Miranda

I'm the exact opposite, just about all my friends and acquaintances are dog people

It's pretty good around here, I very seldom come across a loose dog in this neighbourhood.

I've been to Lea, Peter and Ashley and they're all good, but I would highly recommend Ashley.

Yes I've had a pup with this, she had recurrent UTI's until she had her first season then no more problems.

I have a 5 meter lead I purchased from K9 Pro but have never used, it's very well made, black and red and won't slip through your hands.

Contact The Law Institute, explain your problem and they will recommend a suitable solicitor in your area. If you need legal counsel concerning something to do with your dogs, contact your state controlling body and they should be able to recommend someone who has experience in dog related matters.

Yes I was one who thought the kibble very small when I first started using it, but now I prefer it that size as the dogs can't eat it as fast. I wouldn't go back to a regular size kibble now Black Hawk is an excellent product, probably the best dry food I've ever used for quality, availability and price

You could try IOD No. 63 Detangle/Conditioning Mist, I haven't used it myself, but have heard good reports about it from others. Another product that might help is LL Drape, I used to use it on one of my bitches who had a very heavy coat and it was excellent for keeping her coat tangle free.

I am perfectly happy to deal with enquiries and find suitable buyers, I would not be prepared to hand over any part of the selling procedure to someone else. Sure it can be a hassle sometimes, but it's all part of breeding and something I'd prefer to do myself, after all I brought the puppies into the world, therefore their future is my responsibility. BTW I don't ask for deposits, mainly because I don't want to have an obligation to provide a puppy, quite often an initial enquiry can go well, but on meeting the buyer personally sometimes it is quite obvious that the person isn't suitable.

Me too. Especially when you've heard about all the winning they've been doing and then you see a photo and, as you said

Normally yes, but in these circumstances putting the bitch with the puppies will put stress on both the dam and the pups as the puppies will be frantic to suckle and will keep attempting to do so and she will be just as desperate to feed them to relieve the pressure. There's also a possibility that just being with the pups may stimulate her milk production.

Yes I agree showdog, I think if we do it here we may have more dogs at shows, but there's also a possibility that the quality of our champions may suffer in the process.

In the U.K. dogs have to compete for their title against the champions and big winners in each breed and they have huge entries at every show that offers challenges, so having to beat the best to gain your title doesn't appear to deter exhibitors over there.

I'm inclined to agree with this, but there's no doubt that removing titled dogs from ordinary classes would encourage more exhibitors especially in numerically small breeds where a few kennels produce dogs of excellent quality and these dogs are shown every weekend. Having a separate champions class is, of course, the system used in the U.S., but dogs there are required to beat a certain number of dogs a certain number of times before they can gain their title and exhibitors often get together and arrange to attend a particular show/cluster so there will be enough dogs present at the show to ensure a major in dogs and bitches. The number of points required for a major varies from state to state depending on how numerically strong the breed is in that particular area. I think we may need to do something similar here if we were to adopt that system otherwise as Dellcara says, we could 'cheapen' our titles and let's face it Australian titles are already looked on as inferior in some countries because of our 6 point challenges.

I agree with Shazzapug. In addition you can reduce the amount of food she gets, give her no food at all for 24 hours and then feed her half the amount she was getting before, if you've been giving her any extras stop feeding them. Also reduce her fluid intake if you've been giving her more liquids than usual to aid lactation. This method will substantially reduce her milk supply and help to avoid mastitis, but continue to keep an eye on her as mastitis is still a possibility.

I would also like to know how many generations they use for these studies, I have COI's on all my dogs and I calculate over 20 generations.

fuzzy82 I think that the Delta course would suit you better.

Trying to find suitable homes and dealing with potential puppy purchasers is the very worst part of breeding IMO, believe me there are just as many time wasters and tyre kickers among the ranks of buyers as there are rude and uncommunicative people among the breeders. I answer all enquiries promptly and politely, but some of the enquiries you have to deal with really try your patience and even if they pass my first assessment often they are quite unsuitable when you meet them personally. If it were possible to accurately measure such things I think equal fault would be found on both sides.

Dr. Ron Wells, veterinarian and former Liberal MP used to own a puppy farm near Ballarat, Victoria. Apparently around 150 dogs were kept there for breeding puposes and the puppies were sent to pet shops around Victoria.

I never pts a healthy puppy even if it has a major fault that means it cannot be bred or shown, I've had large litters and raised them all. However I won't continually work on a puppy that isn't thriving or has an abnormality. Dogs have large litters for a reason, nature never intended every puppy to reach adulthood.

The older dog could gain access simply by scratching at the fabric, looks good but not practical unfortunately.

I locked one of mine in the toilet once, he was always sneaking in there trying to drink the water (OH sometimes forgets to put the lid down) and I didn't notice, shut the door, and went out for a couple of hours. At least he wouldn't have suffered from dehydration

First of all, my apologies to all DOLers for again going OT, but I missed this post yesterday and therefore didn't reply to it. Steve the wording on your website has since been changed (probably because of the outcry), but it originally stated that the MDBA would appoint five people (not necessarily breeders) from each individual breed, and those people would review the breed standard for their particular breed on a three yearly basis. Should those people decide that some parts of the standard should be changed, they would submit their recommendations to the MDBA and the board of directors plus various unnamed veterinarians and geneticists would then proceed to act on those recommendations should they decide that the changes to the breed standard would be in the best interests of the health and welfare of the breed. This statement is no longer on your website, but I'm sure I am not the only one who remembers reading it a few months ago. Regarding the fees, no you do not charge to register individual puppies, but you do charge a flat fee of $30.00 per litter plus $4.00 for each individual MDBA pedigree certificate issued. You also charge $10 per dog to transfer a dog from an outside registry to the MDBA registry plus a $4.00 fee for a new MDBA pedigree. I am sure I am not out of order including these fees in this post as all fees are clearly stated on your website and accessible to all. There are also fees to register a prefix, renew a prefix, leases and so on, but I won't go into that. So even though I am sure that you have the best interests of the purebreed dog at heart, you are also making money out of the enterprise and as I said before there is nothing wrong with that as you are, after all, running a business and a business must make a profit to remain viable. Anyway this is definitely my last word on the subject, once again I apologise for going off topic in this thread.

Where did I say that I was being asked to join another organisation and turn against the ANKC? I didn't. I've been in dogs a very long time and I guess you could say that I know the dog world inside out, but there are plenty of people on this forum who are new to dogs, know very little and are easily influenced, especially by someone like you who obviously has vast experience and who writes very informative and authoritative posts, therefore anything you post is going to be be taken as gospel by many people who visit this forum. You and a number of others constantly denigrate the ANKC and give the impression that it's an obsolete organisation good for nothing but registering dogs and unfortunately many new members are simply accepting these comments. This is what I object to, I don't agree with the MDBA, but you don't see me on here running it down or casting aspersions on its integrity, in fact I usually make an effort to stay out of any discussions involving the MDBA (but not today). I don't care how you promote the MDBA, but I do object to you constantly knocking the ANKC and sometimes ANKC registered breeders as a way to demonstrate the superiority of the your new organisation and its members and I must admit that I'm surprised that someone like you, a director of a supposedly elite organisation, considers it perfectly acceptable to do so. Edited to add that this thread has gone way off topic, my apologies to the OP, I won't be posting again in this thread.

I have nothing against opening stud books to purebred WKC kelpies shortstep, providing their registry is legitimate. I have no idea what the ANKC think about this, but I would not be against it should the subject arise. I certainly don't blindly agree with everything the ANKC does, there are definitely changes that need to be made.