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I often get asked if my dally is as big as she's going to get (she's small but very well within standard height and a healthy 21kg). They think Dalmatians are huge or something? Of course I get the "dallies are hyper" or "stupid". She proves them wrong. I sometimes wonder if people get harlequin great danes and dals confused - my grandma did. She thought my pup was going to come up to my hips when fully grown!

Should be able to use Advantix, it's from 12weeks of age. Comfortis is 14 weeks of age but I wouldn't use in breeding animals. Maybe Advantage (sister product to Advantix) if fleas are all you want to kill (not ticks). Biggest problem will be the different weight ranges. The A-family are 4-10, 10-25, 25+. Comfortis is 4.6-9, 9-18, 18-27, 27-52(?) all in kilos. The real problem is probably that the flea eggs are now in the environment and you'll need to break the cycle. They'll drop off over winter but the eggs will remain unhatched until you get another warm day (they can stay dormant for 6 months). I never had fleas on my dog until this summer. One pipette of Advantix knocked them over but it's a terrible season!

After we heard that the pup we rescued and rehomed with a family friend died of a brown snake bite, we were devastated. But I swear that Cleo is just as cheeky as little Coco was! Coco was taken far too soon and had a terrible start to her brief life, we loved her so very much, Im hoping that she knew this and came back to us with spots and in a breed that could smile :)

I've never had experience with pointers (Only GSP's) so can't comment on that. But have you considered a Dalmatian? I rarely recommend my breed, they can be quite full on, but what you want, sounds like a dal (active dog, smart, great for dog sports, short haired/minimal grooming and a big sook, but maybe not as much as a staff). As to your other questions, we're getting our 2nd Dalmatian next year, giving a gap of nearly 3 years. I think it's a good gap, they won't be puppies together (which is crazy hectic) and we won't have one old getting cranky with one young. They will have similar energy levels (hopefully). I think getting the opposite sex is the best bet for harmony. No guarantees but I've heard it's the best bet. Try to find some dog shows, the best way to find pure bred dogs and handlers all hanging out together! Usually best to wait until they aren't about to go into the ring though. My husband and I are also planning on children in the next 5 years. We're doing puppy first - they mature more quickly! My sister got a rescue pup right after she had her 2nd child and suffered PND - another reason why I would go puppy first. At least then you can have a mature dog that isn't chewing shoes and needing to be toilet trained along with a baby!

Sorry to hear the sad news LisaCC .

the hairless cat one is scary. Too bad they had no dallies

I've found that Comfortis has the best rate of success. But it's a harsh chemical and can make some dogs sick. Make sure it's given with a full stomach. Advantix is what I use, I need the para tick prevention and I don't like Frontline that much. When Cleo had fleas for the first time ever recently, when I slacked off on the application date, I applied her pipette and bamn - fleas were gone. Frontline - the rep says that fleas can't become immune to it, and if they were, Bayer (Advantix) and other companies would have jumped all over it and used that to push their sales. Makes sense to me, but I still don't like it. Could the fleas you are seeing be in the process of dying? I know Frontline agitates fleas and sends them to hyper town before they die.

My dally girl is very adjustable to playing with different dogs. I think you will find that you could bring a pup up to behave appropriately around different dogs. Cleo (my dal) lives with an old Stafford x lab. The old dog can't keep up with Cleo but they have a little play session every afternoon where there is a bit of bitey face and roly poly. Then at my parent's house we have an even older lab girl and a young mini schnauzer (about Cleo's age). Cleo never bothers the old lab, they are light years apart and it seems that Cleo respects her (the lab is going deaf and is prone to "senior moments") The mini schnauzer loves to play with Cleo, they run and roll and Cleo adapts to his bitey leg game, by biting his moustache. We don't let her play out and about much because I've just had a few too many little dogs go off at her, one crossed a road to attach her, and I would hate for her to finish something that they start. So she only plays with "safe" dogs that I know the temprement of.

