BlackJaq

Why is it a problem for genuine handlers to carry ID? You'd think they'd be all for it to prove they are legit?

Thanks!

Probably puppy milling gaining so much publicity is making a lot of people leery of having that info widely available?

Wow.. It's pretty interesting that somebody would import a dog and then dump it.. Were there any reasons given at all?

Good idea thank You! I've been meaning to join them for a while, this could be the push I needed to finally pull my finger out :laugh:

So how do you best get into RATG and field trials? I have been googling a little and results for RATG are very unsatisfying.. I am in NSW but would be grateful for any kind of useful link? Are there any training clubs foe field trials and retrieving?

Sorry Decisions like this are a lot harder on the humans involved than on the dogs though. They don't know what is going to happen and always living in stress and anxiety is not a pleasant life, for a person or an animal. It is up to you (or your son) of course to make the final decision, but sometimes it helps to get other people's input

Mine do it a lot. Sometimes we even end up with a bitey-face trifecta or a doggie pile up... I think it is just lazy play, better than chasies inside a house or on a hot day ETA: Mine are all very noisy during this kind of game, had some people ask me if I am going to break up my dogs when they have done it in public lol

I'm concerned about the stress for the poor girl if she ends up being rehomed to be honest. She sounds very anxious and stressed out form your description, so perhaps rehoming her yet again might not be in her best interest at all. Also, if there is an incident with another dog, it will once again reflect badly on the breed as a whole, not on the individual dog, whatever its past experiences may have been. I would be reluctant to rehome a dog who is known to have an issue such as dog aggression

I've never seen anyone buried in Aus but that seems a little overkill to me.. Generally people are not likely to come back as zombies to need a metal box etc to keep them in... ETA: Re. druggies: Most people don't remember to not handle the outside of their package with contaminated hands.. The residue on the outside of the best wrapped, most air tight package will still set the dog off.

Re the topic, Foxy (the Weimaraner) is the only one who has seen a cemetery before and she seemed pretty interested in the grave stones as well, but not acting out or anything. Then again she doesn't know anybody who was buried there.. Not sure if the individual smell would still be detectable over the overall corpse scent after 12 months in the ground? Maybe Bindi could tell that you were upset and so she got upset also?

Ok will do :) My bad sheena!

Awesome, so you just kind of decided to train your dog to find dead bodies one day? Where did you get the scent material from? Did you get paid to find bodies or is it like... a hobby? I am also fascinated by scent work, I just never thought about the need for cadaver dogs... What situations would you get called in?

I have a question regarding spreading poo around! It's been a while since we had a young puppy, so my memory is fuzzy.. Is their poo soft when they are young? All our dogs seem to have pretty firm poo, the more bones and meat in their diet, the firmer their poo and the less smell there is... So even if they stepped in their own poo, it would be like stepping on a rock or a stick, none of it sticks to them, gets squished or is otherwise spreadable (unless they pick it up and move it somewhere)... Are young puppies different or does it depend on their diet? I know a lot of other dogs, especially the ones on cheap kibbles and wet food, seem to have sloppy, soft serve type poo, which is obviously very spreadable....But this is clearly diet related...?

I've found this (sorry, it's German) text: http://books.google.de/books?id=dyCA4GwVYO4C&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=Damchi+hund&source=bl&ots=FWitDks0LK&sig=pgELjQ11KXcMha4bw5XV6-Gj9Hw&hl=de&sa=X&ei=wtW0UrIFivugBNzlgsgG&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Damchi%20hund&f=false Basically they don't officially differentiate between the Tibetan Spaniel and the Damchi in Germany. Couldn't find any listings or any websites in German, only one page had an actual description of them as a separate breed.

