Wundahoo

No Steve, it doesnt just relate to the time of sale. It's relevant to the dog throughout its life. HD, LP, cataracts and any other disease that the dog might get which is known to have a heritable influence is considered to be a "major" problem that the breeder may need to compensate the owner for. I live in W.A. and I know the stance that DOCEP takes. As a breeder I believe that it's important to know how we are perceived should there be a claim or complaint made to DOCEP and on what grounds we might be liable to compensate an owner. This issue has been recently tested in regard to pure bred registered dogs and the breeders have been required to compensate the owners. The problems were not present when the dogs were sold but developed over time. Yes, if the purchaser takes the option of a refund or replacement they dont get to keep the dog as far as the law is concerned. This is why most owners will go down the road of repair !! They get to keep the dog AND at the very least the breeder has to contribute, if not pay entirely for the veterinary costs. I dont remember that there was any suggestion that under the law, the owner could have a refund or replacement and get to keep the dog. Several of us have suggested to the OP that they simply refund the purchase price and leave it at that. Let the owner keep the dog. The dog is still the owners to do with what they wish but they have no further way of asking for compensation or payment should any other matter arise or there be any further costs in relation to the original issue. I always say that the sign of a good company is how it handles its problems and I think that the same can be said for breeders. I would much rather just give an unhappy owner their money back and let them keep their dog...... then they dont have much more to whinge about and cant whinge about anything esle that might arise in the future.

As I said in an earlier post, if you offer her a full purchase price refund and she accepts it then she has no way to come back at a later date for anything. If you do that then essentially she has got a free dog and you have discharged any obligation that you might have to her, either now or in the future. I dont think that you need to get her to sign a waiver if you refund her money, but you should probably get a document made that states the money is a full purchase price refund given as a gesture of good-will but not as an acknowledgement of fault on your behalf. You should sign it and so should she and get a witness to sign it as well. Many pups under 10 months of age have surgeries for patella problems. The imbrication surgery is the most common in very young ones because it's quick and easy and there is the best chance of getting growth to deepen the groove. Luxating patella is thought to have a genetic basis to it but the mode of inheritance isnt known.... just like with HD it's multifactorial and polygenic. There is an environmental aspect to the problem as well as being a conformational issue.

Speaking from personal experience, because maturity and full muscle development can see the patella held firmly in place. I'd not want this operation performed on a pup so young unless we were talking about severe luxation. I have to say that the price paid is astronomical. But unless we know the grade of the patella luxation, who's to know? I would refund the purchase price of the pup, chalk it up to experience and move on. Some dogs have a very shallow trochlear groove and low tibial tuberosity which means that the valley that the patella is supposed to sit in is more like a plain and no amount of muscling will hold the patella in place, particularly if there has been damage to the patella ligament. This usually results in a grade 3 or 4 luxation and these need to be repaired surgically. It's possiblle to do a soft tissue procedure called an imbrication where the tissue over the patella and knee joint is tucked and tightened. The hope is that in young dogs this will hold the patella in place while the dog is still growing and the groove will deepen with the pressure of the patella on it. This surgery is not very difficult and is a fairly quick operation so is usually at the lower end of cost, but also doesnt always work. It's highly dependent on the dog still having enough growing time to make a difference to the contours of the bone. The other procedures are a trochleoplasty where the groove is deepened by cutting out a wedge of bone, and then a tibial tuberosity transposition, which involves shifting the peak of bone and keeping it in place with a metal pin. These surgeries are major and often quite expensive but give the best result. In regard to the OP's dog, at 10 months it's unlikely that there would be sufficient growth left for a simple imbrication to work and it does sound as though the TTT and trochleoplasty procedures were done, hence the price of the surgery. These two procedures are complicated and usually done by specialist vets although some well experienced general practice vets will do them. I agree with you Haredown in that I would refund the purchase price and get out of there quick smart. The owner obviously thinks highly of the dog and has been prepared to spend extra money on making sure that the dog is comfortable and healthy. Refund with grace and make a dignified exit ! Be thankful that the owner was willing to take the refund, because they have the right to ask for full payment of the repair.

