Christina

For a pet I can love any dog. I also don't think that you know exactly how a puppy will turn out so it depends on your standards of expectations. As long as the puppy is the breed I want,looks as it should, comes from a good environment & ticks all boxes health wise that is fine. For breeding/showing it is very different. I am a pain. I did wait for 4 years for a cat from one breeder & several years for a puppy from another line, which actually did not work out so well. One cannot ever guarantee things 100% with living creatures however one thing I am sure of is do not wait too long. In a few years there will not be any pure bred, pedigree dogs with all these stupid laws & controls.

The minimum cage sizes are disgusting. Having bred both cats & dogs previously stud cats really do need to live outside in a run unless you are exceptionally lucky re the spraying, which is rare. I would never expect a cat to live in a run the size they quote. They need to be able to run, jump, stretch & exercise to keep healthy & develop muscles & with cats particularly this is done when they feel like it so a separate exercise run may not work anyway. Not seeing other animals is not good either. No suprises though. Just more control.

I want to know if Don Burke has ever bred dogs or studied genetics or has any type of qualification that makes his opinion on dog breeding valid ? Or is he just a celebrity who people take notice of because he is a celebrity, even if it is for gardening which is completely irrelevant to dogs ?

The dogs or pups won't be running the 100 hectares so disturbing koalas is irrelevant. They will be in the pens/runs/designated restricted exercise areas, which is better & safer than having them run loose on that lot. The concern is that the dogs are being factory bred for commercial purposes. Dogs should be family bred not factory bred but I guess as long as they follow government guidelines, pass inspections & pay up for council rates, licences. taxes etc no one cares about the rest, including the stupid public who buy them from the shop like they would a pair of shoes. Sad isn't it.

Not sure of date/year of this post, have not been on here for over a year however I can say that the tests are not always accurate. Last year had a girl on heat. Older experienced stud dog knew & was going crazy to get to her. Younger inexperienced dog could not get his act together & mate her. He tried but was hopeless so off to the vet for some help or AI. They tested her & said she was not ready according to their progesterone test. I knew she was, so helpful & eager for mr cant do it. When I got home I put them both straight in the back garden & said go piddles. Put the car in garage, took crate in & looked out the kitchen window to see them tied. She had 4 puppies.

Sickening, cruel & disgusting as this is, it is no suprise. There are some registered, show breeders,judges & people with status that have done similar things. Like any section of humanity there are always some rotten eggs & apart from the appalling suffering, hypocrisy & knowing better it reflects badly on everyone. No idea why this kind of thing takes so long to act upon but lets face it despite all the rules & regulations we cannot even protect children from abuse let alone animals. Look at Families SA in the spotlight at present & its all nothing new & a pile of excuses. All this goes to show that more rules & regulations are not going to make things any better. Victoria is regulated to the hilt. It will just be more revenue raising & stress for those doing the right thing. The bulk breeders, council registered puppy farms whether pedigree registered breeders or not will thrive & all be approved. Its all so sad & cruel & totally inefficient.

It totally pisses me off that my dogs are hardly welcome anywhere. This attitude is the reason why there there is so much trouble, complaints & attacks here, over reaction to health issues & general intolerance to dogs. When will people realise that most illness & disease is caught from other people not dogs & it is people who make the most mess not dogs. More people are attacked & harmed by other people than dogs too. As long as they are on a lead in busy places & near traffic & not in food shops I can't see why they are banned from so many places. How can the dogs become socialised & bomb proof if they can hardly go anywhere & living rural its even worse you have to travel to find a crowd & traffic to get them used to it. I doubt the australian people will become more tolerant but good luck with it.

Yes the fashion of the moment that will win seems to be the driver for some breeders who show their dogs. I think the quest to get a ribbon has a lot to answer for when it comes to dogs health and conformation. Which I think means that the people who judge the dog shows need to go back to basics and maybe a less extreme interpretation of the breed standard. The last sentence is so accurate. The changes in dogs, cats & any other pet animal is man made & fashion & trends make them desirable. Why anyone would want a dog that has a face so flat it cannot breathe properly I have no idea. Maybe people do not even think about this when they get a dog. They don't think about lots of things when they decide to get a dog & many want as easy, not time consuming & not demanding as possible. Many dogs & cats are now bred to extreme altered standards which are not an improvement on the breed. I breed cats too & the changes in the Siamese I breed are very pronounced & far away from the apple headed sturdy cat of my childhood, although not unhealthy I have to say. The persians & exotic don't even have a nose on their face anymore & look as though they have splatted into a brick wall face on. How they can breathe I don't know & its not an appealing look to me. Persians used to be such pretty face cats. The judges or whatever committee makes these decisions to alter the breed standard need to start reviewing it & go backwards to a degree then the public & even back yard breeders will follow the trend.

