whiskedaway

Exactly. And with a coated breed, they should be desexed after their first coat drop - as time goes on it's becoming obvious that a coated breed desexed before that has a bigger, more unmanageable coat for their owners to look after, which if an owner isn't prepared for, could cause the dog to end up in a pound.

That's an interesting statement - just what is the point then of these competitions if the achievements and wins mean nothing, being no reflection on a dogs "actual quality"?? Obviously you have very little experience with conformation showing. Attending dog shows is about comparing your dogs with another person's dogs through the use of a judge who (allegedly) knows something about the breed. I never said WINS meant nothing I said titles gained don't necessarily mean the dog is the bees knees. Me - I'd rather own and breed from dogs which are consistently placed under breed specialists in the best of company. Whether these wins and placings lead to a title is pretty much irrelevant to me. So me thinking that wins and achievements in the show ring leading to a dog attaining Championship status, indicates that a dog can't be completely woeful, automatically means that I have very little experience with conformation showing - nice. What I originally said was that there have been some blues titled so they can't all be completely woeful, not that they must be the bees knees or top quality - just not completely woeful. No need for judgements of my experience based on that statement. A dog can become a champion without necessarily being a great example of the breed, but simply by being shown often. A dog gets points when it places (showies, please correct me if i'm wrong!), and if there are only a few entries and a judge doesn't non-award a less than great dog, then that dog will get points that upon accumulating enough will lead to a champion title. As far as I know a grand champion title is harder to get and is a better indicator of how good a dog is (again correct me if I'm wrong). You're correct. A dog can get their championship without ever beating another dog. This is common in rare breeds (however that does NOT mean that they're not good examples of the breed) but a breed that isn't rare can get points by not ever coming up against another dog by travelling to small shows where very few dogs are exhibited.

Oooh are you coming over LOTG? Awesome. I'll be there for Sunday Specials (have Halo entered in Puppy sweeps) and our breed day. Will have to try and say hi to DOLers.

Trim them as you would a normal nail. If they're white, you'll be able to easily see the quick, so don't cut any further down than that (I normally give myself 1-2mm of room just in case). If they're black it takes a little bit of guess work. Just take the tip off so you don't actually cut down too far, because it hurts and they'll bleed if you do it. I have one dog with white nails and one with black, and I seem to always go a bit too far on the one with black every time, poor little thing.

I'm so sorry Woofen.

It really depends on the dog. My 15kg Sibe would be at the vets quick smart if she ate that much chocolate, but she gets horribly sick from a small chocolate muffin which has hardly any real chocolate in it (a few choc chips) and has a bad belly in general. Our old Vizsla used to pinch chocolate all the time and unwrap Easter eggs and never had an issue in her life.

Completely agreed. I had huge issues with an instructor of Akira's and her breed prejudice. Unfortunately, I now have Halo in her class and am having the same issue because she just assumes she's a Husky as well. :rolleyes: Good thing is I know the next instructor up is extremely helpful, especially with more difficult breeds.

My lappie definitely isn't a jowley breed, but she gets awfully car sick and slobbers the entire car ride. The head trainer at obedience has taken to calling her dribble face because he one day happened to look in the car window as we got there and saw her with a face full of dribble.

I'm wary of small white fluffies (doesn't matter what type, neighbour has a maltese cross that started it though) because my Husky has been terrorised by the neighbour's dog so many times that she's extremely reactive towards them. As soon as I see them, I do something to remove ourselves before Akira sees them. She's slowly getting better but I don't want her to do something because she's a lot bigger and while there might not be malice involved, a 15kg dog jumping on a little one is bound to cause some sort of injury.

I specifically asked DogsSA whether I should do this when I registered Akira, and they said there was no need. They said it's much quicker to send them both in together, which was what I did, and I had back both my membership and Akira's registration on Thursday when I had only sent it on Monday evening. DogsSA have a really quick turnover rate, which is fantastic.

Paplover: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Show-Me-Dog-Showing-Primer-NEW-D-Caroline-Coile-/130525909556?pt=AU_Non_Fiction_Books_2&hash=item1e63f35234

what NOT to do...........have a absolute hissy fit when the judge refuses challange with several dogs in the lineup, the judge's opinion on the day being she believed the dogs were unsound, cow hocked etc. Then refuses to present animals for the class runoffs. Then procceeds to bag out the BOB winner, forgetting that tents are not soundproof and BOB handler was standing in the next tent Oh wow, you're describing exactly what happened in SA this weekend.

Very cute!

I own a Husky and a show Lapphund. Both are coated like Mallies, and while I've survived without a dryer so far, I really really want one because they are so much easier when you have a dog with a big coat. I also don't have a grooming table - I have a show trolley which is fantastic, because it doubles as a grooming table and a crate, and is super easy to put everything in and push it to where I need to set up. As Beth said, just start with the basics and I would definitely start talking to people with your breed about what they use. I knew how to groom a Sibe, yet a Lappie was very different and it was only other lappie owners who helped me out with the best way to groom her.

Names are so tricky. Akira was easy, but Halo we agonised for quite a while. Just before they were born I came up with Halo, and I said to OH that if she looked like a Halo, that would be her name. Thankfully he liked it too because I became so attached to the name that there was no way she was ever going to be anything else!

We use Frontline Plus in the summer months for fleas, Valuheart for heartworm and Drontal for all-wormers. Used to buy the chewables but Miss Halo refuses to eat them, so I now buy the tablets because Akira's dumb enough to still think they're food and I can easily slip them down Halo's throat.

The only time I've ever left Akira tied up and unattended was when she was younger and I took her for a walk and realised I needed to get butter on the way home. So I quickly tied her up at the servo, ducked in, grabbed my butter and was gone from her for maybe a minute. I'm always afraid that someone is going to pinch her or hurt her if I leave her alone, however I do know most people won't approach her because she doesn't look heaps friendly.

Haha I know Anna! The week before Hales came home I was too excited to do anything. She didn't get in until 3pm, so my sister came around to get me to help her with an assignment to distract me.

It's very very interesting and certainly a lot of food for thought. In dogs, I personally don't think the clone should be showed, but progeny yes. In a way, it's a bit like freezing semen and using it 10 years down the track, only the semen isn't gone forever if the dam doesn't take.

I have my own (link in my sig) but it's not funny - generally just what we're up to and how the dogs are doing.

Awww! I bet you're so excited!

I had Vizslas as a kid and while I've always loved them, I wanted something that was mine. We picked the Husky in the end, loving the independent streak and high energy levels. We decided to go with the lappie for the second dog cos we wanted something that was still independent but not quite as stubborn as Akira. Halo's a perfect fit for us and the next dog we get will be another lappie - though we'll probably always have a husky around.

Awww gorgeous new additions! I'm so puppy clucky when I see all the pictures, but then I think about the naughty six month old who's great at destroying things and think that I don't really want another puppy!

OH wants a 2 berth, I want a 4 berth. He is swearing that there is no way we're getting any more dogs than that, I replied that I want to be able to transport extra dogs if I need to and having the extra two berths will give us more room. We don't want it to be huge though and our dogs aren't big. Will have a look around at others trailers this weekend coming.