Salukifan

Oh, and for the record? My last two dogs have spent their early weeks at retired or non-working friend's houses during the day while I worked. They did this until they were 16 weeks old and down to two feeds a day. A neat solution to issues of toileting, lunchtime feeds AND fabulous socialisation for bubs. :) A bit of creative thinking can solve a heap of issues.

Well, I'll respond. Firstly, I didn't say a damn thing about Aso. I said that nine hours a day in crate was too much for a giant breed pup and I didn't respond in kind when she decided to call me names. I don't crate adult dogs overnight. I get up each and every time a crated pup whines or, In my case when my elderly dogs need to go out for a pee. Last night that was three times. Frankly I don't recall the last time I had an unbroken night's sleep but that is the price you pay for living with an old dog with a weaker bladder and poor eyesight. And no, I'm not going to crate them and distress them by forcing them to pee where they sleep. I suppose this is a thinly veiled dig at those who think that crating is not an appropriate method of keeping a DOG contained during the day. I still fail to see how you can expect a pup to develop physcially when confined for this amount of time. Even baby puppies play and not much play happens in a crate. Crating is not socialising and I don't recall anyone suggesting that Aso wasn't going to socialise her pup. Thanks for that explanation of their character though.

From what I've just googled, Frontline is not effective on mange mites. You need Frontline Plus or Advocate. Dogs will lick any irritation. I really think you should visit the vet.

If he has sensitive skin or allergies. the chemicals certainly wont help him.

Dogues are highly susceptible to heat stress. I'd not be keeping the pup in the car.

What makes you think she's lonely?

Whippet Racing was once very popular in the UK where it was said that the family may have to go without food, but not the Whippet! It was only ever an amateur sport though.. never professionalised. Whippets WERE the poor man's greyhound. Kept, often in coal mining towns, to race on Sundays and put a bunny in the pot if the chance came. It wouldn't be the first time in history that the hunter and bread winner was fed first. And it was the case in the 1800's for many families.

Thanks for clarifying. :)

I'm not entirely confident Associate dogs can compete in herding trials... can someone enlighten us???

I'd suggest you establish precisely what you're dealing with before treatment. A skin scraping would confirm mange. At any rate, I suggest a trip to the vet. If you are dealing with an allergic reaction, you need to treat that quite differently to a staph infection or similar. Get a diagnosis.

I think any half way decent dog trainer would probably be effective here provided the owner recognizes that these are largely problems she has created and that it's she that must change her practices before things will improve. That said, it does sound like she's got herself a resource guarder.

Is anyone applying to the ANKC for the breed to be recognised?

So what do we do with them if we don't kill them?

Welcome to our world Haredown, maybe you'll consider becoming one ? :laugh: Well then I'd be contributing to the "too many" dogs situation now wouldn't I?? Pity folk don't do a bit of research about who's REALLY breeding in numbers before trotting out that accusation on ANKC breeders.

You can't win as a breeder with some folk. Keep your dogs in kennels and dont have them as house dogs and you're a "puppy farmer". Keep your dogs in your house and don't have a spare kennel with quarantine facilities for any of your dogs that might end up unwanted in a pound and you're "irresponsible". And don't take that pound dog into a home with tiny baby puppies and you'e not "cleaning up your own mess". You lose every way.

Actually breeders tend to work a bit more cooperatively. They certainly don't regard helping out dogs as "clearing up mess". Responsibly bred and homed dogs don't tend to be viewed that way.

Same as given to the OP. Time for a vet visit.

If a dog is temperamentally unsuited for a pet home, it should not be placed in a pet home. Greyhounds aren't and shouldn't be treated any differently, and the orgs I have been associated with are stringent in not place unsuitable greyhounds up for adoption. I don't see this as a barrier for improving the retirement outcome of the breed in general. You are probably right in that if the demand for retired dogs met or exceeded dogs available there wouldn't be an industry, but I'd like to think that there's room to create a much higher demand for the dogs. We've already seen demand go from virtually zero to rehoming hundreds (thousands Australia-wide??) of dogs per year through the efforts of GAP and other reputable rehoming programs. If that demand can be tripled again, coupled with a shift in attitude, funding and breeding practices, we might be getting closer to a minimal-waste industry. It's a huge ask, but I don't know that it's unachievable. They are an ideal breed for so many household situations. I hope you get the chance. You need to worry that a knee jerk, 'animal rights' based ban on the industry will happen before you do.

Whippets are not greyhounds. They were not and have never been professionally raced and frankly I don't find them particularly similar in some key features. I don't agree with the "professionalisation" of any competition involving animals. Syndication is the greatest of all evils as far as I'm concerned because it makes the process even less focussed on the animal's welfare. But the fact is that without racing, the breed will probably die out with the exception of a handful of dogs born every year.

So at any time, a breeder should have to take back all dogs bred, regardless of age, sexual status, vaccination status and their own lives. I love a dreamer. You don't just toss the dog in the back yard and hope for the best with your other dogs. How many horse breeders live in the burbs and have to get permits for every single extra dog they have? The issue isn't whether the dog goes back to its breeder but whether that breeder can step up for the dog in other ways. How many rescuers could take back any dog they'd rehomed at any time on zero notice??

No it wasn't. You gave the duration you proposed and asked if it was OK. I gave you an answer based on experiences of other people who've taken on pups kept in very limited space over the early weeks of their development. The answer was "it's too long". I'm not God. I'm not a mind reader either. If you keep shifting the goal posts of what you propose to do, then expect this kind of response. But feel free to prove me wrong - in fact for your dog's sake, I hope you do.

Have you any idea how much wee and poo a giant breed pup can produce - it would stink like a latrine in no time.

You mean pure breds? Or were they all surrendered with pedigree papers? Purebreds have to come from somewhere to start with which is generally a registered breeder with pappered pedigree stock that are then bred on. I worked in rescue & it was not unusual to ph a reg breeder to be told sorry but they don't have the room to take dog back or time to help either often. Best way IMHO to judge a breeder is not on who they do or don't reg with but whether they will always take back ANY animal they breed NO questions asked & then on the daily lifestyle all their dogs live(not just the house dogs). Of course teensy issues like number of permitted dogs, litters on the ground or integrating an adult dog into an existing pack are no nevermind. Get real. Most breeders can't just take on any dog any time. What they do is work TOGETHER to help out dogs in need.

Your first post: Your maths needs some work. My advice was based on your first post. 3 hours is better than 4.5 but you'll still get accidents at that duration. You will need to watch his Vitamin D levels also if he is kept indoors.

Hi Haredown Whippets, I am taking a week off to get him used to this arrangement and supervise his crate traning closely. I am only 15 mins up the road so will work with the amount of time slowly. I will have a camera on him as well to help with this assessment and will work out more frequent toilet breaks to start off with. We have a tiered backyard and crating him when he's not supervised will be better for him than anything else. I don't want him jumping around anything. He has a full size XXXL crate that will be partitioned for crate training and he will definitely have enough room to sit, stand, lie down and stretch in any way he likes :) . He will not be confined inside at all times, he just won't be left outside to his own devices. I can't wait for the little man to get here! I honestly don't know why you bothered to ask the question if you're hell bent on crating a giant breed baby puppy against its best interests. Does the pup's breeder know this is your plan? I cannot see how the pup will get enough exercise for its development based on this. I really can't. Prepare for problems of both the physical and mental variety IMO. It's a dog, not a budgie. That may be blunt but your plan is seriously flawed.