WreckitWhippet

How do you define and measure "amicable ", it's subjective. I have an SBT bitch here who everyone that meets her adores, she's "friendly" , which according to Oxford also makes her "amicable". She's outgoing, happy to introduce herself to people and make it known she's around, she will greet other dogs with her wagging tail, is always happy to meet puppies. However, she is a an absolute , highly driven nut case and for the average owner who didn't do their research, would be impossible to live with. Making her any more friendly is not going to make her any easier to live with, it won't take away the fact that if you don't meet her physical and mental requirements, she makes it known. Some her would argue that we could take away a bit of her drive and making her less driven would make her more suitable as a "pet". I would argue that the drive she has is direclty linked to her confidence and her being true to the standard. She is all Stafford and if we read further into the breed standard extension, she's exaclty what one should be. She is reliable, she's confident in herself, she doesn't need to start anything with other dogs. Her stability makes her one of the most valuable dogs in my kennel. I for one don't want to start messing around with temperament and looking for that " just a bit more laid back", who's going to pick up the pieces when it all goes wrong. There's nothing wrong with my chosen breeds or any breed for that matter, it all comes down to the quality of the owner. Eta As I had to rush and pick kid up from school. She's a treasure because she is predictable, I wish they were all like that.

I was waiting for someone to ask that lilli.

I try and avoid them, if it kills insects it's not good to be breathing in and regular puffs are overkill. I make sure that the back verandah is kept clean and disinfected, there are fly traps outside. I've found the surface spray to be usefull, I spray it on the doors and window fly screen, it seems to keep them away and out of the house.

Will "amicable" and "bidable' lead to additional dogs needs not being met ? I have to wonder. The super race of docile dogs that lay around on the lounge, still need exercise and stimulation to maintain good health. Dumb them down a bit, take the edge off so they don't whinge as much when you've failed to provide and watch the pounds pile and if I had to have a guess, there will be health issues associated with it.

Because simply there shouldn't be a difference between show and working lines, let alone then creating a pet line!!!! a "pet line" ? It doesn't happen very often but I am speechless. Actually I am dumbfounded to think that this is even being suggested, as the future of breeding dogs, let alone "better dogs". The pets that I have, are the very dogs that step into the ring, who return home again to the house and the couch and it's being suggested that we dumb them down, calm them down, take the edge of them and make them more suitable for everyone. Oh dear lord, it's time for me to walk away.

Yep , that's what it sounds like. If that's what they are, congenital inguinal hernias are rare in comparision to the aquired hernia, which is the one that is often seen in intact breeding bitches. ETA: I have bred a puppy with an inguinal hernia, she was removed from the gene pool and desexed.

Dear Shonky I've followed your suggestion of "a good shake", in doing so it appears all of their hair from one side has some out. Will it grow back or should we seek advice from our vet ? Whilst I am disappointed that you did not advise us of the $2000 each, we have fallen in love with them and have decided to keep both, rather than return one. I am very worried about this little fellow, who we have only now discovered, gaffa taped to the bottom of the box. We would be able to return him ? He appears quite nasty, we did not know this until we removed the tape. We think you may have mixed us up with someone else and sent him by mistake. Cheers

Dear Shonky Thankyou so much for your fast delivery of the two Ferretoodles. My husband is going to love them. Can you please advise me how to remove them from the piece of carpet they came glued to, in that wonderful valentines day gift arrangement ? Cheers P.S I've also noticed that my credit card has been debited twice for the $2000 plus delivery. I'm hoping that you will rectify this mistake ASAP.

I use gal buckets clipped onto the fence for mine that dig in the water and give them a clam shell. I;ve found that they spend less time in their water buckets, if they have a pool to splash in. ETA: I like the idea but I;m not a fan of plastic water containers, they are easily eaten on a day when the dog might get bored

I think I'll buy the kids a couple of those Easter babies one each and it beats boring old chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, can I feed it to the new pets ?, the kids like to share whatever they are eating.

Unless it goes hand in hand with prey drive.

There are already less challenging Spitz breeds around. If you don't want to deal with Sibe personality, buy an Elkhound or a Lapphund. Or go to a breeder that knows their dogs backwards and ask them to select you a less full on pup. Or get a more layback adult. That's the thing, I like sibes, I don't want any other spitz. I don't know how many pups in a litter of traditionally bred sibes would be 'less full on' I guess that is what I am saying, it might be more useful to encourage breeding to favour the less full on type which may be less likely to end up in pounds? If you like a breed and want to own a breed, you accept the breed quirks and it's temperament, warts and all. Develop a relationship with a breeder who knows and understands their breed and lines, but there is only so much a breeder can do to match you up, if ultimately your lifestyle and abilities are not suitable for the particular breed. If they aren't and you find yourself wanting something that is not the norm for a breed, then it probably isn't for you and it's time to move on and find another that is.

I for one am a firm believer that that tenacity and boldness, goes hand in hand with him being totally reliable and is what makes him the "nanny dog".

I don't think we need to look at "building better dogs " at all. We need to continue to produce dogs that are typey, have excellent temperaments ( as per the breed standard requirements ), and are sound. We certainly need better owners on the whole, because no watered down, altered version of any of the current breeds, is going to suit the lazy, uneducated, incompetent, want it now and dump it later , type that exists today. It wouldn't matter if the Beagle was less sniffy, the Whippet had no prey drive or the Stafford suddenly took a hammering from any dog it came across, because the less than suitable owners will still exist and would manage to stuff it up , no matter what you gave or sold them.

