Paptacular!

Don't quote me on this, but I think this one has already been sorted?

I like my breed because of their attitude and of course they aren't hard on the eye. They're intelligent, eager to please and have struck that balance between affectionate and independent. ETA - Also smaller dogs are cheaper to feed, easier to clean and cost less to put on a plane.

Well Paptacular you couldn't tell your boy is 7 years old!!! And he has beaten my boy on a few occasions for neuter in group, so well done :rofl: Well he does still have the brain of a pup I reckon! ;) ;)

Judges dont and cant check for heart murmurs or numerous eye conditions etc. Those kinds of problems aren't clearly visible though, which is what GayleK was trying to get at.

Liamber brings a good point, I actually haven't had many judges ask the age of my boy either. I'm sure though they can tell he's ageing a little bit due to the greying around the face. He turned 7 in November last year.

Just because a person has bought a pet dog that isn't correctly marked doesn't mean that they may not want a cartoon of their pet as a bit of fun. I believe there's an option available to submit your own photo and they will attempt to 'cartoonise' it. This could be an option for people who's breeds aren't featured.

Yep, there are a few... The first were in NT. Yep, one is a Norwich terrier, he was the first. The other I know of is a Dachie. They actually got them the same day, it's just that the terrier group was on first!

They generally do still check teeth. My neuter has had some dental work, he has a few missing and he has won a few Neuter in Groups.

Steve : Whippets : .... The agenda being a mode by which to make obtaining a puppy from good breeders perhaps a little bit less than the Russian Roullete game that I felt it was when it was my turn to purchase a puppy? What's wrong with that? . Why not work with the current system to improve it rather then start another one? To me it's like Steve (and a few others) are putting the MDBA members in one corner and non-MDBA breeders in another corner, Whether they be ANKC breeders, BYB's and/or puppy farmers. That's a bit how I feel too. A sort of elitism if you will.

I like the websites made off the DOL member page..... They don't have an option for sparklies, animations or music.

Cartoonize My Pet! You can 'customise' a breed to suit you, with different markings and colours, and buy things like keyrings, iPhone covers, stickers and all sorts. You can make it personal for your own pet. Very clever.

Having seen the breeding practices of some of the members of my breed clubs, a breeder having membership means little to me too. :D I'm willing to bet some breeders join purely to get themselves on the puppy list! Although if I do join one of the 2 clubs I won't be able to do an awful lot from up here, it would be useful for me to see what's happening elsewhere in the country, get the materials (magazines etc) and most importantly, club show schedules! My goal in the next year or 2 is to go south for a specialty, and I'm sure the Vic club has a very respected international breed specialist judge contracted soon.

No to all three.

They have a fan page on Facebook.... I'm a 'liker'.

I'd have to agree with this.

Portia's breeder didn't have a website, and she still doesn't. Sometimes they aren't necessary. She has her current show team on the DOL profiles though. This is how I determined that I liked her type and what she was breeding. I would buy from a breeder who wasn't a member of the breed club. Just because someone has a membership, to me, it doesn't mean an awful lot. They may have just joined for the status and not be active in any capacity, or may not attend the club shows. For what it's worth, I'm not yet a member of either of my breed clubs (there are 2; NSW and VIC, neither of which are applicable to me) but I am considering joining one of them in the near future. For Portia, I waited 6-12 months for her. For the right dog from the right breeder, I would wait as long as it took.

Thats it. I wont recommend a breeder who is not MDBA anyway but I do recommend them generally as a group. From what I've read in this thread, you have something like less than 50 breeder members, is this correct? If someone asks for your recommendation for a breeder of a breed that an MDBA member doesn't breed, what do you tell them? 'Oh sorry we don't have any of those breeders on our registry, try back in a few years?' If you had read the thread you would know we have around 330 breeder members and if someone rings and asks me how to find a breeder of a breed which is not represented by our members I advise them to look here, or to go to their state's Canine Association. Is that O.K. with you or would you advise me to say something else? How many breeders do you recommend if you dont know who they are or what their practices are? My apologies on mucking up the numbers. But by this token, you will be directing people towards non-MDBA members which you said in this sentence I wont recommend a breeder who is not MDBA anyway you wouldn't do? This whole thing confuses me.

Anybody willing to share pictures of their set up?

Thats it. I wont recommend a breeder who is not MDBA anyway but I do recommend them generally as a group. From what I've read in this thread, you have something like less than 50 breeder members, is this correct? If someone asks for your recommendation for a breeder of a breed that an MDBA member doesn't breed, what do you tell them? 'Oh sorry we don't have any of those breeders on our registry, try back in a few years?'

You're right, I don't.

Does anyone have a marked catalogue and can tell me who these paps were please?

That's a concern of mine actually, a pup getting lost in the fold of a blanket and either overheating/suffocating or getting squashed.

I'm not sure myself to be honest, but hopefully someone else might have an idea. I thought in some breeds that it may be because the coat hasn't matured when they get desexed. A possibility. Blaze was desexed at age 6, so his coat should have been the best it could be. It wasn't really great anyway, but it hasn't improved since desexing.

I'm not sure myself to be honest, but hopefully someone else might have an idea.

My boy Blaze is desexed and his coat hasn't improved much at all!