Aetherglow

Tarja has never howled in her sleep, and has probably done it 3 times in her life awake. She is often qute active when she dreams, though, with the muffled woofs and growls, paddling and eye and whisker flickers. The first time she did it was hilarious: she growled repeatedly, getting louder and louder but fading at the end of each growl, exactly as if she were imitating a revving motor. Mr LH and I got the giggles after the initial "WTF was that?!" wake-up moment.

This almost identical scene happened to me once, and the driver of the car left it to 17-year-old me to manage my own dog, get the injured dog off the road and try to find the owner. I couldn't find them, and as this was before the era of ubiquitous mobile phones I ended up knocking on someone's door to use their phone to call my mum and we took her to the vet ourselves. The poor girl had to have her leg amputated, but the vet found her owner, who was profusely grateful that we helped her dog and explained that the old collar had broken only that day, and she was actually out shopping for a new one when her dog escaped the yard. I hope this one made it home and is being treated, poor thing

What a gorgeous girl

Some judges will be starting to get stricter on behaviour in the ring by 11 months of age, too. How bouncy was your puppy - could the judge see any decent gait at all? I had an occasion where the judge told me that I would have won a class had my girl not been bouncing around. Totally fair, in fact I thought the judge was extremely tolerant and had given us a second up and back to see if she could see true gait and outline instead of legs and head all over the place.

I have been awarded a class but not challenge under an international judge with a Junior for immaturity. He did not explain at the time, which, given that I'd never seen it before and the handler of the other dog in the class was as inexperienced as I, made the situation even more confusing. It was only later we found out it was because he did not like to award immature dogs, and interestingly most of his challenges went to dogs from the Open class that day. He non-awarded at least one other young dog the same day, to much kerfuffle.

*puts down the shotgun for a moment* The issue is that "flashy" is desirable, so most breeding stock that has done well in the showring will be flashy. Provided that only the normal white gene is in operation (as brought up earlier in the thread, there seems to be some evidence that another gene may also exist), flashy x flashy will always produce an average of one in four white pups. So no, dogs that produce white will still be used, and often in matings that will likely produce white. The article on white Great Danes has limited relevance to Boxers as it mostly discusses the effects of the merle gene, which doesn't exist in Boxers. Piebald white is less problematic than double merle white. I think that article was referred to earlier in the thread. *picks up shotgun*

Perhaps Windex?

I thought it was shotguns for zombies?

Tarja's another who marks frequently on a walk if allowed, tries to cock her leg while squatting, and will perform a huge scratching display if allowed or off-lead. It's become even more pronounced now she has had a litter, and she now alternates which leg she cocks and raises it higher than she used to. My parents' boxer, an huge big impressive-looking male who was not desexed until well over a year of age, sometimes cocks but more often just stands there and lets fly, and refuses to pee if he's out walking. Doofus...

It's not just Boxer play style and expression that some dogs don't like. Terriers seem to hate Tarja - perhaps the high tail when she's excited looks like a threat signal or something, but I don't let her greet them most of the time unless it's extremely carefully and avoiding face-to-face confrontation, because she's had a few take exception. It took her a while to learn greeting manners, she can be rather in-your-face and then flings herself down submissively, and thinks that everyone must agree with her that she's totally awesome :laugh: OTOH, she knows all about how to play with Boxers, having been exposed from an early age to my parents' two Boxer boys.

Your domino girl could be Ever So Secret, seeing as she looks so much like Alera. She gets aspects of both parents' names, then.

Tarja does a definite half-sigh, half snort if she wants something and isn't getting it. I can certainly see it physiologically as a sign of relaxation as she resigns herself to the situation, but that doesn't make it any less amusing. She sounds so put out!

It does sound like a case of an anxious cat not coping I have used the Feliway diffusers successfully, although my anxious one is not as severe as what yours sound like. Poor boy! For cat urine, Urine-Off is the best I've found, or you can use BioZet laundry powder. It's the enzymes that are important, they break down the urea crystals which otherwise stay embedded in the surface or fabric and continue to cause smell. Urine will soak into grout, tiles and the cracks between floorboards, so mopping is not enough.

Up until about two weeks ago the only Finnish Lapphund book in English was "Finnish Lapphund" by the English breeder and judge Toni Jackson, published by Kennel Club Books. It's a fairly general book, but rather better done than the more standard breed books, with the whole thing written with the Lappie in mind and not as general information which can be slotted into a book about any breed. The history section is very interesting and includes a lot of information that would be quite hard to find out via other sources if you speak no Finnish, and it even includes a tiny bit on the earliest Australian Lappies, which is not bad seeing as they had been in Australia for only a few years at the time of publication. The Finnish Lapphund Club in Finland have recently published a new book and released an English translation. The English translation is called "Dogs Of Lapland - Cheerfully Present" by Sanna Karppinen, and I don't have my copy yet, but have seen a peek of it. I've heard that the translation has some room for tweaking, but the photographs are gorgeous.

It does make some dogs drink huge amounts, and all the extra fluid needs to come out at some time. My girl did, and the only time she's been on it was when she had an inflamed eye at about 13 months old, so no issues due to age.