I've spotted my MIL and my sister have both bought this brand for their dogs :) Im glad to see them trying something that I see as a bit better for their dogs than left overs and homebrand kibble!

I can't really compare the two. I love my dog so very much, but I am very devoted to my husband. That said, the love I feel is different for them both. Cleo is like my baby, she depends on me and I treat her like a child, I love her because she's a dog and she has soft smooshy ears and she lets me act like an idiot and doesn't judge me. My husband is my life partner, soulmate, some one I can't dream of living without. I don't smoosh his ears and act like an idiot with him. He is my best friend that I can talk to about anything. I can't talk to Cleo, I feel weird having a serious conversation with a dog. Matt is as devoted to the dog as I am, and shares my dream of breeding and showing champions. When it comes to other humans though, it's hard. I honestly don't know what I would do in a dog v.s human situation and hope I never have to deal with it.

Cleo and I don't have a set routine. We used to do more free running on the beach, but now do more roadwork, and we're training for the ET so running with the bike too. As a dally, she's hard to wear out (read: just about impossible). Her favourite thing to do is free run on the beach, she runs up into the dunes and back down into the water. It's a 5k walk for me, she does at least double. The other day we did it on mostly on lead (other people/dogs around) but as we're working on "heeling" it was good practice. Our next favourite thing is to go down to the river, where there is a steep embankment and I let her off to run around on the little beachy area. She has started to do zoomies down there and venture deeper into the water - Im slowly introducing the river as a new exercise, not only teaching her to swim and exercise but to like water and have fun! Our boring days are walking a few k's to the Post office and back. Don't like this as neighbourhood dogs off leash approach us, attack us, bark at us etc, but is good for teaching her to ignore distractions and loose leash walking. When my bike isn't broken, we ride too. Her preferred pace is 16-19kmph but we have to go slower in the ET. That is a walk for her!

I didn't even have an idea of what I was going to do when Cleo was spayed. But when I picked her up the nurse told me she had been licking at it so she had one on (and I paid for it, $15). She hated having it on, but we tried to not have it on and she'd lick at the wound. I wasn't going to risk trouble so left it on at nighttime but took it off during the day when I could supervise. Kept her busy with a roo tail :)

I think I saw you added on there, you wrote about having a dal before. I'm Sarah L on that page. You'll see me post from time to time. Who is the sire's owner if I can ask? (feel free to PM) I'm starting to get to know all the breeders now, which is handy coz not knowing anyone at shows is daunting!

I wrote a reply earlier but then the forum went offline My dally Cleo has a 42" crate (Kramar brand, it's the XL). It's very roomy for her, and I could fit another dog in there with her! She likes to sleep all stretched out though so it's perfect for her. I hope you post lots of photos of your baby! I'm getting a 2nd dally pup next year (fingers crossed!). If you're on facebook, you may want to have a look at this group that I am a part of --> http://www.facebook.com/groups/Dals.of.Aus.and.NZ/ we're all just dally lovers on that page and any dally owner or lover is welcome :) might be helpful if you have any dally specific questions!

True, but dogs aren't humans and the general doesn't always suit the specific. :) In your opinion. Metobalism is metabolism. Calories are burned by movement, not by sleeping. The rationale of feeding dogs at night is so that their stomachs are not full during the day so they are able to move about and work freely without a stomach load of food ..... which can cause problems. Dogs like to sleep after eating. Other more important reason is that if you feed a dog at night, and his tummy is full he will go to sleep and digest his food. He is less likely to be running around all night, or barking all night. Edited to say - I had this problem with mine, DD, and I solved the problem by feeding all but the incredible guts, and the keen by slow eaters, together. Of course, there were great scrambles and some growling, but they settled to it and all ate better and seemed to get enough. Apparently quite a few breeders etc. do feel their dogs together. They are fed separately again now though By that rationale human athletes who deliberately load up on carbs or steak etc before a fight, a footy match, a marathon etc are all wrong. Are you also suggesting humans with non-sedentary occupations who have a hearty brekky would be lethargic & unfit for a decent mornings work? It is only a matter of opinion of course, but in my opinion your rationale is seriously flawed. Altho i can see there could be a problem with continiously over feeding. Which wouldn't matter whether it was done morning or night. Dogs are not humans. My dog will not perform on a full stomach. I won't take her in the car with a full stomach. I can't exercise her after a meal. Hence, her biggest feed on the day is dinner, when all we do afterwards is rest. As a human, I need to eat before I "perform" be it sport or work, because that's how my body works. I know how my dog's body works, and "loading her up" would definitely not work in her favour.

