Whipitgood

I am constantly amazed at all these posts about people not getting their puppies papers. How hard is it to pay the money and register the litters for goodness sakes! I love giving my puppy people their registration papers in their folder with all the additional information. They are getting so much more than just a puppy for the price they pay. I just spent over an hour each with 3 of my puppy families today, going through everything with them, including their rego papers. I dont understand these "breeders". Why on earth would you withhold the puppies papers when you had to register them in the first place, as long as they on LR, what difference does it make?

I have a litter of 7 week old pups. One of them seems to have developed a fatty pad or lump over her sternum. It wasnt there when she was younger because i can notice it the minute i pick her up. It almost looks like she has a lovely depth of chest from the side profile but it is more exaggerated than that! It isnt what i would call normal. Has anyone seen it before or know much about it? It doesnt seem to be an injury, its not a haematoma or bruise and it is not sore. Any ideas? It sits directly over her sternum about the size of a 10 cent piece and i can palpate her ribs and sternum underneath.

I forsee her posting on a forum such as this in 1 years time - asking for help with her destructive, hyperactive, untrained dog that she wants to rehome. She might want a dog because "all families should have one" ... but would the dog enjoy living with their family? I suspect not. Just show her this thread, hopefully it is enough to put her off.

Hi guys, thanks everyone for your replies i appreciate, its good to get opinions from those who know. When i was travelling around Europe, i was in a coach built 1973 Bedford campervan and it was awesome, but i dont think i could do that with kids! There doesnt sem to be the space and caravans seem to have more space for the cost, according to some replies ive had. There is no way in hell i would travel with a camper trailer for over a year and especially with kids! ;) I have travelled in camper trailers for short trips but definately would not do it for a long one, just setting it up does my head in! So it seems towing a small vehicle is not practicle either, maybe a decent size 4WD for off road trips and a caravan to unhitch might be the way to go. Its actually a decision we have been forced to make after our other dream may have fallen through! We had plans of a long trip around Oz but that came to a halt when we built a block to build our dream home, we have got to construction stage with the building, after 7 months of hard work and frustrations with the builder - and it looks like it all may go pear shaped. So this is plan B!!

Woops, just realised i meant to put this in OT and have no idea how to change it over!

We have had a long time dream to go around Australia as a family, travelling for about a year. We like the idea of a camper but they seem to be quite small unless you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. A caravan seems a great idea but would be heavy to tow and less fuel efficient? We would also want to tow a very small "run around" vehicle which ive seen people do with a camper, as it makes life easier driving in cities rather than negotiating a large camper around small streets (but this is not possible with a caravan). Can anyone give me the pros and cons of both, with long term travel. It would be the 2 of us adults and 2 small children, plus a dog!

Thanks Bedazzled, that seems to be the general consensus - that any ligament or tendon injury takes many months to heal and even then it doesnt heal completely. Which is a bit of a shame for my boy considering he is a show dog. Not only that, he is a very fit, agile, active breed and to be constantly lame at such a young age is heart breaking.

Thanks Dogbesotted - ive tried that too! Forgot to mention that bit of treatment! I took him to a homeopathic vet who had him on homeopathic drops she made up and other remedies, did absolutely nothing I think ive pretty much tried everything besides amputation! .... that was a joke! :D

Hi Chocolate! Yes my guys seem to be, i had a run of injuries for a while there! He has had lots of xrays, intensive physiotherpay, chiropractic work, laser therapy on the joint every day, he is on glucosamine and fish oil, he has also been on long term anti inflammatories. It has improved slightly to the point where he is not always lame, but he is still mildly lame and the moment he picks up any speed after resting - he is back to being lame again. Im thinking it might be a permanant injury We are due to xray him again to see how its looking, but it has been 4 months now.

FANTASTIC!! Doing what Whippies should be doing! I so wish they did Whippet sports here in WA. Having said that. my guys are so prone to injuring themselves in full flight, i would have to wrap them up in bubble wrap first!!

The thread got to the 3rd page pretty quickley, its not a very common injury then, as i had guessed! Anyone ..... ?

My boy somehow ended up with an open puncture wound to his stifle back at the beginning of March. It has caused chronic inflammation of the patellar ligament in his stifle that still hasnt settled and is still causing lameness. Apparently it is an injury that takes some time to heal. Has anyone else had this issue with their dog? How long did it take to heal? Did it ever heal so they were not lame anymore?