Wow that is really interesting! I don't think I have ever met anybody with a cadaver trained dog before.. Is this like a search and rescue type thing? Or like a police dog to try and find missing people? Hope you don't mind my questions

Maybe do a little more research on how Weims, GSPs and other HPR dogs actually hunt. They are never supposed to bring down a healthy animal, not even a pig. I am a little confused why you are being so snide. I am not afraid that I cannot handle a working Wei, I am concerned that you may be wasting your money. As I said, this is up to you, but actually learning about something you would like to do is probably not going to be a bad thing. And neither is knowing what a dog you own was meant to do in the past (even if you no longer work your dog). Not keeping all the pups on as a preferred option is exactly what I said, maybe you also need to read more carefully. Having other people raise and work pups still gives you a chance to see what kind of dog your breeding program produces. I don't think you read my post properly at all and since you obviously do not want genuine advice, but would rather people telling you how great your idea is, I will no longer try to offer advice or insight.

Agree. Although I find feeding my dogs cheaper since changing to Advance kibble instead of using the cheaper brands. My Wei is not on Advance Active. She eats about 2 cups a day, as opposed to 4 or 5 cups of the cheaper food previously. She still gets some meat and bones on top of this but she also got them when she was on the other food. I have had an 8 kg bag here for her for over a month now and it will probably last a few more weeks (I think it was about $75 for the 8 kg bag). I think you will probably do better on the high quality feeds than the cheaper ones. You can always add fresh meat and bones on top to stretch the kibble a little (depending on how cheaply you can come by meat, I buy fresh rabbits off local shooters in my area, they are pretty cheap because otherwise they would just leave the rabbits where they shot them)

Not sure if this was all addressed at me & Weims but basically, on top of the strong prey drive, the performance bred Weim has man sharpness and a very strong guarding instinct. This can translate to issues with aggression toward other dogs, animals in general, humans and, most importantly (in my opinion) their own handler. Many Weims are reported to have aggression issues (most issues are simply caused by inept owners and are not genuinely to be attributed to the dog being aggressive). Would you recommend a man sharp working line GSD to the average pet home? I am not as familiar with GSPs as I am with Weims but many people seem to have similar issues here. They are strong, sharp breeds under pet/show conditions, but genuine working lines encourage many of these traits (especially game and predator sharpness), so often it is only matter of time until the issues I have listed above appear in pet homes, since the dogs generally do not receive enough work and owners are often unprepared/ignorant. Event those who believe they are aware often still have trouble dealing with issues when and if they arise. I know that some people in Australia claim to breed for hunting ability, but unless the dogs are actually worked and compared to other dogs doing the same work, there can be no genuine selection for the traits necessary for active hunting duties. Of course many dogs do ok at field trials etc in spite of this, but field trials are not necessarily a representation of genuine hunting conditions. Basically I am afraid of Weims falling under DD dog laws due to the working bred dogs' propensity to resort to aggression when under managed, under exercised or under stimulated. That does not mean I find any of these traits bad. Not at all, they are very necessary for humane hunting with the dog (as the dog has to be willing and able to quickly catch and kill injured game and pest animals, even in difficult or uncomfortable terrain). Are they negative for a pet home? Probably yes. Working bred GSPs are not bred for man sharpness in their country of origin and should not be bred for it elsewhere. However, GSPs (especially working lines) are still prone to many of the same issues as I have listed above, as most people experienced with the breed will know (not saying you are not, but I have to wonder why you seem to be unaware of the issues presented by working bred HPR dogs in pet homes). Weimaraner, GSPs etc already require a huge amount of management from their handlers, I am reluctant to bring in dogs whose management requirements would be even higher than what is already here and already causing trouble for a lot of owners, well informed or otherwise. As I said, this would probably not be an issue for Cockers (unless suffering from Cocker rage haha), as Cockers are bred for a totally different style of work. And no Leah82, "sharpness" does not at all refer to intelligence (not sure why you would think so), it refers to potential aggression levels in various situations (i.e. facing a human, facing a fox, facing a shot animal on the move etc) and the willingness to take on that situation, regardless of discomfort (i.e. chasing an injured fox into blackberries, catching and killing the fox in thorny cover) is generally referred to as "being hard" in European countries (not sure how this would best translate into English?) Basically, I am not at all concerned that your working line Cocker puppies will wreak havoc in their pet homes, I simply cannot see the point in importing a spent bitch and then homing the few pups you would be likely to get into pet homes, after you went to all that expense and effort to get them in the first place. You cannot accurately assess the offspring's working ability (i.e. the success of your breeding program) if they are in pet homes (i.e. not working). You really cannot compare working Cockers and working Weis (or even GSPs), it's apples and oranges, really I think maybe you should do a little more research into breeding working line dogs to make sure you are not disappointed by the results of this exercise. You are looking to spend a lot of money here and it would be a shame if nothing useful came of it :)