Of course, wasn't thinking. My dogs are not outside, not guard dogs as in aggressive or scary although they are good little guarders, & are always well supervised or seperated into appropriate groups if I go out. I do think it lowers risk of fights when dogs are desexed in general though in both sexes.

Protein, fat content & the main source of protein & all other ingredients are listed on the bag of all dry food & all cans. It is up to the buyer to check these levels but premium foods are often the same or with little difference if one really reads it all. Grain free dry being the exception. Obesity is always caused by feeding too much, no matter what it is. Diabetes is usually caused by obesity, although not always. So both are avoidable to a degree no matter what is fed, generally but not always. One has to wonder at all this fuss & scare tactics & owner worry when the owner often feeds themselves ready made convenience & frozen foods as well as threats & take aways. Despite all this media scare mongering, selling tactics, advertising, telling everything alive what they should be eating both humans & their pets still live longer lives than they did even 30 years ago. So eat or feed your pets a basic diet of whatever in the right amounts with an odd treat just now & then & they will mutate & survive on the supermarket food like we do, if that is your choice IMO.

Opposite here. I have kept up to 5 girls over many years, entire when young & desexed later, & only ever had 2 dogs that fought about once every year or so. That started at about age 3 when one thought the other one had her puppies. Wasn't a major or dangerous problem. Otherwise they have all lived, run & played together marvelously. Entire boys together are a different story. Doesn't work here. Maybe as I have entire girls. They will growl or get snappy with each other when a girl is in season & also mark territory inside in the same space so I seperate them inside but they can be outside together peacefully when I am home. Have had to break up an odd fight, the old male is quite dominant. If your dogs are all desexed I don't think it matters. They are not conscious of being male or female really without the hormones. There will be a few spats or fights initially no matter what you get. Someone has to be boss & they have to sort it out. Usually its minor but it does depend on the personality of the 2 dogs more than the sex of them.

Find a mobile groomer that can do what you want. Ask when you call them. Stay with your dog while it is being done & if you don't like the way it is handled or the way anything is done stop them immediately. Some groomers do not like the owner being present saying it will behave better if the owner is not there. It can also be disciplined any way if the owner is not there. This may be true of some dogs but a good groomer will do your dog with you present anyway. There is not really any way of looking out for anything when you walk in that will give you much clue about how your dog is handled.

Re Chloe the barker. I re homed a 2 year old a few months ago. Very excitable, high pitched yap which she used to excess, especially when I let her out. Affectionate & friendly personality. Think she was doing it for attention & over excited with being bottom of the pack. She went to a lady I have known for 10 years who is home all day & has another small poodle. I explained the barking & said she may be better with just one friend & not having to compete but if it was a problem to call me & I would bring her back home. The dog does not bark there. The lady has phoned me about 10 times thanking me, telling me how happy she is & what a wonderful dog she is. So maybe Chloe would not bark in a different situation. If new council won't give permission for extra dogs I would keep any old, problem or aloof dogs & re home the friendly ones that would bond with new people. If a dog loves you it can & will love someone else. They can be quite fickle. I cried so much I had to pull off the road coming home once after leaving a 1 year with a new owner. A days later she said its like he has been my dog forever. He didn't give a damn about me. Aloof dogs are hard & not likely to be accepted readily because people expect affection from their dogs. Unless the dog is young & I feel would be better off in a different environment I seldom re home & have only done it a few times as I cry so much & miss them much more than they miss me so I feel for you & hope you find a solution & way to keep them all.

I would choose another type of dog. Poodles in general are people orientated, high energy & very intelligent so I think it will just copy the other dog. Labradors do seem to be less energetic as adults but crossing doesn't balance out traits at all, its all pot luck. Having a multi dog household of poodles here I find they do learn to copy each other quite quickly for example One of mine scratches at my bedroom door to get me up. I got an adult dog aged 3 who didn't do this at all. In 2 weeks she started copying. It is really difficult to train one dog to behave one way when another dog in the house has different rules. You would have to be there controlling it every step of the way & when you are out no one else, especially your sister won't enforce this. Consider a more docile breed. There are lots to choose from & it won't cost you any more.

A Chihuahua is not a good choice for a 2 year old & most breeders would not sell you one. They are so small & fragile a 2 year old tripping over it or falling on it could kill it. They are also not the best bomb proof temperament, lovely as many are, for a small & nervous child. Think it through very carefully. Many 2 year olds are uncomfortable around dogs & its not a full blown fear. When my 2 year old granddaughter is here I have to put my dogs out & have just one quiet one in. They get giggly, silly or scared if the dog gets silly. If you wait until your child is about 5 & at that age where you can train both dog & child how to interact it will be so much easier for all 3 of you. A pup cannot obey & understand all that is required in behaviour, interaction & reasoning & neither can a 2 year old. It sounds like she is just too young not fearful.

