Christina

Gorgeous puppies No I would have gone to the vet too. Better safe than sorry & it was sensible under the circumstances. The pups are old enough to start eating now so maybe take mum away for short periods so they get a little hungry. I find warm meat juice is more tempting than milky stuff for them at first & mix it with some really mashed up mince or farex baby cereal. The milk substitutes don't smell like mums milk anyway however each to their own way. You know how to do it My tiny poodles start eating around day 20 & soon get greedy & eager. Worrying shows you care. More of a worry when there is a problem & the owner does nothing.

I would take the puppy to the vet for a quick check over anyway. If there is a small cleft palette or heart problem you may not know. Probably not but it may set your mind at ease so you don't worry so much. Hope your puppy thrives. It's a pain when this happens.

My suggestion is for you to find a lawyer willing to act for him promptly. Then have a whip round & fund raise to pay for it going to all the places & people who are familiar with them both. Media attention & radio support for the lawyers fee would be a great help. There are free lawyers but I doubt this mans dog will be given top priority with them. Pay & you get instant results & action. Good luck.

There is a new rule now with AAE that Dogtainers must go to the airport to book all animals in. You can't just book through them & then put it on the plane yourself. So they have to charge you for it & all air fares have increased too. There is a guy at Mile End that has been recommended to me recently that a few breeders here use. Its Animal Transport ph 8354 0499. Worth a call to compare prices.

No sympathy. She knew & she is falsely promoting & advertising her dogs too. I recently saw a toy poodle advertised as a natural bob tail. If true I assume there is some problem/abnormality with the development of the spine/tail as it is normal with almost all dogs to be born with a long tail as far as I know.

I think Port Adelaide/Enfield still have a 5 dog permit with permission. Many other will allow an extra dog or 2 if you ask. I know of at least 2 other metro areas that have allowed 3 & 4. Neighbours not objecting seems to be the big thing.

No idea of the legalities but your mum needs to speak to these people first & then decide how much of her rights she needs to know. They may just refund it or ask a small amount to compensate for the messing about. Up to the individual breeder what they do. I know I wont keep a persons money for not giving them anything & would not want my puppy to go somewhere where they changed their mind. Good to find out sooner rather than later. Finding another home is no big deal, especially at 5 weeks old however I am not the person who has your mums money. I would imagine saying you want the puppy & paying some money constitutes a legal agreement. Talk to them without mentioning legalities first.

Probably not why the council did it but aren't there snakes around there & in the water ?

My thoughts as well. What happens with the rescue dog if it is not as you thought & is not suitable ? Does it go back ? Do you have to find another home for it ? Surely there are dogs in Tasmania that need a home that you can meet first. With a young child also I would want to meet the dog & see the rescue place & chat to the person there too. Rescue is variable in quality & assessment too.

After coping with your children you will manage a puppy with no trouble when you are ready. You can cope with anything after that 3 under 5's showed me how amazing I was. In a couple of years when the time is right a nice sturdy/robust type puppy will get lots of fun,love & attention from your children.

Some walk no trouble some just don't. One way to stop the lead chewing/messing is to position the collar so the lead is at the back of her neck & try walking with a short lead held up gently. Go slow at first. Not so easy to get to behind her head. I never do the lead on trailing thing. Mine go either in the front garden or off my premises, depending on age & vaccs. The lead goes on & its walk or we just stand here bored. They usually move soon & get praise but a few are so stubborn. My little Katy is just 4 months old & last week was the first time she has walked more than a few steps on the lead. Sheer bloody persistence paid off eventually. Most are easier than that.

I don't understand that ? What is wrong with asking it ? I know if someone said they had 40 dogs I would have to ask do you have staff to help to look after them. I can't imagine say 2 people with outside jobs having time for that many, especially grooming long coated breeds too.

Some of your questions are really good ones & others are not relevant. Eg my breed would never get socialisation with horses & cows. What for ? They are so small I would not want them in a field with horses or cows. How do they cope with meeting different dogs & size dogs ? At a few weeks old I am not likely to be taking them around dogs other than my own. I like all your puppy questions but that list is so long I would wonder about OCD However I would answer an email like that but would think it odd.

Not at all. The vet is a very important person in your life, especially for a breeder. You must feel comfortable & that you trust them. There are some good ones around but there may be a time when they make a mistake. They are human & therefore not infallible. So I guess when this happens you consider how understandable was it, how serious was it & what was their attitude. Then decide if you change or not. I am very happy with my current vet of several years & have had a few good long term vets in the past. Only one very traumatic experience in a lifetime. Keep trying until you find what you want. We all have to do that, there is no other option.

Under no circumstances send a pup to Singapore unless it is desexed here first. This sounds like a lady who contacted me 2 years ago, if she has a labradoodle too ? as well as the poodle who was in bad health. Sounded so very nice I also considered & then decided that there were homes available here so what was the point. We spoke on the phone. She told me that there were no reputable breeders in her country. No controls/laws at all. All dogs are farmed & live in small cages. Constantly & permanently. Bred every season & get no medical treatment. I was in tears at the end of it all.