I would think that there would be people within the field trial world that would be interested in one? I suppose it is dependent on whether you were thinking of doing it so that you had the dogs yourself, and the ones you would sell would be the pups that were "surplus" to requirements due to showing less desirable traits. Much the same as a show home moving dogs along that were not show quality on a limited register.And looking at the initial cost of starting your blood line (30-60K depending on cost of importation, and number of dogs you were looking to import to start?) either as a cost to get what YOU want, or as an investment that you are looking to make a "return" on? If the later then I think you would need to question the idea as obviously return is governed by demand. If the previous I would find it improbable that in a country of 20+ million people that there were not 2-4 people that would like a quality working line puppy from periodic breedings? I think that it also requires some realization that just because a working line is in an animals blood, it doesn't mean that it will be a nutter and never stop moving. That is why i am looking at the possibility of titled dogs, I know they are good (expensive, compared to a FTCH line puppy) but you know that the dog can and is producing the goods. Much the same as when you had a litter, you would select the puppies with the best chance of becoming what you want them to be (probably reasonably bold, inquisitive and high drive puppies)where the ones that were not as strong in those traits would be the ones that you were looking to move on, which in reality would mean that they are probably more suited to a working home, ergo a pet home with people that like an energetic dog. :) As long as you sold them as working line dogs that require exercise and stimulation I don't see that you would have any further issues than any other breeder of energetic breeds. My family come from an area in the UK where pretty much every dog is from a working line (keepers dogs) and yet every dog is not a trained gundog. lots of them are pets and lots of them are very happy dogs. I am going to assume that your post was directed at working Cockers, not working Weis? If not, please correct me :) I don't think a line will ever be established sustainably if you plan on keeping all the "good" dogs yourself. The number of dogs needed would simply be too great for any one person to not only keep, but also work them successfully. Other handlers would be needed in any case to continue. Determining working and show quality are kind of two different things as well. I think it would take longer to be certain of a dog's working ability than it does to determine the show quality, therefore dogs would need to be kept on for a year or two at the least. I cannot imagine anybody would be able to keep on and work half a litter (3 or more pups) unless their days have a lot more hours than mine lol I also think that anybody who would consider this a monetary investment probably has no idea. Pups need to be priced so that puppy buyers can actually be found, so recovering the kind of outlay you are proposing is, at best, unrealistic. I would assume that anybody who is serious about this kind of project would be doing it because this is their passion, not because they hope to earn back their money. As I said, I do not know much about Cockers, but from the way people are talking here they might not actually have that much trouble fitting into a non working home, unlike sharper breeds. So it would be up to the breeder to determine whether pups placed in pet homes would simply be a waste of good genes or not. I guess the aim of a successful performance breeder should be to breed as few duds needing pet homes as possible, but this goal might need to be compromised on, if sufficient working homes were not available. Which is another reason I am so reluctant in the pursuit of my own importation and working line establishment. Again, I am going to assume that you are referring to Cockers as "nuttiness" and high activity levels are not my concern when contemplating working Weis in pet homes. Since I am totally lacking any experience with Cockers, regardless of working or pet breeding, I don't really have any response. However, I would think that a bitch that was not worn out breeding-wise would be a better choice for importation, as you will likely get more pups in return for your "investment"? Others have brought good arguments as to why a bitch with 4 previous litters might not be the best choice for importation. Either way, if a titled bitch produced several puppies in a litter that were clearly not working material then I would seriously doubt the bitch's quality. I realize that for Police K9s, the rate of unsuitable dogs is extremely high, however, for hunting dogs the suitable dogs should generally outnumber the unsuitable ones greatly. I don't think puppy selection would be as easy as you are imagining at this moment (unless puppies will need to be culled for unsuitable markings, miscolouration etc, which all become obvious very quickly with visual inspection). Ideally, all pups should be started and worked (possibly with several handlers as a single handler will never be able to bring on an entire litter properly) and the next breeding animals should be chosen by performance at an appropriate age, rather than taking a blind guess when they are young puppies and obviously not working at all yet. This is the reason why I am so concerned about lack of working homes, as choosing puppies to keep on and breed with is pretty much pointless when you are looking at breeding for performance, instead of appearance. I think there is a huge difference between "working line" and "high energy breed" due to the reasons I have outlined above. As a breeder of performance dogs, it is actually of concern to you how your puppies perform. As a breeder of a high energy breed, you already know that pretty much all your puppies will be high energy, no future breed choice selection depends on their development. Any breeder should be concerned with their puppies' placement and future happiness. That does not mean that happy puppies = a good breeding program for a performance breeder. Completely untalented puppies can be just as happy as excellent working puppies. I guess it comes down to how serious you are for them to be performance dogs, or whether you are just looking to breed a Cocker of a certain appearance and energy level (in which case it is not a working line you are breeding, but rather a type). Which is why I said a lot depends on your personal goals :)

