becks

One word: food. Get the clicker and treats out and Pippa is jumping around offering behaviours for a treat. We call her a Mini-Lab :p

I'm saddened to hear they mellow out. The 6 month old we have is feisty as hell and I LOVE IT!! Makes for a fun obedience/agility companion. And yes, she loves to jump and jump high! Edited to add, that I encourage cheeky, boisterous behaviour (as it's what I personally want as a mellow dog to train in sports is harder work!) and she bounces off my Labs like she's on crack. Minis should be fiesty (OK not as much as a terrier) they were bred to be a companion and also work in the farm yards to kill the rats and mice - they do have a working dog heritage so shouldn't be a laid back lap dog. Don't worry about them mellowing out, my old girl didn't until she got to 15! Minis are great dogs for agility and enjoy it (as you can see from my avatar!) there are also some doing flyball and I know one has just been selected to represent ireland in the team obedience for crufts! I would suggest finding a better trainer, these dogs are very easy to train if you use the right techniques, they love clicker training, learning tricks etc they just don't like repetition, keep it fun and a little unpredictable and they will work well for you

Mine have been getting introduced to food this week, eating some and wearing more - funny that no one has fallen asleep in the bowl this time though. One has had a poorly tum for a few days and was getting me a bit worried and today I have seen her tucking into the food and trying to beat up the biggest pup from the older litter so she must be feeling better. I had to laugh earlier today, a couple of the big pups were having a wrestle in the whelping box and the 2 smallest were sat with their front legs hanging over the edge, looking into the box and watching the game - of course, never have a camera at the right time!

I think it is down to the license for the vaccs that makes the vets say it should be done twice, rather then how effective a particular vaccine schedule is.

While you have your thinking caps on for names (hope you don't mind me joining in Trisven, seems silly to have another post with same question!) I'm after suggestions to follow my Bee theme for Ambers litter her previous were Bee Witching, Bee Loved, Bee Dazzled etc so more of the same idea would be great!

I know several people who just made a straight switch from kibble onto raw when they collected their pup at 8 weeks, no taking time to swop over and there were no tummy problems from doing this.

Minis are fine with kids who know how to behave around them, they can become over excited/stimulated if the kids are, especially with kids who run around and scream. Some are also not happy with grabby kids.

I whelp litters on the vet bed, all the fluid drains through and mum and pups aren't left on cold, wet paper. Once whelping complete, box cleaned out and new vet bed put down then first lot of vet bed and towels used during whelping are put straight into the washing machine.

have a read of this, it suggests one vaccine at 12 weeks will offer the best cover for parvo http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/taking-the-risk-out-of-puppy-shots/

OK guys, I need some name inspiration. Amber has a 'bee' theme for her litters, her previous litter were 'bee loved', bee witching, bee dazzled, bee leave it and bee good. So can we come up with similar to these?

I'd crate him. Just because he gets onto the ute OK, doesn't mean he isn't having issues when the vehicle is in motion. I have a very car sick dog who happily jumps into the car!

There is one stand at the uk shows that has dried treats in plastic bags that get left out in all weathers and often have condensation inside the bag, I should imagine this would make them full of nasty bugs. The products always look rank to me, so mine get treats from the other stands that know how to keep the products 'fresh'

We are supposed to now call it a 'Kennel Name' but most people still refer to it as an affix

Vetbed, not cheap but it will last for many years. If the weather is cool, a heat pad or over head source of heat is a good idea, afterall mum isn't always in the box!

Sounds like the vet likes the extra money for 3 vaccines! Nobivac has been used here for years without issues. Yes, KC is the one up the nose, not parvo.

I didn't have a problem with them last time, so didn't realise they were an issue right away. It is hard to get them set at a size where they are loose enough but at the same time not so loose that a front leg can get caught in it. Now they are bigger, they can go into the kitten collars. Sorry, can't remember who said to use the collars the other way around, that won't help as it is the sharp edge of the collar that has done the damage.

Enter fewer dogs or get them ready over a few days - that's what I do! My back struggles with just doing one dog now, so i have to pace myself and rest between each dog.

There is another version! If I buy a puppy from you but I had bred both parents, then my affix will go before yours in the dogs name, should I chose to add my affix eg Myprefix Yourprefix My Puppy - so long as parents are Myprefix the sire ex Myprefix the dam

How are you going with those collars Trisven? I used them on my litter this time from the start and found they are a bit sharp and cut into the chests of the pups, it#s taken a couple of weeks for it all to heal up again Will have to go back to alternative means of identifying the litter until they are big enough to try those collars later on - they were fine on an older litter last time I used them.

i find this rule rather finicky. For instance if I wanted to name my papillon {prefix} El beshiva, but i can't because thats too similar to the prefix of a border collie breeder in NSW's. Like what impact does that have on the breeder? Agreed. And it appears to be up to the prefix owner to police this, not the admin people processing the registrations. There'd have to be hundreds of dogs with some version of "heaven sent" in their names, it's obviously not affecting any breeder, so why have the rule in place if it's going to be ignored by the admin staff? My prefix is Mainstreet, it's not been used yet and might never be, but I would expect there are dogs with some version of my prefix in their names. If another Border Collie breeder named one of their dogs something that looked VERY similar to my prefix, something that could be misconstrued as being my prefix, I'd jump up and down until it was changed. I don't want to be acknowledged as the breeder of anything other than what comes out of my yard. Other breeds I don't care. A quick check of the prefix and it's easily noted that I breed Border Collies and no other breed. Agreed except that you may want to branch out into another breed one of these days and personally I dont want any dogs of any breed walking around with any name that may make someone think I bred it and have to look twice to be sure I didnt. For a breeder their prefix is like a designer brand and anyone seeing the name Levi for example anywhere in a name assumes its made by the same people who make Jeans - its a good system and protects breeders from having their designer brands being affected by someone else. No biggy for a pet owner it is for us. Good point. Does your prefix have to always go as the first word in the dogs name? If that is the case, why should it matter if there is a similar word used on the backend of a dogs name?? Surely people would then realise that prefix el beshiva isn't bred by Benshiva? (for example) just as people know that a uk reg dog called Benshiva My Pup at Beanara would be bred by Benshiva and owned by Beanara

Wahoo the drought is well and truely over for you Angelsun! BB - better luck next time with her, sorry no pups in there this time

Has the home had a break in or attempted break in? What is the dog like if he walks into the house at the same time as a visitor - eg meet someone while on walk and go back to the house?

Can't really see what people get out of cats as a pet.

They are heavier then the fabric BUT for a mini schnauzer size, the crate isn't going to be to heavy to move around if a wire one, even if it has a metal instead of plastic base tray

What gundog breed? Giants can play rough (stand up and box on hind legs, body slam etc) and they can be dominant, so choice of temperament match to current dogs would be something to look into. No, I wouldn't say that would be enough weekday exercise, it might be enough after the dog has had an hour or 2s off lead walk and some training.