How gorgeous is that!!! But holy cow ... what an almighty mess they must make now they are running around!! It just took me an hour to feed and clean up after 6, 4 weeks old puppies this morning - but 20 x turds 10 times per day ...... good lord!

That is quite possibly the cutest heartwarming story ive heard all week - brought tears to my eyes! ... must be the pregnancy hormones!! Ive always preferred Goldies to Shepherds and ive grown up with them, but that is purely based on my own personal opinion and through meeting many of both breeds. I have children and would definately own a Retriever with them, never a shepherd - again, i stress, this is personal opinion of which is based on the breed i like in terms of temperament. Having said that, both are large breeds and a Goldie can be boisterous and energetic. Hence why i now have Whippets, medium, quiet, calm, gentle and perfect for young families.

Yes it peeves me no end which is why i started a thread a while back about teaching dogs to only eat on command. A good reason for this was on the weekend, i was down at a local off leash park, a family were having a bbq and of course my gannet dogs run up to where they are sitting, i call them back because i hate dogs hanging around me while i eat. They took a little bite of something offered then came running back. Half hour later, my boy ran up to them again, before i could call him back, they had given him a large piece of something. I went running over to see what he was chewing as it was taking him a while to munch on. Then i realised it was a cooked lamb chop with a huge bone in the middle, i grabbed his mouth to pull if off him but because he knew i was about to steal something yummy - he gulped it down whole - a cooked lamb chop bone!!! I yelled at them to stop feeding my bloody dogs, especially bones and they looked at me and said "oh but they are so skinny" .... which of course winds me up even further!! Idiots. Thankfully, he isnt showing signs of an intestinal obstruction, luckily for him! Stupid me should have seen him and called him back before he got to them again, but i would never feed someone elses dog, let alone a bloddy cooked lamb bone. What if he had chronic pancreatitis and was on a special diet, a lamb chop could kill a dog with chronic pancreatitis. I just dont understand why anyone would do it.

Well a minority of narrow minded people who have never met my dogs before may think that way and good luck to them! Hopefully those people will one day come to realise that every breeds temperament is different and that there are certain breeds which are happier with the company of their owners most days. I am sure those who work fulltime, will go on to do more research and find a breed that does suit being left on its own all day, every day.

I totally agree. Every breed has different temperaments and needs. There are some breeds that are just not meant to be left on their own all day every day. I will not sell any of my babies to people who work fulltime. Never have and i have never had problems finding homes for them with families that work part time, stay at home mums whos dads work, retirees, working from home people. Thats my personal choice, my puppies, my right to choose. Saying that the breeder is breeding emotionally and physically unsound dogs because they wont allow them to go to familes that work fulltime is utterly ridiculous and has no merit what so ever (comment from a pervious thread on this topic). I dont have to justify to anyone who my pups go to and if potential owners have a problem with my criteria, then they are more than welcome to go elsewhere! No loss for me! My dogs are all very well socialised, physically and mentally sound, outgoing and very well adjusted. I am sure there are plenty of whippets that go to homes who work fulltime. Not mine and thats my choice. It is no different to breeders who wont allow their breed to go to homes with small children or toddlers. I dont have a problem with this, some breeders do. Every breeder has the right to choose who their puppies go to and they do not need to justify to any potential owner why this criteria is in place. Again, I agree.

What beautiful dogs, i have to confess my ignorance and admit to not knowing about this breed, but what fantastic looking creatures. So sorry for your loss. Its so much worse when they are young. RIP Cruz.

Thats is just tooo precious!! I wont show my mum these pics, she is desperate for a Dane and has 2 cats!

I guess you just have to be honest and up front. Ive not had to do it that often thankfully. Most people have done their research when they approach me which is always comforting. Most of the time i can usually weed out the ones who are not suitable from early on. The people i had to tell they were not suitable for a pup, who lived rural, were never told they were definately getting a puppy, didnt stop them from building up expectations and getting excited though. Unfortunately it was my first litter and although i felt bad telling them, i knew it was the right thing to do and after finding out their intentions - i didnt feel bad at all!! Now im not so worried and just tell people outright, like Wazzat said, most people will understand your reasoning. If they dont, too bad.