This is part of the reason I am so reluctant to get into breeding working Weimaraners. I am kind of in doubt that there will be enough suitable homes that would be available... I guess it might be worthwhile speaking to the other breeders already doing it now and finding out if they have any trouble placing all their pups and how many actually go on to working homes and how many end up in pet homes. I guess having only 5 pups per litter makes things a little easier, 10+ would be a different story for certain.

Gorgeous! I'm hoping there will be more puppy pictures in the Weim thread once she arrives at home? :D

Are you looking to work the dog or just use it to breed and keep it as a pet? Personally I would like to import a titled Weimaraner bitch (preferably from Germany) but I have my doubts as to the number of pups I could place in genuine working homes. Importing a working dog and then placing pups in pet homes kind of defeats the purpose for me. Spaniels, however, being not as sharp, would probably do a lot better in a pet home if the owners were dedicated enough to exercise and stimulate the dog sufficiently. But again, I kind of have to wonder if it is worth the while if field bred working pups end up going to pet homes, however good the pet home may be. I guess your personal goals are a big deciding factor here? I don't know too much about Spaniels so have no clue as to litter size etc, but I do believe they are still used in working roles much more widely than many of the other gun dog breeds (mostly talking HPR breeds here, rather than retrievers). Are you working your current dog(s)? Will you be planning to keep pups on to work? What kind of breed community support is there to help continue the line and work your pups (if that is what you want them to do)?

What, no Weim puppy pictures?! Haha No but seriously, photos are a must :D

I sometimes collapse or faint when I'm having a hot shower (not super hot, just very warm). Same on very hot days even with low humidity. No doctor has ever been able to find a reason for this, though I do sometimes have slightly low blood pressure. Wonder if it is similar... It's a very unsettling experience as my whole field of vision can go dark (like ants on a tv with no signal) so I can't see even though my eyes are open. I feel very hot and weak and if I don't sit down in the shade (or turn the water cold in the shower) I pretty much just collapse..... I'm perfectly fine afterwards though, no lasting effects (unless I bump my head obviously lol) Is it known why this happens to greyhounds? One doctor said I might have trouble controlling my body temp due to being tall and skinny/having low body mass?