Unfortunately for breeders, the consumer laws in W.A. are very much to the advantage of the owner of the dog. The right of choice for repair, refund or replace sits entirely with the purchaser of the dog and the breeder can only hope that the person concerned is reasonable and fair-minded. The owner of the dog can choose which vet the dog sees and whether or not a second opinion is sought. If the owner is offered a refund with the requirement that the dog is returned to the breeder, they have the right to refuse the offer and then they usually go for the repair option which is often far more expensive than a refund of purchase price. Is this recent ? Consumer law is Australian consumer law now and all shoppers in Australia have the same rights with all sellers having the same responsibility. Based on this no one could ever afford to breed dogs - if people can just decide they want to have the dog repaired at enormous cost and the breeder has no choice but to get the bill! No wonder breeders sell puppies to pet shops! The purchaser has the right to choose repair, replace or refund if the problem is deemed to be major. If the problem is deemed to be minor then the breeder can offer a solution to the issue, which the purchaser is not required to accept. DOCEP considers a "major" problem to be in part, one which would prevent the purchaser from buying the animal if they had known the nature and extent of the problem prior to purchase. Of course this is very subjective and open to interpretation. If the repair is at "enormous cost" then I presume this would be deemed a major problem and the owner would have the right to choose what was done, where it was done and by whom.

So you lose the right to use your own trusted vet if a problem arises when you buy a dog from you as a breeder? Seems slightly unfair to me and I hope that's made known at time of purchase... It would certainly impact my decision. If you want warranty repairs done and paid for by the manufacturer you can't take your purchase to just anyone, you have to take it to an 'approved repairer' who is approved by the manufacturer to do warranty repairs. And you need to have it approved under warranty before you get the repairs done. If dogs are to come under the same consumer laws, why wouldn't the same apply? In W.A and I believe in other states, it is the owner who has the right to decide. Once the puppy has been sold, the breeder has, in law, lost all rights. It's the ugly truth of the matter. It might seem wrong or unfair but that's the way it is.

Unfortunately for breeders, the consumer laws in W.A. are very much to the advantage of the owner of the dog. The right of choice for repair, refund or replace sits entirely with the purchaser of the dog and the breeder can only hope that the person concerned is reasonable and fair-minded. The owner of the dog can choose which vet the dog sees and whether or not a second opinion is sought. If the owner is offered a refund with the requirement that the dog is returned to the breeder, they have the right to refuse the offer and then they usually go for the repair option which is often far more expensive than a refund of purchase price. If the problem has a genetic basis and the owner chooses to have the problem repaired, then the breeder can be required to pay the full repair price and this can sometimes be very expensive. Even if the dog is insured, some insurance companies now have a clause in which they will cover the costs of the procedure for the owner but will then pursue the breeder (or the person deemed to be responsible for the defect) to recover the payout amount if the problem is deemed to be inherited. If a breeder doesnt like what has been proposed by an owner the only options are to attempt to negotiate a better outcome or to go to civil court. Very often the cheapest thing to do is to refund the purchase price. As a breeder I have found myself in this situation only once and I believed firmly that the problem was not something that I could be considered responsible for, however it was potentially going to get messy and the owner was not at all happy so it seemed. Without a moment's hesitation I wrote the owner a cheque for a full purchase price refund. Once the owner accepted that, it was game over. They could decide to do whatever they wished and I did not legally have any further responsibility. Once an owner has accepted an offer for "compensation" then they cant come back for a second bite of the apple. OZZIEMOM, if you refund the purchase price and have a document drawn up for both parties to sign then that should be the end of the matter for you. I would not mention that the amount was to "help with charges" just that it is a refund of full purchase price. If the owner signs that in acknowledgment then it will be seen as adequately compensating the owner. Whatever the opinion that you might hold about the cause or your responsibility in the matter or who should have seen the dog, it's up to the owner to decide these things. Vets often disagree with causes, prognosis and treatment and so it can never really be counted upon that blame and responsibility can be placed in one field or another. Sometime ago I purchased from another state, a very well bred puppy which was vet checked 3 days before it was flown to me. Unfortunately it arrived with a serious problem which had obviously been missed by the vet and the breeder..... how, I dont know ! I informed the puppy's breeder of the problem and said that I would take the puppy to my vet to get formal verification. I was requested to return the dog immediately without it being seen by any vet here. As the owner of the dog I was not happy with this because I felt that the problem needed to be formally diagnosed and recorded prior to the pup's return. I was under quite some pressure from the dogs "connections" NOT to have the dog seen by a vet before I sent it back to the breeder. As the owner of the puppy it was MY right to choose what should happen to him. I was not legally obliged to return the dog AT ALL and could decide what was the course of action that would be taken. As the owner, the ball was in my court and I was the only one that could make the decisions about repair, refund or replace. I looked at the situation from the point of view of a breeder. If I was the breeder of this puppy, how would I want things to go.....?? I chose to return the pup to the breeder, but not before it was examined by suitabley qualified specialists. Before I returned it, the puppy was examined independently by 2 Board Certified specialist surgeons at different hospitals. Both gave the same diagnosis and both stated that the puppy needed corrective surgery as soon as possible. The specialist report and opinion was sent to the breeder of the pup and to the breeder's vet that had checked the pup before it was flown to me. The pup was returned to the breeder who took the puppy back to their vet who said that although they agreed that the problem existed (and that they had missed it in their examination), they did not recommend surgical correction at that point and suggested that the pup should be further assessed once fully grown. I know which way I thought it should have gone but once I returned the pup and accepted the refund I had no say in the matter. I didnt like it but I was between a rock and a hard place.... I wanted what I believed was in the dog's best interest but I also saw the situation from the point of view of a breeder. It was a hard decision for me to make.

