Staranais

Exactly, Fifi!

I'm lucky, my current girl isn't worried at all about thunder. She's also not scared of fireworks - it's fireworks night here tonight, she'll bark and hackle and wag her tail at them if I leave her alone outside, but if I go out & ask her to work for her toy, she's not at all fazed at all by the crackers exploding down the street. I wonder if it's more to do with genetics than training. I know training can help, but perhaps it's only mitigating what's there.

Thanks for clarifying, Stonebridge! That is interesting. Is it possible, do you think, to have proper/traditional Bulldog conformation without a higher risk of clinical H.D. than breeds of more moderate conformation? Or does that particular conformation always come hand in hand with a higher than average breed incidence of clinical H.D? I can understand the view that sedation is not always safer than a GA - in that for GA you usually intubate a dog, for sedation you don't, so there's a risk of aspiration if the dog regurgitates.

I don't know the background, but it sounds reasonable to me. It also looks like it's protecting the vets too - not allowing complaints about incidents that occurred more than 3 years ago.

Yes. And I also think how a breeder handles problems, says much more than how nice they are before something goes wrong. Anyone can be sweet as sugar before they're presented with a problem! Even the best breeders can breed pups with genetic flaws. When the sh*t hits the fan is when you find out if your breeder is really ethical, or just puts on a good show.

Could you explain this further, Stonebridge? It sounds like you're saying that perfect or good hips are undesirable in a bulldog, and some degree of hip dysplasia is desirable, since having great hips makes them move less like a Bulldog and more like a normal healthy dog? I hope you don't mean that, since surely health should come first in all breedings?

It's also, I think, a matter of the laws being so damn restrictive that only people who are prepared to break the laws still want the dogs. I'd certainly consider owning a well bred pittie, they're awesome dogs, except that I couldn't work it or compete with it since by law I would have to muzzle it at all times in public... so I (and people like me) don't keep APBTs. The government are making pitbull owners into criminals or irresponsible morons by default, simply by making APBT less appealing to responsible owners.

Thanks heaps guys! Lots of options to investigate there. Tassie, I had a soft gel frisbee, it lasted a few weeks but then got ripped in half - and that was without us tugging on it. She has a pretty hard mouth, I think. Thanks for the suggestion, though. Tony, are these the ones you're talking about? http://www.agilityclick.com/prod19.htm They look really good, and very reasonably priced, I might give Cathy an email if I can't find something suitable closer to home. Has anyone tried the Kong frisbee? I had a look at our local pet store, this was the most robust frisbee they had, however I'm not shelling out $40 for a damn dog toy if it won't last!

Oooh, be a bit careful with that. I don't know how lenient animal control will be if they get a complaint from the parents. You or I might know the kids has gotten bitten since they did something dumb and approached a dog that was obviously scared or provoked, but animal control might not see it quite the same way.

LOL, she's gorgeous! And she weaves very nicely!

Thanks, you guys both rock! I'll see if I can find them around here.

No, it wouldn't be, not if fed as a long term sole diet. Off the top of my head there's absolutely no calcium there, for a start, and very little iron, zinc, or vit A. But there's nothing wrong with adding a bit of chicken to a balanced kibble, though it won't do much for the teeth. So it depends exactly what the vet is suggesting. Is he suggesting chicken and rice as a sole diet? I don't personally think that weight gain is a good reason to cut bones from a dog's diet. I'd think you could still feed one or two a week, pick low fat ones, and cut the kibble back a little bit if the dog's getting porky. Tell the vet you don't think a rice and chicken only diet would meet the NRC guidelines. Or find a vet that does know something about nutrition! They are out there.

I ordered one of these type in the hope I could tug with it, but it lasted about 2 tugs: http://hkphonetech.en.made-in-china.com/pr...isbee-Disc.html Do they make frisbees that you can tug with too? I figured if anyone knew, someone on here would.

I'd give the dropped hip position a name, and the proper sphinx down a name. We use "on your side" and "down". I think giving both a name helps the dog understand they're different. ETA, also as Erny says, if I'm working my girl in drive she naturally does a sphinx down as she's waiting to spring back up & get the toy or do something else for me. Dropped hip down is more of a relaxed position for her.

Possibly, but you'd need to do all the health testing your breed requires first. I'd ask the breeder of your current Neo for the details of what you'd need to do. I'd imagine hips & elbows as a minimum for a giant breed, but there are probably additional tests & requirements that the ethical breeders will want. :nahnah:

From Italy, the dog would need to be at least 9 months old, & it has to do a month quarantine: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/ani...omaniic.spe.htm From Aussie, the pup can fly at 10 or 12 weeks old (can't remember which!) and doesn't do quarantine at all: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/ani...omaniic.aus.htm Plus, far cheaper!

Yup, if there's no video, it didn't happen Becks! Eta: if there are no Krispy Kremes, you could probably shotput a cupcake? I'm getting visions of a beagle olympics!

Very interesting, thanks Ellz!

I bet you could frisbee a Krispy Kream beautifully!

She is weaving beautifully!

Sorry, a little off topic, but wanted to ask does anyone have any studies etc showing that black & tan dogs actually are more prone to parvo? To clarify, I know there are several black and tan breeds that are particularly prone to parvo. But are these black and tan dogs prone to parvo because they're black and tan? Or do most of the breeds that are susceptible to parvo just happen to be black and tan? e.g, are B&T staffords, pitties or GSD more susceptible to parvo than solid coloured dogs from the same lines or same breed? If anyone has any evidence that b&t dogs are more prone to parvo than non b&t dogs within the same lines or breed, would they please share? Thanks.

Thank you both for the updates! I've been playing around with 2 poles and the malinois in the garden this week, just for fun as she's on heat and can't leave the property, it's amazed me how quickly she learned the concept of running through them with the pole on your left. Got it quicker than I would, I think! AD, how do the ADAA weaves differ from the ANKC weaves? Your girl is great, loved the videos!

The vet can refuse to PTS. However, if the owner spins a line about how aggressive and dangerous the dog is, then many vets would feel it's unethical not to PTS. You don't want to send a dog off into the community that might savage a little kid, not if you have the chance of preventing it.

*Bump* Just wanted to ask for an update, if you see this & have time AD? How did the 2x2 work out for you? Did you run into any problems? Do you like the final result?

I would be interested in seeing the study if you ever find it, Vickie. The results seem counterintuitive to me, but if it's a good study, then I guess we can't argue with it. I find it hard to see why there would be more impact on the shoulders upon ascending than descending. It just seems intuitive to me that the dog would use its hind quarters more on the ascent, and put more force on its forequarters for the descent (especially if they jump or brake at the bottom)? Also as regarding the other point, I wonder if more reps on an obstacle could sometimes be better for the dog? If doing an obstacle is well within a dog's ability, then wouldn't doing the obstacle regularly keep the dog fitter & more accustomed to performing the obstacle? I just know that many injuries I've seen have happened when a dog is asked to perform a strenuous activity which it's not accustomed to doing, as opposed to asking the dog to perform an activity that it does all the time. A complicated subject, I guess. Would love to see the study if you ever come across it again. It would also be really interesting to see a study on dogs that compared the level of joint degeneration on dogs that did stopped & running contacts their entire careers, but would be pretty hard to do accurately, and I think it might be hard to find funding.