If you already have a dog & she is scared of that I doubt getting a puppy will fix the problem & may make it worse. Pups jump, growl & play roughly or madly & do not obey commands instantly so I can't see how she will cope if she can't cope with an adult trained dog. It will also sense her nervousness or dislike & may become fearful or timid in response. Maybe look at & research more professional help. A few sessions with a psychologist or hypnotist & some suggestions for interacting with other dogs before getting another one may be a more helpful way to go.

Not my kind of thing but I would imagine you are on a winner. People love alternative/natural etc & it is all so well advertised with everything human & animal already. Good idea. Good luck.

The ordinary weekly dog shows are not like that at all the only one similar is the Royal Show at the Wayville show grounds. It is held every year at the beginning of September.

Its a bit novel & different but wouldn't cost much to set up & may start a new trend. You could try it on a very small scale to trial. What about an area with some dog clothes & a photograph booth type thing with some fabric backgrounds, like childrens pixie photos ? People may only have photos taken at xmas, easter, dogs birthdays & on odd occasions but it will help sell the dog clothes & you will charge for the photos. You could have sensible dog coats & the silly, pretty ones plus themes for easter, xmas ect. People spend a fortune on dog clothes in the USA & trends there reach here eventually. ETA you could do other animals too like rabbits for easter.

No suprises in that lot. When there is gambling & big money invested & to be made there will always be some corruption, such is the nature of humans. With animals there will always be some that abuse too, that is the nature of humans as well. The bad cause the good to be tared with the same brush to many minds. I don't know that anything much can be done about it all even with the special commission. There will be much money spent on it all, new rules will be made & things probably won't change much at all. It will get forgotten.

Even if its non food items if a shop smells bad I am out of there instantly. What encourages me to go to a shop is them stocking things I use. Interesting browsing, as sometimes like in the cheap variety stores you may not go in for anything but you may walk out with quite a bit. Competitive pricing. Polite & helpful staff. I wouldn't do anything that needs structural changes, special equipment, permits or costs much unless you are very sure there is a demand for it. Expanding your product range is a matter of trial & error. Obviously if 20 customers a week ask for a product you do not stock then you would get it in. A difficult question to answer as selling is psychological & depends on the demographics of your area & your shop being in the right place more than individuals responses to what forum members would like. You would need much bigger research than what you could get on this forum. You know your clientele so maybe ask them as they shop however you may get a hundred different answers.

Forget ideal weight charts & look at your dog. If you think he looks slim enough & your vet doesn't think he is fat then feed what you are feeding. Look at people. 2 of my sisters are the same height as me. They weigh about 10 kilos more & I eat twice as much as both of them, so there is no ideal exact amount to feed. Like people dogs burn up food & have different metabolisms too. Re the post by CHA above as an example. My dogs are between 2.2 kilos & 4.5 kilos, all toy poodles but some taller & bigger in build than others. They eat about 100 grams of meat plus about half a cup of dry daily plus weekly bones & an odd dentastick. The smaller ones may nibble on the dry a bit less & none of them are fat. So that is as much as Cha's larger dogs get. Puppies like to eat with other dogs as that is what they do in the litter so I always feed with a couple of older dogs with space between & supervising, once they are about 3 months old & big enough not to get squashed. As mine don't tend to overeat or be weighty I leave dry down all the time for the younger ones but not for the oldies, over 10, as they are desexed & can put weight on as they don't have the energy of the younger ones. That works for me but you have to figure out what works for you routine wise & what suits your dogs. Don't worry too much about what others do or feed just be sensible & try what works for you until you are happy & comfortable with it.

I think you have prodigies :) Some of mine don't even open their eyes until day 18, which is normal for one line. Cute photo.

What is driving you to breed, to make money or to enhance the status of the breed? A very unhelpful reply which offers no advice at all. Many people are put off coming on here & asking for advice & questioning things when starting out as some of the replies they get are not so nice at all. Fortunately if they can see through the negative there is good advice & much to be learned. The person is obviously asking intelligent questions with the intention of doing things in the right way. I cannot answer the questions as I am not familiar with the breed but not directly in answer to the question posted the one thing I have found after breeding for quite a long time is that you do need to study, research & know your lines. It is not always a case of putting 2 dogs together that have lots of champions in the pedigree. Certain pairs do not produce the best pups despite the paperwork. My now retired bitch with the great pedigree never produced any outstanding pups with different studs but the bitch with the mediocre, not shown lines produced really excellent pups. Best of luck for your future breeding plans.

A dog shouldn't be given anything when whelping without vet advice. They don't use oxytocin for every whelping situation & 2 hours between pups is not abnormal & is nothing to worry about unless the bitch is contracting uselessly. If she is resting & relaxed there is no need to use anything. It is nature that all pups do not survive & often the cause is unknown. As long as it is only the odd one that you lose now & then it's all normal & fine. One always looks for causes & reasons but sometimes we really don't know or can jump to the wrong conclusion when it was all just coincidence.