Pjrt

Ha I'll never understand why people want 'smart' dogs as per this type of test. Who wants to live with an animal that it always several steps ahead of you and practically reads your mind! My heart breed will always be the Chows because they're too 'stupid' to bother chasing anything they can't eat and too 'stupid' to be willing to learn pointless tricks or perform for anyone.....which for me actually adds up to a pretty darn smart animal

Speaking generally it seems in an effort to 'stamp out puppy farms' it has become unethical for ethical registered breeders to ACTUALLY BREED DOGS! Along the way in the last twenty years or so something went awry and now it seems to be held up as ethical you can only breed 'when you want something for yourself'. Unfortunately other factors in the 'war against puppy farms' has led to breeding being legislated out to only the most dedicated and wealthy breeders, and those willing to live in rural and semi rural locations. Registered breeders need to actually breed dogs as Steve said someone else will fill the demand, not always with the best or ethical intentions. so many breeds suffer from supply and demand. Breeds like Maltese & ShihTzu. Everyone knows what they are, and every second person seems to own one, but in reality there is a minute percentage of Maltese & ShihTzu that actually are registers pedigree examples. But Jo publics breed expectations have been so eroded that they actually think small mixed breed dogs of Maltese & ShihTzu type are close enough, good enough. Because they just can't find or access registered breeders, and even when they do, there are no puppies to be found. The same thing happens to most breeds that go through a popularity boom. What comes out the other side is usually a diluted expectation of what exactly that breed should be. It needs to be sexy for registered breeders to actually breed dogs to meet demand, hell even make money *gasp* doing it. And there needs to be more breeders but everything goes against people becoming registered breeders and remaining registered breeders. meanwhile the nice big shiny registered wholesale puppy factories actually thrive under new legislation and go forth to become, in the eyes of the general public, the new 'registered breeders'

Hah I love the man with the monkey toys! And all the security, walls, bars, boomgates etc is interesting for a perspective on life there.

Yes! Depending on how/where you are holidayIng, sweeping landscapes are all well and lovely, and some of them would be great to see, and any neat wildlife you see, but I'd also love some 'street level' pics of a place I've never been, probably never get to. Things like street art, buildings and architecture, people watching, pets, just some little Windows into everyday life there.

Ooh I get to,see all the gorgeous pics for another year! I stalk

This is me too. I've really come around to not doing that first booster 'just because' and would rather test to see if it's necessary. I think when I talk about only doing puppy shots (which also are probably oversubscribed 'just in case' ) and that's it for life, people mistake me for a whacko anti vaxxer. Not so at all, I firmly believe in vaccination, but am vehemently against over vaccination. I think we have only started to scratch the surface on the detrimental effect to an animals health from repeated unnecessary vaccinations.

Oh dear, even with my glasses on I read the title as "A new underwear system for me"

Ywp years ago now I was walking my enormous Bouvier past a house with a knee high wire fence. A cat came tearing out from the porch jumped the fence and tackle jumped my Bouvier landed on his back and was tearing shreds off him! It was truly the last thing I would expect walking down the footpath with my dog on a lead! It left us both a touch traumatised. I can only imagine how a tiny dog would feel about it

I have sympathy for cat owners who normally contain their cats properly, but have an unfortunate escape. I have no no sympathy for cat owners who knowingly let their cats out to roam. For reasons ranging from the nuisance they cause by fighting, toileting, arousing dogs etc, to the position they put others in by say their roaming cat is bailed up by a dog that was minding its own business inside its own property. It is dreadful for the innocent and compliant dog owner to deal with the aftermath caused by the cat owner. And as someone who has run over a cat at large, I can tell you I have zero sympathy if that cat had been let out to roam by its owner. It's a truly awful thing to go through. Or even just the myriad of dead cats in gutters that I see almost daily in the city. Like I said, if it's a genuine accidental escape, I have sympathy. Let your cat out on purpose to roam free and I consider you a dick of a pet owner who clearly hasn't thought out the consequences to your pets health and safety or the potential consequences to other members of the community. I don't condone cruelty to cats, don't get me wrong. I am also taken aback by some of the other postings here. I am am currently without a pet, and have really considered something other than a dog for the first time. But, I cannot condone wandering cats, but I cannot live with the thought of keeping a cat in a state of confinement for life either. Other people can, that's fine, but not for me. So, I don't have plans to get a cat.