Yes and thats why i like to get to know them over a period of time, rather than giving them a formal questionaire which they can fudge anyway. I can always get a sense of what sort of family and home my pups are going to within the first couple of visits. If im not happy or get a bad feeling, i will simply not sell them a puppy. I had a couple who were interested in a puppy for a long time and waited for almost a year to have one from a litter i had planned. I had screened them fairly well, or so i thought. When it came time for them to meet the pups, i finally met them in person (they lived rural) and over the course of the weeks they said many things that made me very uneasy. I eventually gained the courage to tell them i wasnt happy for them to have a puppy ( i felt terrible as they had waited so long). I have since found out that they got 2 whippets from a breeder interstate and have been breeding the bitch every season because "the demand for hunting whippets is so big up here and there are no breeders". Clearly they were in it for the cash and im so glad i listened to my gut feeling.

My sentiments exactly (in relation to a thread i started yesterday about how puppies cope when owners work FT, where i was shot down for having the cheek to decide not to sell my pups to people when they are at work all day every day! ) I generally meet my potential puppy families when they come to visit the pups at 4 weeks of age. They are encouraged to come and see the pups as often as they like till they go to their new homes. During that time i spend a lot of time with them, chatting about everything to do with owning a puppy, i get to know about their home lives, personal lives, lifestyle and their philosophies about raising dogs. I dont give anyone a list of questions, it is all done in a casual "getting to know you" manner. I find i gain a lot more knowledge about the family this way and most of my puppy families i am still in contact with, some are very good friends who's weddings ive been to and them to mine!! The casual approach works for me. I dont do home visits, i think this is an invasion of privacy. I ask them about their yard etc but i figure if they are going to pay a substantial amount for a puppy, go to the trouble of finding a registered breeder, then they are smart enough to dog proof their home. I still give them tips on dog proofing their home in my puppy pack with a file of info. A lot of my pups go to families with kids, so their hoems are already puppy/child proof! But most people are not idiots and i respect that. If they have no idea, for instance i had a woman contact me enquiring about whippet pups recently, she had no fencing, lived on acreage with tiger snakes near water at the bottom of her block. She assumed whippets just laid indoors all day and wouldnt roam and were not hunters. Of course i corrected her and she is back to looking at 2 other breeds!

How utterly ridiculous! I dont have to justify to anyone how well adjusted and socialised my babies are. Whether i choose that they only to go people who work partime or not at all is purely my choice. If people are not happy with that then im more than happy for them to go elsewhere, their perogerative, makes no difference to me. Like i said, i can afford to be very choosy who they go to and i am. Every breeder has their own set of criteria who their pups go to, this is one of mine. FYI i am not selling them to unemployed people who cant afford them, they generally go to families with children where one parent is home some of the time, one partner works fulltme the other doesnt, part time workers, retirees, people who work from home, the list is endless. Not everyone works 9-5! As im sure you are aware, different breeds have different temperaments and personalities. Some breeds suit some families better than others, it has nothing to do with whether they are of sound body or mind :D But anyway, thats not what this thread was about, its not a debate i need to get into as the decision ends with me. Condemn me if you wish, all my pups have lovely homes that i am still in contact with the owners, we have regular meets at the beach and they are all very well adjusted, happy, outgoing, confident whippets. Thanks for your concern though! Maybe you would like to meet my dogs before you judge them being of unsound body and mind. I wont be offended at the insult as it has no merit whatsoever

My babies - my choice who i sell them to. Im sure not all breeders have this policy just as im sure not all breeds would fret if you left them at home all day every day. In my opinion, Whippets are not the sort of breed to be left on their own all day every day. Im sure there are some whippets that do - but its not the sort of home i want my babies to go to, i have a waiting list as long as my arms before my pups are even conceived - i can afford to be choosy! For those who dont work fulltime like myself - maybe we have other ways of paying bills, maybe we have children and dont have the option to work full time. Just because one does not work full time, doesnt mean their pets are neglected. Not kidding myself at all really - like i said - my choice, my babies go to who i want them to go to, never had problems with homeing them, ever!! There is nothing "shock horror" about working full time, i did it for many years. I dont have anything against people who do. They just have to go elsewhere if they want one of my whippets!! Thankyou everyone for the replies i asked for. I will pass onto mum the info about Kongs etc. She has a crate and a buster ball, similar to a kong, lots of toys etc. Im sure the pup wll learn to cope on its own eventually.

Im wanting to give advice to a family member who has recently acquired a small puppy. She works fulltime so the pup (11weeks) will be on its own all day. What do people do to ensure that these pups dont fret, are kept amused, dont get bored? Ive never had a dog and worked fulltime so i have no idea. I generally dont sell my puppies to people who work fultime either, so i dont know what advice to give.