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or what about a polish lowland sheepdog? they are just like a beardie, just slightly smaller!

We have owned and bred bearded collies in the past. They are easily my mum's favourite of all time, she had to give showing them up as she could not keep up with the coat or maintain there physical training, but every time she sees one i can see her eyes well up! But beardies are beautifully outgoing, bouncy, not aggressive, good with a 7 year old. All of this providing that they are trained with strict guidelines, and heaps and heaps of exercise. Some are more stubborn than others, but if you keep up with thier training and exercise they are great!!!! The grooming is pretty intense, bath once a month, brushing every day, but a layer brush once a week. But just because they have that beautiful coat doesn't mean they have to live in a bubble!

My baby puppy girl is a princess when its wet too, as is my older Cavie bitch. They both refuse to go on the grass and instead have learnt to lean off the step, not putting a foot out in the rain, and the deposits fall right beside it down onto the grass! After a run of bad weather that step area stink! The boys aren't much better, i have one that just goes inside on the lino, and another who bolts out, quickly goes, but so quick he needs to go out five minutes later to repeat the process!

Not if your dog is a stud or for breeding dog. Yes its about dominance, but yelling, and strongly correcting breeding animals for acting on thier sexual urges can put them off when the time comes to do the deed! If you don't believe me, we just had an incident at a mating where a male dog who would get into trouble through his younger years for humping a teddy bear, and his brother, even sometimes playfully corrected, was so confused that he refused to do the 'deed' with his owner present. He was so confused and kept looking to her for the ok, but no matter how positive she was, he had been led to believe that acting on his sexual urges is wrong. The mating happened fine without intervention from the owners, but as soon as she stepped in to assist with the tie he would dismount and try and get reassurance. But if there not breeding animals then yes, for all means correct the behaviour, or better yet, get the animal desexed as i believe all dogs who are not breeding/show animals should be. Desexing reduces the amount of testosterone/oestreogen in the animals system, thus reducing the animals sexual desires. At my house, our little girl humps our baby boy, and the boy returns the favour in equal amounts. I just laugh it off, as they both are show dogs, and we are planning to maybe breed them in the future.

Adorable!!!

what about a cavalier king charles spaniel? we have 3 and they love hiking and the beach! (i know traditionally there a lap dog, but they are honestly more a spaniel than anything - including bird attraction, etc) they can weigh up to 8 kgs according to the standard, but are a sturdy, bold, brave and faithful breed, that are wash and wear!

The points that everyone has brought up are the things that have led me to ask this question. And im not suggesting the dog should be generic by any means - that's exactly what im against! Maybe some rules could include: - no handler's featuring in the ads, or at least thier faces not prominent! - no photoshopping of dogs - and truth in advertising (a point i think the media as a whole needs to address but that's another issue!) that way, it is the DOGS being judged!

I suppose that's what my point is. should there be rules to regulate the advertising of dogs, so that the handler does not feature in it? that way it breaks down the possibility of being accused of 'crook' judging.

thank you for this! i already use the cat/puppy clippers and they don't mind me playing with thier feet, its more i have no idea how much to cut and they aren't as patient as my older dogs! they lay there for hours and let me cut, but they have white nails. plus thier nails are off the ground, so maybe im already cutting them short enough!

Thankyou, ive been trying to do this, but you would know how hard it is to convince a 12 week old and a 17 week old puppy of this~!

i agree with both of you. hopefully judges aren't swayed by flashy advertising, and im not talking about just fantastic websites, and good advertising. im talking about the even average websites that have a 'face' splattered all over them. and yes dogs in the flesh generally take your breath away alot better than a well placed photo on a website, however, i don't think anyone can deny the fact that the more money you have to put towards your dogs and breeding, the more successful you will be. For example, someone who can afford to have 30 bitches will have a higher chance just by mere numbers to produce a better dog than someone who has 2. Also money gives you access to better puppies, imports and semen, and i don't think that anyone can deny that. And i think thats ok, if you have the money spend it on what you want, but should there be rules about what can actually appear on the ad. after all if you have an amazing specimen of a dog wouldn't you want to show that off, showing its structure and comformation, rather than it sitting in your lap?

I have found that looking through some of the ads for various kennels that some of them have only the pictures of the dogs and others are artistic pieces of work featuring both the owner/handler mainly and the dog a tidbit in the side. Ive also noticed how expensive advertising is, and for many spending that amount of money is just a dream, and i believe that the space between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' is stretching ever further away from one another. We all know the benefits of advertising. Do you think there should be regulations in force stating how you should be allowed to advertise your kennels and your dog? For example, should people not be allowed in them at all? should the dog have to feature in it mainly? I have my own opinion, and that is that the advertising should be about your breed, your dog, and your kennels and the dogs should be the focus of any advertisement, but i would be interested to hear in other peoples opinions?