Thank you for your usual informative & considered information @Rappie.

Do you mean health insurance?

I was was thinking the same thing. I find it hard to think a vet would send a parvo case home but not 100% sure how it works in cases like that where there is no finances ?

I have to agree. Why is it cats can wander and create a nuisance with impunity while if a dog is loose it's an entirely different story. Both create a nuisance and a danger to others and themselves. The tide is turning slowly against cats at large. Can't come soon enough for me.

Hi. If you go to the 'dogzonline pages' tab at the top of the page use it to search breeders and puppies for sale in any breed you're looking for. Its likely that if May or June rolls around you won't just instantly find your sex and colour preference sitting somewhere ready to go. Start communicating with breeders now about what you want. Oh, ps, I see you're in SA. Look up DogsSA and search their website too, or give them a call and ask about breeders, whether there is a GD club here, and also when the next shows are coming up. The majority of shows in SA are held at the DogsSA grounds at Cromwell Ave, Kilburn, most weekends, but there are also a sprinkling of shows held regionally too.

Juice I just saw a post come up on the Sa groomers group and thought of you. Almost 3 yr old very sight houndy looking lurcher scruffy desexed male looks to have been a family dog. If your on FB send me a PM here and I'll link you up to the Ad. I'm not allowed to share off the closed group Ok I got permission to share My link

http://www.ava.com.au/about-us/policy-and-positions/topics/veterinary-medicines Here's what the AVA have to say. Use the links in the text. It irks me that so many vets just seem to just go with the outdated protocols if no challenge is given by the owner. Personally I do puppy vacs, and used to think yep, the first annual booster, but now I'm really not sure if that's even necessary. If I got a new puppy I think I'd titre for the first booster to see if it's really necessary. I don't do canine cough at all. I'd certainly not do heartworn injection either. I chose to not treat for heartworn at all but luckily in a low risk zone.

When I ran my grooming from home I had to have separate biz ins to cover injury to clients dogs, cash and equipment etc. your situation is different. Umm is it possible to have bus insurance that covers the home as well? Or once you've declared a business at home perhaps it's clear cut in the eyes of insurers that you need biz insurance separately? Just another knock on effect of punitive laws

They're not a dog that float my boat but Jones sure is lucky to have landed on his paws with the owners he got!

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/pets/this-french-bulldog-racked-up-a-215000-vet-bill/news-story/c7b43ba819709dd71a1e0320ec3ef5eb Does this one work?

Boys for me too.

2 of my favourite places! Lucky dogs.

Gorgeous! I was down around grange last night and met a pair of Bracco ! I have some pics of them on my FB if anyone want to see them. My link Saw lots of other lovely dogs too. I'm thinking I need one myself

Yep, I work with them up close and personal every day, for many years. I have come to love them too. I ask a lot from a dog during a full service groom and the oodles very very rarely cause me any issues. Unfortunately I can't say the same for most of the pure breeds I see. Add to that I rarely speak to a client with an oodle that is anything but delighted and besotted with their fluffball. Call them mutts, or oodles or cross reeds or whatever, they are really popular, on the rise, and here to stay, because people love them.