Tassie - I've been trying to access the aussie breed standards but obviously their servers aren't coping with current demand, I just get a white error page. However you also have to keep in mind that when behaviour traits are expressed, how definite is the definition and how open to interpretation. I mean, if a dog is described as "lively" what does that mean? Are we talking the energiser bunny here? Dear lord, we really do need to create "breed standards for dummies" handbooks. There's also "breed standard extensions" (BSE's) that go on to further explain the points in the standard.

There was a reference to staffies that did draw a big laugh from just about everyone on the room (and keep in mind it was full of vested-interest dog breeders for the main part). The speaker was talking about behaviour/traits for the showring. How you don't want a dog that will bite a judge as this will be a disqualification. Showrings are busy places so the dog must cope with this. How, by breeding for show, you may end up selecting behaviour traits that are an advantage in the showring. Now here I forget the exact term used, but I think it was 'show presence' - the speaker then went on to quip that "staffies have so much show presence they now show them further apart". This was the line that drew a big laugh. But, any jokes aside, how much 'you and who's army' attitude should staffies have? When is too much too much? We don't show them miles apart. Even at Specialty level with 30 dogs or bitches in the ring at any one time, there is minimal space between exhibits. Every now and then a dog or bitch will be a bit cocky, but I can safely say that we can get through two hundred plus dogs in a day without incident. I think it's best that people don't talk about, make reference to or joke about, something they know nothing about.

It's also what makes them the breed of choice for AQIS. What makes the Beagle an attractive breed for many people is the affability deliberately bred into a dog kept and hunted in a pack. It's the fact that he IS a scent hound that give him his character. If you don't want a scenthound then don't buy one. You don't need to stuff up a breed just so any idiot can own one. Beagles are trainable. The simple fact of the matter is the many owners with "problem" beagles don't bother to. The issues with many dogs are owner created. Start by changing the owner's behaviour, not buggering up the breed. You hit the nail on the head and that applies to every breed, not just the Beagle.

The SBT for example is a bold , fearless and totally reliable dog. He stands his ground when challenged, he's rock solid and he doesn't back down. He's highly driven, he's into everything and he faithfully does it at his masters side. Many SBT's are challenging to own, they are not suitable for everyone but that doesn't make a toned down one any more desirable. Start to mess with that or inadvertently breed an SBT that does not display those traits and you are dealing with ticking bombs. The skittish, nervous SBT is one to be feared.

All Breeds is supposed to be one man and one dog, not a three ringed circus. Why, because that's the way the rules were written and if you don't want to play by them it's bad luck. I've seen some terrible examples of dogs being double handled in the all breeds ring over the years. If I've noticed it, the stewards have too and there have been some sent from ringside for doing it. ETA: double handling extends to standing on the outside of the ring with squeaky toys, the dogs favourite toy and being positioned in just the right spot to as to maintain the dogs focus and animation.

Environmental factors were discussed, yet they made the point that even in 'bad' hands a 'good' dog will still be a 'good' dog. Genetics are a factor that should not be ignored, To a point, but a bad owner can ruin ANY dog, no matter how good the temperament of the parents is. Sorry - my bad - the point was made that even in 'bad' hands a 'good' dog MAY still be 'good'. For instance, why don't abused dogs savage their owners? and just on breed standards - any I look up and I get internet file not found error messages. So I went to the US, can't see anywhere on the US breed standard a description of desirable temperament and behavioural traits of a couple of breeds I checked at random. Give me an example of a breed that you can't find any details of temperament in the breed standard

Environmental factors were discussed, yet they made the point that even in 'bad' hands a 'good' dog will still be a 'good' dog. Genetics are a factor that should not be ignored, To a point, but a bad owner can ruin ANY dog, no matter how good the temperament of the parents is. Or an ignorant owner or even the well meaning owner, who simply doesn't understand what the breed/individual requires to be raised as a well rounded canine citizen.

No-one suggested that breeds be 'watered down' or be a 'one size fits all generic dog'. I think the point is that many breed standards do not specify behaviour/traits of dog breed. They are saying that diversity of dogs is good, but when it comes to behaviour/temp thenbreeders should agree what the dog should be like in regards to behaviour/temp and select for those things as well as looks. What in the hell is this then ? and a BSE that goes on to explain the desirable.

The name part is easy to answer, the name ( even a pet name ) identifies the exhibit. The animal should be known be sex, class and age only. If I said the name Freddy, Jason or Logan , I can bet there would be people who could put their hand up and identify the dogs. I've watched people in the ring say come on "xxxxx", when infact the dog hasn't been "xxxxx" it's been one of their youngsters

Varies from breed to breed but basically you don't want a dog that is fearful or bites people (or other dogs) or is generally a pain in the arse (this is my VERY loose interpretation, PLS wait for the full video). The point was made that dogs need to be flexible to cope with modern living - and many dogs DO do this very well. However how well a dog copes and adjusts is really not apparent until the dog is an adult. Basically they were saying it is as important to select for temperment than it is for looks. They suggested that breed associations should get together and list what traits they think desirable for that breed and select for those as well as looks. They said that, genetically, selecting for a single conformation aspect can lead to unthoughtof consequences on other things (which can be problems) appearing in the breed. They said if you are breeding PURELY for show, you should not be in the business of selling pets. They said breeding for extremes in a breed causes problems. Basically they were saying that breeders should look to how the dogs behave as well as how they look when selecting parent dogs. The buyer needs to select a dog that is suitable for their lifestyle, people lead varied lifestyles and there are many breeds. It's the buyers that need to choose the appropriate breed ( together with the breeders matching the finer aspects of the individual temperament ) not create or water down breeds into a one size fits all generic dog. And on the second bolded point. They are a hundred or more years too late in most cases and it's called the "breed standard"

Just switch little cub for puppy and that's how it plays out for some unfortunate buyers.