My two puppies have dark, almost black nails and it is so hard to know how much to cut off. I know that you have to avoid the quick and am very scared of hitting it, but it is impossible to see where that is on the nails that are dark. Everytime i cut them they seem so so long! how do you know how much is safe to cut?

i have never seen him hit or kick a dog nor have i heard him ever advocate such a thing! in fact in his books he says only a light touch! its not his fault if idiots only watch and don't listen with thier listening ears to what he is saying! a touch just to shock them out of thier behaviour and to get thier attention and i quote from his book "a touch is never - - a pinch - a hit - a kick - a grab It is a light touch to the large muscle around the neck"

i saw him in newcastle last week and i laughed really hard, and i did pick up on some things! i thought it was worth the money and a good night out except for the Q+A session. Two of the ladies asked about forty questions stemming from thier one and you could tell he didn't want to be rude but was stuck with them, and they were pretty basic like toilet training and a lady scared of big dogs! i watch him all the time so it wasn't really anything new, but the way he said it made me have a few ah moments, plus he is actually really funny! I was in the front section so i could see him really close, (5th row back) and our venue sucks as well!

oh i love the name - Willowpark Custom Made - and he is oh so cute! Ive seen little oscar around the rings already and he is beautiful! and very playful!

great photos.

I don't think so. If there not eligible for cc points anyway there really is no point. Last show my baby puppy was in the ring so many times! Sweeps, then class, then breed, then group, then show!!! albeit i know that doesn't happen everytime it makes it such a big day!

I just did a count (+- here and there to allow for Ag shows that aren't listed and run or those that are listed and don't run) NSW has 550 Championship shows scheduled for 2012 (including Specialties). In our part of NSW within 600k radius there are only 12 shows for the year and that is between end of may and end of October. Its easy to say that a state has x number of shows but where they are located needs to be taken into consideration. NSW is larger in area than the whole of England (if my memory of high school geography is right)and for some even though there are that many shows many would be too far away. AS an example to travel from western NSW to show on the East Coast of NSW is 1400k's. As far as travellinmg from Southern NSW (Albury) to Northern NSW I can't comment because I haven't done it. So while 550 Champ shows sounds a lot in some areas of the state there really aren't that many. Albury to the border of Queensland - the Tweed takes approximately 21 hours to drive, Im not sure on the km's but i have done it! and it is way too far to travel for a show! also yes NSW has so many shows but only the 'haves' can afford to show at each and every show in NSW. if you are taking into account the fact that we have 550 shows (including specialties) imagine the cost in just entering half of them! so 275 shows at roughly $10 a dog works out at $2750 a year. I have four show dogs so that works out at around $11,000 a year on entry fees and that's just entry fees, which we all know is not the only costs incurred when showing. and i suppose that's another point. Dog showing is becoming more and more divided between the 'haves' and the 'lesser haves'. Chasing points around the state is easy when you have the funds to do so!

i find my female cavie is allergic to alot of stuff so we're very careful with what we feed her and bath her with. Mine also tend to put on weight fairly easily so i stay away from all the fatty crap that is sold out there, and stick to as high a standard as i can afford (currently pro plan but am switching to black hawk) i find that for coat the best stuff is the high premium stuff, that has the correct oils in it, but my cavies are late maturers so there coat doesn't really start perfecting until after 3~! Omega 3 etc, i also feed with sasha's blend, to help with joints and movement, and i know it sounds crazy but i believe since they have been on it there coat has improved (although im sure everyone will tell me im crazy!) As for eye/ear infections, mine have never had either, but i do bath them EVERY week without fail, and cleaning thier ears is very important as well as wiping excess tear production each day. Other than that, they just get fed as normal. I just try and feed them the best quality i can afford, and stay away from the high fat stuff, or stuff with a high wheat/soy filler content as i believe it irritates thier system too much.

has anybody used the puppy formula? i am ordering the adult food for the older dogs, as they loved the sample, but my sample for the pups has not arrived yet (not black hawk's fault our mail is slooooow and goes missing intermittently) they are currently on puppy pro plan but it is chicken. One is a fussy eater and im concerned about the switch to lamb (although it hasnt worried the grown ups!) how have your puppies gone on it?

Thank you everyone. I just checked out thier website and they look very very genuine. I hope i didn't offend anyone, you just hear heaps of horrible stories out there of people getting ripped off. am processing the dd right now!!!

This is a terrible and sad story! im no expert on powerful, or bull breeds, and yet to me that dog looks a lot like a staffy. how could they be so wrong? what were the council officers smoking?

when are people going to realise that it has nothing to do with the 'breed' of the dog! its the humans behind each individual dog that is the problem. but we don't ever hear about any irresponsible pet owners being pts. i don't own staffy's or any powerful breed, but at the same time, i am so against all of this banning and 'disposal'. After all, where will they draw the line!

Oh, my heart goes out to you and your beloved. I know exactly how you feel! My puppy got stung by a bee last week, and had an allergic reaction. I felt terrible, and even broke down in the vets office as she just lay there lifeless on the table. I felt so guilty for putting her in the yard and not stopping her quickly enough! But accidents do happen, and unfortunately it breaks our hearts. Thankfully he is at the vets, and recieving pain relief, and hopefully feeling a bit better. I wish you all the best for tommorow and hope that they can fix the leg so he can have a long and fulfilled life!