This year, some breeders and vets in W.A. have seen similar things happening too. There is currently quite a shortage of puppies in one particular breed because four breeders have had the same thing happen. Bitches have been mated but have failed to conceive. Having spoken to numerous other people in different breeds there has been a common thread of no puppies or small litter sizes and an unusually high number of caesarians. Those who prog test and have got unusual results have taken their bitches to the stud dogs just in case. Some have conceived others havent. I have spoken to several breeders in South Australia and they have also had the same story. There is something different happening around the west coast and into South Australia this year. Exactly what it is we are not sure of, but it is real. I've heard several theories and I dont know if one or both or none are true ! I know that West Nile virus has been recently implicated in reduced lambing rates across Australia and as it's a mosquito borne virus it's possible that it may have been able to affect dogs in some similar way. Perhaps there has been a mutation of some kind that has made our dogs more suscebtible to infection by the virus. Sheep dont often get clinical disease with West Nile but it has been proven to affect fertility in ewes. Perhaps the same is now true for dogs. A friend of mine who is a Veterinary pathologist and also a stud sheep breeder is very aware of West Nile reduced lambing rates and has suggested that perhaps this or a similar virus could be responsible for reduced fertility in dogs. There has also been the suggestion that it could have something to do with our very strange weather patterns over the last 12 months. Who really knows...... all that I can say is that there is something very different this year compared to others and there have been a lot of "odd" things happening as far as fertility is concerned for many breeders. Vets who deal with canine fertility issues in W.A. are aware of it and so it seems they are in South Australia too.

Cosmolo I feel for you. The decisions you face are very personal ones and only you and those closest to you can decide. I really like the article that "airedaler" posted. I think it needs to be read a couple of times to get the best out of it. Have you thought about the possibility of getting an appointment with a pain management clinic ? These are usually run by specialist veterinary centres. Their clients are usually patients that have chronic pain or pain levels that are increased by an injury. It's possible for pain relieving drugs to be delivered via dermal patches and these can be far more effective than the drugs that can be given orally. They sometimes have a few other tricks up their sleeves too.

There is now a reporting system in place to monitor adverse events associated with pet food. It's an AVA initiative that came about as a result of a number of pet food related or caused incidents during 2008-2009, particularly the Kramar chicken jerky issue. Only vets can use the system to report suspected food associated adverse events but owners are encouraged to request their vet to enter data if they feel it is warranted. The system was launched in February 2012 and after a year it has brought to light the fact that there are still some cases of Fanconi-like syndrome occurring that have been associated with various dog treats. The cause of the problem has not been determined. http://www.ava.com.au/12072 http://www.ava.com.au/petfast

Try this one. http://www.vippetfoods.com.au/home/0,27136,113632,00.html I have used it for a couple of my dogs and it does the job, is readily available and very reasonably priced. The dogs really like the taste and have no hesitation in eating it. I have also used Canidae which is good as well.

