were serious about eliminating the backyard breeding of the pitty types, easy enough to find dozens of them selling "red noses" on petlink.

I have 2 dogs here, very similar age, and they have exactly the same hip score (5,4). One does the froggy lay all the time, the other has never done it, she does the squiffy side sit. I guess they just do what is comfortable for them.

to the oranges, coke and tomato sauce!

I used Lavelle a few months ago, and turnaround was under a week to NSW. Cost was about $80 for hips and elbows. I'll use him again.

He's gorgeous! Great catch!

I just had a litter with one pup having an undershot jaw, and another with its second testicle undescended. Obviously both things that may or may not correct themselves. I did not discount for these things, but advised the buyers on what the outcome would be if they did not correct themselves. Worst case scenario for pup 1, 2 teeth are pulled from the pup with the mouth issue at the time of desexing, so no extra surgery is required, pup 2 might need to have his bit found at time of desexing. Both parties rang their vets for verification, then were happy to proceed. Mind you, the pups had already been discounted $200 to compensate for the fact that they had a dreaded white spot on the chest (allowed but not desirable), and I was sick of people saying no thanks I want a pure one. Still the same quality of pup whether they had a few white hairs, they had great conformation, and parents with lovely temperaments. At the end of the day, some people are horrified by small issues that others find special. It all comes down to the individual. Little issues can touch heartstrings in some. Give a small discount for the hernia explaining why, then explain all the other good quality points from the lines. ETA: funny how a cosmetic issue has caused more drama than the health issues.

So sorry about your loss.

How exciting!Good luck.

Soooo jealous! He is just gorgeous. I'd love a Berner. I'll keep dreaming.

Glad you found the perfect dog, and glad you gave a rescue a second chance. Hope it all goes well for you.

Hi everyone! Congrats on the poodles, glad it went well. I wasn't going to add myself to this month, as my girl lost her litter at day 52 last year due to an infection, and I don't want to jinx myself. Faith is happy and perky though, and looking good with a week to go. She looks like she has swallowed a basketball though. So you can add a litter of labradors for 10th June. Fingers crossed all goes smoothly, and no emergency Saturday night c-sections are needed (again).