melstar-36

Aswww that's so sweet, the love and loyalty that a dog can give you is priceless

it has been indeed more reassuring that i know all the facts, im still going to keep the specliast oppiontment for next week, as well as an appiontment on thursday for a meeting with my new vet i havent as yet spoken to her breeder, i want a second opioun before i get her worried over something that hopefully is a mix up, but atleast something postive has come out of this conversation- there are so many lovely people willing to give advice :D i really REALLY apprieate it, i quickly put the pitch forks away when i reliazed that i was totally over reacting. dutchess is my first cavalier, which i remeember when i was researching the breed and asking about breeders, somebody on here told me that owning cavaliers was an addiction, you just cant own one. AGREED!!! i have a new bitch coming in 2 weeks tomorrow, i wont be rehoming dutchess no matter what the circumstances, she has always been a companion than anything else

this is dutchess, the girl in question.

When I was doing research with my mother about 6 years ago on the breed, you can get paint coloured ones, its not a recognized colour ( but i could be wrong, it happens every now and then) :) but it was interesting.

Lacey is a gorgeous name, can I ask whether you had the operation done or tryed other methods to help improve her mobility? The vet told me both knees, one at a time, each with 6 weeks recovery time with no or little movement, that's 3 months all together!! It would be so hard on her

That I am abit confused over, my breeder reassured me she was patella sound, does this mean that no other dogs to there knowledge has the condition, if there is no gentic testing, will I ever know whether it was genetic, I'd hate to tell her breeder that and it be something that has arisen at home. I suppose the specialist will inform me more, I'm just anxious to know

I haven't informed her yet but I will once I have taken the right steps to fully identify the problem, I was very harsh to point the finger at her without knowing the facts. Once the specialist has confirmed that is what it is, I will contact her to let her beware of the problem, desex my bitch, leaving the idea of breeding and showing on the bench for a few years and enjoy my bitch as a companion

Oh my god, I didn't reliaze that I was feeding her crap, I will stop straight away, a nice lean diet of raw food is on the menu for now on. I have read abit that diet and excerise is a big contributer, Dutchess is going to get a shock. I tought I was doing the right thing with calcium powder and making her own food, thanks heaps I will do anything to help her out.

I have an appointment with a specialist next week so hopefully he can clear things up for me. She has a diet of mince, veggies, rice, garlic and calcium powder. A dental stick at night, liver cake for training ( not every day) sometimes chicken necks , I crate her when we eat, she is a vacuum if the kids drop food on the floor and she gives me the 'puss in boots stare' when I'm eating. I keep her in the recommended weight for her breed but I will be restricting her feed amount abit more now to keep her on the slimmer part of the scales

And as for the grading, I totally over reacted, she made it seem beyond bad. All this advise is really reassuring that everything will be ok

We have been to a few shows but I only watch, I have so much more to learn before I jump in, instead I stay at home and watch my crufts DVDs and hope one day I can play with the big boys. Lol. And Evan though she hadn't been shown doesn't make her poor quality, she's lived up to all my expectations and has the best temperament. One off the questions on the breeders exam was- best practical advice for selection a foundation bitch- a. Use your first bitch B. use your first title winning bitch C. Consider type and temperament D. Consider wins... The answer c, my girl doesn't need to be Evan though I'd love her to be, a champion in the show ring to be considered good breeding stock. But she will be desexed now and I'll have to dream off competing in the neuter class now :)

Sorry fat finger alert, she's just under 8 kg, hehe I'm still figuring out how to type using my new iPhone

I hope she's alright too, as I said, never shown any signs before. She's 14 months old, weight is just under 9 kg, feed a healthy diet of chicken or kangaroo mince, rice, veggies, garlic and calcium powder. Walked twice a day and lives indoors.

Off topic- somebody once told me that a larma was a giraffe cross sheep, that was a science experiment. I believed them!!! I know pretty blonde of me, I googled it not long after , I surely did feel stupid. And one topic- no such thing as a miniature sharpei, my parents are getting a new sharpei puppy in 3 weeks, I love watching there wrinkles when they run :)