It's very easy for Vitamin S toxicity to occur, particularly in adult dogs whose recommended daily intake requirements are sometimes not as high but who will still feel the need for daily consumption. Of course adult dogs always have a greater Vitamin S storage capacity than smaller or younger dogs and this can lead to a slow onset form of vitamin S toxicity. A few years ago, one of my adults seemed to have a particular craving for Vitamin S even though I believed that her daily intake was adequate for her age and size. Over a period of days I had noticed that she would vomit her food a few hours after her meal...... but of course being a cocker she would consume it again. The size and volume of her faeces had also changed somewhat over the last few days, to smaller and narrower faecal pellets, which I found a little bit odd. She had no other clinical signs and was otherwise bright and well but I did find it concerning that my tally of Vitamin S levels in my house revealed an unexpected deficiency !! A couple more days passed and she still was vomitting her meal and consuming it again and her faecal output was still not as I had expected it to be. She was otherwise well. I decided to investigate further as we still hadnt been able to locate the missing Vitamin S anywhere in the house. I palpated her abdomen and .... you guessed it ..... an intestinal mass, probably due to an overdose of Vitamin S ! As this was quite late on a Friday evening and my girl was otherwise well I decided that it was probably not an emergency situation. I phoned my vet and we discussed the clinical signs and reached the conclusion that, although she did in all probablility have Vitamin S induced intestinal mass, (a commonly seen effect of vitamin S overdose) it was safe to wait until the morning to have her treated for this toxicity. Strangely enough, the next morning as I was doing the yard partol, I cam across a very strange object, covered in faeces. I hosed it off and tadaaaahhh !!! There was the missing dose of vitamin S !!!! It must have been a tough night for her !!! Now we realise that we have a dog in the house that is a vitamin S addict and so all vitamin S must be accounted for daily and all doses are kept in secure places. This dog's daily access and intake of vitamin S is closely monitored as we know that like all addicts she can quickly fall back into her old ways. We have tried all sorts of placebos and substitutes but unfortunately there is nothing like the "real thing" for her. Once an addict, always an addict !!

Rappie, this dog's infection is nasal, not ear, so bulla osteitis or osteomyelitis should not be be the problem. I am aware that some specialists will say that there can be a clinical difference between in-vivo and in-vitro sensitivities. Sometimes they will play a hunch and work from expereince rather than from evidence based lab results. It's possible that although the bug may have returned a resistant result to cephalexin, it could still be clinically sensitive if the drug is given in a higher dose than usual. I have had something similar happen with one of my rescue dogs who had an extremely severe case of multi-organism, multi-drug resistant infections on his skin, in his ears and finally in his shoulder joint. On extended sensitivity we had only amikacin and rifampicin to work with. I was in the same situation as jessg in that I had two differing specialist opinions..... one from the dermatologist and the other from the orthopaedist that was treating the septic joint. The specialist dermatologist played a hunch and even though the multiple organisms (including pseudomonas and staph pseudintermedius) were apparently resistant, we initially went with high dose clavulox to reduce the bacterial load prior to commencing amikacin followed by rifampicin. The high dose clavulox helped very much in clearing away much of the load and we saw quite a marked improvement even though the lab results said that this shouldnt happen. The amikacin treatment needed to be closely monitored due to the effect on renal function and we were not lucky enough to get the hoped-for 6 weeks of therapy so we switched to rifampicin which is usually given in concert with another antibiotic..... but we had no other, so it was given alone and again with careful monitoring, this time for liver function. Again we didnt get the full course completed and had to stop because of rapidly rising liver enzymes but it was enough to have done the job it seems. He is now 2 years post treatment .... off all drugs and is healthy and sound. I'm sure that we would not have been as successful if we had not initially gone with the high dose clavulox even though the lab results said that the infection was resistant to that drug.

I bet he could say "Faaaaaaaaarrrrrrrk" ...... after the truck has passed and black feathers are everywhere !!!

Australian Ravens. There are no crows around Canberra, there are only Ravens. But there are the Choughs, that live in family groups and are black with white under their wings. They can get mistaken for crows too. Ravens and Crows - Corvids - are credited with being some of the most intelligent of all birds. doesn't surprise me. Have you ever seen a crow or raven hit by a car? I dont think I have. MMmmmm they are smart ! Another Government study provides outstanding results . . . CSIRO Officials admitted that they found about 200 dead crows on the highway between Noonamah and Palmerston, in Northern Territory, where there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. The Territory Government approved and the CSIRO contracted a bird pathologist to examine the remains of all the crows and he confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu, much to everyone’s relief. However, he determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, and only 2% were killed by car impact. (Didn't know there was a difference!) The Territory Government then hired an Ornithological Behaviourist to determine the disproportionate percentages for truck versus car kills. After 18 months of research and $2.7 million spent, the Ornithological Behaviourist determined the cause in the deaths. When crows eat road kill, they always set-up a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger. His conclusion was that the lookout crow could say “Cah”, but he could not say “Truck”.