I find this stuff so interesting. I hope the Animal Nutrition unit in my uni course is decent! My dog is a desexed female Dalmatian who is a maniac (she runs a lot). She currently weighs her heaviest at 23kgs. I've found that she can lose weight very easily (fasting for one night and day for surgery she got down to 17kgs! She looked like a skeleton!) 1. Do you have to feed tons of food or hardly anything in order to keep your dog at a decent weight? If you have to shovel food into the dog or its constantly hungry (yeah I know that's nearly all dogs all the time) I'd say the fat content of the diet needs tweaking up or down. Cleo normally has her dry food for brekky and a BARF patty and kibble for dinner. Or a small amount of kibble and a chicken frame for dinner. On a normal day it's 1.5 cups of kibble and 1 patty all up. Treats are not to common. Not because I don't give them, I have a cupboard full, I just forget that I have them. 2. Is your dog at the vets a fair bit for minor skin irritations, ear or other infections or hot spots? If so, I'd say that avoiding some types of food in the diet is worth trying. A lot of dogs are gluten intolerant and changing the diet can help with these issues. We've been to the vet once for a skin irritation, last year. No itch, just can see her skin is irritated. Now that we just went to the vet the other week for conjunctavitus, the vet reckons she has like a hay-fever and is just sensitive this time of year. I agree as it only flares up now and she's on a grain free diet. 3. What's going on at the back end? Does your dog produce firm stools? Or are they large mounds of mousse like poo (see this quite a bit) and are they foul smelling? I'd say a diet that sees your dog produce masses of soft smelly stools on a regular basis isn't ideal. Nice poo. Sometimes with added grass danglies. Not smelly (doesn't take much to make me gag, and I don't gag on poo patrol) 4. Does your dog smell? Teeth, anal glands, general odour? Diet can be frequent cause of these issues and making sure that your dog gets a decent amount of tooth cleaning via its diet and a decent amount of fibre can help with some of these issues. Not smelly. Her breath is acceptable (maybe even better than OH's!) and I can handle her breathing on my face, which surprised me. She has a small amount of tartar but this disappears after a few chicken frames. Also have Petzlife gel to help maintain oral health. 5. Does your dog LIKE its food? Some dogs are just picky but what you feed should be enjoyed by the dog. If you're constantly having to spice up the main part of your dog's diet with additives, I'd say its time to try something else. She loves all food. She wasn't keen on Holistic select when she was a pup, but ever since I swapped around she's been good. Being a Dalmatian, her diet does have to be monitored. I won't allow her beef, roo or organ meats because of purine content, salmon is also ruled out (there's a lot more but these are the biggest no no's). Having her has taught me to read the ingredient and composition lists really well. Can't wait for a LUA dally though!

There is a great Dalmatian database, can't access it on my new computer though when I did have a good look, I just got stuck on one side of Cleo's pedigree through her sire (which has a lot of Paceaway) and I traced right back to American dogs. I got even more excited when I went through my Dalmatian Club of America book (which is my breed bible) and found that a lot of the champions featured in there, are distant relatives (Including Freckled Friend). I just had to stop eventually, it definitely uses a lot of paper to write it all down (and that was just one side!).

