Miranda

The dog world is alive with rumour and gossip, it's a highly competitive sport and the losers always greatly outnumber the winners so of course there are people lying and misrepresenting the truth. Some exhibitors spend a lot of time (time that would be better spent improving their own stock) bitching about others and pretty soon everyone knows who they are and they're largely ignored except by others of the same ilk. How many shows have you attended JB or is all your knowledge gained by reading posts on DOL?

There've been several threads on this forum complaining about just about everything, doesn't mean that they're true or that the posters haven't misconstrued the situation. Some probably think that any dog that does a slightly soft poo is suffering from parvo. I've been showing for over thirty years and I can count the number of sick dogs I've seen on one hand. I've seen a few cases of kennel cough, but a vet check wouldn't pick this up anyway unless they were specifically looking for it or the dog started coughing. The number of sick dogs taken to shows would be negligible, I am not saying that it never happens, but it certainly doesn't occur often enough to warrant a vet check of every dog prior to exhibition.

There are usually only a handful of dogs doing ET at any one time, whereas there can be anywhere from 300 to over 2,000 dogs at a show, even a very cursory vet check would be extremely time consuming. Personally I don't think that vet checks are necessary, I am quite capable of judging whether my dog is fit enough to attend a show, I certainly don't require a vet's opinion. The MDBA is always telling us that the ANKC has no right to dictate to us when and how often we can breed our bitches and that these decisions should be left up to the breeders, yet on the other hand they are suggesting that we are unable to judge if our dogs are fit enough to enter the show ring. Sounds pretty contradictory to me.

So what exactly will these 'shows' entail? I've read that all dogs will have to be examined by a veterinary surgeon prior to 'exhibition' (very time consuming) and that the general public will be much more involved than they are at ANKC shows, but other than that everything appears to be very vague. Other than testing for working ability (possible, but will be difficult and once again extremely time consuming at an all breeds show) and ensuring that every dog can do the job for which it was originally bred (even more difficult as some of those jobs no longer exist) I cannot begin to imagine how one of your 'shows' is going to be conducted or what is going to be required of the exhibits.

Yes I was the same. What's a breed club??? Then when you ring them them they just flog their own puppies from a recent litter anyway. There are two Gordon Setter breed clubs in Australia, one in Victoria and one in NSW. Both clubs have websites and those who have a breeder membership can advertise their litters on the websites, but only if both the sire and dam have been x-rayed and scored for hip dysplasia and the relevant paperwork has been sighted by the club. Neither club will accept a litter notification or recommend a litter if the breeder hasn't met these requirements. We also highly recommend that breeders x-ray and score elbows and I would imagine that this will also become mandatory in the future. Their are very few (if any) breeders of Gordons in Australia who don't x-ray their breeding stock and the vast majority also score elbows and it is my opinion that both clubs and breeders do their utmost to promote healthy dogs and responsible ownership. Not all breed clubs are run by self serving people who bicker among themselves and are solely interested in promoting their own dogs and their own litters, some clubs do work together for the good of the breed and encourage all their members to put health and temperament first. Regarding the MDBA I am not a member and never will be, like others I cannot see the point of another registry in a country as small as Australia, it will never be recognised by the FCI, the KC or the AKC and all it will do is cause more division in the dog world when what we should all be doing is getting behind the our current controlling body and lobbying for change. Personally I cannot see that the membership requirements of the MDBA will guarantee that every member will be squeaky clean and totally beyond reproach, let's face it anyone can write some spiel that will be acceptable to the board of directors and as for references from puppy buyers, well if some unscupulous person really wants the MDBA seal of approval all they've got to do if give the contact numbers of a couple of friends and tell them what to say. Unless the MDBA is prepared to go out and personally interview every prospective member, inspect their premises and check their paperwork on a regular basis they will be subject to the same problems that beset the ANKC, there are bad apples in all walks of life and they infiltrate all organisations even those with a stringent code of ethics. I can already see changes in Dogs Victoria and I think things will continue to improve, if members are unhappy with the way things are there is nothing stopping them from standing for the management commitee or any of the other sub-committees and pushing for change from within the organisation. We certainly don't need another body operating a different registry, altering breed standards and promoting themselves as better than everyone else just because their members say they will adhere to a code of ethics and won't sell to pet shops.

I have crates for each dog and all dogs are fed separately, when they're finished the bowls are removed, washed and put away. I also feed bones and pigs ears in their crates. I never allow the dogs to hang around when I'm preparing food and I don't leave any toys lying around in the yard. My dogs are all exercised and trained separately every day. Regular exercise is an extremely important part of my dog management program, the old saying 'a tired dog is a good dog' is very, very true. I am also extremely vigilant when the girls are coming into season. I practice NILIF and have done TOT with all my dogs, I have found this exercise to be invaluable, especially in the more food orientated dogs (thank you Steve ). If I ever have two dogs that cannot be trusted together I separate them permanently, experience had taught me that this is the easiest solution for my particular situation. I have neither the time nor the inclination to deal with the hassle of two dogs that don't get on.