Whoa there, Gruf. You're mixing the sensible with logic. :laugh: I don't disagree that a dog's worth should be judged to some extent on its function but with the oodly dogs, function is an unknown. They can't be claimed to be hypoallergenic, they can't be claimed to be non-shedding, they can't be claimed to be good family pets, and really, they can't be claimed to be anything because it's all rolls of the dice. Comparing an oodly dog to.. a greyhound: The greyhound will be a big dog, probably weighing between 25-35kg. It will have a smooth, short coat that sheds fairly minimally. It will have most, if not all, the traits of a sighthound. When you breed two greyhounds together, you know what the basic template will be. On the other hand, the lab x poodle could be a smallish dog, it could be a medium dog, it could be quite a large dog, its coat could be one of many things. It's impossible to predict which traits from which breed will end up in each puppy and because of that, you can't say it's good for [X] function (such as non-shedding pet) because it's an unknown. An update for anyone interested, regarding the BIL's lab x poodle.. Yesterday, it was confirmed that its other knee has now gone. Below is a quote taken from the breeder's website: I guess that sound health with hybrid vigor doesn't include hips or knees. Their dog will likely be crippled with arthritis before it even gets close to being an old dog. Great family pet, right there. Cos hybrid vigour is about species not breeds. Actually, I think it was originally about peas. Oh, I know. And the BIL and SIL are both educated people who should also know better. Arguably, if you cross two unrelated breeds (with no coinciding genetic health issues), you would probably end up with a fairly robust dog, provided body types were fairly similar, and also assuming it is a first generation cross. I think the genetics issue is where people get confused. Multi-generational sounds like a selling point until you consider that recessive genes can be doubled up on in multi-gen mixes and what you're actually doing is introducing the possibility of two sets of heritable diseases, instead of just the one. Oh, I'd absolutely agree with you there. After losing Bosley- a very loved, spoiled, cared for, inside dog- we discussed future dogs and made some decisions: for me, a borzoi (for a number of reasons) and I contacted a breeder to put ourselves on a waiting list. Breeder replied and I think we're on the waiting list for mid next year, no worries. Then, after further discussion with the OH, we (he) decided that we (he) also needed another whippet. The OH doesn't understand the dog world all that much so I looked for breeders who had litters planned and finally narrowed it down to one. I wrote them an email outlining our family, our dogs, included a few photos, tried to make sure that everything a breeder might want to know would be covered, including the fact that we were interstate (not many whippet breeders down here). A lot of time and thought went into that email, we're certainly not first time dog owners and I feel that we could offer a puppy a really great home. But they couldn't even be f***ed to send us an email with something like "We don't like you, no puppy". Just silence. We weren't even worth a reply. I'm willing to give the pedigreed dog world a whole lot of leeway because I want to be reasonably confident that the puppy is coming from a decent home but if I was the average person, I think it's more than likely that a BYB whippet breeder would've just scored themselves another customer. Yes, I get that people are busy and have lives outside breeding but if you can't find two minutes in three weeks to write a one line reply, you can't complain about losing people to BYB because the BYBer will find time to reply. You're missing the point- those things can't be determined until the dog is already in front of you. You could breed a litter of oodles and get HD all though them, scatty, awful temperaments, hair that sheds like a lab and terrible overall structure. Or it could go the other way. Whether or not they produce a dog that has the desired traits is entirely up to luck. The vast majority are not being "developed", they're just crossbreds being bred for money. No I get that point too. I'm not focusing on predictability because breeding for that is not good for dogs generally, in the long term. We breed for predictability because it's what we want. It's a dead end road for dogs though. Unless we just want a bunch of predictable generic dogs. I understand that loads of people want that, but loads of other people want to roll the dice and take a gamble. That is after all how we got most of our predictable cookie cutter breeds in the first place. The rise of oodles is no different and I'm not entirely sure it's trying to standardise varieties of them is a good road to go down. Well just end up with a new set of self limiting predictable cookie cutter breeds.

Yes Anne I concur. My post was not meaning to compare an oodle to any other dog, not judge a dog against another dog. But o judge the dog in front of me. Just because I can't refer to a written standard for the curly haired mutt in front of me doesn't mean I can't assess it as having a pleasant nature, a sound balanced body type with apparently good structure. No apparent major faults of body or mind. A functional dog, for a dogs sake. What the pure breed thing has led us to is the inability to recognise good outside of the standard, so all we get is standard, or the best shot at standard. I guess that's ok if you think all we should ever have is pure breeds judged to written standards. However, I see more benefit in say for example, farmer John is out in his sheep yards and farmer bob drives in. Bob says hey john I have just gotten my hands on the best yard dog I've ever had. From bobs ute jumps a dog that looks a bit like a chihuahua crosses with a cocker spaniel. John has a giggle, but trusts his mate bob, and gets some sheep into the yard and puts the dog to work. Turns out it's the best yard sheepdog he's ever seen too. So farmer John arranges to put chispaniel over Molly his prized kelpie mix next season. Well wouldn't you know it, Molly throws some funny looking pups, but several of them turn out to be champion yard dog, and so the story or the bobjohn sheepdog begins. But because bob & John arent bound by standards, anytime some other dog with attributes they desire comes along, they can throw the dice and see if their gamble pays off. This is what I mean when saying we've lost the ability to look at a dog and assess it for what it is, in relation to what it can or can't bring to dogs generally. It also makes me laught how pure breed folks will fight passionately about what breeds and types went in to developing their breed, but poo all over any mixed breed dog or breed in development