Not quite on-topic but a story about interesting interaction between a dog and a raven. Some years ago I had a singleton black cocker puppy. She was out in the yard during the day from about 8 weeks old. We have a lot of ravens around here and one in particular had been ostracised from the others. Dont know why, but it was not a part of the main group of birds. I noticed it sitting on the fence of the puppy run a few times and so I kept an eye on it. The baby cocker was about the same size as the bird and of course the same colour. After a few days of fence sitting, the raven went into the puppy run with the pup and so began a rather strange but interesting relationship between singleton puppy and single raven !! It stayed friends with the puppy for a very long time. The puppy never tried to hurt the bird and the bird obviously enjoyed the company of the pup. They would potter around the yard together picking up sticks and twigs, or the pup would lay around in the grass with the raven never more than a couple of feet away. Sometimes they would both seem to snooze off together in the sun, which was unusual for a raven as they only spend time on the ground if they are foraging for food. The bird spent much of its day with the puppy. It would also eat the puppy's dry food from the bowl. This went on for about 8 months until one day the raven didnt come back. I presumed that it had died or been killed. By this time my puppy was about 10 months old and almost fully grown. She seemed quite upset for a while that her feathered friend didnt come to see her again and I noticed that whene ever the ravens were about she would be very interested in trying to interact with them. Her behaviour towards them was so different to that of the other dogs who would try to chase them away.

Some pesticides can also be involved. Many years ago we had a problem with cleft palates in litters. It was a similar story to the one that you describe and it involved unrelated bloodlines and bitches that had pevious breeding histories in another environment. At the time the property behind us was a plant nursery which grew carnations for cut flower sale. The property owner used all sorts of chemicals on the plants at different stages of growth, in particular certain insecticide mixes. It wasnt a greenhouse type of operation but open to the air and so when the easterly winds blew (as they do in Perth !!) we believed that some of these sprays were blown onto our property and therefore our dogs were exposed to them. Although we had no absolute proof about this, we spoke with the owner and explained our concerns. He agreed to ensure that the spraying was done on days when wind predictions were low. The incidence of CP reduced significantly but we still had cleft palates in a couple of litters. When the business closed and the property was sold we had no more problems and CP has been a rarity ever since. This was great, but of course it also left me wondering about the public health implications !! If the overspay or carry over of the chemicals was enough to affect as yet unborn baby puppies what could it do to people in the area ?? Perhaps your friends could check to see if any neighbours are routinely using any herbicides or insecticides that could be carried over via the winds in the area. It's also believed that an elevated maternal body temperature at a particular stage of foetal development can interfere with palate closure. This could be caused by any of the mosquito borne viruses that are endemic to the area. Dogs that are affected can subclinical or not necessarily showing any obvious signs of illness.If the pond is not well maintined there could be a high population of mozzies in the area. Edit for spelling !!

If the xrays shown are of the dog in question it has BIG problems and will probably be in a lot of trouble in a few years time. $500 wont go very far at all. If it's true that she has resigned as a member of Dogswest, perhaps she will take up registration with another body. As many of us know there are quite a few organisations which will register breeders eg AAPD (Australian Association of Pet Dog Breeders), MDBA and several overseas organisations which will register breeders or the pups that they produce. There is no real requirement for any breeder to indicate which organisation they are affiliated with in order to be able to claim that they are a "registered breeder". Then again perhaps the owner of this kennel intends to finally retire. Those of us that have been around for a long time will remember this kennel many years ago as being a producer of quality Golden Retrievers and for being largely responsible for introducing the Flat Coated Retriever to Australia. It seems a sad demise of what was once a highly regarded prefix.

Safest way is to make your own. Very easy.