How is every animal being microchipped going to affect how it was produced ? It will not affect the diet it is fed, the conditions it is raised in, how much time & affection it & its parents get, health tests done, cleanliness or anything else. It will just be a record of who owns it & who they got it off & who to phone if its found. Nice to have them microchipped but its not a welfare issue much overall when one looks at a bad puppy farm or cruelty.

If she is growling it may not be the right time so seperate & try again in 48 hours. Meanwhile you are giving your dog mixed messages & confusing him generally. His whole instinct, which is very strong with in season bitches, is telling him to mate. One time you are telling him he is not allowed to & then other times you are telling him he can. That is fine for making him wait for his dinner or a treat & making him realise that you are top of the pack but for stud use he needs to feel he is top dog or the bitch may dominate him. Its your dog & your choice how you train him but I can't see the logic in what you do with him. However good luck for a litter.

The above bits of your post are confusing because you are saying he does not mate them but then you are saying he does try ? Do you mean that he tries to mate them but not achieve penetration ? If so it could just be lack of experience so you may have to either let them run free until he manages but do be around & watch & intervene or hold for their safety if either struggles. Or you can put her on a lead & let him be loose & see if he can manage to get her & tie.

I have no trouble whatsoever mating dogs that run & live together & never had. I could never tell my boys they are not allowed to mate a girl on heat, they would just do it instinctively. I would never tell a male off for trying to hump a girl as I want them to think it is the right thing to do & be dominant & confident when it comes to doing the deed. If the dog does this & the girl is not in season I merely remove him to another room or place with no discipline or telling off. Maybe he does not feel dominant over her so I would see if she is swollen enough & flagging to one side & then take them off your property to someone elses house if possible. She may be less bossy there & his instinct/urges may take over & he may mate her if the timing is right.

This... My mum has a friend who retired in Spain from the UK, and she was appalled at the treatment of the dogs there. there are many strays and loose dogs and people tend to care very little for them, allowing them to wander the streets, mixing with strays and probably breeding because they aren't desexed. Her friend ran a rescue for a while but had to give it up eventually because of the lack of good homes available. I think she has 3 or 4 "foster failures" And yet in Germany I have heard that it is a privelige to own a dog and that many are very responsible. It is very difficult to get a Weimaraner in Germany and it is restricted only to people that will hunt with the dog. You must apply through the Weimaraner club and the club breed wardens make all the decisions about which dogs to breed and who gets one. Not sure if they still have it now but years ago in Benidorm or Majorca, I think it was, in Spain, they had a national cat hunt day every year. This was a day when they went out shooting the local feral & stray cats. It was like a sporting event In many other european countries this would not be acceptable at all but some would not see much wrong with it. Like different worlds.

It is difficult to generalise on this as Europe is not a country. It is many & they are vastly different is so many ways. Dog ownership in the scandanavian countries like Norway for example would be so different than in Spain or Portugal. Their whole culture & attitude is different. Then there is Russia, Poland, Hungary etc another culture that varies within itself. Germany. France, UK, all other cultures. They all have different laws, breeding rules, dog ownership rules & animal welfare rules. Some don't actually have any animal welfare rules or laws. I know in the UK pet dogs are often desexed. As an english person I do find the australian attitude towards dogs odd & fairly rigid.

I guess they would have to sleep on or in your bed. That is where millions of dogs all over the world sleep & always have done.

No. There used to be life with dogs before crates were popular or readily available. For show/breeding dogs they have their uses but for pet dogs I wouldn't bother. Mine are around the place & often have a layer of dust on the bottom with long periods of no use but I do keep a metal one in the boot of my station wagon. When I take a dog out with me & want to pop in a shop I feel it is a bit more secure & not so easy to get to like a carry cage on the back seat. The dog gets a look around as we travel too.

Can you get something like that good neighbour fencing ? The trellis extension that makes it higher or make something similar yourselves so they can't do it. Otherwise maybe talk to the parents if seem reasonable & friendly people & maybe ask if you can let the children make friends with your dog if you think this may work. Choices are you either have to encourage them to stop or make it so they can't do it.

Just to let you know ethical breeders do also advertise on the sites you quoted. I know because I am one of them. :D I wish all registered breeders would advertise on these sites, Then the general public would know that there is more choice than a BYB or puppy farm or pet shop. How are they going to find out about registered breeders if they don't advertise ? Selling without papers is not supposed to happen but not worth losing sleep over. There are worse things to look out for like bad living conditions/environment for the puppies & parents, lack of relevant health tests, ignorance of the breed & no support or after care offered etc. Buying a puppy with a piece of paper that is the pedigree is the easy part.