If you're going to get trouble between entire bitches they are much more likely to occur in the weeks leading up to a season, as your rotti bitch is approaching eight months she is more than likely coming up to her first season hence the increased tension between them. An older bitch may also become much more dominant around a puppy bitch when she senses the younger dog is approaching sexual maturity. In my experience running some entire bitches together can be problematic regardless of how good a leader you are and I certainly wouldn't rely on strong leadership preventing an altercation. A fight can start in a fraction of a second and even if you're extremely vigilant the chances of you stopping a fight before it starts are minimal, any fight I've had has come out of nowhere, one second all is calm and the next second they're fighting. No posturing, no eyeballing, just two dogs standing together doing nothing and then.....wham! I don't own a particularly dominant breed, but the few fights I've had between bitches have been full on and luckily my partner was there at the same time because had I been on my own I wouldn't have had a hope of breaking them up. A scuffle between males I can handle, but bitches are a different story. I've run up to eleven entire dogs and bitches at the same time and like most breeders I've occasionally owned two dogs that cannot be trusted together and in that case the easiest solution for all concerned is separation.

So why isn't the dog registered yet? He's obviously been in the country for at least nine weeks. Is there a problem with his paperwork or something? From the VCA regs. 4.1.5.10 An imported dog registered in a Canine Register kept by a Controlling Body in the country from which it was imported and recognised as such by Management Committee may be registered.

I have never heard of a vet vaccinating every two weeks. Puppies should be vaccinated at 6/8 weeks (preferably nearer to 8 weeks) and 12/14 weeks, some vets recommend a third vacc at 16/18 weeks and some don't. I'm assuming that your puppy was given his first vaccination by the breeder at 6/8 weeks in which case he can begin puppy school 10/14 days after his first vacc.

If they are 4/5 weeks of age they are old enough to eat solids. However you say they may be younger in which case check their mouth and see if you can feel any teeth, if you can feel teeth it's ok to begin feeding them. I usually start them on very small balls of human grade mince and then move them on to Advance Rehydratable, as they have been separated from their dam give them 5/6 meals a day for a couple of weeks. You can mix the Advance with milk replacement or water. They can be fed together or separately, just make sure that they both get sufficient food and that one puppy isn't eating more at the expense of the other. I would also have water available, they may not drink it at first, but they'll soon learn. They should also be wormed every two weeks until three months of age. You say you are keeping them warm, but just be sure that they aren't too warm, puppies will cry if they're too hot as well as too cold and at 4/5 weeks they are able to regulate their temperature quite efficiently and heating shouldn't really be necessary unless it's extremely cold. If the weather is mild they certainly don't require extra heating at that age.

Good luck with your puppy atua, I have 11 week old puppies out of Courtney's sister

A true oxymoron.

We had neuter dog and neuter bitch classes at our club's championship show this year and only received two entries, both from committee members wanting to show support for the new classes. There was no interest at all from the general members

Yep same here and bad gas as well

I had this problem when I tried to feed Artemis. I persevered for weeks, but things didn't improve and in the end the dogs started to lose weight and their coats looked awful. If they went well on Nutro I'd take the EP back (they should give you a refund) and buy some more Nutro. You could try Black Hawk, I'm currently changing from Nutro to Black Hawk with no problems. And it's cheaper

I've had pups like that, they were usually the piggy ones who suckled until they nearly burst. When you pick them up they feel like balloons.

Actually I'm probably imagining the softer coat Hesapandabear I was very happy with Nutro and the dogs did very well on it, the only thing that slightly worried me is that beet pulp is listed fourth on the list of ingredients. It's also reasonably expensive when you're feeding five dogs, mine only get about one cup of dry a day, but it still doesn't take long to get through a bag. I do find the Black Hawk kibble a little small (unless I received the small dog variety), but if my dogs go as well on it as they did on Nutro I'll be very happy.

I've flown puppies all over Australia without a problem, at that age they cope very well. So I would recommend flying the puppy.

What a bummer My dogs don't have any problems with allergies thank doG. It's funny how dogs react differently to foods, but I suppose humans can be the same.

Sorry Sasha, I missed your post, but becks has explained what I meant very well

Well I'm up to 80% Black Hawk, 20% Nutro now and maybe I'm imagining it, but their coats feel softer Still have firm poos and no gas

English Setters and Dalmatians are born white

I sent mine to Dogs Vic last Tuesday (14th) and received the registration papers today (22nd) so it took seven days including a weekend. I didn't pay the extra $30 either.

Oh dear What were you feeding before? I got the same reaction when I tried Artemis, a couple of hours following their first meal they all had this vile gas and I thought oh-oh this isn't going to work. Sure enough the loose poo started the following morning.

Really! My dogs haven't had any adverse reactions at all. Do you mean gas or smelly poo?