Technically it was voluntary !!! The company was informed of the concerns quite some time before the recall. Here is a quote from this link. http://www.securepet.biz/wordpress/category/consumer-reports-pet-food-product-recalls-safety-reviews/unsafe-contaminated-pet-food/ " In fact, the first reported incidents of a Faconi-like syndrome in dogs who had consumed chicken treats occurred in Australia. Towards the close of 2008, Sydney veterinarians were suddenly faced with an unusually high number of small and medium-sized dogs who needed treatment for this illness. Simply stated Faconi hinders the kidneys from absorbing nutrients and electrolytes from the blood stream. The result is a spillover of glucose in the urine. The effects on the dog’s organs are damaging and will cause death if left untreated. However, Faconi is a genetic disease that appears only in certain dog breeds, particularly Basenjis. Like super-sleuths the Australian veterinarians questioned the pet parents about their dog’s diet. (This was most likely prompted by the melamine contaminated pet food incident of 2007.) What they discovered was a commonality: All the dogs had received the KraMar chicken jerky treats. In their report to the Australian Veterinary Association, the veterinarians stated a suspected link between the rise in a Faconi-like syndrome and a pet treat manufactured in China. According to the Australian Veterinary Association, it was at this point “AVA members were alerted via email (3 December 2008) and asked to report any similar cases to the specialist to enable further investigation of the syndrome.” As usually occurs in these situations the story was leaked to the press. Someone forwarded the email to a journalist for the Adelaide Advertiser, an Australian news source. The journalist in turn telephoned AVA president Mark Lawrie. The result of the phone interview and the email were featured in an article that appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser on December 8, 2008. Within hours the national media got wind of the story." There are quite a few people who now will not purchase anything (treats, accessories or equipment)with the K>>>>R label. Confidence in the products we purchase and the company marketting these items is so important.

MMmmmm, perhaps it's best to get a workup done by a medicine specialist. The signs that you have described could be numerous things.... cushings, diabetes, cardiac, renal disease of several kinds, even liver disease can give those signs. Until a full workup is done a proper diagnosis cant be given and it's really only guesswork until then.

If you are really concerned about this then I would suggest that you get a referral to an internal medicine specialist. Alternatively you coud stop feeding the chicken jerky and see if things improve. In the previous outbreaks in 2007-2008 some dogs got better within 2-4 weeks once the suspected cause of the problem was removed. If your vet is stumped by this problem perhaps a referral to a specialist might be a good thing in any case.

Have you tried feeding her from an elevated position or hand feeding her? There's some thought that feeding a dog with it's head lower than the stomach allows the build up of air and other gases as it eats. With the head elevated air is less likely to get trapped in the oesophagus and then pushed on down into the stomach with each mouthful of food. It's also a good idea to elevate the water bowl if possible as well. This is to help prevent air from being swallowed as the dog drinks. Care needs to be be taken when elevating water so that just the right height is obtained otherwise it's possible that some water may slide into the windpipe. Waterbowls are good at about elbow height. I presume that you dont allow her to exercise, get excited or drink lots of water within 45 minutes either side of eating. You have mentioned that she has had some constipation. Perhaps she has a problem withgastric motility and insufficient movement in her bowels (poor peristalsis) which is allowing food and gas to remain in her stomach for longer than necessary. There are some accupressure points that can stimulate peristalsis and get the food and gas moving along the line and out of the stomach. This article is a good one and I have used the accupressure point described to "degas" a dog in my care several times. As it says, this is not intended as an alternative to veterinary treatment when it's necessary but as an aid to attempting to reduce the pressure. If she's had a gastropexy her stomach wont be able to flip over and cause the life threatening issues that often happen when dogs bloat. http://www.stbernardhealth.co.uk/acupressurebloatpoints.htm Edit for spelling !!!

Quoted from the WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines.... "Some products are also licensed with a ‘10 week finish’ designed such that the second of two vaccinations is given at 10 weeks of age. The rationale behind this protocol is to permit ‘early socialization’ of pups. The VGG recognizes that this is of great benefit to the behavioural development of dogs. Where such protocols are adopted, great caution should still be maintained by the owner – allowing restricted exposure of the pup to controlled areas and only to other pups that are healthy and fully vaccinated. The VGG recommends that whenever possible a third dose of core vaccine be given at 14–16 weeks of age." Perhaps a read-between-the-lines attitude needs to be taken here. Perhaps this group does not have total confidence in the ability of 10 week finish vaccinations to offer full immunity.

I went to have a look at this site and got a virus warning !! emgem, perhaps you need to contact your cousins to tell them their site has been compromised.

I recieved an email this evening which still has me alternating between hysterical laughter and absolute wonderment that people are so stupid..... or simply look for any excuse to breed their mongrel dogs !! In part, it said the following I'm wondering if you can help me or put me in the right direction myself. I have a cocker spaniel x retriever girl. I have attached a photo I want to breed her but obviously as she isn't a purebred cocker I'm not sure how to go about it. I didn't intend on breeding, however she came on heat at only 7 months so I've missed that opportunity for her not to pine for something she knows nothing about. She is about to turn 1 in early September. I have sent her an "informative" reply but doubt that it will get through what must be a pretty thick cranial vault. I bet that she will advertise on Gumtree for a stud in the next few weeks.