Yes, we live in a converted shed in the backyard and Cleo zooms around it every afternoon but will sometimes do a zoom up between the main house and the caravan (which today involved a lead over the hose that was 2m long and 1m high! )

haha it's a long story but to shorten it, I grew up in a marine park with dolphins and seals, Solomon was only a few years older than me and came to the park the year I was born, so I never knew life without him until I moved away and he died Cleo was a seal too, a Leopard seal. Not that my dog was named after the seal but I liked the name.

Were you getting an Aussie? I thought that was what I read...(could be mistaken!) Having to change plans is hard. Originally, my first dal was going to be from this breeder, but the bitch didn't come into season and I found Cleo (knew she was "the one", she was born on my birthday and just knew as soon as I saw the ad). The original breeder was fine, and we've struck up a strong friendship and about six months after I got Cleo, her bitch had her first litter which I got to meet at 6 weeks. I was in love, and I saw the pups grow up (met up at shows) and I know I like her dogs! Distractions are very welcome, im getting a new car soon (it's within 10 days away), travelling around to visit other Petstocks to learn how to better our store, uni, working a lot and hopefully showing Cleo to her neuter title. That's probably not busy enough still but it'll help! collars that can go with any colour fur are good. Cleo's first collar was turquoise, such a nice colour on white...but then people assumed she was male. They still do with a pink collar and lead though. This is a link to a pic of the first Solomon (or Sol) http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QPqGJTmKg6c/TLGolIR5geI/AAAAAAAACFk/YBY3QQghc5M/s640/Solomon.jpg (sorry Im no good at making that an actual link...) ETA: it made itself a link! yay

8 months is a fair wait too! I just really hope that the pregnancy takes, she's a long cycler! Well we've decided on Solomon for sure if it's a boy in memory of another animal that had a big part in my life. But can't agree on a girl name. Im finding especially hard when im working in a pet store surrounded by puppy stuff that just taunts me....especially the cutesy little puppy collars that I don't need to buy 1. because they grow out of them so fast and 2. because I have 2 left from Cleo in pink AND blue. Hopefully uni distracts me! Only a month to go until that =]

Unfortunately sandflies and mozzies are one thing that Advantix doesn't repel for my girl. Fleas and ticks are definately kept away, she's never had one and I live in a terrible area for both, the whole of Coffs seems to be having a flea plague at the moment. My poor girl suffers from sandfly/mozzie bites though and coz she's mainly white it's very obvious. Putting up a bug zapper and the drier weather (until these past few days) has helped, Advantix which is applied religiously, has not- for these bugs.

It is a bit, haha and yep I definately will get it one day! Once things start moving along again, I'll try to remember to let you know via PM. This dog will hopefully be my foundation, which makes me even more excited. Im trying to think of names already, it's very important! Im thinking Dasha (like my prefix, dotdashdot) or to stick with a royal sort of theme like Cleo (Cleopatra). Oh well, got a whole year to think about it!

Unfortunately no there have been developments in that area that are stopping the importation - i.e for the semen to be imported and used immediately, dogs in the last 3 generations HAVE to be registered with the AKC/KC etc (not just UKC or other) so that ANKC will recognise it. Unfortunately there is ONE dog that keeps popping up and, well to put it blunty - getting in the way! There is also the ban on UK LUA semen/dogs which is effective for another year I think. We will probably have to wait a year for appropriate pups to "pop up" and become available as studs or for this ONE dog to be registered with the correct body. We have a newly developed LUA stud dog group too that is bringing together people from all over the world, with this ambition. That effectively means that pup would be born later next year (at the soonest). My mentor wasn't going to breed for another 5 years or so but plans changed and now pups will hopefully be on the ground this time next year. I promised I would have one of her pups so here I am! Despite the fact that I won't be able to take on a LUA pup (unless I win the lottery and can buy my dream property where I could run 4 dogs) I am still determined to help fund the importation of this breed-changing semen and see LUA dals in the ring here in AUS!

Thanks Jules. If there aren't 2 show potential girls, but there's a boy, I will take a boy instead =] I just hope it all works out, I know so much could change and go wrong so I must not get toooo over the top!