A breed-suitable herding test for Lappies is impossible, due to the distinct lack of reindeer in Australia. Sheep just aren't quite the same! Incidentally, my girl has her HT, and I'm very pleased that she shows lots of instinct and will be looking at doing PT next year. But given how different the Lappie herding style is to that of Border Collies and Kelpies I can't see them being a common choice for herding trials, let alone as a working dog in Australian conditions. I wonder whether you would actually change the way the herding instinct is manifested in Lappies if it became the norm to only breed dogs that performed at high level at Australian-style herding trials, against breeds with a different technique. It would make the Lappie herding test quieter :), but would it be an improvement of the breed? Just as well Lappies are described as companions as well as herders, they do that perfectly!

Happy birthday handsomes! I hope they had fun choosing toys :)

OP, I'd be interested to know where you get the impression of dogs being crated all day from. As far as I'm aware, it's an extremely uncommon practice to crate during the day in Australia, it's more of a US thing. Nevertheless, many people have to work outside the home, and they have to do something to keep their dogs safe. I work full-time, but I don't consider that it makes me a bad dog owner. My dog is crate trained and will happily spend all day at a show asleep in her crate when she isn't being groomed, walked, shown or fussed over, she runs full-tilt into it twice a day for her meals, and considers it her treasure cave where special toys or treats are taken to enjoy. I don't crate her while I'm at work, she is either in the house with close to free run now that she is well-mannered enough be trusted inside, or in the backyard. I don't know anyone who would crate all day in similar circumstances unless the dog is being confined for health reasons.

I don't know about that, every one of the boxers and my lappie all thought/think they are lap dogs! :laugh: Or a Lapp dog, in Tarja's case.

That's interesting LappieHappy. My boxer is a leaner, mostly on me, sometimes my husband, not normally on the kids (perhaps because they don't stand still long enough!). He normally does it when I'm standing but pre-occupied eg. doing dishes. It doesn't bother us. I quite like it as, in a busy household, I feel like I'm juggling spending time with everyone, including my dog. I just figured he likes being near us. I have heard that it's a dominance/ guarding thing but I'm not sure about that. In the absence of other signs of behavioural problems I haven't seen it as an issue. I too would be interested in the views of experienced trainers. :) All my boxers have been leaners. Same as trinabeans boxer, Nelsson will lean on my leg while I am standing still doing something or if I am sitting on the edge of a wall, he will lean against my back. :D I always loved the lean, it has to be said :) And they've all done it when happy, saying hello and being patted and fussed over, so it does seem like a desire to be close. With the anxious one, it also seems to have a component of wanting to make sure that the friendly people are still friendly and all is okay. I have an anxious cat who does exactly the same thing.

my family have had several boxers over the years, and all the males have been huge leaners. I believe it's common in guarding breeds. The current boxer is a rather anxious dog, so he sometimes leans and tries to get his bloody great heavy feet up on your leg as well. On the other hand, my Lappie is more of a nudger. It can be considered bad manners if the dog is being pushy or knocking people over - I think of it as a little like a nagging child who won't stop demanding attention or fails to understand that some people don't like a child climbing on them, even in affection. However, I had a trainer tell me that leaning is solely a sign of dominance and to never allow it even if it seemed to be only affectionate. I wouldn't consider a polite child requesting attention or giving a physical display of affection to be inappropriate, and in the same way a dog I know well leaning on me to say hello doesn't seem to me to be inappropriate so long as he or she knows some manners. I'd be more worried if the dog was showing signs of guarding me, but that's never been the case. I'd be interested to see the opinions of trainers here though, especially as there are some here who I would respect rather more than that particular trainer!

A crate that is just big enough for your dog to stand up straight and turn around is often better than a bigger one, it seems to make them feel more relaxed, like they're in a den. Make sure you spend some time getting her used to the crate and making it her safe place - the Crate Games dvd may be a good investment. For wire crates, Vebo Pet Supplies do quite good ones, or High Four. Both will deliver, and if you happen to live near Melton you can go to High Four and pick it up yourself. I have one from High Four set up in my car atm, and it does the job. ETA that Weasels has a good point - if you want somewhere for her to spend a lot of time, say when you are away for hours, maybe a secure run would be better.

I'm glad it went well for you, Saffioraire, and I'm impressed that you were able to do that and also show, we had a whole roster of people and dogs for The Finnish Lapphund stall on Saturday. Even the Rottie stall helped us out, as they had a photo of a couple of Rotties playing with Miia the Lappie on display ;) Actually, the Rottie "ambassador" was - doesn't matter if he wasn't a rare breed!

If it makes you feel any less overwhelmed by estrogen, I'm called "sir" on the phone relatively often. Apparently I'm not a girly girl, even if I own a Spitz :D

Slightly beside the point, but I'm interested to note that among the breeds more prone than Labradors to hip dysplasia on the OFA list are the Hybrid and the Maine Coon Cat! I personally wish the Royals hadn't produced Dachy x Corgies just because it sets a bad example, particularly if they're claiming it was deliberate. And yes, breeding two breeds with anatomical exaggerations seems like a move unlikely to produce good outcomes in terms of health. I have no idea about the incidence of spinal problems in either breed, but it seems sensible to assume that you would wish to be extremely careful with health screening and monitoring in such breeds, and crossing them may produce unpredictable changes in an anatomical area already possibly at risk.